In the meantime, Starhub didn’t pay a cent for all that free product placement. Bast*rds.
Police were called in over a dispute at Sim Lim Square on 28 Oct, after a woman tried to get a refund for the S$3,000 iPhone 6 Plus she had purchased earlier.
The incident took place at Mobile Air, at around 2pm.
A store employee stopped reporters from entering the shop when they arrived at the scene. However, they saw two women counting out various coins at the counter.
One woman, Chinese national Miss Zhou, told reporters that she was in Singapore for a holiday.
On 24th September, she purchased an iPhone 6 Plus from Mobile Air for S$3,000, together with her aunt who is a resident in Singapore.
“They asked for a price of S$1,800. Once I signed the bill, they immediately asked for an additional $2,400 and said it was for two years of insurance,” said Miss Zhou.
After a brief dispute and much haggling, they came to a compromise and the S$3,000 transaction was made.
The following day, Miss Zhou made a complaint at the Consumers Association Of Singapore (CASE).
On 27th September, the Small Claims Tribunal ruled that Mobile Air had to refund Miss Zhou $1,000 as compensation, in addition to administrative fees of $10 collected by the Court.
There have been seven attempts since September in getting the refund, but the shop’s owner ONLY gave Miss Zhou S$1,010 back on Oct 28.
This was as Miss Zhou had been overseas and the shop assistants refused to let her aunt collect the money on her behalf, despite a Power of attorney.
Miss Zhou returned and went back to the shop for her refund with her aunt on 28th October.
There, they were presented with a huge bag of coins — including one-cents and five-cents.
Miss Zhou said that the shop assistants threw the bag of coins on the floor and told her to count them. She said the five men also taunted and made fun of her.
She apparently spent four hours counting the money after calling the police. A spokesperson confirmed that a dispute had broken out but no further assistance was required.
The shop owner only got worried when journalists arrived at the scene.
He told the women that he would replace the one-cent and five-cent coins in cash, as well as help them count the amount, if they got rid of the reporters.
He eventually returned them S$463 in cash.
Miss Zhou said she now has 18kg of coins in a bag. She went to a bank, but its staff were unwilling to change them into notes.
