Beware of Sofa studio Bangalore

Very sorry to hear about your experience bro. But pray why take things lying down? This will only embolden those guys to repeat such tricks on the next unsuspecting "customer". If you can then go ahead and raise a stink and create some ruckus. Such things should not be tolerated or taken lying down.
 
Goodness, realactivex - you are a patient man. Sending goons to harass your wife should have been the last straw. I dont see any reason why you should not go to the police on this guy.

But I understand that you do not want more of your time wasted. These sort of guys tend to pick busy people so that they can get away scot free. Wish they are brought to book.
 
:mad::mad::mad:
Get yourself a good lawyer and file a case. Go to the press.
This looks like organized crime.

And start a chain mail also with this information.
 
Hi Real
I really understand your situation and feel so bad even thinking what you must have gone through. As Manu said the only way to teach such guys is beat them up but maybe I am also one of you who would not like such a mess but these people would not mind that all.
This is the thing we have to live with it and I really feel for it that you can't be straight forward and clean with anyone and have to be cunning with every deal you make. There is hardly any room for being a gentleman.
I can understand how much frustrating you would feel to have goons coming to your place when you ask for something which is your right but all you can do is forget it and move on in life and believe in one thing that never to trust anyone blindly at all specially with someone with whom you have never dealt at all in the past
 
I am sorry for you. Reading this story made me furious.

Thank you for forewarning us.

Kind Regards
 
realactivex

this was most unfortunate

but i would have done exactly what you did-we lead busy lives and dont have time for fights that would not give us anything in the end but more waste of time with little satisfaction

but your story has now help us learn how better to dealwith unknowns
 
Sorry about your situation.

If you really want to take him, then you can contact Times of India and out this in paper.

Else forget this as bad dream. Money can be earned, but not peace. Better to stay away from such people. Never ever try the freelancers unless they have some good backing.

Else always stick to showrooms.

Thanks,
Prakash.
 
This is atrocious.

Realactivex, please file a written complaint with the consumer forum. Even if you get nothing out of it, the forum will question the guy and make his life miserable. If he does not respond well, they have the authority to get the shop closed.

You should take this step and also file a police complaint for harassment at home. You have your apartment guards as witnesses.

Please do not take this lying down.

I was treated to a similar situation by a interior decorator, and I did not pay her the last 50K I owed her as I had to use another contractor to complete the job. I threw the bill at her and asked her to give me a refund before asking for full payment. She has not come back in over a year.

Cheers
 
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Its unfortunate that educated ppl like you had to go though all this. I take it that you are a calm and composed man who weighs his options before attempting anything out of ordinary. By doing so you are infact becoming one among the large population of losers out there (pun intended) dont get me wrong here mate; I do have my sympathies for you.

Think about it. Today its you, tomorrow it could be someone you know. But before all this Im sure there might be many more cheated in the exact same way by the "well-dressed-and-polite-speaking-guy-is-a-gentleman" theory. Its because of their reluctance to act that has made you go through all this unfortunate experiences now. The sofa that you got after all this turmoil is probably the most hated thing in your living room. But objectifying the sofa for the hatred you have towards someone who ridiculed your intelligence is not the best way to steam out your frustration.

I know you are an expecting dad (congratulations btw) and by nature, you will act protective towards your family. But this very same family of yours still cant get out of the trauma they faced thanks to those goons at their doorsteps in your absence.

What Venkat and Sq.Wave suggested is exactly what I have to say. Forget about the money, as you mentioned, it can always be earned back. By alerting the right authorities, atleast you will feel nice about this later; knowing the fact that you did what you could in the most appropriate way possible. Not everyone can stoop to that crooks level of deceit or threat and take them head-on, but there are still ways people like us can deal with these elements.

Everybody has their own ways of dealing with problems. End of the day, if there is anything that lets you and your family forget this bad chapter ever happened, by all means do it.

All the best.
 
I am sorry about your sad experience. At the same time, I am surprised that you even went to this extent with the guy to offer cash without anything in return.

Any of these jobs will probably be OK with 10% downpayment and remaining paid in 1 or 2 installments.


Also did you call any of his references before you decided to deal with him? Esp. when you are building something custom, you may want to check his previous jobs and the customer experiences.

I guess you have learnt a costly lesson in dealing with slick cheats.

Good luck and best wishes next time.


Folks, not sure if I bypassed any norms to post here, but i write to put across my sad experience in getting my sofa designed by Sofa studio- Bangalore.

Most of us AV enthusiasts think that a good sofa really completes the viewing experience. And this was why i wanted a custom sofa for our new house.

It all started when my wife called up this guy based on an advert in TOI sometime early May, as we wanted to get our custom sofa upholstered.

Since this was going to be our primary seating, i was okay to up my budget as long as the quality was right and the process was hasslefree.

The owner Dayanand and his wife Jyotsna promptly came over to the apartment, took some measurements- promised us the sky- and quoted an astronomical amount. They said that they would take care of everything and all i had to do was to pay them (50% in the beginning and 50% after the work completes)

I was already exhausted in life trying to run around people (most notably my apartment builder) to even get small things done and my exhaustion was taking a toll.

I didnt care if i ended up paying a premium.. All I wanted was a good looking and a durable sofa done hassle free.

So, the very next day, this guy took a cheque from me for 50% of the amount. Within 30 minutes he called me and said the cheque had bounced and that he wanted cash. I was very surprised as none of my cheques ever bounced and my bank had renough balance to encash this cheque.
I asked him to send someone over to my office in the evening so that i could withdraw money and pay him cash.

But that someone turned up in a hour at my office gate for cash. To cut a long story short, i paid this money to the guy- but was surprised as to why this seemingly reputed " custom sofa wallah with a lot of corporate orders" was running behind my money as if there is no tomorrow. A thought even crossed to me that maybe this guy wanted cash so that he could evade all proof of payment.

All said, this guy told me that he would complete the job in two-three days and he would use the best of his design skills.

That was his last verbal statement for the next one month. The guy didnt pick up phones and neither did he return calls. After weeks of suspense i got his assistant and literally pleaded with him to get the job done " somehow"
After many days of cajoling, this assistant guy finally turned up with a tailor who had no clue about what to be done. Me and my wife had to literally go through the entire design process with the tailor... That afternoon, Dayanand suddenly got his memory back and calls me. He asks me-- "now that the work is complete, please give me my balance 50%"

I told him that since he made me literally cry for a month, i am going to give his balance money only after ensuring that it was all okay after testing it for a week.
To which, in lightening speed he sent his goon people to my house (wife was alone) and gheraoed her demanding money.

I had strong arguments and even wanted to go to the police- but didnt. It was close to midnight by then and i was still in office meeting some crucial project deadlines. I managed to get my apartment security guys to pull these people out of my apartment (my apartment security guys were no match for these beefy villians but somehow they were able to pull them out)

I ended up coughing that money overnight as i had no strength nor inclination to stage a fight.
I want to put this back and enjoy my movies and family time.. but each time i sit on the sofa i get dreadful memories. As soon as i get some cash, i am going to tear it up and replace it with something which is less painful.

This episode reminds me how vulnerable we all are- eeverything in india needs connections- and for people like me who have connections but hate to use them- simple transactions become hauntingly painful.

Now for some comedy:
The pros of dealing with this guy:
1. You can Learn and become masters of sofa design and creation.
2. Improve your patience levels- treat this as a booster dosage to the lessons on "virtues of patience" given by Brigade.
3. The art of persuading assistants whom you never imagined would take so much of your time
The cons:
1. Give him money and forget sleep.
2. relive your worst nightmares
Regards
 
I think some legal action is absolutely essential. Of course, please contact the Times of India, the Deccan Chronicle and whichever other papers that you think would be interested. This scam needs to be exposed. As someone else suggested, please make this into an e-mail forward, nothing spreads as fast as an e-mail forward. Take these small steps to at least ensure that other people are not cheated by this guy.
 
I too am very surprised that you paid so much cash upfront without any job done :mad:
10 to 25 percent if the firm is reputed and comes recommended by people you know and trust that is what people do. Nothing more.
Anyway, what has happened cannot be undone.
I would still recommend going to the press, consumer forum and a case in the local police station. Most of these guys work with intimidation tactics. Most of the time, if you do what has to be done, they will chicken out and give you back your money. Ruining his business is something the internet/press will take care of. Dont worry :D
If we have your permission, we can start forwarding the post as a chain mail too. If you want it formatted in a certain way, please do so and post again. We can use it.
 
Hi
Firstly sorry to hear of this and secondly and more importantly congratulations in advance.

What i write below is purely my opinion and i expect nobody to follow it.

I know we are all busy on our own trip. I know time is always short and one is always feeling that its not really worth all the hassles (legal and otherwise) but i would surely teach these kind of rascals a lesson. One they dont forget in a hurry. This is not a macho boast but an honest opinion.
Lots of guys have suggested the obvious options (cops,legal action,press etc etc) and i would explore each one and choose the combination that IMO is apt.
Otherwise these kind of guys always get away and get cockier with each passing day and a lot more guys have to suffer similar. Most of these dogs dont bite and rely on a loud bark to scare u.
As i said above i am not pushing u to do something if u dont want to. I lost my parents when i was young and have always fended for myself to the best i could and always believe in giving back what i get.
Rgds
 
If we have your permission, we can start forwarding the post as a chain mail too. If you want it formatted in a certain way, please do so and post again. We can use it.

@Square_wave and All, Thanks for your thoughts and wonderful support! I am overwhelmed. Please feel free to forward my case to friends thro email and word of mouth..
Well, i have decided to fight it out by going to the consumer court firstly and then by posting it out in newspapers.
I agree with all you have said "No point venting my frustration on the sofa by tearing it up- it is just an object"- and the creation was our baby.In the absence of directions from the seller, me and my wife painstakingly designed the whole thing.
I just remember a scene from Spiderman- where the hero aids in the escape of a convict only to see the convict kill his uncle. Today I let him go, just like somebody earlier would have let him off the hook- and tomorrow this guy is going to prey on some other hapless customer. With all your support and wishes, I shall file a case with all the available evidence in the consumer court by this weekend.
Money was not a big thing- but the priceless loss has been the many precious moments trying to fight him out and to brood over the incident-something which i would have spent more fruitfuilly preparing to welcome my child.
I am determined to not let this happen to someone else and I will fight it out to the best of my ability.
I will keep posting on this thread as things move.
Once again, i thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your kind words.
 
fantastic decision. I am not a consumer lawyer (nor a litigating lawyer of any sort), but if you require any advice/support or some inputs on your filings/submissions, I could give it a shot. Either ways, you can PM me if you need to contact me.

@Square_wave and All, Thanks for your thoughts and wonderful support! I am overwhelmed. Please feel free to forward my case to friends thro email and word of mouth..
Well, i have decided to fight it out by going to the consumer court firstly and then by posting it out in newspapers.
I agree with all you have said "No point venting my frustration on the sofa by tearing it up- it is just an object"- and the creation was our baby.In the absence of directions from the seller, me and my wife painstakingly designed the whole thing.
I just remember a scene from Spiderman- where the hero aids in the escape of a convict only to see the convict kill his uncle. Today I let him go, just like somebody earlier would have let him off the hook- and tomorrow this guy is going to prey on some other hapless customer. With all your support and wishes, I shall file a case with all the available evidence in the consumer court by this weekend.
Money was not a big thing- but the priceless loss has been the many precious moments trying to fight him out and to brood over the incident-something which i would have spent more fruitfuilly preparing to welcome my child.
I am determined to not let this happen to someone else and I will fight it out to the best of my ability.
I will keep posting on this thread as things move.
Once again, i thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your kind words.
 
will filing in consumer court be enough? I think you need to intimate the police as well due to the goons sent to home angle. It may happen again.

regards
 
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