Feedback on Interior design by Studiops, Noida

Worst at project execution; follows rigid process aimed to minimize their operation cost with zero customer sensitivity

Summary:

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Pros:

Design phase: This is the strong part of Studiops. They are very good in designing. Special mention to Yogesh and his team. Yogesh knows his craft well.

Cons:

1. Timeline: Work got completed in ~9 months (for a 3BHK flat of super area 1565 sqft having ZERO civil work). They don't care about client's timelines at all. They do things as per their convenience and process.

2. Lack of co-ordination: There was no coordination between the 3D design team and 2D design team because 2D designs were constructed fresh (with zero inputs from 3D design). Also the on-site team (actually working), factory team (providing goods) and office team (suppose to maintain the coordination) were not coordinated at all. No-one knew when a particular job will be picked for execution, when a particular material will come from factory etc.

3. Lack of transparency: At times, I felt they were not transparent enough in sense to tell you the true picture. At times, i tried reaching them on call/sms/whatapp but they didn't care to respond back. Felt the issue with other aspects too.

4. Cost effectiveness: I wouldn't say it was the most cost effective interior.

5. Professionalism: They claim to be professional (having delivered N sites) but when it comes to work and process, they are not much different from a local contractor.

6. No one to handle project execution: While Yogesh is responsible for Design (for all projects) and Shweta is responsible for handling finance (again for all projects) but when it comes to execution, there is no one single point of contact. You have site supervisor but even they don't have complete picture.

7. Active in tracking payment but not in work: So whenever any payment milestone is coming, you will get a reminder early and they ask to pay like ASAP but when you ask about work and timelines they don't respond at times.

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Detailed feedback:

This journey begin when we thought of having our own place, that we can call home. After that, we begin searching for a place which can suite our most of the requirements. After much deliberation and god's grace we finalize a place and got our first dream home in Dec 2024.

Naturally the next obvious thing was to get the interior done. We looked out for multiple vendors. Each one shared their own perspective, budgets, timeline etc. After a lot of deliberations, we decided to go ahead with STUDIOps, WA 16, Sector 135, Noida.

Before going into any details, let me share the feedback form which they ask to fill at the end of project completion:

Check the project start date ie 28th Dec and completion date ie ‘15th Sept’ (to be fair, we shifted on 25th Aug). So essentially to complete a 3BHK, 1565 sqr ft (super area) flat with ZERO civil work, it took them nearly 9 months (8 months and 28 days). 

My question: Does it seem acceptable to anyone? 

Forget about work details, individual processes and any other thing but is this really acceptable? Use your judgement and get the answer for yourself.

Now coming to feedback, a disclaimer here. This feedback is my personal opinion based on my experience with them. Also I will keep this feedback balanced ie I will highlight both negative and positive points too. This feedback is going to be a detailed one because I want you to see the pain which I went through using the snapshots of WhatsApp group which they create.

Positive things first: 

To start from beginning, we got reference of STUDIOps from one of our friends and I contacted them and done ‘registration’ on 14th Dec 2023. On 17/12/2023, we had our first design session and thereon we had multiple design discussions.

On 07/01/2024, we were ready with all work items and decided upon a tentative budget. I paid them advance as a token of deal finalization. Over coming days (14,15,16,18, 29th Jan 2024), I paid ~35% of total budget based on their request. 

PoP work started on 11th Feb which got finished on 29/03.

In the meantime, we were having design discussions and as a result our first draft of 2D was done on 04/03. Had further sessions to discuss laminates on 17/03 and team shared updated 2D design. Finally 3D render design was approved on 27/03.

First electrical design draft was shared on 30/03 and I reverted with feedback on 04/04. Last set of electrical design drafts were shared on 27/03 and were approved the same day.

So going by above description you would be wondering Everything seems to fantastic then why this guy is cribbing? Let me answer that question: To be honest, Studiops’s strength is the design phase which is headed by Mr. Yogesh. He is talented, experienced and knows his craft. So, our design journey was awesome. Whatever doubts we had, we use to get a prompt response. Whenever we requested for a session, it was scheduled as soon as possible. A lot of hit-and-trial were done to choose the best. So till this time I was very happy with their customer experience.

Then the problem started!

As mentioned, all electrical designs were finalized on 27/04 officially (unofficially these were approved before Eid which was on 11/04). Also our 3D render design was also finalized on 29/04 officially (unofficially this was finalized before 15/04 but there were some items which were added and I wanted to know the cost and then proceed. That budget discussion happened on 21/04 and then 3D was finalized). 

 

Issues to get electrical work started:

As you can see in above snapshot, our electrical designs were finalized on 27/04. Next step was to get the work started. Can you take a rough guess on how long did it take to start the electrical work? Let me show you:

    

   

So as shown above, after finalizing all electrical designs officially on 27/04, the electrical work started on 22/05 ie a gap of total 25 days.

Issues to get wood work 2D designs:

They suggested that once 3D render is finalized (which was on 27/04) we will share 2D for wood-work within 3-4 days. Forget about 3-4 days, we waited for more than a week to hear from end. When there was no correspondence from their end, I texted them, called them to understand when they are going to share the 2D? One week went by, then 10 days, then 15 days…I was repetitively trying to reach to them but no answer from their end (no call, no text from anyone). See below snapshots

       

As you can see, first set of wood work 2D designs were shared on 16/05, after a gap of 18 days. What I want to highlight is their customer sensitivity ie I literally begged them to provide current status and they didn’t bothered to pick a call or sent sms. Even after this gap, they shared 2D for study and guest only.

Last set of 2D designs were shared on 12/06 which were approved the same day.

   

What took so long for 2D design approvals?

Well, one of the issues that I identified was – these 2D designs were created afresh. I mean these 2D designs were like a normal copy past of other designs in their first draft. Let me elaborate:

While working on 3D flat design, I paid a lot of attention to internal of wardrobes. Though the designer said, the measurements will be taken in later part of the process, but I want to finalize the things from my end in one-go. So I told the exact number of partitions that I want, their measurements so that I wont have to revisit them. Given such efforts, I was hoping that 2D design phase wont take much long because I have provided a lot of info earlier. But to my dismay, first draft of 2D design didn’t have anything. Let me show you:

      

So I faced this double work situation more than once. First was for wardrobe (as shown above), then for master room mirror self and later for rounded corners of study table. Some of this discussion was through WhatsApp audio so I wont be able to show you all but some snapshots for your reference.

   

If you talk to Studiops team and they say that the delay was from my end, consider below points:

1. I mean think from your perspective, your work is getting delayed day-by-day, would you add any delay from your end intentionally?

2. This delay in getting approval for all wardrobes, study table rounded corner, master mirror shelf can easily be avoided had the wood work 2D designer had seen the 3D design on system.

Issues faced during wood work 2D design:

Apart from several minor issues, I faced one major issues which impacted our design. I don’t have any snapshots to show this because most of this discussion was through WhatsApp audio.

Study table top shelf issue: Before telling you the issue, let me ask you, if you see HL in a 2D design do you know what it means? No, idea, think harder. I am not sure about you but I didn’t know it. I first saw this in 2D design for kitchen loft. Any ideas after this hint?
No. Let me tell you it means Handle-less. During our 3D design phase, I mentioned this couple of times that I want study table top shelf to be handle-less. At that time I was told that this will come during handle discussion. So naturally during 2D design, I didn’t paid much attention because handle discussion will come later. But as the kitchen designs were shared (0n 03/06) having HL, I requested them to make study table top shelf also handle-less. Their answer no sir, it cant be done as the designs are already approved. 

While this is 100% correct (study room 2d design was finalized), I requested them to edit that given actual wood work hasn’t started but they were adamant (and this is where I said that they are too rigid in their process).

Do you know what makes this problem more worse? Even after this 2D design finalization, once the wooden carcass arrives to your site, it is then fixed to the well. Once done, shelf measurements are taken again. I asked them why these measurements are taken again and their response was – at times the dimensions might change based on actual wood work. I don’t have any issues with it but my point is, if this is the case, why study table top shelf cant be made handle-less during this phase.

Now you might think that the pain is over as I have all wood work 2D designs approved but trust me, it was just the beginning of the horrors that was about to unfold. Without me telling you anything, see below snapshots and experience first hand what trauma I went through:

   

 

   

Above snapshots are from the main group that Studiops team creates and all communication happens over it. As you can see time and again I have to follow up with them about when the wood work is coming to the flat and see their response. Most of the time they didn’t responded and other times when they did, it was a generic response like we will let you know shortly.

Now you can better understand my situation. I am approaching near the June end and I don’t have anything. In desperation I tried reaching out to everyone at Studiops and none of the answered in any way. Lastly Mr. Yogesh suggested to create a separate group having core members only (Yogesh, Shweta, My wife and myself) in order to get response.

So I created a new group on 20/06 and posted my queries as shown below:

 

   

And to my dismay, still the same situation. That is, I posted queries in this new group and none of them (Yogesh or Shweta) responded. Lastly having no alternative, I had to visit the sacred Studiops TEMPLE (on 25/06) and ask them myself about the situation.

Do you know what the worst part was? Though Yogesh asked me to create this group but Shweta DID NOT SAW ANY MESSAGES IN THE GROUP. More worse, SHE DID NOT KNEW THAT ANY SUCH GROUP EXISTS. 

During my visit on 25/06, Yogesh promised me to take corrective actions and fast track work on my site.

When Yogesh told Shweta about this group and my meeting (she was in the office while I paid visit but she didn’t even talked to me). Later see the further updates on the group:

            

I cant even put my feelings into words but you can understand my situation.

Below are some noteworthy points during this execution phase:

1. See the kind of language that she is using now and compare it with the initial messages. Realize that hard tone she is using because at this point she know I don’t have any other option. I am stuck with studiops and now I have to play by their rules. And make no mistake this is their game and they can bend the rules any time they want and you cant do anything about it.

2. In the starting they claimed that they are professional and have completed N sites. My point is: where is your experience? 

See once 2D are finalized everything is in your hands, placing orders, speed of wood work in factory, getting wood work from factory to site, getting work done on site, speed of work done on site (you can increase/decrease your labour) and so-on. Client does not have say or control whatsoever. Given this, how come you are not able to commit a project completion date? And how dare you say that you can’t tell the project completion date.

Consider the ripple effect here. Once she gives me a date, I need to tell my existing landlord that I will vacate the flat by so-and-so date. Based on that he will lookup for tenants and will also commit a date by which new tenants can move-in.

Now what should I tell him? Should I say that my interior designer is not sharing any date, so I cant tell you by when I will vacate your flat. Try to understand my situation.

3. [Will cover this point in detail later on]: Money minded-ness: After I created the group, there was no response at all but when I got the response, the next day, I was requested for payment. See I don’t have any problem as I have to pay the money anyways but what my problem is timings and their attitude. When you are at fault, the general tendency is to first fix the problem and then put your perspective. Here what I see is – they don’t consider this delay as the problem at all rather they are back to their money concern.

4. Time taken to create goods in factory: So once 2D design reaches to factory it takes them 20-25 days to prepare the goods. My point was – why such a long time. For that their response was – they don’t use prelaminated wood rather they create that. Cutting and pasting it takes time.

While this point is good from quality point of view, my point was – since all carcuss (for every wardrobe, pelment, lcd panel etc) is to be created using same sheet that you are going to create, and given you have a rough (I can say exact here) idea of total square feet of wood will be needed in my flat (because based on this only you have given me a budget), so my lame question is – given my work is getting delayed at every stage, why you didn’t started creating this sheet as soon as you shared the first 2D. This will give you a jump start so that once a 2D design has been approved, you can fabricate it in very small time. Hence this waiting time of 20-25 days can be greatly optimized.

This is why I said that their processes and work are not sensitive towards client timeline rather they are based on how to optimize their cost of operation.

5. Lack of coordination (I can even say no coordination) between the team at site vs team at studiops office

Prominent issues: I can understand that during execution of such projects, it is natural to have issues. I get that. What I dont agree to is - if error is from client's end then he has to PAY for it but if it is from STUDIOps end, then they are sorry.

Below are some prominent issues that I faced while working with them:

Pelment issue: This issue highlights their process and how honest they are with the clients. 

So on 4th July, they shared pelmet laminte designs for master and living room and we were fine with the suggestion hence approved it the next morning. For master it was sea pearl and for living it was frosty white. Fast forward, given work on was on-going and I could see the actual lamintes. So on July 25th, I realized that frosty white in living may not look good so I requested the team to have same laminate ie sea pearl in both living and master room (pay attention to the fact that I am not requesting something new here..the laminate is already chosen for one of the room. I simply want the same for living room as well).

On same day, I got response back in voice note that both laminates has already been procured. They just haven’t shipped to the flat fearing they might break. But they have been procured and are there in factory.

Even after this note, I called the team and requested them if they can use the frosty white one somewhere else and procure sea pearl for living room too. But they straight denied saying that laminates have already been procured. Fine, can’t do anything now.

   

Now this is the interesting part. On July 30th, they returned saying (via voice note) that they checked the factory today and realized that sea pearl is not there and now they want me choose some other laminate instead. See the snapshots below.

Now I got furious (at my end only) and below questions come to me:

1. Very first question, how could this be? Remember 5 days back when I requested them to change the other laminate, they straight away denied to my face saying laminates have been procured. So if they were procured earlier (and were lying at factory)  then what happened? Only logical explanation is that they were lying the first time.

2. This also shows their customer sensitivity and their honesty. Lets say even if they procured it in the first place, but when client request for a change, can’t they honestly check if it can be done or not? Atleast they should have explored the possibility of it. But no, they were like  you approved it and we have procured it. Nothing can be done now, Period.

3. See the way how they react when they are at fault. So in this situation the team is at fault, rather than being sorry about it (and try to make up for it), they are like sir ye laminate ab available nai hai, please choose some other laminate. Had this be other way around, and I would have insisted on changing some pre-selected laminate, they would have charged me decently. So the attitude is, sir agar aapse galti hui to you have to pay for it, agar humse hui to it is a human error (forget about any discount or anything not even sorry).

Now just to be fair,  in the end, team arranged for some other laminate which we had to agree (but was better than frosty white).

 

Bedback fabric issue:

Another classic case which has to do with their processes. 

So the scenario here was – we visited the office for selection of laminates, fabrics among other things on July 17th. Things got finalized and as a confirmation, they shared back the fabric/laminate on July 17th. Everything fine so far.

Now one month after ie Aug 17th , they returns back saying fabric selected by you is not available, please choose alternative. How should I describe my feelings in words ☹
Had a lot of questions on my mind prominent beings:

1. If the item was finalized on July 17th, why the availability was not checked the next day (or near that date). What is your process here? If this is as part of your process, then what is the point of getting approval before hand (since you place orders as per need and not in advance)?

2. Again, see the customer sensitivity. So they are not fault here (returning back after one month), naturally they should feel sorry but see the message. Do you find any sorry in their message?

3. They say that interior designing in an experience. So as part of experience, you selected something which will add vibe to your home. If they would confirmed the availability early, we would have lesser problems in selecting alternative. But given a long time has pass by, now its difficult to remove that color/fabric from the mind. So isn’t it impacting the overall experience?

4. Consider this situation from a different perspective – So we selected fabric on July 17th and sometimes later we change our mind and say that we don’t want that fabric anymore and we want to change. What would be their reaction? I am keeping this an open question.

So you see, though it seem to be a small issue, but if you check closely, it highlights the point that it is not human error. Rather it is how they operate.

   

Washroom vanity design:

Issue here was – we (us and design team) took a lot of time to finalize the washroom vanity teams. Based on color them and use-case of each room we finalized different designs for each of them during design phase.

 Problem here is during 2D design phase, we were told that whatever designs we have finalized cant be created. Why? They told sir washroom vanity are created using WPC and in WPC curving (bending around edges) is not possible.

Now I have a point here - You said that you are a professional. This means that you must have finished a lot of projects. Then it’s a basic knowledge that washroom vanities are created out of WPC. Then how come you/team forgot this. And mind it, it is not like in one discussion we finalized the designs. It took several days to finalize this. Hence it is very difficult to accept that you forgot this aspect. Something fishy here!

Counter top height issue:

In our living area, we had a counter top (similar to bar counter theme) and below it there was space for a high rise chair. This was clearly mentioned in 3D design. Also there was a provision for an electrical board beneath it for which the drilling was already done considering height of counter top. Now my question to you is – what should be height of this counter top?
My answer would be – how would I know. I know it is like a bar counter and should be able to accommodate a high rise chair. During 2D design phase, I overlooked this aspect ie how much is the height rather I focussed on drawers on left side.

Now when the actual material came, its height was like a regular table top. See the screenshots:

So I requested them to change it. As expected they said this would cost extra.

Now my concern, it is not something new which I am requesting. It is already there in 3D design, electrical board is drilled as per this. Now the mistake happened with 2D team that they didn’t coordinated with the 3D design team. So why I am being charged extra for it.

Lastly, given their charges (wont disclose the amount) and their extra ordinary work speed (😊), I decided not to go for it. So see the impact on overall experience which we got

From stock:

You will get to hear this word for some of the items from the very beginning. Now, me being novice to designer world, had no idea about what it actually means. Whene this word was told to us (in some context), we were told that these goods/items are from other projects and are based on actual client selection. I am not sure if there are more than one interpretations for it or not, but to me, it felt like I would be given a lot of choices (read good choices because these are from other clients) but to my surprise this was not the case.

For example, we had to get tiling done on of the walls of utility balcony and to my surprise there was ONLY ONE option for tile and that’s it. Now this is a bit difficult to digest. Similarly for a counter top, there were only three options.

 

So now what I understand is, from stock literally means backa kucha ie whatever is being left from other projects.

Difference between NET and GROSS:

So the question here is what is the difference between NET and GROSS? And you might say why we have suddenly changed topic from interior design to Economics (I know what is Gross domestic product and net domestic product).

The answer is – this distinction “cost-ed” me. Let me try to explain it.

So I wanted to have a front door from them but given their work speed and my continuous stress (among other things), I decided not to get the front door. Now if you are concerned about the timings let me tell you this decision was conveyed to them on July 17th. Till this point there was nothing wrt to this gate ie no laminate were choose, no wood work related to it was in my flat. So even though I don’t expect any loss to them still I suggested that in case they have procured the board, then can send that to my flat and deduct amount for it.  So I don’t expect a loss at their end.

Things were fine a this point and they agreed to deduce this whole amount of gate at that point.

Now when this project was delivered, my wife requested for full and final calculations then they raised this point. Point was – see the screenshots.

s       

So there are two interpretations here:

1. If this door was not part of the package then entire amount will be reimbursed.

2. If this door is part of the package, then not entire amount but net amount will be reimbursed.

Now this I can’t digest. My point is – if there is no loss at your end (in sense you haven’t procured anything) then why I am being subjected to this.

Bigger question for me – could I have done something in it? 

Answer is no. As I said, I am playing a rigged game from the beginning. Its rule are set or bent by them at any point of time and I can’t do anything about it. So be mindful.

Above was a very short list of issues that I encountered. More than the issues, the important thing was the stress I went through. What should have been an enjoyable journey was full of stress, tension, regular follow-ups which impacted not only my personal but professional life too. 

Important note:

If you talk to them then they might say that work was delayed by a month (or more) from my end then let me tell you full context to it.

As per payment plan they need 50% near design finalization. I have already paid them ~35% in Jan 2024 itself.

During starting of march, as the financial year was closing, due to capital gains tax, I thought of waiting for selling shares to fund this project. I conveyed this thought to Shweta and requested her to continue with logical work (like design finalization, 3D rendering, 2D works etc) and requested to pay the balance amount in April starting. And I was true to my word see below snapshot:

So this is what they might suggest saying that work got delayed by a month from client's end. Remember it took them ~9 months to complete this project.

Now even after reading this feedback, you decide to go with them (could be any reason), then following are some guidelines I have for you:

1. Legal agreement: I was not aware about it at the time of starting my project. Later I came to know that like rent agreement you can get an agreement done for your interior work. This agreement should clearly mention:

1. Target date of completion and total cost of project. 

2. Provisions for late delivery of project: Lets say after the projected delivery date you take a buffer of say 10 days. Now post that 10 days, your should penalize them (may be per day or per week) based on your actual rent of current house. Logic is – if the project gets delayed you will be living in your current rented accommodation which will incur you rent. Why you should pay for it? Let them pay for it.

3. Provisions for penalty on mistakes on their part.

2. Ask about their expectation in 2D design process ie how much time they will take to share all 2D designs and more importantly how much time you should take as per them? Otherwise at the end, they will shift the blame on you saying sir, work is getting delayed because we are not getting design approval from your end on time.

3. During budget preparation, request them to mention cost of all items separately. In our case, we went with wholesome budget without any breakup. Problem we faced was – lets say we don’t want something that we agreed initially or we want something which is present in one room in other room too. In such cases, having per items cost helps you in gauzing the cost. Also get clarity on NET vs GROSS costing :)

4. Follow their whatsapp whatsapp game. That is, if you have any query don’t talk about it just send on whatsapp because later on they will ask for proof. Trust me I have faced this several times.

All the very best!