[xiaoekin]

Why We Started This Thread?

As seen a lot of our SGCclubbers and other non SGCclubbers being conned while buy electronics and seeking for help.

This thread is to help all of us to prevent being conned by dishonest sellers/shops while purchasing any electronic goods


Why People Get Conned?

Most of the people does not do any research thru internet or from friends when doing purchasing.

The most is when people approach to the shop and was give a very attractive price and tempted by the pricing they gave.

Example Of People Getting Conned.

Hi Guys,

I'm from the Phillippines, i'm new in this forums..and i created this account just to ask you some question's about psp..and i'm badly confused..

i just wanna know what is the difference among the psp's in Singapore, HK and Philippines. in terms of the looks of the box, region number, serial numbers/stickers indicated inside the battery slot..

because here in the Philippines, some PSP's (slim) are refurbish/recondition..they change the board, LCD etc.. they repair the damage/defect and sell it as a brandnew with box and other packages to attract buyers.. they just clean it, change the stickers and put warranty sticker to look new..also by giving weeks of replacement and a year of service shop warranty, because they know that the customer will be back for a week or if you're lucky about 2 months and above..just like what happend to my psp, sadly I'm one of the victim of these. after 3 months of having my psp..when the technician checked my psp..he said my psp was recondition, because the sticker inside the battery slot was already been replaced and lack 1 screw and already been opened inside..he done everything he could, like pandora, changing OFW, CFW, downgrade, etc.. until he saw the main problem..a little crack at the back of LCD and busted board..he replaced both (LCD,Board)

right know, he sells a brandnew PSP's slim that he bought in singapore.. his item is a liitle bit expensive than others about P1,000 (PHP) basic package (Unit, battery,charger,box,manual) about P9,800(PHP)..and i ask why is much higher? he said, "bec. i bought it in singapore, i'm sure my item is brandnew and not recondition like others do"

So, can you show some pictures, indications, tips, insights, etc. of the psp slim in singapore?? so i can compare it..also i'm planning to buy a PSP slim in HK..in case that i doubt to his item to..that sells refurbish psp like the others do..i just want to be sure this time..so i won't regret anymore..

I'm gladly appreciate to all who will reply and help me..thanks guys!

Ladies and Gents,

Greetings!

This is my first post here and I just want to share my experience in buying my PSP just yesterday.

We went to sim lim to buy a PSP for my younger bro. After much scouring around, we settled to buy from a stall just outside the sliding door of the said establishment.

Initially, we were offered a complete PSP package (console, 4GB stick, accessories, unlocking to play downloaded games) for S$370. Then, as the vendor was unpacking the PSP, he said that the PSP we were buying was under Region 3. He told us that the console won't be able to play games under region 4 and above. To solidify his claim, he loaded the Prince of Persia game into the PSP we just bought (btw the game was region 4); the console said that it couldn't play the game after all.

So he offered us an upgrade -- making the PSP console region-free, enabling it to play all games from every region. He also said that he's throwing in a free anti-virus and anti-spyware programs into the upgrade. The upgrade cost per region was originally S$80, but since we were buying the console that day, he would just offer it to us for only S$40 per region; all in all, the total cost of upgrading is S$160 (4 region upgrade * S$40). Then as if to sweeten the deal more, he finally pegged the price to S$120.

All in all, we paid for S$490 for the whole set, which he calls "perfect" since it could play any game possible and handle any virus or spyware threat.

Do you think we paid a very exorbitant amount for the said PSP, given all the "upgrades" he told us? Whas there really a need to remove the region-coding of the PSP console in order to play virtually any game from every corner of this planet? And do you think the vendor just tricked us so that he could get from us a large amount when in fact we could have paid less for the same package and upgrades if we bought inside the mall?

I hope you could enlighten me with this post.

Thanks a loT!!!!

lol..simlim pro want..

just this year only, my friend wanted buy psp lor..so me and my friends pei her go and buy lor..
walk around ask for price, ask for better offer..
so we found 1 shop, then one of my friend go ask for price say $300 for whole set including memory
card etc..then when we walk over, and is interested liao, suddenly jack up the price to 350, say thought we many people buy, only 1 person buy then so ex. Then compare to other shop, still quite cheap ma,
then ok lor..Then just as we discussing, one of the staff ask money from the "buying" friend liao, then
she stupid stupid go pass money to the staff..
the incident then happen here liao, then one staff say need dunno wat reset to the 1 2 3 4 thingy, so
that whole psp can play all download games from different countries de la..coz different no. different continent de ma..
then one reset need dunno $50 i think, then 4 = $200, mean need $550..
then we say got lidat de ma, as last time we buy from others also dont have this thingy, then know
kana scammed liao..
then we say we dont want lor*note: we dont know the buyer friend pass 350 to the staff liao*,
then she tell us lor, then we say we want our money back, but the staff say cannot..
then we say why cannot, you just now never say got reset thingy ma, then the staff say nv reset nvm
de, but if psp got prob ah, not their prob, lidat mean cancel the warranty from shop liao wat.."they pro lor"
then we say want back money, argue argue, then we ask for the boss no., he say boss busy, not free
de, and dont give us money, want the money need wait till 9pm. that time was still 2pm..Pro right..then
we say "ok"..
we walk off liao then i scold scold my friend, then they have the feeling to wait..then i say if wait also no
use de la, the staffs see us look young hao qi fu ma..then I call the police tell them about it etc lor..
police come, money taken, staff bin chao chao..matter settle
buy from another shop..then end of story..lol

Whatever you do please do not shop at bally photo trading at sim lim sq.

Was overcharged by at least $500 for a digital handycam. Went to CASE , they referred me to small claims tribunal so believe me, it's not like i sat back and cried about it.

I am not an unreasonable person out to flame anyone. it's just that i would like to inform the public - it's our consumer right

What I learned the hard way - ALWAYS shop around, especially at sim lim.

^^thanks for reading

Bought my v2.71 PSP last night at a shop in Lucky Plaza basement.

the guy quoted me a std pack for 230 so i tht wow thats very cheap. So went there to buy. Then he started to tell me that need to buy game otherwise cannot and that if I don buy game, no batt in the std pack. He tell me SONY instructions. where got such thing one!! machiam buy hp no give u batt. then he added white one need extra 15 bucks...

so i shocked already, how come got such hidden contract and he say SONY forced them to do this. so i even more shocked

anyway, continued and chose RPG games. He quoted me Valkrye Profile 96 bucks, i was like WAH!!!

then he say, no choice lah, cos SONY also don let them take 1 or 2 games, thats why so ex. Then i tht ok loh cos lazy go search le.

Then he add up 230 + 96 = 326. Then he say, now add 5 percent GST!!!!

i lagi shocked!! huh, u quote price with no GST? but i rushing for time and don wanna bother loh so say ok lah $340. Then i ask screen protector how much?

he tell me 15 for lousy one, 35 for good one (static by blackhorn) i lagi shocked!! MF also only 24.....so i say nm, don buy le, he imm drop price to 20!!. so i bought.

Then i ask him, casing? he intro me one, but i don like, so i ask him the black horn 5 in 1 package how much? he say hmm he sells for 76 but he give me at 45...I sianz already so don want cos outside selling at 30 he say he sells 76!!!

So i say don want, then he say ok everything for 400. Then i caluclate, i go other shops also more or less the same and lazy go elsewhere le so got everything for 400.

in the end, no savings at all cos of all hidden clauses. Suck blood one......i also dumb lah anyway bo bian loh but hope brudders here take note bah

Taken from date: 22 sept 2006

The Shop is Yeow Tat Trading Enterprise @ Lucky Plaza...I bought my PSP quite cheaply there so I thought they were trustworthy but they betrayed it.
Wii Console US version $550(all prices are in SGD)
The Power adaptor $50(normal 20,wtf i didn;t noe)
Wii Mote + Nunchuk + Rayman $170
Some rechargeable Batteries $ 70
all prices above were W/O Gst of 7%
Total $900.
Ask for discount ...give some crappy fan and silcon skin... OMG
The Sales man was called LEMON(Thats rite, no spelling error)
WTF ... Dun buy from them!!!They cheat small boy like me sob*

A STOMPer says he was shocked when his niece was charged $2,600 for a PSP set, with the bulk of the price charged for a modification of the console his niece was not aware of.

Said the STOMPer:

"On July 12, my niece and her mother were walking around the electronics store in Lucky Plaza to look for electronic gaming console.

"They chose a decent looking shop, well furnished and displays of game consoles and games were neatly placed."

The STOMPer said his niece and her mother agreed to pay about $300 for the console, including accessories.

He said the sales assistant later took the unopened PSP box away and when he came back with the 'modified' PSP and added miscellaneous charges.

The STOMPer said his niece was not informed that any modification was to be done and that the shop did not get her consent to do so.

He said:

"The sales assistant had taken the PSP away from the shop to a 'technician' he claimed had downloaded software known to be able to download games and a PSP version changer.

"He claimed that it is compulsory to install this license from SONY and a software to play downloaded games.

"He did the software update without my niece’s consent."

The STOMPer said the costs were as follows:

PSP Set $290

MMC 8GB $98

Screen Protector $29

PSP 6 in 1 kit $69

Total: $486

Cost of modification: $2114

The STOMPer added:

"Initially the total price was $3400 and they made a mistake writing $3550 on the GST 7% column which goes to show a very obvious mathematical error.

"After some negotiation the sales assistant gave a discount to $2600.

"My niece was very shocked at the price because she bought her Playstation 3 at some $700, playstation 3 is a bigger console for use with the television.

"She wanted to cancel the order as she did not expect the price to be exorbitant but the sales assistant mentioned that once the software has been installed, workman cost and product cost has been incurred and they will have to pay $2000+ even if they do not want the console.

"Given no choice, she signed the credit card and paid $2600 in total."

Above Shop which the Stomper nience bought from is Yeow Tat Trading Enterprise
Quoted from an article by stomper. Link: http://www.sgclub.com/singapore/2600...lim_81118.html

And So On...


How Does Dishonest Sellers/Shops use Their Conning Techniques?

1. When going for a PSP bundle package, ensure that the items you actually receive (earphones, memory stick, USB data cable etc) tallies with what the salesperson mentioned or what the promotion poster indicated. Make sure that the bundle price stated by the shop is the final price you’ll be paying, no hidden cost like GST or top up amount for this item or that. If you see any of this happening, be very wary and if you don’t feel right about it, just thank the salesperson and walk away.

2. If you find yourself being quoted a price that is way below market range and seems too good to be true, take heed, it probably is. Most likely this is a ruse to entice you and once you are hooked, the salesperson will slap on charges like GST, "compulsory" items purchase and what have you. In the end you'll end up paying much more than you bargained for.

3. Confirm with the salesperson whether the PSP set is local or export set. This is important where warranty is concerned as export sets are not covered by Sony local warranty. This is a moot point however if you intend to, er…ahem, customize your PSP.

4. If the salesperson mentions that your PSP needs to have region free code installed for a fee of $XX dollars so that you can play UMD games from all regions, stop right there. UMD games are region free, so whether you buy them locally or overseas they are playable on your PSP. Region code only applies to UMD movies. If the salesperson persists in encouraging you to do so, simply walk away from the shop.

5. The PSP unlike the PC does not have expandable RAM (PSP Slim 64 MB, PSP fat 32 MB) so if the salesperson tries to convince you to pay extra to upgrade the RAM so as to avoid laggy speed, do not fall for this nonsense. If the salesperson actually demonstrates to you that the speed is laggy, that's because the PSP's processor speed has been fiddled with in System Settings. This is just a ploy to make you cough up more money.

6. When you are being served by the salesperson, observe the salesperson discreetly to see where he/she has taken your PSP set from. If the salesperson gets a boxed set from the display counter in the shop, then in all likelihood you are given a new set. If however the set is taken from a back room or somewhere else, be aware of the fact that you may be handed a refurbished set. Of course I am in no way saying that all shops that give customers their PSPs from a back room are unscrupulous sellers, after all some shops due to space constraints have to keep their stock in a store room, but such things do happen and customers end up with refurbished sets but paying the price for a brand new one.

7. Check your goods before handing over your hard earned cash. Ensure that all accessories as stated in the bundle package are accounted for and more importantly, check the PSP set itself. Look out for any scratches on the screen and casing, check for corrosion on the UMD ring at the back, power up the PSP and test the buttons and analog stick. Check for dead/bright pixels by navigating to System Settings and scrolling through all the colour schemes there. If you find anything that is not in order, request for a replacement on the spot. Don’t rush through the process, take your time to check everything out, it is your right as a consumer. If the salesperson tries to rush for your payment, inform him/her that you will pay after finishing your check. If the salesperson insists, put everything down and walk away.

8. For memory sticks, ensure that you get original Sony, SanDisk or other branded memory sticks. Do not accept OEM memory sticks as there may be reliability issues.

9. Last but not least, go to at least 3 or more shops and ask around for the price to get an idea of the market rate. When you have decided on one shop, you should preferably go with someone who is familiar with PSP so that you’ll be less likely to become chopped carrot. Now I know this has been mentioned numerous times before, but I’m going to repeat it for the benefit of all the newbies out there. You can go anywhere you want in your PSP search, but avoid going to SLS (1st & 2nd level) at all cost unless you know the people there or you have a recommendation from somebody. Just use the search tool to do a search and you’ll know what I mean.

Shops To Be Aware Of.

Sim Lim Square

CYBER MAESTRO PTE LTD #02-77
Evolution Gaming LLP #02-72 .
Bally Photo Trading

Also Prevent going to the 1st floor shops. Can say most of the shops on the 1st storey are Black Shops.

Lucky Plaza

Yeow Tat Trading Enterprise

Almost all the Shops at basement 1 are black shops


What You Should Do

as according to that time i went to CASE,

they told me that most of the shops in Lucky Plaza and Sim Lim Square are blacklisted.


in order to get them blacklisted succesfully:

1. the shop must be complain by most of the consumers to CASE
2. dun make any purchase from the shop if u suspect the shop is a black shop. (this is because if u make purchase from them, it means that u are agreeing on the price and condition they gave u. and u wont be above to get back a single cent from them. the CASE also cannot help you from there.)


how to deal with the shop when u suspect is a black shop

1. Call up to check up if the shop whether the shop is a registered company anot.
2. If you had make payment and after then u suspect that the shop is a black shop, demand for a refund and never go to the shop again.
3. If they insist on not returning you the money, threaten them that you will call the police. (this method always work)
4. if still dun refund, call up police for help.
5. you can also check from the manufactoring company on the product u buy, if they say is the product company need to buy compulsory accessories.



Conclusions:

I hope this guide will help you all in buy any electronics from either Slim Lim Square or Lucky Plaza.






Posted By: Xiaoekin
Ideas Of This Guide By: xxleoleoxx And Zuhair90

[princessLUCK]

wow... thanks for sharing this... it is so kind of u...
i think section 9 is the best... and is a must use for each purchasing trip... so should also be wise to prepare more time when going out shopping for items.

[xiaoekin]

yesh. it is.. hope everyone will follow the steps when buying eletronics.

[Zuhair90]

Yup.. good one bro. thanks.. (=
i really hopes people follow this though..
nicely done bro..
i am sure Leo will be happy about this.. (=

[xiaoekin]

haha... hope so..

[Zuhair90]

thanks again man.. seriously good work sei..

[liewluqi]

wah this is a good topic, recommended for everyone. Heng that time i decided to buy from qisahn even after hearing people quote a damn good price from sls (1st lvl shop).

[Morrot]

wow.. nice and useful thread..

always knew that sls got prob.. so i got mine from qisahn to be safe

now we all know lvl 1and 2 in sls got prob

[Sethx]

wow you must have took some times to write that. well appriciated. thanks!

[Zuhair90]

no problem guys,,,
remember what Hilmi says? "for the gamers from the gamers.. "lolx..
so yeah be more careful.. (=
o yeah please avoid Sim Lim Square (=

[xiaoekin]

thx... not really totally i write de.. i found is some forums and find it useful and so i combine everything together and see the usefulness in that.


hope mod will sticky it.

[Zuhair90]

yeah i can see people really appreciate our work.. thats good
thanks again guys

[xxleoleoxx]

yea will be updating *new* scams as well =]

[Zuhair90]

cool.. PM me man.. (=

[xiaoekin]

YA... pm mi too so i can edit on the 1st post.

[Zuhair90]

Yeah.. good work guys..
eh bro can i add you on msn or something? xiaoekin
since we can discuss more there.. zuhair_90@hotmail.com

[peanuts]

nice one bro.. or if anything else, ask someone who has experience to help you with the purchase. they will most probably understand if there is a con or not. do not fall for the region thingy!! my friend almost fell for it =.=

[Zuhair90]

lol. glad you are there for your friend, (=

[xiaoekin]

2 more ppl get conned and had been updated the examples on the 1st post.


Thank you for reading.

[blues_bleu]

well is there anything we can do against all the conner??
can we blacklist them agains CASE??