Complaints against furniture companies may be down, but this is no balm to Ms Karen Teo and many others in the same boat.

Ms Teo, an associate director of a recruitment agency, was hoping that a two-seater leather sofa she bought would be the centrepiece of her new home, after she moves in soon after Chinese New Year.

But she is now missing a sofa, and is $3,000 poorer. She had paid furniture company Artmani Italia in two instalments – one last July and the other two weeks ago – and the firm promised to deliver the sofa to her flat in Boon Keng in early February.

But Artmani Italia is believed to have shut down, leaving Ms Teo and about 50 others in the lurch. These customers, part of a WhatsApp group, are owed around $65,000 worth of furniture, and they have lodged police reports.

When The Straits Times visited Artmani Italia’s premises in an industrial building off Hougang yesterday, the firm’s showroom doors were locked.

At another two units listed under the firm’s name, letters from the landlord were pasted on the front doors, stating that no one was allowed access to the units with effect from Jan 18, unless authorised to do so.

Others who work in the building saw movers loading furniture from the showroom onto a lorry.

Ms Jeslyn Chan, a catering sales manager from an eatery next to the showroom on the first storey, has seen aggrieved customers trying their luck day after day, with some even banging on the doors loudly.

“I was shocked. It was like they (the firm) were gone overnight,” said the 39-year-old.

Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) said there have been 15 complaints against Artmani Italia since Jan 1 last year.

Still, the industry has been doing better. Last year, there were 162 complaints lodged at Case against furniture companies, a 15 per cent drop from 190 the year before. This year, there have been eight so far.

Case executive director Loy York Jiun, who took over the job this year, advised consumers to do their research into a furniture company’s reputation and delivery track record. They can also pay a small deposit instead of the full amount upfront before delivery, and ensure that any negotiations, such as the delivery date, are put down in writing. These, he said, would help to minimise their risks when selecting a furniture company, and their losses in the event of business closure.

One possible avenue for redress for the likes of Ms Teo is to file a claim with the Small Claims Tribunals. For now, she has bought another sofa from another company, with delivery expected in March.

She still finds it hard to believe that she and her husband could have lost money like this.

jalmsab@sph.com.sg

DOING BETTER

162

Complaints lodged at Case against furniture companies last year.

15 per cent

Drop in complaints last year from the year before.

This article was first published on Jan 25, 2017.
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Complaint cases in the renovation industry have been falling steadily over the past years, which contractors say is a good sign.

Last year, there were 234 filed and assisted complaints made to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case). This is a drop from previous years’ figures – 244 in 2015, and 262 the year before.

The complaints were generally about renovation contractors’ failure to honour contracts or unsatisfactory service, said Case executive director Loy York Jiun.

The gradual fall in complaints comes even as consumers have become more cautious, noted renovation business players.

Mr Tan Chim Hoon, president of the Singapore Renovation Contractors and Material Suppliers Association (RCMA), told Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao in a report yesterday that consumers also tend to look out for reliable firms. He said that with consumers turning to social media and writing online reviews about their experiences, this has helped improve the quality of service in the industry.

Mr Elson Tan Yew Kiong, director of Image Creative Design, a CaseTrust-accredited renovation firm, told The Straits Times that the decline in complaint cases was a good sign. “It means more companies are taking the job seriously and listening to feedback. Reputation is extremely important in this industry, so improving their work and their name will help them.”

A CaseTrust-accredited company adopts good business practices, such as having clear fee policies and documentation, and a proper redress system.

Mr Tan said there were still a few “black sheep” that leave consumers with bad experiences when they fail to fulfil agreements or clients’ requests.

“To prevent this, I advise consumers not to choose a company by its price and freebies. Instead, they should look into the company’s reputation and be assured of its reliability before hiring it.”

In a number of past cases involving errant renovation firms, customers were left high and dry when their renovation works were not completed, despite multiple attempts to contact the firms after upfront payments had been made.

In May last year, a couple lodged a police report after a renovation firm they hired, Sense Ideas Design, became uncontactable. They had paid $63,000 in advance for works, which included installing kitchen and bathroom fittings, but these were not done.

In 2015, customers of D’Concept Design made at least 11 police reports against the firm. They also lodged at least 14 complaints with Case, mostly about multiple delays in renovation works despite payments being made to the firm.

Mr Steven Liew, an operations manager for another CaseTrust-accredited company, Living Gaia Interior, said more can still be done to improve the renovation industry.

“Companies need to continue to better themselves and go the extra mile to make clients feel assured. This can be done through detailed paperwork and better communication with clients.”

In February last year, a new joint accreditation scheme was developed by Case and RCMA to protect home owners’ deposits if the contractor closes or disappears. This was in addition to the existing CaseTrust scheme, and gave home owners extra assurance when hiring renovation contractors.

tammei@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 25, 2017.
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A plan to get more people on bicycles for short journeys is coming closer to fruition, with the search now on for a sponsor of the national scheme.

If all goes as planned, the pilot will be launched in stages in the Jurong Lake District, Marina Bay, Tampines and Pasir Ris from the fourth quarter of this year.

Consultants appointed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) have begun to approach corporations for the sponsorship, which would run into the millions.

Meanwhile, the Sentosa Development Corporation also called a tender last Friday for a bicycle-sharing scheme on the resort island (see sidebar).

The idea of bicycle sharing is quickly gaining traction, with private players also jostling for a piece of the pie. First in was oBike, a Chinese company that has launched a scheme in the western and northern parts of Singapore, The Straits Times reported last Saturday.

The LTA aims to have about 2,330 bikes spread over more than 210 docking stations.

Asked if the presence of private operators like oBike would affect the viability of the national scheme or its attractiveness to sponsors, LTA said it does not stop other bicycle-share operators interested in starting schemes here, and noted some of the operators have submitted bids to run the national scheme.

“We welcome different business models and different types of systems to see what works,” an LTA spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday.

The consultants for LTA are a consortium comprising global sports marketing agency Lagardere Sports and The X Collective, an SMRT Commercial subsidiary.

Mr Adrian Staiti, Lagardere’s executive vice-president for global partnerships, said potentially over a million trips could be made by bicycle each day in the target areas, constituting first-and-last-mile trips to and from MRT stations, and non-MRT trips within these areas.

The scheme would allow users to rent and return a bicycle for short trips at various terminals throughout a network.

New York City’s bicycle-share scheme, Citi Bike, started in 2013 with a five-year sponsorship of US$41 million (S$58 million) by title sponsor Citigroup, which has its brand displayed on about 10,000 bikes spread across 600 stations.

“In many other cities, what we find is that when you introduce bike share, it has accelerated the take-up of cycling in those cities,” the LTA spokesman said.

Mr Staiti said the consultants were focused on finding and launching a main sponsor by the third quarter of the year.

The sponsor would have naming rights to the scheme, and its brand on assets, including bicycles, kiosks, docking stations, cycling tracks and other print and digital media.

There will be two other tiers of sponsorships – founding partners and official sponsors – depending on the financial commitment.

Discussions have been “very positive” so far, despite the gloomy economic outlook for this year, said Mr Staiti. He added that “brands still have to market themselves, they still have to get their message out and continue with their corporate social responsibility programmes”, whatever the economic climate.

Asked if the sponsor had to be a Singapore company, Mr Staiti said they were open to options as long as it was a “respectable brand”.

Singapore Polytechnic marketing and retail lecturer Amos Tan said while it was too early to tell if the scheme would succeed, it could become something Singaporeans used daily if it were executed well.

“It is just like the tuk-tuks of Thailand, they could be an icon of Singapore,” said Mr Tan, and noted this would be attractive to companies.

Tender called for scheme on Sentosa

The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has called a tender for a bicycle-sharing scheme on the resort island, the third government tender so far for such a system here.

The first, by the Land Transport Authority, was for a pilot in Marina Bay, Tampines, Pasir Ris and the Jurong Lake District. The tender closed last month and has not been awarded.

On Jan 11, industrial developer JTC Corporation also called a tender for a system involving either e-scooters or bicycles at its one- north business and research hub.

The SDC, which called its tender last Friday, said in tender documents that it is hoping to enhance connectivity by “enabling guests to travel around the island using bicycles”.

This is the latest move to make the island more cycling- friendly. The SDC started building a network of on-road bicycle lanes in 2015. Sentosa’s cycling network now spans about 12km.

“The recent completion of our new cycling tracks and dedicated cycling lanes has helped to enhance connectivity around Sentosa, making it more convenient and safer for our guests to access the island’s gems on bicycles,” said Ms Susan Ang, SDC’s divisional director for island investment.

She called the new scheme a “mobility-based attraction”, adding that it will have unmanned docking stations at different points, where users can rent and return bicycles.

The project is targeted to be rolled out in three phases, starting with five stations along the beach areas in Sentosa. It will then be extended to other areas in phase two, before being extended to the mainland in phase three.

dansonc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 25, 2017.
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