A 41-year-old woman in Singapore claims she was duped into paying SGD$1000 (US$722) for a PSP. The woman, who is named as simply "Nicole", priced the Sony portable in various shops, noting it ranged between the equivalent of US$217 and US$434. She visited a shop owned by Yeow Tat Trading Enterprises, telling the friendly and helpful clerk that she was looking for a PSP for her daughter.
The clerk supposedly told her that while the games were free of charge, the woman needed to pay for the PSP hardware and software upgrading license. The bill? SGD$3,500 (US$2,530). Says Nicole: "I was shocked. I thought he had written an extra zero by mistake... I told him that if the upgraded PSP was going to cost as much as a laptop, I might as well get my daughter a laptop." Then the clerk reduced the price to SGD$3,100 and then down to SGD$2,610, saying it wouldn't have the anti-virus software.
When the woman asked why other shops didn't charge as much, the store clerk replied that those stores were selling PSPs that did not have original licenses for the software. Convinced, she paid SGD$2,600 (US$1,880), but went back the next day after her brother told her she overpaid. She asked to see the licenses for the software, but was told they were confidential. The store agreed to wave the service charge. The woman ended up paying SGD$1,000 (US$722) after getting a SGD$1,600 discount. Says the woman:
It was still very expensive but I did not want to waste time... All the while, the sales assistant had an innocent face, and was helpful and appeared sincere... My friends all say I'm so stupid.
Pretty sure more than your friends are saying that, Nicole.
Woman pays $2,600 for 'upgraded' PSP [The Electric New Paper via PSP Fanboy]