Two couples lose over half a million ringgit with house renovations uncompleted

From left to right Lang, Sudha and Gopinath.

TWO couples from Selangor have lost about RM540,000 in total after the contractor they hired to renovate their houses failed to complete their work.

T. Gopinath and his wife Sudha said they conducted their due diligence before committing to the company concerned, but claimed that they still ended up being duped of RM290,000.

They said they vetted several websites, had face-to-face meetings with a few contractors and received quotations from each before settling on one contractor.

Unfortunately, one year later, the contractor absconded, leaving their dream home in shambles.

Sudha said she looked at home renovation websites and one company, based in Puchong, stood out.

"I fell in love with the one with the best design concept," she said, adding the company had good reviews on its website.

"We even visited the company's factory to see if they were legit and everything appeared fine so we decided to hire them in March last year,'' added Gopinath at a press conference held by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in her service centre in Sri Desa Entrepreneurs Park, Kuala Lumpur.

However between March and November last year, barely any work was done on the house.

"There was only one worker at the site and he only worked one or two days a week. Sometimes, no one was working for two weeks straight,'' said Gopinath.

Sudha said not a single room in the house was fully completed, cupboards were missing doors, kitchen cabinets were half done and everything was in disarray.

Suspecting something amiss, they went back to the factory when the contractor stopped taking their calls and were shocked to find the factory was no longer operating.

Further investigations revealed that others had identical issues with the company concerned, particularly the individual behind it.

It is believed that the individual concerned hides behind different names and companies.

Another couple, Ronnie Tan and his wife Jamie Lang from Kota Kemuning, had a similar experience with the same contractor whom they paid about RM250,000 to renovate their bungalow.

"He did some hacking, painting and carpentry work which was halfway done and showed poor workmanship,'' Lang said.

"He was supposed to complete the job in 120 days. There were multiple delays, including days no work was done nor was anyone at the site, and then he stopped taking our calls or messages,'' Lang said.

Both couples have filed police reports and are now in the process of taking legal action against the company.

Meanwhile, Kok said she would be pursuing the matter with multiple authorities.

"I will be writing to the Attorney General's Chambers, the Malaysian Institute of Architects, CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) and the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) to investigate the individuals concerned.