CASE President Slams Huawei For Their $54 Phone Promo, Urges Authorities To Take Action

When I was a child, I was told that a bearded, obese man in a red suit would sneak into our house every Christmas Eve to place gifts under our Christmas tree.

I never asked how he got into our house or how he managed to cover every single house in Singapore without losing weight.

I simply thought, wow, free presents? What a sweet man.

Needless to say, I eventually discovered the truth at the age of 26, and I realized that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Huawei hustle

Consumers found that out recently when Huawei promised a $54 smartphone worth $198 for those over the age of 50 ($54 because Singapore is about to turn 54, of course).

However, old men and women all over Singapore were incredibly upset to learn that the phones were sold out within hours of the first day of what was supposed to be a three-day promotion.

Huawei claimed that an “overwhelming demand” was the reason many missed out on the phone, but they were strongly criticized for what many viewed as a sales tactic.

This included Lim Biow Chuan, the president of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), who slammed the tech giant in a Facebook post.

Head of S’pore Watchdog Speaks Out

Like many others, Lim believes that Huawei should not have advertised the $54 smartphone so heavily when they had a limited stock.

The Case president said the advertisement was “misleading” and caused “much inconvenience” to consumers.

He also believes that the advertisement is a “breach of the Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act (CPFTA)”, and urged the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) to publicly reprimand the company.

We Are Sorry

Huawei issued an apology in a Facebook post on Friday, July 26.

Lim, however, believes the damage has been done.

Speaking to Today, Lim said, “I hope that they (Huawei) will get their act together because they lost a lot of goodwill among the public”.

Huawei will certainly have to work hard to regain the support of the public because if there’s one thing Singaporeans don’t like, it’s being lied to about a sale.

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