IF YOU WONDER WHY THERE ARE FEW PICTURES IN MY RECENT BLOG POSTS, READ THESE:
Just two weeks ago, the camera, which I bought in year 2007 and have since been using it suddenly passed on. The ‘zoom’ feature failed to project out and with this failure, it does not take an ordinary folk to deduce that the camera ‘died already!’.
What a lousy camera, I thought to myself. The 1-year warranty has since passed and hence any repairs would therefore be chargeable! I bought the camera at Sim Lim Square at a cost of $240. Talking about my purchasing experience of the camera, it was an unpleasant one as I was hoodwinked by the seller, into getting the camera after he gave me a ‘good discount’…down from his initial quoted price of $280! I have before patronizing the shop, visited another shop and learnt that it was selling at $300 plus there. Thus it did not take me long to accept the shop owner’s offer and bought the camera.
I thought I have a great discount and went on to another shop to compare prices again, thinking I have clinched an unbeatable price. I was shocked when I learnt that the same camera was sold at $199 there! I was tricked, I called the owner of the shop where I bought the phone and told him his price was exorbitant. He gave a flimsy excuse saying that the other shop owner just wanted to commit in ‘mouth’ only and to spoilt the market… anyway the rest, as the cliché goes, is history..
Sim Lim Square has received a host of complaints levied by the consumers against some of the shops there for selling low quality or even spoilt goods (and at high prices somemore) over the years… foreigners are easy preys for the unscrupulous sellers. I welcome the recent news that the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) is embarking on an initiative to accredit the shops in Sim Lim Square with a consumer trust. Thus if you are a foreigner yearning to visit Singapore and grab some good electronic products at great prices in Sim Lim Square, do look out for these CASE trust shops …
Oh, so I need to fork out some money for another new camera! I called the camera service centre and my brother helped me to send in the camera for diagnosis of the repairs. The price quoted for the repairs was $64 +++… not excluding the administration charges of $10.70 (with GST), which was compulsory. The price was madness! With a few tens of dollars more added to the repair cost, I could easily buy another (better) camera! As such, I declined the quotation and blamed myself for stupidly sending in my camera for diagnosis, as the $10.70 could be at least saved!
The camera service centre should have just waived the admin charge off! Imagine 100 people were to send in their cameras for diagnosis daily, the centre could easily earn $1000 without doing anything much.. its also likely Singaporeans will not proceed with the costly repairs.
Comments
There r a host of other items worth thousands of dollars, neatly stored away bec it doesnt work. Our last visit to SG was 4yrs ago, so there's no chance that we could redeemed the cost *sob*
Sim Lim used to be a heaven for boys-n-their-toys. The last few years however, we could source them in NL for less or compatible prices. SG still has the edge to yummy food at affordable prices. Clothes is another reason we shopped there. Oh ya, hubby laments that books (esp. those related to PC's) r so expensive. Funan Centre used to be his book heaven. Borders is a great place but is also too pricey.
I suppose we will be making a beeline towards JB the next time we r in SG - haha !
Ya agreed with you, ECL, but the thing is once people gett cheated, they will associate Sim Lim Sq with rogue shops.