DSOD Interior Pte Ltd

Definitely would not recommend at this point in time.

I’d engaged Don and his team since last Dec 2021 after several sales and design pitch and we got sold with all the governance and tightness of execution communicated.

However, after 2 months into the execution from Feb 2022, my Attic has not been completed.

There are issues with project and account management, there’s no follow ups on what’s next.. sometimes, no activities for the entire week and no updates and what’s pending and when’s the next activities.
The devils are in the details which are frustrating as alot of these details were not discussed nor consulted and ended up with multiple rectifications.
Many of the discussed requirements were not implemented and had to do “patch” jobs or insisted that it was either not included nor as per design when its not.
Many a time was about – “this was how it was done in other projects.. etc”. This is a personalised service, its about customizing to the lifestyle.

Trying to turn this around right now and giving him the opportunity to redeem himself and the company… as we still have the rest of our house (2nd level, 1st level & Basement) that we had not even started – due to us living in during the renovation.

If it continues to be as frustrating an experience as right now, we would have to explore a painful approach to rectifying this situation. More to come…

Update 20th May
1) Phase 1: Attic still not complete – already after 3 months. – Double glaze sliding glass door delivered and installed, found that the sliding track sill is not recessed into the wooden flooring at the edge of the stairs and Don told me “it’s like that”.

• My 4yo daughter and dog has no way of going to the attic as the edges of the track sill were wide and think protruding out with sharp edges. Told him that I want it removed and took abit of argument for him to relent. – floor varnishing was not completed. Parts of the replaced wood were still uneven. Parts of the wooden floor area wasn’t done up as they claim that it’s being blocked by glass panel, which leaves an awful 1/2 done job. Kept insisting right from the start that it can be done and gave me a curve ball and say it can’t now after wasting so much time. He wants to charge me partial work done on varnishing which I refused and getting him to remove it out from the quote. I’m now left with rectifying the whole thing on my own and time wastage. Wanted to charge me extra for glass removal, so he can complete the job. Told him to go fly kite.
• Decided to remove all wardrobe from the quote and source my own wardrobe contractor once the rooms are ready.

2) Phase 2 – Basement & 3 bedrooms. – Don insist of removing all the re-grouting activities, paint work and get me find my own contractor to do it. – I had also removed all varnishing works for the rest of my 4 bedrooms and got another contractor to do it independently. – last night he sent me a revised quote which was not right. And insist on me to pay him the remaining 70% which I declined till he provides a correct revised amount based on the changes. He threatened to stopped all works until I pay up. It’s time I engage CASE and lawyer up myself.

3) Phase 3 – Living, Dining, Kitchen & MBR – not started and configuration not finalized as yet.

Update: 9th June 2022 (Phase 2 – Basement & Daughter’s Room)
• As usual and similar to Phase 1, the design was just purely aesthetic and not once was there any ensurity that the functionalities and practicalities were put in place.
• I have a sink with no drain hole beneath it ( in my laundry yard) and I had to sort out the details with the worker & the project manager myself.
• Don was nowhere to be seen to take ownership to ensure the rectification or workaround was given. His project manager, being new on the job for 3 weeks was struggling not knowing head nor tail to the entire project phase.
• The Attic (Phase 1): is still not complete with the final cleaning only being scheduled this friday 10th June!, which I found out was a “Spot” clean!
o Now he is charging me for the replacement of basin drainer ($90!) and an extra planter hole to be drilled ($150) when its clearly committed that it will be done.
o My ceiling fan is having issues with humming and ringing sound and he told me to deal with the dealer myself, when he was the one who brought us to the shop to purchase it.
1) The fan technician came and found that the fan was not suitable for the slope pitch ceiling.
2) Don then told me that he’s not responsible for that!!!
3) I’ve specifically asked him to uninstall the fan and return it back to the vendor and I will charge him for the fan and he to sort it out with the vendor (which he was the one who worked with)
• Phase 2: The lightings (which cost me $14k) was recommended by him and we trusted him that he will manage the entire project and coordination.
o Ended up, he was not even checking if the lightings are correctly delivered or enough with design changes on the ground. I had to work with the electrician on site and do the coordination with the lighting vendor directly. Hardly seen him around at all during this period of time – perhaps only once when he was chasing after payment when he had not even finalised the detailed drawings.
o An extremely long journey but closing to the end which is currently targeted to complete by the 17th June 2022.
o Let’s see if the schedule stays on time or like my Attic which lasted since Feb.
• Phase 3: Target to commence on the 20th June.
o Have given him a dateline to get all the finalised drawings (3D, Dimension plans, Powerpoint plans and Lighting plans) to me by the 13th June. – Today (9th June), he sent me a set of 3D drawings which he had sent to me last week, which I had mentioned to him on some changes, which wasn’t reflected.
o Sent me a quote to check and I had to push back that the quote is wrong based on the un-revised 3D drawings.
o All interactions are through WhatsApp chat and still do not have the courtesy to physically walk me through to confirm on the changes and what not. I have not dealt with any ID where he sells the following during his presentation and NEVER DELIVERS!:
1) All his contractors will clean up the place once the job is done to enable the next contractor to start.
1) This is so so untrue! His contractors make a mess of the place, all the sliding glass doors and windows were abused and when I asked him to rectify, he does not respond. I had to engage my own contractor to rectify and charge it back to him.
2) His design – if you are not technical enough, be wary! you need to be extremely hands-on and be meticulous, as his design may not be implementable. My laundry yard basin now does not have a drain hole under it. a lot of patch work and work-around just like in phase 1. What is nice by design may not be implementable! He DOES NOT CHECK!!!
3) whatever he commits and sells to you – make sure it’s in the QUOTE! he will increase the $ as and when the project moves along and then tells you the increment was due to the fact that what you asked for was not part of the quote initially.
1) It becomes you say I say situation. I have given him a chance to turn the situation around in Phase 2 and now entering phase 3 – he’s giving me the same crap again!
2) I had derisked a lot of complex activities so far:
1) removed all wardrobe carpentries for all rooms – will engage my own later
2) engaged my own varnishing contractor – who does a much better job than what he had provided
3) engaged my own painting contractor – who are much more professional
4) reduced or eliminate any complex works – such as renovating a resale property and doing anything of an overhaul and keeping back some of the configurations.

Right Now, I’m just waiting to see when he is going to arrange a meet up (when I suggested next Monday evening, he says he can’t cost he has a presentation and want to meet me in the morning when my wife isn’t around) to walk through the configuration details for
Phase 3 (target to commence on the 20th June) or will he be chasing me for payment again and have to go through the entire process in my previous review.

I came across DSOD through word of mouth.
Just a little bit of background for those reading this review: My wife and I were very busy with work and had done almost NO research on renovation. We were not keen on haggling over price, reading through all the fine lines, managing poor workmanship by constantly inspecting the house and having to chase people to get the house done.
We met up with Don and surprised him by telling him we had no idea what we want. He was very patient to share with us his past projects and basics on budgeting for renovation, the fitting and furnitures. We also discussed on expectations and stated a budget. He also shared his expectations and things which he cannot compromise. I find that very professional and finally he made an effort to understand our lifestyles. We also understand that he has a flair for design and always trying out new stuff and we were open to it.
We decided to go for an open kitchen concept, open spaces, focus on simplicity and my wife loves black and he will find a way to use that colour. Don proposed his idea and we approved it. He toyed and proposed with the idea of painting the ceiling black. We loved unconventional idea and went with it.
Following, all the meetings were constructive and informative. As he knew the overall concept, he helped us narrow down the choices for us to make. He would explain and listen to our views. At times, he questioned us on why we make certain decisions just to understand us more. This worked out fine for us as we see him exerting his professionalism to help us sing the same tune in this project. We consulted him down to the smallest details – design of bed, type of furniture and even positioning of appliances. Don worked with us on this project and turned the idea into a reality. We loved how he takes pride in this project.
Ricky is quick responding despite handling multiple projects. The truth is, throughout the whole renovation, my wife and I only went down to ‘spot-check’ the progress twice. What we really loved was when we found a defect, we would snap a picture and asked him if was meant to be like that. If it is a real defect – never once we get defensive response or met with any stupid excuse. The defect will be fixed within the week. The workmanship was also good.
Thank you DSOD for this positive experience.
If you are looking for the cheapest, there are many out there. If you are looking for quality material, good workmanship, quick response, honesty, professional advice and a designer who is not a cookie cutter. Look for DSOD