Vietnamese tourist left in tears after begging for refund at Sim Lim shop

What was supposed to be a happy vacation for a Vietnamese tourist turned into a nightmare, as he was left in tears over the weekend after trying to get a refund for an iPhone 6 from Sim Lim Square shop MobileAir.

According to a report in Lianhe Zaobao, the Vietnamese tourist was a factory worker with a monthly income of $200 and had saved up for months to buy an iPhone 6 for his girlfriend’s birthday.

He was in Singapore for a holiday with his girlfriend when he received information that there was a ready stock in Sim Lim Square. He excitedly went to the shop and paid $950 cash on the spot. To his surprise and dismay, he was asked to pay another $1,500 for a warranty package before he could leave with the phone.

He then begged for a refund and even went on his knees, only to be laughed at by MobileAir employees, according to the Chinese-language paper. His girlfriend finally decided to call the police, despite the staff saying that they would retract the offer of a $600 refund if she did so. In the couple’s entire ordeal, no passers-by stepped in to help them.

Subsequently, the police arrived and officers from the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) were called in. The couple was ultimately refunded $400, which the tourist said he accepted because he had to return to Vietnam in two days and wasn’t sure if CASE could help him get back a full refund.The tourist went home Monday afternoon.

This comes after MobileAir recently made the headlines for refunding a woman $1,010 in 18kg worth of coins, including one-cent and five-cent coins. That incident had also prompted CASE to launch an investigation on the complaints that it has received against the shop this year.