No appointment or notification, but contractor shows up for bathroom inspection
A Singaporean Redditor posted a complaint to r/askSingapore on Monday (14 Oct), regarding his “ridiculous” experience with an unannounced contractor.
The Original Poster (OP) recounts receiving a call from a family member at home while working.
During the call, the family member said that a contractor had arrived.
The contractor told the family member that the appointment was arranged by the OP and was allowed in.
However, the OP “had absolutely no idea what he was talking about”, having “not arranged any appointment, received any notification, or been informed of any inspection”.
Suspiciously quick inspection, shocking results
Source: RDNE Stock project on Pexels. Photo for illustrative purposes only.
The OP immediately switched the call to video, as his family member passed the phone to the contractor.
According to the OP, the contractor completed the inspection extremely quickly.
The contractor gave the OP an extensive list of issues, as shown below:
Source: Reddit
This shocked the OP, as he claimed to have a good relationship with his downstairs neighbours.
We’ve spoken multiple times, and they’ve never once mentioned any leakage.
Additionally, the OP noted that his renovations were “carried out in accordance with HDB requirements.”
The fact that the contractor identified this many illegal installations “almost immediately” left the homeowner baffled.
Completely wrong flat
In the Reddit post, the OP disputed the contractor’s findings.
The contractor responded that they would contact “Ryan”, whom they claimed the OP has been in touch with all along.
However, the OP insisted that he had never heard of anyone named “Ryan”.
Source: Reddit
At that point, the contractor realised that he had approached the wrong unit.
Bigger implications
The OP was alarmed by the situation, mainly due to the hastiness with which his installations were deemed illegal by the contractor.
He asked:
If my bathroom installations were supposedly illegal, are they suddenly legal now that he’s realised he’s in the wrong flat?
He was most worried about the financial outlay he may have incurred if he had trusted the contractor, over a mistaken inspection.
The OP went to Reddit to ask for advice on what recourse he could take as a result.
Netizens speculate
In the comments section, netizens suggested the situation could have been a ploy by the supposed contractor to scam OP.
Some urged the OP to reach out to the police.
Source: Reddit
Others also advised OP to instruct family members not to let unverified strangers into the house in future.
Source: Reddit
MS News has also reached out to the OP for more information.
He confirmed that the units referenced in his post share the same unit number as his, but on lower floors.
He has plans to contact his neighbours, as well as HDB and the contractor’s alleged employers, to verify the truth.
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Featured image adapted from Danist Soh on Unsplash. Photo for illustration purposes only.