Hey! So in my last blog
I mentioned that I was busy getting my teeny new flat ready. And guess what?
Five months later it’s still not ready. Today I’m going to share my experience
with you regarding the entire rather convoluted process of getting the
possession of my flat to getting it ready- to- move in. I booked a flat in this society called
Antriksh Kanball 3G(where signals are erratic and wifi nonexistent ironically)
in Noida Sec-77 because it seemed like a good society which promised a club,
swimming pool and a host of other things. The possession letter I received in
Dec 2013 just before we were leaving for our vacation to Singapore. And every
time we inquired about the progress of the flat we were told it would take
another month to 15 days. Old story? Heard it before? Yeah. Finally in 2015 I
decided to approach them directly and see. Went to see the flats which were
almost complete. Almost. So I asked for possession. The marketing manager in
charge looked at me blankly and said: “Your
flat? But your husband was the one who came.” (Read- who the hell are you?) My
first hurdle. A woman owning property –an absolute no-no. And if I go into the
entire process of obtaining the keys of my flat it would take too long.
Needless to say it taught me a lesson I was doomed to repeat again and again-
to wait. Wait in the office to get an audience with the manager( Yeah
definitely royal touch there- you being a lowly customer and so and so) wait to
get your flat cleaned, bathroom fittings put in (the supervisor fell sick
repeatedly) and most importantly, getting the keys.( One would think I was
demanding illegal possession. Money paid in full and on time) Another few hours
of wait. Finally I hired a designer- Saanvi Decor.(My dream flat and all that
so why not go the whole hog?) Paid advance. And the designer cost me a sizeable
chunk of my savings. Took a month to complete. In that month I found myself
supervising the carpenters while the designer was totally absent from the scene
(both his mother and wife being
hospitalized) and the owner who had actually taken the contract unavailable.
Then came the problem of putting frosted glass in the cabinets wherein the guy
flatly denied having agreed to do it. A few arguments back and forth and
finally the flat was completed- me having spent my time supervising, haggling,
arguing and doing the work for which I was paying the designer. Whew!
In addition I incurred
the astronomical expense of an electrician because of a few concealed lights
which in the end did not end up
concealed. You laughing? Quite funny I agree. Only I didn’t think so because I
saw my life’s savings draining out and not receiving the service I was paying
for. Then I couldn’t find anyone ready to put up a couple of glass headboards
and a shower partition. The person I spoke to sent a guy who turned up in
another part of Antriksh called Forest. Reason? This society, being low end, (1
BHK) hasn’t the money to put up a hoarding( only a tiny sign- practically
invisible) outside telling people its name or maybe they are plainly ashamed of
what they’ve built and are building. In between I discovered there were no
roads, not even a leveled entrance to the flats, because agitating farmers
would not let laborers work. My blood ran cold. I had taken such care not to
invest my life’s savings in a disputed land. Was it disputed? An enquiry
elicited a vehement denial (Noida Authority and farmers at loggerheads not the society) but work did not
continue. After spending several abortive attempts waiting for the glass
supplier to turn up I finally found the only professional. For that reason
alone he merits a mention in this blog. Mr. Waseem from Super glass Sec-9 was a
pleasure to work with. A man who valued time, (he turned up before time), a man
who gave me everything in writing and never deviated from his word unlike
others, a man who took my money and gave me my money’s worth. A rare specimen
in India indeed. Because I found that watches are totally redundant here and
no-one values time. (They either have too much of it or too little).When they
say 12 they might mean any time between 12 in the noon to 12 at night. After
that I’ve learnt a big lesson – get a signed agreement for everything because
word of mouth is no longer good. You’re sure to get cheated. And today I’m
sitting in my new flat on the mattress because the bed hasn’t been delivered
yet though the advance was given 4 months back and order on 29th
April. I’ve finally canceled the order and now have to look for another
furniture supplier and it’s very likely I’m going to lose the advance I’ve paid
because the fellow is refusing a give a refund.
This new society does
not even have a sweeper or maid( my rubbish still parked near door after a
week)- at least I haven’t seen one around- and when I asked for one I was told
all of them had run away and could not be procured even on payment. I spent a
night in this concrete wilderness on the floor( because there’s no bed) and
realized this was my dream turned into a nightmare- where you pay but you don’t
get your money’s worth, where you are promised the moon and given the floor, where
you are cheated of everything you had- money, ideals, time, faith. A bitter
bitter lesson indeed. My reason for writing this? So that you don’t make the
mistakes I did. Invest in a society that is already developed. Check them out
thoroughly. Get everything but everything even the tiniest detail in writing or
use voice recording to record conversation- proof -because no-one is to be
trusted. Get ready to wait and have inexhaustible patience because in our
country no-one has any concept of time. I wonder why they wear watches. No
laborer works before 11 or 12 in the morning. Above all, do not expect any
professional behavior from anyone.
They have no idea what that word means. Salutory lessons indeed. And while you
digest these and avoid the trap I fell into, I’ll go bed hunting once again! And
oh this flat is still not registered because registrations are still not open here yet! In two years prices will go up. Yeah. More expense. Sigh! 
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