Feedback on Asian Paint Home Solutions. Review on Beautiful Homes Service

Update after two years of painting:

25th Sep 2016: In all the false ceiling areas the paint has bubbled out and there seems to be some biological growth. We made a complaint. The person who came first tried to argue that there are water pipes running under the false ceiling hence this problem because of leakage. When we told him that there are no pipelines he took a meter and showed that surface is damped. Can you believe at what Rh percentage he claimed that the surface is humid? 12%! This person kept arguing that 12% is high humidity and because of this there is this bubbling problem. I showed him kitchen wall were there is high humidity and it showed more than 80%, still he kept arguing that it is because of high humidity in false ceiling that we have problem. I asked him to give me in writing that paints of Asian Paints get damaged at 12% humidity. Then he called his technical expert and now the expert will come tomorrow. Overall, Asin Paints will find problem in all other things first and try to fool us. Let us see what the technical person has to say.

Old post:

I am writing a review of Asian Paints Home Solutions and not the products of Asian Paints. I am getting my flat repainted and the paining started on 30th June. I though of taking services of Asian Paints Home Solution thinking that I will get original material, professional service and quality. However, I came across these bad reviews on Mouthshut and was not sure if I should take their services. I still finalized them and got the work started on a very good feedback from one of the flat owners who got the flat painted by them few months back. It is only three days into the work and the troubles have started. Here are the problems I am facing:

1.There is hardly any proper handover from the SA(Sales Associate) to RA(Relationship Associate). The SA showed the flat to the RA once the work started. RA did not take a proper look of the flat and went back with the RA and did not come even next day. When I called SA that RA is not taking any charge of the work, RA arrived. I asked RA to give his plan then he gave me a schedule(this should have been given before the start of the work). The schedule gave the finishing date of 23rd July as compared to 14th July(given verbally before the start of the work). Now SA claims that they gave 14th as the end date for job without considering the polishing of woodwork(my complete work includes  wall painting, wood polishing and painting of grills). Their delay tactics have started. They don’t give things in writing and once you make the payment things will change.

2.The colour consultant visited the site and gave his recommendations on a piece of paper. The SA wrote the colour codes on each wall. The painter is supposed to copy the codes from the wall and get the mixed color from the shop. In this whole process one code number got changed. I was lucky, I cross checked the code written by the painter when he was going to purchase the paint and I fixed it. The whole system looks primitive. RA is not taking charge of the site and I have to do the supervision.

3.Initially, I was told that I will get free “colour consultancy” because of the size of work. However, it is not that straight forward. First I have to pay the consultancy charges separately(even when I have paid an advance of Rs. 30K towards the painting), then the consultant will come and give his advice. Now I can deduct this fee from the final payment I make to Asian Paints Home Solution people. The sheer number of people involved in this whole process and the inflexibility in the process is strange.

4.The colour constant’s job is over and will not visit the site again and thus will have no idea about his recommendations. So there is no feedback to him regarding how the interiors look like after the work is done, were the shades selected and applied as per the recommendation. Also the way the whole ‘prescription’ is prepared there are chances of error. One of the things is that it is only mentioned what should be the colour on the ‘feature’ wall but which wall is the feature wall is not mentioned!

1. One of the things I liked about Asian paints is that the paint is mixed automatically by a machine and in case of any rework requirement in the future I can get the same shade by giving the colour code. To my horror, when the paint arrived today it consisted of white base paint buckets and ‘colours’ in small plastic packets with ‘Dulux’ stickers mentioning the colour code. I was told that there was no electricity in the shop so the painter will prepare the shade manually at the site. I seriously doubt if I have got the right quantity and quality material. How do I ensure that I am getting right Royal Luxury and Royal Aspira as promised? Also how do I know that the shade is correct. The shade card is with the RA and SA was not carrying the card. When I asked if I can keep a shade card for few days to ensure that the shades are fine and also select curtains and upholstery, I was told that they don’t have spare shade cards. When I requested, I was lucky to get it for a couple of days. I think as a part of the process the company should give shade card at-least till the end of the project. 6.     When I am pointing out mistakes in the work, the blame is very simple – “this was done by the previous painter, we are not responsible”. So be careful, if it is repainting, all the shortcomings will be attributed to the previous work!

   
   




2. The SA has no knowledge of the polish work. I selected ‘Aquadur PU’ for the polishing work because it is a green product and will not smell. At the time of placing the order I was told that it will be sprayed and will give some smell. As it will be sprayed, the painting will take more time as no work can be done when it is being sprayed. I was also told that there is an option of hand polishing and it will be cheaper. I opted for spray. Now when the polish person inspects the site, he says this is only done by hand and cannot be sprayed. I checked the Asian Paint website and found “Aquadur can be applied with a brush and roller, making it far easier to apply than conventional PU, which is always spray painted”. So overall, the SA, RA and painter are all ignorant about the polish work and keep changing the duration of the whole project and scheduling.  Further, they charged me extra for spraying it when actually it is going to be applied by hand.

   
   




3. One has to be extremely careful in ensuring every area has been included in the quote. I told that SA that it is his responsibility to check the flat completely to estimate all the works and include in the quote because I don’t want any surprises in the end that what is included and what is not included. When the work started, I saw that the iron angles holding the washbasins have rusted and would need to be painted. This was not included in the original estimate. Now, the painter says that he will charge for this separately. I am surprised, for an order of 1.2L even a few angles will be charged separately!

   
   




4. I had requested that the doors should have different colours on the two faces. On the front face of the doors which are opening in the hall the colour should match the wall colour of the hall and the rear face should have the matching colour of the room.  SA told that it will be done. However, when the colour consultant came he said that it is not possible. He called some senior person and he told me that all the paints come mixed with colours from the company. The minimum size of a pain box is good for 120 sft, so I have to pay for minimum 120 sft for each extra shade I need. This means for one door face which is hardly 20 sft, I have to pay for 120 sft. Now, practically, I am seeing that the colours are being mixed on site and the painter says that he can accommodate my request. So is it a trick by Asian Paints Home Solutions to get more money out from the customer?

   
   

The following things I liked about Asian Paint Home Solutions:

1. The work started on the promised day.

   
   




2. The masking and ‘cling wrap’ is done very nicely, but we have to supervise otherwise they will try to take shortcuts.

   
   




3. Sanding is done by a machine and  I am assuming this is faster and better.

   
   




4. The measurements were done professionally with electronic instrument. There was no rounding ‘up’ to next feet and other rough calculation done by normal vendors to increase the area.

   
   

Overall my feeling so far is that I am paying too much to Asian Paints Home Solutions and I have to monitor the work. It would be better to take a local painter and get the work done in half the cost.

I have uploaded two pictures showing the cling wrap sheet and paint packets etc. Here is the final update on 26 July 2014:

1. New contractor was appointed. These people are much better than previous. The unit head is very cooperative and getting things fixed. One of the problems noticed in the previous work was that the paint was bubbling out. We are told that it is defect in the acrylic putty. They have repainted the 5 walls done previously by the first contractor. Though acrylic putty is better as it bonds well with the previously painted walls. But as there is a manufacturing defect they went ahead with the regular putty. I am told that this will also work as good. While selling their products they talk high of their material and charge more but practically, atleast for us, we got a regular product at high prices. However, I appreciate that the unit head intervened and got the rework done.

   
   




2. VERY IMPORTANT: Never get the PU Palette work in an occupied house. The smell of the paint and other chemicals is horrible. Even our two neighbors were extremely disturbed. Further, as the site environment is not clean, the dust goes and settles on the freshly painted surface. Also the metallic finishes are not what we expected. Total disappointment.

   
   




3. I would say the biggest disappointment was the stucco marble finish. The design they made on the wall is nowhere close to marble. The reasons given are: the design will vary from painter to painter, the photograph shown in the catalog is not real but computer generated so we cannot make something like that, the sample given in the catalog is of a small area so it does not give the full picture, etc etc. Overall they can sell an orange and call it mango by showing a small yellow patch of both of them and show that they are matching. We were told that marble stucco finish is one of the very popular finishes and we wanted to see one before finalizing. They could not show any site to us.  Their technical head has approved the work that it is as per their specs and the photos have been send to the unit head also. They all feel that this is marble finish and I totally disagree.

   
   




4. We have to change the stencil because we are not happy with the original design. Now they are telling us that they have run out of stencil catalogs from where we can select the other options!

   
   

Final analysis:

1. They will take all advances and then keep experimenting on you till you get tired or convinced.

   
   




2. The products are defective and they will replace with cheaper alternatives,

   
   




3. The will not leave shade cards and catalogues with you so you have no chance of comparing the output with what you selected. Next answer can be that catalogues are finished.  After you argue more you will be told that there is variation from person to person. And the final trump card is that the pictures in the catalogue are computer generated and we cannot do like that. So they can justify whatever they like and claim that it is as per what you asked.

   
   




4. Don’t believe when you are told that there will be a little bit of ‘smoke’ when PU palette work is done. It is a hell when they do this work.

   
   




5. They don’t show you any sample shade on the wall because they say that minimum 1L paint has to be purchased for each shade. So you get some shade, which is not close to the sample shown in the catalogue. After this, logics such as lighting in the room, reflections from other furnishings, poor wall properties come into picture because of which the shade is not as per what was shown!

   
   




6. I went to an Asian Paint shop and saw two samples – One of Aspira and another of Royal. The Aspira had a much smoother finish than Royal. In my house I have both Aspira and Royal and I did not notice much difference in finish. When I asked the reason I was told that they samples in the shop are on wooden base and hence so much of difference, on real walls there is not much difference. I call that cheating. I am wondering if I can take them to consumer court for this?

   
   




7. When I was asked to make the final payment, I was not reminded of the adjustment that needs to be done regarding the Rs. 1500 I paid to the colour consultant. While preparing the cheque I saw a payment of Rs. 1500 that I made to Asian Paints. That reminded me that I need to deduct this from the final payment. After some “discussions” it was done. So their process is so screwed that whatever goes wrong they are the winners. Probably it is designed to achieve this.

   
   




8. During the works there was some change in specs(metallic PU instead of normal PU). Because of this change the total bill went up. When I asked for the discount on this excess charge based on the discount that I was offered at the beginning, I was told that that offer expired on 30th June and I cannot avail that discount now! I was told everything is computerized and nothing can be done. When my work started they told me that if I start the work before 30th June, the discount will be applicable on the total bill and now I was hearing something different. After a lot of ‘discussion’ they offered me the discount. How could they override the computer? I guess Asian Paint people are “smarter than computers”

   
   

Overall the company has several marketing tricks and strong branding to charge you more and deliver less than what a regular contractor can deliver. Though the service offered by the unit head, new contractor and RA(This is his first site since he joined the company) are very good and they are very helpful but this is after lots of hassles that I had to go through. They did their best in the given circumstances.  There are several things which are beyond their control and I would blame Asian Paints for this such substandard putty, fake pictures of the Stucco finishes, poor techniques and training to painters, complex processes, no possibility of showing real size samples on the site, false promises regarding the problems that PU paint will create on site, fake sample pieces in the shops and so on.

My work is still going on and it will take 3-4 more days. So it will be more than a month for painting and a little polishing in a 3 BHK! Please go ahead with Asian Paints Home Solutions at your risk. Good Luck.