Woman cheated at Sim Lim Square

Lianhe Wanbao

A woman says she was cheated when she tried to buy a mobile phone at Sim Lim Square.

On 9 November, Mdm Kun Tong (age 60s), a Thai Chinese tourist, went to an electronics shop in Sim Lim Square to look at the iPhone 4S mobile phone.

She described what happened, "The shop assistant demonstrated the functions of the iPhone 4S to me. I was happy with it and asked him the price. He quoted $1,490 but I felt it was too expensive and quoted him $1,200 instead."

After the shop assistant accepted the price, Mdm Kun Tong handed the man her passport to help her process the Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption for the purchase.

While waiting, her husband suggested that she check her purchase. It was then that she found she was given a Samsung phone instead of the iPhone 4S.

Mdm Kun Tong immediately asked for a refund but the shop assistant refused and instead challenged her to bring him to court.

She called the police immediately, but police officers could do nothing to help her.

The shop assistant had apparently copied her details onto a receipt for a Samsung phone and insisted that she was purchasing the Samsung phone for $1,200.

Mdm Kun Tong shops in Singapore several times a year and often visits electronics shops in Sim Lim Square and Pearl's Centre in Chinatown.

She is outraged at the shop's claim and has made a complaint to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).

With the help of CASE, the shop eventually agreed to give her a refund, but insists on charging her $120 for a Goods and Service Tax (GST) processing fee.

Mdm Kun Tong refuses to pay the fee.

"The transaction did not go through, why should I pay a processing fee to them?" she asked, "They are trying to cheat me!"

She will also be writing to the Singapore Tourism Board and the Thai Embassy about the shop's unethical practices.