Complaints pour in against shop targeted during Kota Raya brawl
(Malay Mail Online) – Dissatisfied customers have come forward with more complaints against the handphone shop at the centre of last weekend’s fracas at the Kota Raya shopping centre, some claiming they were fleeced by its owners and charged exorbitant rates for their purchases.
According to The Star today, almost all of the complaints lodged at the counter opened by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry on Monday were against the store.
One complainant, Bangladesh national Redowan Hassan, 22, claimed that he was not given his handphone despite paying for the unit.
“I was told to come back at night to collect the phone but it was closed. All I have from him (store clerk) is just the receipt,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.
Another complainant, a woman named “Jasmine” claimed that she bought a phone on December 7 for RM2,050 but later discovered that the same model was only worth RM800.
“It was only later that I checked with the distributors after reading the news. They told me I had been cheated,” the 53-year-old Malaysian was quoted saying.
An Indonesian maid named Vivian claimed she was cheated several times by the same store.
“When I bought my phone, the price tag was RM300 and I paid upfront. But when the receipt came, the total was RM1,600. I was shocked and asked for my money back but they refused to give me the phone or my cash.
“As I had no money to pay the remaining sum, I had to borrow money from my employer to get the phone,” the 43-year-old told The Star.
Vivian also alleged that the phone she bought was defective and she had to front payments for repairs several times.
The Star also reported ministry enforcement director Mohd Roslan Mahyudin as saying that appropriate action will be taken once all complaints are investigated.
On Sunday, a brawl reportedly broke out at the mall at around 5pm when some 20 men armed with sticks and helmets stormed the handphone shop to seek refunds over an alleged cheating case, and got into an argument that turned violent and left two people injured.
