My visit to an Interior Design Firm

So last weekend I decided to email this ID firm whose office is located near the new home.

I don’t know why any employer will hire a salesperson or rather a client-servicing person who does not inspire confidence or trust over the phone.

Often, the first contact the client has with the company can be over the phone…

So this guy, let’s call him LS, answered the call and became the ID assigned to me.

Nvm, maybe he’s had a bad day hence, the bad impression he gave me over the phone.

I emailed to him the floor plan and my needs. He returned email to say let’s meet at XXpm.

So I went at the agreed time and there, I met LS for the first time.

Decent looking guy who looks kinda young to be experienced.

Nvm, I thought. Give him a chance.

So out came the pile of papers containing the quotation and a proposed floor plan.

He invited another colleague of his to sit down (let’s call him M) and together they passed me the quotation.

This was the first time someone gave me a quotation first before trying to sell me the proposed floor plan. And this is also the first time I’m being served by 2 persons at one time.

I told myself to keep an open mind.

So we started going through the quotation and I tried VERY hard not to flip till the end to see the nett price.

I wanted to look at the floor plan. So I pointed to it and asked about it.

M, who seemed like the more experienced one, did all the talking.

At one point, I asked, is this drawn by you (directing it to M)?

He said no, and that this is drawn by his “Senior Designer”.

Senior Designer? Ok…

Where is the washing machine?

M: Oh, my designer forgot. You can put it here. (duh I also know)

What is this?

LS: Oh, this is a full height…..
M (interrupts): This is a breakfast counter.

But if you put it there, right in front of the main door, who’s going to sit there?!

M: Oh, ok then we take it away.

?!?!

M: I get you a sample of what’s a solid surface top.

LS sits there quietly.

I looked at the quotation idly and saw something that is completely unacceptable in my line of work.

There was an obvious mistake in their URL printed on top of the quotation letterhead.

I circled it and showed it to LS.

LS: Huh? *flips to the page behind and nods his head*

I thought to myself, omg, will this show of noobishness never end?

And so it went on and on like that. LS kept quiet a lot of the times. The mixture of both M and LS made it really difficult for me to trust them with the house renovations.

I can just imagine all the little things they’ll overlook and cost me time, frustration and money.

Before I end off, here’s another classic from the duo.

So how much does it cost to hack all the floor tiles instead of overlaying it with laminates?

LS (proudly declares): Oh I gave you options behind.

Does this include hacking costs?

LS: Oh, it doesn’t. It’s only the cost of supplying and laying the tiles.

-.-