Conned

So a colleague of mine from China came for a business trip to Singapore. Being a gracious host, I volunteered to show him around Singapore. Like every tourist that visits a new place, he wanted to go shopping and he wanted to buy the HTC Desire.

Being the law abiding citizens that we generally are, I took him to the known and trusted electronics mall in Singapore. The prices there, were obviously high and he wanted to look for something cheap. So we went to another mall. And that is where our ordeal started.

Don’t wanna narrate the entire incident. But it sure was nasty. I have never in my life heard racial slurs (on my face!) about me and my country. I have been mistaken to be a Mexican and an Iranian before. This time I got cursed for being a Bangladeshi (yeah so I didn’t feel that bad). The shop keepers were two heavily built tattooed men with tattoos all over their body including their face. After having treating me that way and intimidating me, I walked out of the shop. But my colleague persisted. While waiting for him outside, I casually typed the shop’s name on Google, in my phone. To my horror, I read this, this and this.

Not only have they been treating their customers very very bad, but they also have been conning them for more than a year. The oldest complaint about them being in May 2009. Its ironic that they still follow the exact same tactic to fool their customers.

After reading the three stories, I decided to brave it out and join my colleague inside. I had to get him outta there. I could read the shop attendants like a movie script now. They did exactly the same set of things that other people on those forums have mentioned. To explain a story in short, my colleague was being “forced” to buy a phone that they earlier quoted $650 for $1265. And they held on to his passport which my trusting colleague had handed over to them for “unlocking” the phone!

The funny part is, a casual phone call by me to another of my friend to come and help us out kinda scared them (he was supposed to meet us at some other place, but we got stuck here so I had to call him up!). I got further cursed and was taunted that they weren’t afraid of anyone. To show how important they are, the guy just threw my colleagues’ passport and credit card on the floor.

If there is one thing I have learnt after seeing numerous martial arts films over my childhood is – when in fear – run. You can caress your ego later. The moment he threw the card and passport, I dived for it on the floor, picked it up and ran away as if I was being chased by a lion. Luckily my colleague (who was reasonably scared now!) followed me as well.

That was the end of a very horrific experience in one of the safest countries in the world. I am truly appalled that they can do the same thing for more than a year and still get away with it. Being threatened by a monkey is one thing, but being threatened to buy a product that you don’t want is completely nerve-wracking.