Remember Jover Chew? He’s the guy who scammed people at Sim Lim Square repeatedly. He was only brought to justice when a video of him was released on Facebook and made international headlines.

After the big hoo-ha, the Singapore government had to do something about him as it has the potential to affect Singapore’s tourism economy.

Well, now another guy is exposing the Jover Chew of the renovating industry, or in this case, the Jover Chews.

At the same time, he is raising up “red flags” home owners should look out for when trying to decide on an ID.

Space Art Interior Designs Pte Ltd.

His name is Wesley and he was scammed $10,000 by Space Art Interior Designs Pte Ltd’s Bernard Tan and Darren Wong.

His nightmare started back in November 2015.

He and his wife came across a Facebook post by Space Art Interior Designs Pte Ltd and found the price extremely attractive.

Thinking it a good deal, they went ahead with the company.

1st Red Flag: If the price is too good to be true, it likely is

Let’s face it, renovating a house can be very expensive, and as Singaporeans, we’ll want to save as much money as possible.

The end result? We go for the cheapest renovation packages.

Wesley himself was attracted by the cheap price tag. For his entire renovation package with Space Art Interior Design Pte Ltd, he was quoted $17,000.

According to him, that was 50% off what the market rate is. His flat, renovated by a legit ID cost him around $30,000.

Do some research on market rates, not just look at the discounted price. If you’re quoted a price far below what is needed, it’s time to walk away.

Red Flag 2: Deposit Of 50%

The second red flag, according to him, is the amount deposit requested by the ID. If they request for more than 20%, it’s time to walk away.

The aim of these scammers is to get as much money as fast as possible before the work starts. Simply because they’re not going to start work.

He was requested to put $10,000 as a deposit. Because of the attractive price (read: 50% off market rate), he did it.

And he was in such a rush to seal the deal that he didn’t even get a receipt for the payment. An ibanking record isn’t enough to stand up in court, according to him.

Red Flag 3: When ID Starts Stalling For Time

The scammers’ SOP is to drag out the time as long as possible. If your renovator starts dragging the timeline with excuses like “I can’t get the hacking permit”, “My carpenter was super bad so I need time to get another one” or any other reasons to drag the time, you know something isn’t right.

And according to him, you shouldn’t be at this step. Because if you are, chances are it’s already too late. Because your money is already gone.

Going to the Small Claims Tribunal isn’t going to help much either.

According to his experience, they went to Small Claims Tribunal for assistance. The ID (read: Jover Chew of Renovation Industry) Bernard Tan came for every single mediation session.

And in every session, he tried to make it sound like the contract was null and other sorts of excuses to drag the time out.

When the Small Claims Tribunal awarded them the claim, he didn’t return the money anyway.

It was only when the mainstream media in Singapore focused their attention on Space Art Interior Design Pte Ltd and Darren Wong’s mother was harassed so badly did he return a portion of the money.

Police Report Lodged But Nothing Was Done

And the worst part of the story? He and other victims lodged police reports against Space Art Interior Designs Pte Ltd and the two main people allegedly behind the scheme, Bernard Tan and Darren Wong.

Not only was nothing done, they allegedly started another company named D’Interior Pte Ltd and continued scamming homeowners in Singapore.

You can watch the full video below:

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Feature Image: Interior Design Singapore

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com