Yes that's true, but there were two things that this particular
shop did that takes nastiness to the next level. Firstly, Mobile Air
(the shop in question) refunded a Chinese tourist in coins worth
RM2,611. That's not cool.
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A woman who bought an over-priced phone at Sim Lim Square
demanded a refund and was given a bag full of $1,010 coins. The incident
happened on Tuesday afternoon, at 2pm. The woman, who is known as Miss
Zhou, had bought an iPhone 6 Plus for $1,600. Later on, she was shocked
to find out that the shop demanded that she pay another $2,400 for two
years of insurance.
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Subsequently, the shop was only willing to give her a
$1,000 refund. Miss Zhou decided to go to the Small Claims Tribunal, who
then ordered the shop to refund Miss Zhou of $1,010. However, when Miss
Zhou went to collect her refund, she was given the money in a bag full
of coins. Later, the bag was thrown onto the floor. It was not known who
did it. While Miss Zhou was picking up her coins, the shop staff
embarrassed her by making nasty remarks against her.
That's not all. A few days later, the infamous shop made
headlines again after a Vietnamese tourist had to beg on his knees for a
refund on an iPhone 6 that he bought. It took him a few months to save
the money but the staff just laughed at him.
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A Vietnamese tourist walked away from Sim Lim Square poorer
by two months' salary, and without the iPhone 6 he had hoped to get for
his girlfriend. The incident is the latest dispute involving a mobile
phone shop that made headlines earlier after it reportedly refunded a
customer in coins. Mr Pham Van Thoai, a factory worker, was so desperate
he knelt down to beg the shop employees to return his hard-earned cash,
but only got refunded less than half of what he paid.
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"I'm only a factory worker, earning about $200 a month,
$950 is a few months' pay. It's a large sum for me, I'm really very
sad," he said. He had been asked to sign an agreement, but did not
scrutinise it as his English was not fluent, and he thought Singapore
was a safe place to shop. "When they asked me if I wanted one year or
two years' warranty, I assumed that the one-year warranty was
complimentary, so I said one year. He didn't say I have to pay," he told
Zaobao. He was told that if he did not pay up for the warranty, he
could not leave without the phone. Mr Pham said he knelt down and begged
for his money back, but they just laughed at him.
Well, there had been complaints against Mobile Air. In fact, they
are the champions in the "Most Complaints List" with 11 complaints.
That's just from June to August 2014. The shop has already been
operating for at least two years.
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A quick search online showed that Mobile Air has faced
numerous complaints, both locally and overseas. In fact, a brochure at
the Sim Lim Square also warned consumers about patronising Mobile Air.
Over the third quarter of the year, Mobile Air received the most
complaints at Sim Lim Square, with 11 complaints over June to August
this year.
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It is understood that Mobile Air has been operating for at
least two years now. It is unsure why the authorities have yet to take
any affirmative action against the shop.
Although there have been reports made to CASE (Consumers
Association Of Singapore), it seems that no one there has done anything
about it. So to dish out some social justice, a Singaporean Facebook
page decided to step up.
It all started with popular satire page "SMRT Ltd (Feedback)"
asking for 1,010 'likes' (in reference to the 1,010 worth of Singaporean
dollars refunded in coins) to launch an operation. It garnered over
9,000 likes.
After garnering much support, they launched #OpsAirKangkang, a
campaign to serve much needed justice to Mobile Air. Firstly, they asked
for information on the shop owners. It was revealed that the owner of
the shop is a man named Jover Chew.
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Many netizens had commented on the fact that the
authorities should do something to shut down such errant businesses and
now, netizens are taking matters into their own hands. One popular
satire facebook page, SMRT Ltd (Feedback), has launched #OpsAirKangkang,
a campaign to serve “social justice” to Mobile Air for repeatedly
scamming customers and not caring.
After more investigations, they found Jover's wife's shop.
Although she denied any business relations with Jover, it was countered
with evidence showing that the shop was registered under Jover Chew.
Chill out man. #OpsAirKangkang was a success. So much so that
Jover's wife and his mother-in-law begged the page to stop the operation
At the end, SMRT Ltd (Feedback) requested for the shop to not
only reimburse the Vietnamese tourist the rest of the money but to also
top up 1,500 Singaporean dollars as an insurance that they'll never
cheat anyone again
"Wow. That's some top notch stuff! But isn't this going overboard? I get it but a bit too much, kan? Right?"
Well, reactions online has mostly been positive. Many are lauding the move and said that the shop "deserved it".
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Some Singaporeans even set up an Indiegogo page to crowdfund the Vietnamese tourist an iPhone 6. That page as of this time of writing has accumulated 3,407 US dollars
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A Singaporean, Gabriel Kang, has turned to crowdfunding
site Indiegogo to raise at least US$1,000 (S$1,250) to buy an iPhone 6
for the Vietnamese tourist who got scammed at Sim Lim Square.
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Kang, who works in a local tech start-up, said he hopes the
community can get together to raise the money but would personally top
up the amount if it fails to meet the target and ensures full
transparency of how funds are used. From the Indiegogo campaign: “We
need to raise at least USD$1,000, but hopefully we would raise a bit
more to cover express shipping and pay for a goodie bag to help
alleviate their suffering. But if we do fall short, I will personally
cover the rest.” Besides buying an iPhone 6, Kang would also like to
send some uniquely Singaporean gifts such as bak kwa and kaya jam to the
Vietnamese tourist named Pham Van Thoai. The Indiegogo fundraising
started on Nov. 04 and will close on Nov. 12.
Source: 
straitstimes.com / Says.com
