Homeowner paid over $80,000 for ‘ghosted’ home renovation project

SINGAPORE: A homeowner shared that a renovation contractor used to attract customers with its low offers online, but kept asking for more during the construction period itself. In his experience, he paid more than $80,000 before the contractor disappeared, and ‘ghosted’ the renovation project. 

The 32-year-old homeowner, who is a technician, reported to Shin Min Daily News that he bought a five-room resale HDB flat, and he discovered a contractor that offers renovation services at a low price in an online shopping platform. 

After reviewing the vendor and seeing that it has good online reviews, he arranged to meet with them and signed a renovation contract amounting to $40,000. 

The homeowner shared their encounter and said: “We discussed the solution I wanted on the spot. They told me they had been in business for 10 years and that their company information could be found on the authorities’ website, so I found it credible.” 

He then paid a 10% deposit of about $4,000, and the renovation started. At first, everything was normal, but the contractor then claimed that they found a termite nest in the house during the process and said that it needed to be removed. Furthermore, they also told the homeowner that there were not enough tiles and they needed to buy more. 

The homeowner repeatedly paid extra fees for the renovation because of various reasons from the contractor. In the end, he ended up paying double the original price, bringing his payment to over $80,000. 

The contractor completed the flooring and electrical work in the unit for six months, and they also finished the toilet flooring and water pipes. They also installed the washing machine water pipes in the kitchen. However, they stopped the work, leaving the kitchen furnishings and air conditioning installation unfinished. 

“In October, I inquired about the progress, and the other party said that the carpenter was sick and hospitalized, so I had no choice but to believe them. After that, the other party only replied once a week, and then stopped replying in mid-November, so I had no choice but to call the police,” the homeowner said. 

The authorities confirmed that it had received the report and that the case is under investigation. 

In separate news, a 57-year-old Singaporean woman recently lost more than S$100,000 after falling victim to an online-store scam advertised on TikTok, where she used her life savings and borrowed money from family, friends, banks, and loan companies.

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