FOR months, the Indonesian man had been eyeing the Nokia handphone.
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| BAD DEAL: Mr Buchari (far left), his sister-in-law Madam Oriza (middle), and his wife, Madam Irawati were charged $1,116 for a Nokia E71. |
If Mr Gustaferi Buchari were to buy it without a contract in Indonesia, he would have to fork out about 4 million rupiah ($600).
So when he saw the same Nokia E71 phone on sale at $450 (without contract) at a basement shop in Lucky Plaza in Singapore last week, the 44-year-old company director thought it was a good deal.
Mr Buchari, who was here last Tuesday to visit relatives, said he managed to bargain the price down to $420.
He got the salesman to upgrade the 512MB memory card to a 4GB one for an extra $35.
He told the salesman that he was going to use the phone in Indonesia.
He then paid $455 in cash, but claimed he was not given a receipt. He said it did not occur to him to ask for one.
'(The salesman) then took the phone out of the box and told me he was going to go somewhere to remove the SIM-lock and to register the Internet connection,' Mr Buchari added.
SIM-locking is when the mobile operator locks the handset to work only with SIM cards they have provided. (See report on right.)
When the salesman returned 10 minutes later, Mr Buchari was handed a bill for $1,116.
This meant he had to pay $661 on top of what he had already handed over.
He said the bill did not include any breakdown of the cost.
'I asked the salesman why I had to pay $1,116 when we had agreed on $455,' he told The New Paper.
He said the extra costs were for 'unlocking the phone and registering the Internet connection'.
The two men then got into a heated argument.
Mr Buchari said he called his wife, Madam Feny Irawati, 40, who was shopping nearby. She and her sister, Madam Oriza, then went to the shop.
Mr Buchari claimed that the salesman offered him a partial refund of $300 but he would not get the phone.
Mr Buchari did not take the offer as that would have meant paying $155 for nothing.
Madam Irawati claimed: 'We told them we were going to call the police, and they said we should go ahead.'
She did. A police spokesman confirmed they received a call around 5pm on 30 Jun asking for help.
'We advised the parties involved to settle the matter amicably and they complied,' the spokesman added.
No comment
In the end, Mr Buchari said he agreed to take the 4GB memory card for $30, and the balance of $425 was returned to him.
When we approached the salesman for his side of the story, he declined comment.
Mr Buchari said: 'I think vendors should tell people what the full price is upfront, rather than showing them the bill at the end with all the costs included.'
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