Woman says Tampines stall vendor forced her mother to buy $180 jade bangle after 'helping' her wear it

A stall owner has responded to a netizen's complaint that her mother was made to buy a $180 "fake" jade bangle after trying it on. 

In a Facebook post on the Complaint Singapore page last Sunday (Aug 13), user Veralynn Tan accused a vendor at Tampines Central 1 of "tricking" her mother into spending $80 more on other "useless" knick-knacks.

Tan shared that her mother had passed by the stall after leaving the nearby polyclinic for a health examination on Aug 8.

"At first, he asked my mum to buy a fridge magnet for $20," she said. "After that, he asked my mum to try on a jade bangle," wrote Tan.

Tan claimed that the vendor then "forced" her mother to wear the jewellery by putting it on for her.

With the bangle costing $180, Tan's mother took out and gave him five $50 notes by mistake.

But the woman claimed that the vendor refused to give her mother the change for the purchase by saying "no change needed".  

"He just picked another two items, the jade ring and the gourd keychain, and passed them to my mum," she said, adding that the vendor ignored her mum's request for change and also "did not bother" to issue a receipt.

When her mother was back at home, Tan said that her family had trouble removing the bangle from her wrist.

After "finally" removing it a day later, the woman said she confronted the vendor on Aug 10.

Tan ranted: "I told him that my mum didn't intend to buy anything, why did he try to force the jade bangle and trick her into buying these useless and worthless stuff, and he said my mum wanted to buy them?!"

Police report lodged

The woman said that she had lodged a police report after the vendor refused to give her a full refund for the items.

When a Shin Min Daily News reporter visited the stall on Aug 13, a 57-year-old woman said that the vendor involved is her husband, who was helping her tend to the stall that day.

The stall owner, surnamed Xu, told the Chinese evening daily that while she's not clear what exactly happened, she stated that it is "impossible" to force customers to buy from them when the money "is in their hands".

"If the customer is not satisfied with the item, she can exchange it, but items sold cannot be refunded," said Xu, who has been running the stall for 20 years.

She added that it's the first time they've ever received a complaint from a customer.

On allegations that the vendor had "forced" the jade bangle on the customer's wrist, Xu said that "putting on the jewellery requires skill" and her husband was merely helping her.

Xu's daughter told Shin Min, however, that Tan's posts are defamatory and they will be taking legal action against her.

AsiaOne has contacted the police for more information.

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chingshijie@asiaone.com