Worst Customer Service

[kharizma]

Hi everyone! I really need your help and opinion about this situation I’m in.

Basically, I experienced really bad customer service from Appsocio located in Funan Digitalife Mall.

I bought a silver iPhone 5s 32gb on February 11 from a Thomas Wong. I took his offer of 780sgd and spent another 50sgd for add-ons such as the screen protector and case.

When I arrived home, upon opening the box, I noticed that the charger was defective. A few days later, I went back to Appsocio to have my charger replaced.

Some days after that, my phone would sometimes not charge. So, to test the problem, I borrowed a friend’s iPhone cable and found that my cable was also defective. I went back to Appsocio yet again to have the cable replaced.

Weeks passed and another issue came up: the keypad would click by itself randomly on parts of the screen. It would hang, or go to the previous page, or type letters by itself. So, I went back to Appsocio for the third time yet again.

I was advised by Mr. Thomas Wong to update my iOS. However, after updating, my problem was still there. I already felt very frustrated at this point, as I have had nothing but problems with my purchase.

I went back to Appsocio for the fourth time and Thomas Wong asked me to hand over my iPhone for them to check for repairs. The next day, he informed me to either have the whole LCD replaced or exchange my silver phone with a black one since it was the only 32gb phone they had in stock. I chose to have it repaired instead.

After a few days, I got my phone back. I thought everything was going to be fine from that point on.

However, and unfortunate for me, the problems were still there. The phone would lag terribly and sometimes the touch screen would not respond at all. The phone once shut off by itself even if it was still at 9%, and it still clicked random parts of the screen by itself.

At this point I knew the whole unit was defective. Being very tired of repeated trips back to the store, I emailed Appsocio instead to ask for a refund or give me an exact exchange of a silver iPhone 5S.

Alex Lee replied and told me that my unit can be replaced provided that my phone did not have any scratches and I still had the complete box set. I obliged.

I was offered a gold 64gb version instead with an additional 50sgd since they did not carry nor sell the silver one any longer. I refused the offer since I was very set on silver and did not ask for the upgrade. Alex Lee suggested to have it repaired again, but I was already very tired of going back to the store. If they couldn’t give me a silver, I just wanted my money back.

Alex Lee replied that I don’t need to pay the additional 50sgd and will get the gold 64gb instead, since they don’t do refunds. I finally accepted that offer since I thought maybe I should just sell the gold 64gb and buy a new silver 5s instead.

I thanked Alex Lee for his efforts throughout our whole exchange of emails.

On May 2nd, last Saturday, I went back to Appsocio with my phone and box set, to have it exchanged. Thomas Wong had me sign 2 pieces of paper about the exchange and the new gold 64gb.

Thomas Wong told me that he has to open the box in front of me to check. I refused, since my intention was to sell it brand new. When the box is opened, the market value will drop by half. Instead of selling it for almost 1000sgd, I will have to sell it for 500sgd. I already spent 830sgd, plus resources wasted in additional trips to the store for my original phone.

I told Thomas that I will sign the box without having it opened, and that they will not be liable for anything. Thomas called Alex Lee about the situation, so Mr. Lee came in and said that it was required by law that they have to open the box.

I insisted that I just wanted the box unopened and that should anything happen, I will not come back to Appsocio and chase them down for it any longer. I will sign the papers and they can note that I asked them not to open the box.

Now, this is the part where I can say that I experienced the worst customer service of my entire life so far. And if you’ve made it this far reading about my unfortunate string of bad luck, thank you.

Alex Lee started to raise his voice. He shouted at me, telling me how he had to pay for the additional 50SGD for the exchange. I was in total shock. I told him it was not my fault the unit is defective and I had to go back to their stores multiple times just to replace the accessories and have the unit fixed. He started screaming, yelling that I have been causing him problems and that he is in control of things.

He kept on shouting until he banged the box of the Gold iPhone 5S 64GB on the table, threw his pen at me and walked away. I found it very rude and threw the pen at his back while he was walking away. Unfortunately, it didn't hit him.

Another staff, Elaine, handled the matter. She knew that I wanted to sell the unit so she told me that she can find someone to sell it for me but the price range for iPhone 5S 64GB in the Singaporean market will be around 450-500SGD, since the box has already been opened. I didn't accept the offer since I paid for 780SGD for the iPhone. I told her I will go through with the exchange. I also asked for their manager's contact details but Elaine just handed me the calling card containing the shop's number and e-mail address where Alex Lee and I exchanged e-mails. Elaine settled the exchange.

I just thanked her and finally got out of that store called hell. This is the first time I've encountered such poor and rude service from a salesperson!
I really feel defeated and unhappy with what transpired.

Just knowing that by posting this, I can warn people to stay away from that store calms me a little.

I would like to ask and know your opinions about this situation. Is it really true that by law, they have to open the box in front of me? What do you think I should do next about this?

Your answers will be very, very much needed and appreciated. Thank you!

TL;DR: Salesman raised his voice at me and threw me his pen, saying that I caused him so much trouble when in fact I had to make repeated trips to Appsocio just to get my defective unit fixed.

[ecureilx]

Hi everyone! I really need your help and opinion about this situation I’m in.

Basically, I experienced really bad customer service from Appsocio located in Funan Digitalife Mall.

I bought a silver iPhone 5s 32gb on February 11 from a Thomas Wong. I took his offer of 780sgd and spent another 50sgd for add-ons such as the screen protector and case.

When I arrived home, upon opening the box, I noticed that the charger was defective. A few days later, I went back to Appsocio to have my charger replaced.

Some days after that, my phone would sometimes not charge. So, to test the problem, I borrowed a friend’s iPhone cable and found that my cable was also defective. I went back to Appsocio yet again to have the cable replaced.

Weeks passed and another issue came up: the keypad would click by itself randomly on parts of the screen. It would hang, or go to the previous page, or type letters by itself. So, I went back to Appsocio for the third time yet again.

I was advised by Mr. Thomas Wong to update my iOS. However, after updating, my problem was still there. I already felt very frustrated at this point, as I have had nothing but problems with my purchase.

I went back to Appsocio for the fourth time and Thomas Wong asked me to hand over my iPhone for them to check for repairs. The next day, he informed me to either have the whole LCD replaced or exchange my silver phone with a black one since it was the only 32gb phone they had in stock. I chose to have it repaired instead.

After a few days, I got my phone back. I thought everything was going to be fine from that point on.

However, and unfortunate for me, the problems were still there. The phone would lag terribly and sometimes the touch screen would not respond at all. The phone once shut off by itself even if it was still at 9%, and it still clicked random parts of the screen by itself.

At this point I knew the whole unit was defective. Being very tired of repeated trips back to the store, I emailed Appsocio instead to ask for a refund or give me an exact exchange of a silver iPhone 5S.

Alex Lee replied and told me that my unit can be replaced provided that my phone did not have any scratches and I still had the complete box set. I obliged.

I was offered a gold 64gb version instead with an additional 50sgd since they did not carry nor sell the silver one any longer. I refused the offer since I was very set on silver and did not ask for the upgrade. Alex Lee suggested to have it repaired again, but I was already very tired of going back to the store. If they couldn’t give me a silver, I just wanted my money back.

Alex Lee replied that I don’t need to pay the additional 50sgd and will get the gold 64gb instead, since they don’t do refunds. I finally accepted that offer since I thought maybe I should just sell the gold 64gb and buy a new silver 5s instead.

I thanked Alex Lee for his efforts throughout our whole exchange of emails.

On May 2nd, last Saturday, I went back to Appsocio with my phone and box set, to have it exchanged. Thomas Wong had me sign 2 pieces of paper about the exchange and the new gold 64gb.

Thomas Wong told me that he has to open the box in front of me to check. I refused, since my intention was to sell it brand new. When the box is opened, the market value will drop by half. Instead of selling it for almost 1000sgd, I will have to sell it for 500sgd. I already spent 830sgd, plus resources wasted in additional trips to the store for my original phone.

I told Thomas that I will sign the box without having it opened, and that they will not be liable for anything. Thomas called Alex Lee about the situation, so Mr. Lee came in and said that it was required by law that they have to open the box.

I insisted that I just wanted the box unopened and that should anything happen, I will not come back to Appsocio and chase them down for it any longer. I will sign the papers and they can note that I asked them not to open the box.

Now, this is the part where I can say that I experienced the worst customer service of my entire life so far. And if you’ve made it this far reading about my unfortunate string of bad luck, thank you.

Alex Lee started to raise his voice. He shouted at me, telling me how he had to pay for the additional 50SGD for the exchange. I was in total shock. I told him it was not my fault the unit is defective and I had to go back to their stores multiple times just to replace the accessories and have the unit fixed. He started screaming, yelling that I have been causing him problems and that he is in control of things.

He kept on shouting until he banged the box of the Gold iPhone 5S 64GB on the table, threw his pen at me and walked away. I found it very rude and threw the pen at his back while he was walking away. Unfortunately, it didn't hit him.

Another staff, Elaine, handled the matter. She knew that I wanted to sell the unit so she told me that she can find someone to sell it for me but the price range for iPhone 5S 64GB in the Singaporean market will be around 450-500SGD, since the box has already been opened. I didn't accept the offer since I paid for 780SGD for the iPhone. I told her I will go through with the exchange. I also asked for their manager's contact details but Elaine just handed me the calling card containing the shop's number and e-mail address where Alex Lee and I exchanged e-mails. Elaine settled the exchange.

I just thanked her and finally got out of that store called hell. This is the first time I've encountered such poor and rude service from a salesperson!
I really feel defeated and unhappy with what transpired.

Just knowing that by posting this, I can warn people to stay away from that store calms me a little.

I would like to ask and know your opinions about this situation. Is it really true that by law, they have to open the box in front of me? What do you think I should do next about this?

Your answers will be very, very much needed and appreciated. Thank you!

TL;DR: Salesman raised his voice at me and threw me his pen, saying that I caused him so much trouble when in fact I had to make repeated trips to Appsocio just to get my defective unit fixed.

Why didn't you take it to the Apple service center ?

[JR8]

[Why did you buy an Apple product?]

[sundaymorningstaple]

He's a graphic designer. What did you expect. Those types don't care that the phone is a piece of shite, but only care if other people can see him with it.

[ecureilx]

[Why did you buy an Apple product?]

[kharizma]

Why didn't you take it to the Apple service center ?

They didn't say there's any warranty from Apple. They only told me the unit has a 1 year warranty from Appsocio.

[x9200]

I was aware there are many people obsessively focused on this sort of objects but it is still very interesting to get some insight sitting safely behind the computer screen. What you said about the origin package, when opened, causing the phone to lose half of its price is also very interesting. Is it true at all? For other goods surely not.

What you should do next? Learn your lesson and buy directly from Apple next time. It may be cheaper afterall.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Tell you what, x9200, go out and buy a brand new car. Drive it around the block and see how much you can sell it for to the 2nd owner! LOL All goods are the same way. But the reason that all packages are opened in front of the customer is primarily so "sillyporeans" cannot go home and then claim parts were missing from the box and the store has no recourse as they didn't get a chance to inspect the contents either before it left the store. Protection for both parties as it's not unheard of, for parts to be left out of the package at the factory and once it's left the store, the store owner isn't going to take the loss to replace it (remember, there is nothing called customer service or CRM in real life in Singapore at all once they've got your money).

[x9200]

Yes, I know about it, this is true and we talked about it before, but we are talking about the price now. I really don't think it drops by half. Besides, if you buy from the places like Courts, HN etc. the boxes are often already opened for many appliances, e.g. DVD/BD players, and later sealed back. This is to stamp the warranty documents or to wipe out the region settings. If you sell 2nd hand goods in like-new condition typically you can get for it 70-90% of its original price. OP says it is 50%.

Especially for things like iphone, what difference does it make if the box is opened or not? I know, not everybody is tech-savvy, but c'mon, everybody can see if all the accessories and documents are there, if the protective film is still factory placed on the screen etc etc. If one assumes somebody was skilled enough to deceive, selling a used phone as a brand new, it should be rightly assumed he was also skilled enough to provide original-like, sealed package.

[x9200]

OP, one more remark, just not to make this entire thread a waste from your revengeful perspective. If it was me in a vindictive mood and a sell staff yelled at me and threw any object deliberately at me I would first briefly check whether they have cctv in that place, stepped back from the shop and called police. Of course if this was clearly thrown at me, not at the counter.

[the lynx]

He kept on shouting until he banged the box of the Gold iPhone 5S 64GB on the table, threw his pen at me and walked away. I found it very rude and threw the pen at his back while he was walking away. Unfortunately, it didn't hit him.

Thank goodness it didn't. Otherwise, if he is a cunning fellow, he'd have pressed charges against you instead.

[rajagainstthemachine]

If you sell 2nd hand goods in like-new condition typically you can get for it 70-90% of its original price. OP says it is 50%.
Especially for things like iphone, what difference does it make if the box is opened or not?

the issue here is of suspicion and once the buying party decides that it is second hand, his bargaining power is more than the sellers. it doesn't matter if the unit is a minute old or ten mins old or 10 days old.
at least thats what i've seen in Asia.

[Steve1960]

Sold my wife's 12 month old 5S at a mobile phone store locally in Toa Payoh recently for 60% of its original value and didn't buy any replacement from that store. I probably would have got more than that for it if I had bothered to advertise on eBay. I think the OP has low balled the value but still the resale value is not going to meet what he originally paid.

I used to be anti Apple but now pretty much all of our equipment comes from them. Most of the Android phones I have had drain the battery as fast as pints of beer going down at an Eagles gathering and don't even get me started on the pile of cr*p Microsoft calls an OS!

[bgd]

I used to be anti Apple but now pretty much all of our equipment comes from them. Most of the Android phones I have had drain the battery as fast as pints of beer going down at an Eagles gathering and don't even get me started on the pile of cr*p Microsoft calls an OS!

That's interesting. I've only had iPhones and have thought of moving to Andriod but have seen so many issues first hand that I've stayed. Everyone I know that switched from iPhone eventually switched back. When my 4 finally dies I'll revisit this again, but probably get another iPhone - from Apple

[x9200]

Apple is a single manufacturer (in terms of the products supervision) following IMHO (usually) good quality standards while for Android devices you never know. When it comes to software Apple's philosophy seems over the line "we will limit your freedom, but pretty much guaranty that what we make available is going to work and you will find it easy to use it". For Android this freedom is somehow enhanced but in expense of reliability and the ease of use, especially that the hardware varies.

Personally I like Apple for robust hardware and that's roughly it.