My Design cafe experience @Ghodbunder road , Thane

Helping others with my review. Don’t go for their discounts. I am customer of design cafe and this is my May 2022 experience. They keep giving surprises and keep re-designing.

1. No minutes of meeting. 2. No timeline for next meeting. 3. No agenda for next meeting. 4. No follow up with client on pending confirmations. 5. No intimation on cost and time escalations in the project. 6. Missing design in the software. Update: finally we finished design after 2 months and also made 50% payment for on site service. Once again , no timeline on when on site work will start. Complete pin drop silence. No answer even after asking this twice in writing. Update : on site work started one week after making payment. However , my project put on hold suddenly for no clear reason given to me. Update : work started and then stopped for 4 days without any explanation. Update : I paid for Saint Gobain Gyproc but got surprised with gypsum from GYPSOMAN made in Oman Update : in case of carpenter , you only need to deal with carpenter. Here , you are dealing with designer , production team and on-site contractor and they don’t talk to each other. Update : DC on-site work is bit expensive but I went for it considering I won’t have to coordinate multiple people but this is exactly what is happening . I haven’t yet seen any DC person visiting site and doing quality check for false cieling or painting or electrical. No proactive recommendation from DC for panel lights. I had to ask every aspect of it to confirm. Update : they took 100% payment for modular and now refusing to deliver furniture unless 100% payment for painting is done. So basically customer needs to pay 100% of everything with nothing at home Update 19:08:2022 - 100% modular paid by 31st July and for on site work , payment schedule given to me in writing on 23rd June 2022 was 50% at start (paid already) 30% at 75% stage and 20% at completion. I have been asked to pay rest 50% even though 20% work is pending. Also , my quotation was suppose to be revised down as per discussion, my primary light point is less than 44 and I received balance 50% payment request without review of quotation. Correct process is - 1) review and revise quotation as per on site work. 2) capture status of all work and send formal email stating what has been completed and what is pending. This will help us capture whether we are at 75% stage or 100% stage. 3) request payment based on step 1) and step 2) Update 20.08.2022: electrical charges at DC is just mind boggling. Usually installation charge is less than product cost. For example , installation cost of AC is less than cost of AC and same goes for everything else otherwise people won’t buy that product. Here , strip light cost starts at 20₹ per feet and one can get good quality one at 40₹ per feet but fixing cost at DC is 80₹ per feet. Update 21.08.2022 - DC asking for full 100% payment when following is still pending - [ ] 1st bedroom - 2 panel light not setup - [ ] 1st bedroom - 2 way switch light not setup - [ ] Passage light not setup. - [ ] Master bedroom - 2 panel light not setup - [ ] Master bedroom - 2 way switch not setup - [ ] Master bedroom - strip light not setup Update 22.08.2022 : painting rate and false ceiling rate given me was doubled in final invoice. I have evidence to prove this. On 3rd July , I was given quotation in mail and I paid 50% advance for civil work based on this quotation. Now , in final invoice , this rate was doubled Update 25.08.2022: 1. poly cab wire 4mm cost is 25 / feet and DC charging me 75 / feet. poly cab 2.5 mm costs 18/feet and DC is charging me 50/ feet 2. fan point rate is 450 / fan and DC charging me 750 / fan. 3. fan fixing rate is 120 / fan and DC charging me 325 / fan. 4. Market rate for AC point is 1400 / point and DC charging me 1530 / point. Update 31.08.2022: Issues identified during installation. 1) dressing table door opening on opposite side 2) bed drawer on opposite side 3) mandir unit delivered bigger than one in DC experience centre.

Update 01.09.2022:

Delivered bed not as per design.

Update 02.09.2022:

Delivered glass shelf half the size of storage unit

Update 07.09.2022:

I was charged for mandir partition but not delivered and money refunded. This affected my whole design and budget

Update 09.09.2022:

My project handover pushed from 05.09.2022 to 14.09.2022 to 22.09.2022. Design cafe pushes the handover date so that there is never any delay in records and hence not liable to pay back customers.

Update 10.09.2022:

Designer delivered very ugly size of mandir unit

Update 20.09.2022:

Elementary items is taking now 3 weeks to deliver.

DC did not deliver bed with full hydraulic lift up. Now, Vishal is looking to join 3 ply to form base of bed with full hydraulic lift up.

I paid hard earned full money to DC and this is how they deliver sloppy piece of work.

Update 21.09.2022:

Headboard color reversed between white lava room and wooden room

Update 22.09.2022:

Design cafe not cooperating with compensation for the delay.

Update 25.09.2022:

After 2 months of design work DC delivered pathetic quality handles and also incorrect handles

Bad paint quality

Disconnected all DG wiring in my Flat.

No designer engagement at site

Carpenters at least accept their mistake but DC standard reply is “ Sir this is as per approved sign off deck “. Just imagine what would happen to your house if you miss design error.

DC never compensates for the delay. Their promise is fake. They have too many reasons to not to compensate you

Modi Budget 2015 : War on Salaried middle class

- Agriculture income is not taxed.

Farmer earning 10 lakh rupees / year does not pay any tax but similar hard working Salaried middle class professional pays tax of more than 1 lakh rupees on this.

- Tax base in the country

Only 3-4 crore people in the country file returns and hardly 1.5 crore pay considerable taxes.  This amounts to tax base of just 1.5% in the country.

- Inflation indexation

80C limit of 1.5 lakh does not mean much with current inflation and the huge number of items eligible for deduction in this section.

Tax slabs have not changed much in the last 10 years but inflation , property prices has risen by more than 10 times.

Cultural imperialism in India

India got independence from british colonial rule 65 years back. Lot has changed in the country since independence.

We achieved the right to elect our leaders and choose our future but we hardly achieved independence from cultural imperialism residing in our minds.

Its irony that the country which fought for independence for 200 years, started rhyming 'Ba ba black sheep' and 'humpty dumpty' a year after independence.

A country, which is rich in so many languages and dialects still considers English as a language of the rich , elite and educated and devalues its own regional languages and its literature.

Now,
Bombay sounds more cool than Mumbai.
English medium students are more intelligent than Vernacular medium students and certainly
Pepsi became better than Lassi and Mcdonald's became better than wada pav.

MP government seems to have taken series of steps in restoring our cultural identity, language and literature.

                          English rhymes replaced with Indian rhymes.
                          http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5079002.stm

1) In one instance, government replaced English rhymes with Indian rhymes. This certainly makes sense as it would make new generation more aware of our history and culture and prevent us from creating another Shakespeare generation.

Sadly, in our country, such attempts are equated with Hindu nationalist movement, as evident in above link and other articles in our leading newspapers.

2) In another instance, MP gov conducted mass yoga session. This was again termed as communal by some organisations as evident in the below article.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/madhya-pradesh-students-seek-surya-namaskar-record-muslim-leaders-call-it-un-islamic-issue-fatwa-165855

Yoga is practiced across the world in many secular countries but in its own country such exercises are considered communal.

3) There are many other instances of how we are destroying our cultural identity.

We don't even have consensus on singing Vande Mataram, our national song.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/03/muslim-body-supports-fatwa-against-vande-mataram-recitation.htm

Teaching Gita in Indian schools

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-09/india/30606881_1_secondary-schools-teaching-saffronise-education

I don't understand why Cow slaughter is secular and banning Cow slaughter is not secular. If banning Cow slaughter is communal then not banning Cow slaughter is also communal.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2769540.ece#comments

We should respect other cultures, languages and identities and constantly improve ourselves with new understandings but not at the cost of replacing Indian rhymes with 'Ba ba black sheep' in our schools.