Kena Tipu!

Having lunch with some friends.

Friend: Wow, rm2000, it's a good deal.

My friend is looking for a laptop and that is exactly the budget. 

Found it on a local "marketplace" website.

Other Friend: What spec?

Friend: MacBook Pro, 13inch, 8GB ram, 200GB memory. i5, you know?

Me: How much is it normally, rm5000?

Other Friend: Yea. Just make sure it's working okay, wifi and everything... 

Friend: I'm gonna ask 1800. Hehehe. 

Me: So cheap. Why are they selling it?

Friend: They need the money.

Me: Urgh. I'm jealous. 

[hello, pretty thing]

Later we went to check it out at KLCC.

It was a crazy-kelam-kabut journey!

Rushing and exciting and calling everyone to re-arrange money.

Until halfway there, the girl selling it called and said she couldn't make it 'til later. 

Boring!

-------------

Much later, we set out again. 

Bit rushed 'cos the guy is waiting there already.

Bad co-ordination. 

It's the girl's cousin, who apparently, is a bit sombong. 

:S

Me: Why would you send your cousin?

Friend: Maybe she is selling it, but the laptop is with him. 

Me: Maybe. Or maybe she doesn't wanna meet strange guys. Cos she's a girl. 

Friend: Maybe. Don't know. 

We arrive.

Meeting strangers to buy stuff is a bit like going on a blind date:

MSG: "What are you wearing?"

HAHA.

My friend identifies himself as wearing a black t-shirt…

…and with mat salleh girl. 

=.=

A slightly sombong looking guy and his girlfriend(?) were waiting. 

We looked at the laptop. 

Seems fine. 

I couldn't really follow what happened next. 

Cos it was fast and in BM. 

Me: ?:)

This is my happily-confused face.

My friend keeps disappearing to make phone calls. 

I'm assuming to continue re-arranging money & get advice or whatever. 

Cue a lot of waiting - short BM convo - phone call - waiting - etc.  

Me: ?:)

After a while that guy is actually not sombong at all. 

Seems quite nice, showing all the features. 

Then we're all four just waiting. 

Me: ?:)

Finally, I ask. 

Me: So…what's happening?

Friend: I just transfer the money. Waiting for her to confirm. 

...Slightly nervous. 

Waiting. 

10 minutes pass.

Trying to call her.

Friend: She's not answering the phone. 

Me: O.o?

Laptop Guy: …?

Laptop guy tries to call her. 

Also doesn't pick up. 

My friend and laptop guy have a slightly tense conversation which ends like this;

Friend: :O

Me: ?:)

Friend: I've been conned. 

Me: What? 

Friend: Ya. 

Me: How?

Friend: Actually, he's not her cousin.

Me: …huh?

I don't know what that means.

Friend: :O

Me: O.O?

Friend: This trick is so brilliant… 

[gotcha!]

And this is what had happened:

Girl sees someone selling laptop online.

He was selling for rm2900. 

She re-promotes it for rm2000. 

Someone wants to buy. 

She arranges a meet-up with the original seller and the new buyer. 

But. 

She tells the seller - I want to buy but my friend is going to check everything is fine. If he says ok, I will transfer you the money then you can give it to him. Tell him you're my cousin because (…I missed this part, not sure how she managed to pull it off, but she did). 

She tells the buyer - My cousin has my laptop, tell him you're my friend or he'll put the price up. If the laptop looks ok, transfer the money to me and then I'll confirm with him and tell him to give you the laptop. 

Of course, halfway through this transaction - once she has the money - she stops picking up the phone and disappears. 

By creating enough subtle miscommunication and misinformation, nobody realises until it's too late. 

:'(

:'(

Off we went to the polis station. 

Online Lessons when Buying from Strangers:

1. Cash on delivery. Only!!

2. Always re-confirm the price before doing any transaction.

3. No cousin/brother/friend/bla bla bla!

4. If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is. 

Stay savvy, blog readers!

xxx

Urgently Needed: Accessories Sponsor

I  have become a whirlwind of loss and destruction. 

You may think this is a very bold statement. 

But peruse the evidence...

1. I keep losing rings. 

In the most annoying way.

Before I wash my hands, I take off any ring I'm wearing. 

Place it next to the sink. 

Wash my hands. 

Dry my hands. 

…and then walk away. 

=.=

I've done it THREE times already. 

Although the last time I managed a successful salvage.

Got in my car and my hand felt a bit light…RING!

Ran back into the building and found it waiting for me at the sink. 

Sigh. 

[the collection...as it once was...*tear*]

2. Every bag I buy, breaks. 

I'm not sure if this is because they're cheap.

[rm10. took it to a rave...]

Or because I put way too much heavy stuff inside. 

[i wonder how many days we have left...]

But either way. 

The handles literally snap off.

[i actually paid real money for this one. sad face]

You see?

Loss And Destruction. 

That being said, if anyone wants to sponsor me accessories that won't break or get lost, I am willing.

:D

Fake Stuff

This whole "real vs fake" thing you have going on here causes me a considerable amount of trouble. 

It's so normal to buy fake stuff that you forget…technically, it's illegal.  

So when you buy a phone from one of those places and it breaks, nobody cares. 

Nor are they surprised. 

And what can you do?

No such thing as consumer rights after you buy from an illegal business, right?*

=.=

So if you're smart (and morally upright ^.^), you spend the extra money and buy the real thing. 

Example.

I bought a genuine DVD in a proper shop. 

Support the local industry n all that. 

But when I unwrapped it and looked at the disk;

"ALLRIGHTS RESERVED UNAUTHORIZED BROADING, PUBLIC PERFORMANDE, COPYING, RE-CORDING, HIRING OR RENTAL IN ANY MANNER WHATS EVER OF THIS RECORDING WILL CONSTITUTE ON INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT"

[see?]

o.0

Huh?

So are you real or not?

What to do when the original is as questionable as the fake one??

-----------------------------------

* turns out though, an annoying level of persistence and a pitiable face go a long way. 11 days and 3 phone handsets later, I got what I came for. Winner! Kinda… : /