Thursday 12 August 2010

Home Sweet Home : Wiring






This is a very interesting experience for me n hubby...i budgeted two thousand ringgit for wiring work....of coz the real cost exceeds the budget, but not too much due to reasons i'll story below....so the chronology goes :

- we surveyed for 2 contractors...we picked the one dat is not so cheap but becoz they have the experience of doing wiring work in new housing projects, and the good advise they offer....

- its a father-son business..initially hubby talked wit the father, 'dua kupang pon xmo kurang'....so, fine, we accepted the quotation after discussions...wanted to do auto-gate wiring, wired doorbell, audio surround system, exhaust fan, additional power points, astro wiring, streamyx, extra lightings....

- we cut down the auto-gate wiring as it was quite expensive....not gonna do the auto-gate yet, so dat one postponed...

- hubby said im the 'kedekut taik idung masin', wanting things with high quality but at cheap prices....i would bargain and bargain with people, pushing to their limit...sometimes it works, sometimes it just fails =P....the opposite with hubby, he wanted high quality n willing to spend extra so he would scold me saying if i want quality stuff, dont bargain dat much or they'll do 'cincai2' for us...so, i slowed down a bit on the bargaining...during finalization, we discussed with the son....before we left, being the stubborn me, i asked for 100++ringgit less...n he agreed! wow, really didnt expect dat...seriously with the father, he wont cut even 10ringgit....

- the son promised it will be a 3-4days job, not too difficult...all dat we asked for can be done...well, what he promised is not so true after all...

- it all started right from the first day of work...we werent there to supervise as we were in Alor Setar...so, we left the key with the son so dat they can start work on the Saturday....at about 9am++, hubby received a call from the wireman (the father n son only manage, they hired other people to do the job), angrily told hubby dat there's a beam blocking the wiring from the fusebox to the kitchen and bedroom 3...he suggested us to do plaster ceiling to conceal the wiring....'wahhh, mandai2 ja nk suh org wat tu, wat ni'....later, after a few phone calls here n there, we asked the wireman to do the wiring along the beam, dont hv to use the pvc pipe to contain the wiring...if they were to use the pvc pipe, they need to hack the beam which is not advisable as it might interfere with the house's structure...

- Sunday : not working....another day wasted...

- Monday : went to visit them during lunch time.....not there...called their boss, said the wireman was sick, not able to work....half day gone....

- Tuesday : not there oso...called their boss again, wireman was hospitalized...by dis time we were wondering...there are 2 wiremen, if one cannot come, another one should be able to continue working...but noooooooo, 'dua2 pon tarak mai'...'kembaq siam kot, xleh nk berpisah'....

- Wednesday : the first time we ever saw their faces....burning inside, but pretending to be cool on the outside...asked the wireman how's he doing, are they alright...in actual fact, not the wireman but his wife was hospitalized..so they continue working...said can be finished today....with less than 50% progress, of coz they didnt make it...some arguments about the exhaust fan (we were supposed to make a hole for them but the boss forgot to tell us, so they hv to make it)...arguments about wired doorbell (they were complaining about how difficult to do it, so cancelled, instead will use wireless one)...arguments about speaker wiring (need to extend the route as the beam was interfering, cancelled too)...arguments about some other things (boss forgot to mention to wireman)...

- Thursday : continue working..continue arguing oso...a few phone calls here n there...still not finish...they will resume next week to install the fans and lightings as well...aarrgghh!!!!

- Following Tuesday : install the fans and lightings and the power points....wanted to switch the colour of the plugs but 4-5 times more expensive than the normal ones, so hold on that first...we bought the fans and light separately....

- Wednesday : went to pay after being satisfied with the work done....of coz due to all the troubles of not making it on time, what we wanted cannot be done...arguements some more...so, the son gave us discounts...in fact, he didnt charge us for the fans and lights installation cost....pheewwwww, can save some more money....

All in all, would we recommend dis contractor? their workmanship is not bad but their time management and attitude is certainly untolerable....dont think so...maybe just our bad luck, wrong timing for his wife to be sick....maybe we didnt discuss properly with the boss on what can be done, what is not advisable by looking at the house....my advise, bring ur wireman to the house so dat he can give comments in case some of the things cant be done, example : the location of the beam....

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