It started with the truth.
Yesterday, the first thing we did when we reached home after inspecting the site was to send an email to Chiauw. Our intention, and for the very first time, was to express our disappointment. We decided to express the truth. That we didn't want the renovation progress to drag any further. That we wanted Chiauw to commit to us a handover date.
We felt by putting the pressure on Chiauw, it would cause a chain effect. She would call Uncle Chong and to insist for his completion date.
On our part, and based on the earlier committed schedule, we have confirmed the deliveries for Thursday and Friday. We have scheduled our move on 6th October and we are supposed to hand over Hertford on 8th October.
Looking at the situation in Reiki Sanctuary, there is no way we can achieve the deadline. There is no way that the deliveries can be done as there would just be no clean area to place all the bulky items. Even the Master Bedroom, which was supposed to be completed by 20th Spetember, was in a big mess. The parquet floor was still covered and dusty. There are still no lights inside the room. There are still no proper vanity and sanitary. The wardrobes are with no doors. The sliding door separating the Master Bedroom and Study area is not fixed. And the study top cabinet is, conveniently, forgotten.
The Female Fireworks
Within half an hour after sending the email, Chiauw called us. We accepted her apologies. She admitted that she forgot about the study top cabinet and there was no drawing given to Uncle Chong to construct it. Next, she shared with us her working problem with Uncle Chong. She told us that she could not get any other trades to do anything until Uncle Chong completes his part.
On our part, that issue had settled in the previous meeting. What is important is the question of responsibility - who should shoulder what? We suggested that that she should call Uncle Chong and passed him about our concerns.
The Male Fireworks
Next, we had to handle Uncle Chong. Chiauw had called him after her conversation with us. She must had mentioned for a meeting. He called us to refuse a tripartite meeting and insisted that it would be best for him to contact us directly.
Perhaps, it was a better choice. There were just too many unpleasant remarks made about Chiauw's modus operandi. Before we could get him to commit the completion date, we had to listen to all his disappointments with Chiauw. Not to aggravate the situation, we just listened.
Guessed Uncle Chong just needed to let off his steam too. At the end of it, we managed to get him to verbally commit us the completion date. Though we were not fully happy, we told him that we just have to accept the few dates.
The Aftermath
Other than getting some dates, our problems are not solved. We are still back to guessing game. For now, we are targetting 20th October.
We need to re-schedule the deliveries. However, we are just wary if the mover can accommodate us on the 20th.
We wonder if both Chiauw and Uncle Chong understand our problems - that the longer we are to stay in Hertford, the more rent we have to pay. This is an unnecessary expense and we could actually use it to get better things. How about Reiki Sanctuary's neighbours? How long more must they endure the noise, the dust? How about our other plans?
A thought did cross our mind. Should we get compensation should the project is delayed again? Perhaps.
I offer Reiki Distant Healing