Sony's Vaio Laptops On Sale At A Singapore Mall
A giant banner promotes Sony's Vaio laptops at Sim Lim Square, in Singapore March 3, 2009. Sim Lim, a chaotic six-storey mall selling computers, electronic goods and cameras, is one of Singapore main electronic hubs. Reuters/David Loh
A giant banner promotes Sony's Vaio laptops at Sim Lim Square, in Singapore March 3, 2009. Sim Lim, a chaotic six-storey mall selling computers, electronic goods and cameras, is one of Singapore main electronic hubs. REUTERS/David Loh (SINGAPORE

It was not only the image of Vietnamese tourist Pham Van Thoai down on his knees and begging the staff of a Singaporean mobile phone store to refund his money, but also the subsequent public support for the factory worker seen as a victim of unscrupulous iPhone sellers.

Kicker Daily reports that Pham, 28, purchased the Apple flagship at the Mobile Air shop in Sim Lim Square in Singapore which he planned to give a birthday present to his girlfriend. The sales staff said the smartphone costs $950 and Pham, who earns $200 monthly as a factory worker, paid in cash but didn't check the accompanying documents.

Informed that he also needs to buy a warranty package, which would cost him an extra $1,500, otherwise he could not leave the store with his new purchase. This led Pham to go down on his knees and beg the store staff not to apply the terms of the sale.

YouTube/Steven Lim

But reports said that the store's sales staff only laughed at him, while passersby didn't offer any form of help. The store offered to refund him only $600, but his girlfriend insisted on a full refund and sought police assistance.

When the police arrived, the store showed an invoice and even lowered the refund offer to $70, later increased to $400. Since the Vietnamese couple were due to fly back home in two days and were unsure if the complaint would be resolved in their favour within that period, Pham reluctantly accepted the refund.

However, the video became viral and crowdfunding site Indiegogo launched a campaign on Tuesday, initiated by Gabriel Kang, a Singaporean. By Thursday, Indiegogo raised $11,519, but the Vietnamese factory worker said he lost only SG$550, so he could only accept the amount he lost to the mobile phone store. "I will only accept SGD550 donated by kind people. Nothing more. I'm grateful for all your kindness but I do not want to take more than what I've lost," SAYS quoted Pham.

Shops in Sim Lim Square has a reputation for cheating tourists since a similar incident happened a year ago involving the sale of an iPhone 5.

YouTube/Magical Sp3ll

In another incident, the same store, Mobile Air, refunded a Chinese tourist, but gave the amount worth RM2,611 in coins.

A few days earlier, a female buyer named Zhou had the same experience as Pham and was refunded $1,010 in loose change. The store even threw the bag of coins on the floor.

Mobile Air topped the Most Complaints List with 11 complaints registered from June to August 2014.