Sick of harassing calls, homeowner gets revenge on pushy renovators

A new homeowner who was sick of the constant sales calls from renovators eager to remodel his apartment invited them to stop by to name their price – all at once.

The mastermind, surnamed Liu, had confirmed 16 companies to visit for estimates – without mentioning they’d be competing for his business at the same time.

Around 40 people packed in the Chengdu apartment on Friday, all trying to measure the layout and calculate their bids without bumping into one another, video posted to Sina Weibo shows.

“We arrived around 2 pm, and we were already the third company to meet with him,” said a Chengdu renovator surnamed Zhou.

“I only stayed for thirty minutes,” said another surnamed Xia, “We couldn’t even walk, let alone make a deal.”

Liu, who works in Beijing, said he had bought the apartment back in 2016 with no plans to renovate in the immediate future.

However, he said companies kept pestering him about his newly-purchased flat.

When he finally decided to come to Chengdu, he announced his arrival time and posted his phone number to WeChat.

“I even got over 20 calls one day before I arrived in Chengdu,” said Liu.

Liu said he wasn’t expecting so many people.

“I couldn’t stay long in Chengdu and I didn’t know much about the market,” Liu explained, “So I thought I’d just meet them all and choose the best one.”

Some designers were frustrated over what they felt was unfair treatment.

“We arrived to negotiate, but it turned out to be a joke,” one renovator posted on Weibo.

“He let every company come up with a free plan for him,” wrote another. “That is unacceptable.”

Liu said he settled on a company who would start the project around the Spring Festival holiday.