Fashion
Sim Lim Sq., Singapore’s infamous electronics mall the place overseas vacationers have been ripped off in dodgy cell phone offers, appears to have turned a nook.
The Shoppers Affiliation of Singapore (Case) says it has acquired solely 12 complaints towards the mall’s electronics retailers within the first 4 months of this yr – about one third the quantity it fielded throughout the identical interval final yr.
Final November the mall acquired international information and social media publicity after a Vietnamese vacationer was left in tears after spending his life financial savings to purchase his girlfriend an iPhone – which with an pointless ‘guarantee’ payment he was required to pay ended up costing him 3 times the worth of the identical telephone in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis.
That retailer shut up store and deserted the mall – together with a number of others ‘outed’ by Case and native information media for comparable unconscionable conduct and since then the mall’s administration has labored onerous to enhance its popularity.
On the core of the development is an accreditation program recognising dependable and reliable retailers. To realize accreditation, tenants should attend a subsidised coaching program run by Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Research. The coaching will give employees expertise in coping with clients in addition to finer factors of shopper legal guidelines.
That follows information of the introduction of CCTV cameras and recording units in entrance of outlets topic to 3 or extra complaints to Case or the Singapore Tourism Board, together with stickers warning would-be clients to be cautious of the shops.
A mall administration spokesman informed The Straits Occasions newspaper: “Our council members instructed this and it received unanimous approval throughout our annual assembly final month.”
Case president Lim Biow Chuan, Central Singapore District mayor Denise Phua and Singapore commerce and business minister Teo Ser Luck met at Sim Lim Sq. on Friday for a walkabout of the centre and discussions with mall administration about progress on cleansing up the centre’s picture.
