BootsnAll Travel Community

I recently travelled abroad. I took a camcorder with me. At the end of the trip my friend decided to buy one like mine. Singapore is supposed to be
the place to buy things like that. Went to a shop and she saw mine a lot cheaper but the guy persuaded her to buy a brilliant digital one which is far more superior, links to pc etc. etc. Showed us the picture quality on a TV and showed us mine (I now think he changed the brightness each time). He said if I wanted to trade mine in and pay the difference I could. I said no at first. Anyway to cut it short after ages I (for some stupid reason) changed my mind and traded mine in. Got back to hotel and regretted it,
went back but obviously they won't go back on deal. Said I could buy mine back for price I'd traded it in for! So I did! Came away with two
camcorders but he convinced us I'd sell the new one back home and make a profit. Afterwards found out the new one is not digital, doesn't link to a
pc either! We think he demonstrated a different model to what we bought and we think he probably just turned the brightness up on the TV when showing the two camcorders! I can't believe how stupid we were, I don't normally fall for salemen talk but I did. Also since found out it's worth 1/3rd of what we paid!!!

A friend of mine went out there at the same time. He saw a camcorder, agreed a price, signed the visa slip. The guy then said before you go let
me just show you this one, it's far more superior. Spent half hour trying to sell it to him. My friend said no I want the one I paid for. The guy
got aggressive and accused John of wasting his time when John never asked to see this camcorder. Then said the other one was out of stock and they only had display model which they can't sell! Gave him a credit refund slip. Went to another shop and exactly the same thing happened - obviously a scam!
He came away with no camcorders, having signed two visa slips and with two refund slips. Luckily he got straight on to his credit card company and
told them. Got back to UK and spoke to credit card company - apparently both credit payments had been put through but neither of the refunds had!
Luckily the credit card company hadn't paid it though as John had informed them - otherwise he could have come away with no camcorders and having paid for two!

So beware - Be very, very careful if you wish to buy any camera equipment in Singapore!

This sounds like the stories I heard about those electronoc stores in Kowloon Hong Kong.

Basically along Nathan Rd in Kowloon there are many big hotels. Wealthy toursits come in every day and you'll notice the shops do not display prices, so its hard to compare prices. If you ask prices and they think you're trying to shop around they get aggressive. Assaults on customers are not uncommon.

One of the scams they do is to get you to pay for something like a camcorder, then take it in the back room to box. together with the reciept. When you get home its another model, minus the reciept.

I have bought several items over in Central HK from stores which dispalyed the proces and that were reputable. Got to be aware when shopping for expensive stuff.

-nick

As with many things in Singapore, the too-efficient government knows all...if you intend to make a truly big purchase, it may be a good idea to check with CASE first. CASE is a body that distributes a blacklist of companies known to have scammed tourists and locals alike, and though they obviously won't have ALL the scammers' names on that list, you can also write in to them to complain. Not sure about compensation though. For more info try www.case.org.sg