Once we were invited to a friend’s housewarming party. The young couple was pleased to show us around. We were impressed by the great efforts they made to decorate their new home. Suddenly, the wife lamented that they were upset about the agent who sold them the flat and the contractor who renovated it. After she finished her stories, the husband shook his head and added, “Do you know that, from the time we started planning our wedding, to buying this place, doing renovation, and finally moving in, almost every service we engaged we found ourselves being cheated every step of the way?” We all burst out laughing. We were not mocking the poor couple. We laughed because what they just said had struck a chord with us. We all shared similar experiences. CASE (Consumers Association of Singapore) received 15,744 complaints in 2017. The top three complaints are about motorcars (15 percent), beauty services (9 percent) and contractors (8 percent). The findings are not surprising....