[ransom]

You may want to avoid this place called Asia Mobile House in Lucky Plaza Mall, Singapore. It would appear that the owner takes advantage of tourists who are there for a short stay. My friend told me that a classmate of his tried to buy a PSP from the store. After haggling for a while, he and the seller agreed on a selling price of Sing$300. So the guy hands over the cash, and the seller then suddenly asks, “Ok, so where is your Playstation?” The buyer was perplexed, but when he looked at his receipt, the item listed there was a memory card. Thinking there was a simple misunderstanding, the buyer says “I’m buying it from you remember?” The seller then says, “No, you asked for a memory stick for your PSP.” The buyer was initially more puzzled than mad, and tried to clear things up. But the seller insisted that he had bought a memory stick, not a PSP. The buyer saw the futility of arguing and called a policeman outside the mall. When the cop arrived, the seller gave him the spiel about the memory stick. When the cop asked to see the receipt, sure enough, the item listed is a memory stick, not a PSP. Since when does a MS cost Sing$300?! The cop then tells the buyer if he wants to file charges. Since the guy has only two more days in Singapore, this isn’t viable as it could take a long time for a hearing to be set. He demands that the cash simply be returned and they forget about the whole thing. The seller asks him to return the non-existent MS, which of course, he can’t. While they’re arguing, an Indian couple comes by, and seeing the cop in front of the store, report that the seller had done the exact same thing to them earlier in the day. But since they were leaving the following day, they couldn’t press charges either. Even with two complainants apparently, the cop still doesn’t have any ground to arrest the seller since it’s basically word-against-word without any physical evidence. Anyhow, to end things, neither buyer got his money back. When I told this story to another friend who’s a long-time resident of Singapore, he said this sorta scam is pulled quite often on tourists, not just in Lucky Plaza, but even in Sim Lim square. So be careful when buying stuff in those places guys.

[soloworx]

That's so low!

[jeroen]

You might want to email this to the Singapore police force crime watch:

spf_cid_cncc@spf.gov.sg


I know this one cop knows about the incident(s) but still, if the force knows maybe they will look into this matter more closely...

they listen to tourists, they keep Singapore wealthy

[gaol]

In the two times we've been there, we've been advised to avoid buying from Lucky Plaza. I didn't have a problem buying at Sim Lim Square and Funan IT Mall.

[lawrencebosox45]

8 lashings for the bast.ard!

[ransom]

^^^I think the complainant already alerted the central Singapore police office. I'm not sure what they can do about it without witnesses who can take the stand though. Apparently, the scam artists are careful to keep the amounts they swindel small enough so that the tourists would rather shrug off the loss than go through the trouble of filing charges and staying longer in Singapore.

[soloworx]

But SG$300 is not small at all!

[jeroen]

Originally Posted by ransom

^^^I think the complainant already alerted the central Singapore police office. I'm not sure what they can do about it without witnesses who can take the stand though. Apparently, the scam artists are careful to keep the amounts they swindel small enough so that the tourists would rather shrug off the loss than go through the trouble of filing charges and staying longer in Singapore.

They could hook up a "fake tourist" with a hidden camera and microphone to catch the bastard. Sellers like him do this on a weekly basis probably.

[QQQ-555]

This is really frustrating. I'm just glad that when we we're in Singapore, we were escorted by a friend who lives there so he was the one talking and haggling with the vendors. He also knows the current prices and even knows where the higher-rate foreign exchanges are.

One thing I had a hard time though, was talking to the vendors in english. I hardly understand a word they're saying.

I hope our fellow muggers won't get into that same foul predicament.

[chu]

It's so unfortunate. I personally find it stressful to buy from small stores in Singapore and HK and even New York, having been a victim of sleazy selling tactics and/or very rude behaviour. I even know of someone who was physically shoved out of a store in Sim Lim Square, Singapore when they said they were "just looking." So in many ways, the bad reputation of those shops are deserved.

What's sad is that there are actually some very good sellers that can really provide good deals and good service. The hard part is knowing the good ones from the bad when you're not from there.