# Got ripped off at the Pacific Mall



## solarz

So I went to buy a case for my new Nokia C6 on Friday at the Pacific Mall. The very next day, I noticed a crack on the case, and a few hours later, the crack broke open.

I went back to the store I got it from, and before I could even suggest an exchange, the girl there basically laughed in my face and told me that it wasn't her problem.

The case was only 5$ but the merchant's attitude was unbearable. What's worse, she's the owner of the store, so it's not just a bad employee. I was tempted to make a scene, but I'm just not that kind of person.

The store name is "Gosu Mobile", located in Unit A22. Avoid this store even if they charge a bit less than other stores, because they will laugh at you after you buy a defective product. Also avoid those clear hard plastic phone cases: they are of extremely poor quality.


----------



## tom g

*pacific mall*

thats the problem with those stores they make so little money on the product its all about quantiies for them , sorry about your luck with the case . are u looking for a durable case cause i got a OTTO case from rogers and i stepped on my phone and it didnt do any dammage case or phone 
cheers 
tom


----------



## Sameer

When I read "Pacific Mall" I wasent surprised. Its true they make so little that they cant afford to do anything else, not to mention the attitude they have.


----------



## Greg_o

You did the right thing by not freaking and posting the story on line.

I don't understand why business owners don't look at the long term effects of angry customers - sure they got the one sale but they now have lost your future business and I'm sure others who hear your story.


----------



## solarz

Sameer said:


> When I read "Pacific Mall" I wasent surprised. Its true they make so little that they cant afford to do anything else, not to mention the attitude they have.


They actually have very high profit margins on these things. They mass import these things from China, where it sells for 5 RMB, which is less than 1 CAD. Even counting shipping, their costs are extremely low.

It's not the profit margin that drives these kinds of attitudes, it's the fact that they get so many people in their stores that they think they don't need to care about the feelings of one customer.

It's also not something that's generalizeable to the Pacific Mall. I've had several instances of merchants there allowing me to exchange defective products before. I remember I bought a metal-framed cart from a store in Market Village once, and after a week of use, the wheel axis became bent. I brought it back to the store, and the owner allowed me to exchange it for another cart. So definitely it depends on the store owner.

You know, I wouldn't even have bothered with posting this story online if that girl had not been extremely rude and condescending.



> thats the problem with those stores they make so little money on the product its all about quantiies for them , sorry about your luck with the case . are u looking for a durable case cause i got a OTTO case from rogers and i stepped on my phone and it didnt do any dammage case or phone


Thanks, but I got another one. Hopefully this one won't break too soon.


----------



## Hoyuen

it's not really unreasonable for them to not exchange your item. Being a chinese, I've always pondered the refund/exchange policy... there are so many ways to take advantage of it.

I've know of people buying nice clothes for occasion, wear it once, then returning it. I've know of people breaking a product, buying a new one, and returning the defective product. If I sell someone anything, especially if it's a protective casing... and they return it the next day with scratches or crack without a receipt or item number... I am going to assume that person just dropped it and wants a new one.

On the other hand, an rude and condescending attitude is no way to conduct business. Being embarrassed as a customer is more irritating than being out right rejected your request.


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

Hey Solarz,

Customer service and support seem to be two different things at the shops there. The thing with buying from chinese stores I've learned over the years is I consider it a cash deal and you make sure everything is working as good as possible before you leave the store. If anything needs to be corrected I do so immediately. Once you leave the store consider it final. Sure some stores will honor a return/exchange but I don't put too much faith in that.

Sorry for what happened but at least the case you have has some external protection to take some bumpage if it happens. Otter cases are known to take abuse. IMHO any case that can survive a military training obstacle course when used in civie life will survive just about anything barring set on fire or shot at.

You may want to check out www.dealextreme.com . I don't work for them or get kick backs for mentioning them. However I have bought many times from them with like a 1% burn from them from all my purchases. THey have a comment/feedback on the products so you can see what you can live with or without on the item. My experience with them is on a component level for my high power LEDs. I have heard mostly good things about thier support where is something is damaged you can return it but I've enver done it myself. I've had a few power regulators smoke up or not function the way I wanted but it was like a couple out of a small batch so I didn't bother with the couple dollars. The upside of this place is the low prices, paypal (only shows them your mailing address and status if you paid or not for the item), and in USD. The downside is it comes via 'sea turtle' AKA land shipping so it is about 2-3 weeks to get to you.

Whenever I buy stuff from P.Mall it is more something I can beef up, fix, or mod or just cheap protection with some good o'l guntape on it.


----------



## Flazky

Just a by the way for you guys, 90% of the cell phone stores at pmall are all owned by the same person. Dont be fooled by the different names of the stores.


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

Flazky said:


> Just a by the way for you guys, 90% of the cell phone stores at pmall are all owned by the same person. Dont be fooled by the different names of the stores.


You can't make a comment like that without evidance. What i your source?


----------



## Flazky

my friend knows the owner, and you actually see them walkin into the other stores when they make a sale and dont have it in stock at the store the customer is in.


----------



## AquaNekoMobile

Flazky said:


> my friend knows the owner, and you actually see them walkin into the other stores when they make a sale and dont have it in stock at the store the customer is in.


Curious, as his store are open to the public, who is the owner?


----------



## Zebrapl3co

Well, not 90% of the stores. Each owners have several stores in Pacific malls. It's a sales strategy that's very common in HK where competition is brutal. How you go about it, is you open several small stores across the same mall. This allows the store to present the same product to a customer several times. Usually it's three times, anymore and it becomes too repetitive and the customer starts to ignore your store entirely. If you are a customer looking for something, you'll likely cave in after going through the third store looking at the same thing with the same price. There are several variations you can go, you can have 1 store with a higher price, this is a sinker, because now you are more determine than ever to buy from the other two. Then, there is the good cop bad cop thing. In this variation, you have one store with lousy service, the place is a dump but it's cheap price, and then another one just a few store down with a higher price and good service. So in actuality, even though you physically left the store, you basically walk into another of it's sister store.
Another advantage is that you can corner the other shops and squeeze out the competition.
It can get pretty ugly if you have 2 big bosses opening 6 stores in one mall. But if you have 3 or 4 big bosses and there are 9 or 12 shops in the mall, it creates a different phenomenon that draws bussiness from a good chunk of the city, because now every body knows this is the mall to go if you want to buy this product.

As for the refund thing. I am a chinese and I find it deplorable. Please hold yourself to a higher standard. You are in Canada now, land of the plenty.

*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------

