For many who visit Malaysia, Petaling Street is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city as it contains plenty of local delicacies and local businesses that you can support, in addition to some truly mesmerising sights and sounds of Kuala Lumpur.
However for one local student, it seemed like her encounter at the famous destination didn’t go quite as well as one would have hoped.
M’sian uni student gets tricked into paying RM1,575 for screen protector and ‘insurance’
in a recent Facebook post that was shared to a popular local community group, a female Malaysian university student took to warning others to be careful when shopping in the Chinatown area after falling victim to a scam.
At the time of the incident she explains that she had headed over to Petaling Street for a stroll. As she was browsing through the street, she was allegedly stopped by a sales assistant who tried to persuade her to change her screen protector and phone cover for the modest price of only RM25.
With the intention of supporting their business, she then followed the sales assistant to their shop. When she arrived the shop, the sales associate proceeded to help her install a brand-new screen protector on her device. As that was being done, another shop employee suddenly asked for her IC. Surprised by the request, she asked why she would need to hand her IC over for something so routine.
Source: Ching Xinni (Facebook)
“They said they needed my IC for registration purposes and when I took a glance at the computer, they were registering for an insurance that costs RM2,099”, she said.
She then quickly checked with the sales assistant as to whether or not she would be billed after this to which the assistant replied no. She double confirmed with the sales person again asking if she only has to pay RM25 and he said yes. As she was taking a RM50 out to pay for the amount, the guy then proceeded to tell her to pay only after his colleague was done changing her screen protector.
Once her screen protector was changed and they’ve finished registering for her, they showed her that the total price she had to pay was RM2,099 + RM25. Shocked at the large sum she was charged, she then clarified with the sales assistant saying that she only agreed to pay RM25 and was told that she will not be billed after.
“Yes, you won’t be billed after this, you only have to pay just this once.” the sales associated told her in response.
Understandably feeling cheated, she continued on the clarify with the sales assistants as she thought the insurance stated in the computer was a warranty that she could claim if her screen protector breaks. The sales assistant then continuously told her that they thought she knew about the insurance and repeatedly told her that they can’t cancel the insurance for her as they’ve gone through the registration process.
In the end, she had no choice but to pay RM1,575. She told the sales associates that as she is a student, and she only has RM1,700 in her bank account. They agreed to let her pay RM1,575 leaving her with only RM125 to survive. What’s more, they even refused digital transfers and demanded that she pay the amount in cash.
While many have told her that she should have reported the incident to the authorities immediately, the student said that she was too overwhelmed with emotions at the time and the thought had slipped her mind.
She didn’t manage to take a picture of the shop, nor did she remember the name of the shop but has urged others to be wary of the incident and not get conned by these ill-hearted proprietors. She adds that she will be making a police report over the incident.
Xinni has shared that upon lodging a police report over the incident, she was informed that many other victims have fallen prey to similar scams and urged netizens to not be afraid to make a report if they have experienced it themselves. Thankfully, with the help of the police and DAP Bukit Bintang, YB Fong Kui Lun, she was able to get her money refunded back into her account.
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