A woman in Tampines paid a deposit of over S$3,000 to an aircon technician for installation works at her new house.
However, the technician allegedly went on to miss the installation appointments a total of four times.
Each time, he would reportedly schedule another appointment and offer compensation, just to miss it again.
As a result, the woman had to find someone else to install the aircon units. She also lodged a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal to seek recourse.
According to Shin Min Daily News, a 48-year-old woman known only as Ms Chen (name transliterated from Mandarin) purchased a flat in Tampines in March last year.
Source: Tampines Town Council, for illustration purposes only
Her interior designer then recommended an aircon technician, to whom she paid a deposit of over S$3,000 to install air-conditioning at her new house.
Initially, she paid half the deposit for electrical wiring works. Then, in April, she received notice that she was to pay another 20% to reserve the aircon units.
It was at this point where Ms Chen got suspicious and requested for an itemised invoice.
In June, the aircon technician allegedly missed a total of four appointments.
With every missed session, he would reportedly apologise, offer compensation, and schedule another appointment, only to miss it again.
Growing impatient, Ms Chen personally enquired with the aircon company about the status of her installation.
Source: Unsplash, for illustration purposes only
Apparently, it was only then that she found out that the technician did not actually place the order for her aircon units.
Therefore, she lodged a claim against the aircon company with the Small Claims Tribunal to seek recourse.
Following the multiple delays, Ms Chen found someone else to do the installation works for her.
To her dismay, this new technician supposedly informed her that the wiring works were not done properly and had to be redone.
Source: Shin Min Daily News via Lianhe Zaobao
As a result, Ms Chen and her elderly mother, who is in her 80s, could only move into their new place in December 2022.
That was four months later than they had initially expected.
“I did not dare to tell my mother about this as I did not want to upset her,” said Ms Chen.
Having heard of other similar cases, she now advises others to be cautious when engaging such services.
Surprisingly, the interior designer said that they had worked with the aircon technician without issue for three years.
But they’ve since stopped working with him after receiving two complaints.
Source: goodcoolsg.com, for illustration purposes only
“He has always been very good. Before all this, there were repeat customers requesting his services. I’m not sure why it has become like this,” the interior designer explained.
“When I asked him what happened, he only told me he’s very busy and has no time for installation works.”
When Ms Chen informed the technician in August 2022 that she is seeking a refund from the company, the technician allegedly replied, “Noted, thanks.”
Subsequently, he even contacted her asking about the progress of the case and whether she was able to get the money back.
“I’m not sure what his intentions were, sending me such ‘caring’ messages. He made it sound as if we were friends, I was so angry,” she expressed.
It apparently got to a point where Ms Chen’s family had to warn the technician and tell him to stop harassing them.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) confirmed with Shin Min that they have received eight counts of complaints against the aircon company as of October 2023.
According to Case president Melvin Yong, customers have reported that the company would delay installation works after receiving payment.
Even then, customers also had difficulties getting refunds.
“We have already written to the company on behalf of three customers to seek solutions and refunds,” Mr Yong added.
Also Read: S’pore Aircon Technician Steals S$1,200 From Elderly Customers, Police Investigating
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News via Lianhe Zaobao.
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