Dirty Tactics

Last night, I was shopping around with my gf for some household items and we stopped by this shop at City Mall to check out some kitchen stuff. The name of the shop is Frico and they have a pretty interesting touch screen induction cooker.

After a few minutes of explaining their product, the salesgirl asked us to collect our free mug. So we obliged (free thing mar...don wan meh). After filling out our details in the form, she told us to check the mug for defects. We opened the box and saw the mug was ok...no problems at all. Then she took a look at the box and said 'Oh this box have been opened by another customer already...sorry, I'll get you a new one.'

We didn't see anything wrong with the box in the first place, but we let her change a new one for us. When she gave us a 'newer' box, we opened it up and discovered there was a voucher inside.

Salesgirl : Wah...you got voucher? See see see....
Me : Passing the voucher to her...
Salesgirl : Wahhh!!! Congratulations! You got a RM1000 voucher! There's only 5 of this in Borneo you know...i can't believe how lucky you are.
Me : Err...yea kah
Salesgirl : Yea, instead of RM2999 for this package, you can buy it now for RM1999 only! Wait I call my boss first to make sure if its still valid.
(Busy calling boss...)
Salesgirl : Yes boss! We have a winner! ...ah....yessss boss..(nods)..yes boss...(nods)..yes.

By this time all the other staff were getting in on the act too. They were telling my gf how this is the first time someone has hit RM1000 voucher and even showed her the other vouchers were only RM300.

Do you believe this? Hahah, frankly I don't. My neighboring shop used to be taken by Aowa and I see them pull this same stunt over and over for every single customer. You know what's the surprising thing? Aowa's 'package' costs nearly RM5k and there are many people who are willing to pay! Their daily sales is even more than my weekly sales.

Is it wrong? Maybe... Is it illegal? Definitely not. After all the transaction is that of a 'willing seller, willing buyer.' They made you feel like a winner...everyone likes to feel like one. So what should you do in situations like this? Just do what we did...take your free gift and thank them for their time. You know I may drop by this Sunday for another mug. Heheh...