Cellphone stops working within two days

Tamal Salvan says fungus started to appear on a wardrobe he bought in Skudai.

A MAN bought a used smartphone from Facebook Marketplace, thinking its RM3,000 price was “reasonable”.

Safety officer Muhammad Asyraf Rosman, 31, said the seller from Pahang claimed the phone had been used for less than a year.

The claimant paid the seller RM200 and RM2,800 via two bank transfers on Jan 23.

“The seller came all the way to Johor Baru to hand the phone to me at 11pm that day,” Asyraf told StarMetro outside the Johor Consumer Claims Tribunal at Menara Ansar.

The claimant said the phone was functional for only two days.

On Jan 25, Asyraf realised that he could not make any calls.

“I inserted the SIM card from my other phone into the used phone but there was no network signal.”

He contacted the seller on Jan 25, 26 and 27, informing him of the problems and the seller asked him to return the phone via a courier company.

“I was only willing to return the phone on the condition that the seller refund me the RM3,000 I had paid to him, but he refused.”

On Jan 26, Asyraf went to a service centre in Taman Molek, Johor Baru and the staff told him that the phone was still registered under the seller’s name.

The staff explained to him that the seller still had a year on his contract and needed to inform the service provider if he wished to terminate the contract.

“The staff advised me to return the phone in person to the seller and not to send it by post or courier,” said Asyraf.

Tribunal president Hafez Zalkapli ordered the respondent, who did not attend the hearing, to refund RM3,000 to the claimant within two weeks.

He also advised the claimant only to return the phone upon receiving the money.

In an unrelated case, a teacher claimed that fungus began to appear on a wardrobe he had bought from a furniture outlet in Skudai.S. Tamal Salvan, 37, paid RM1,500 for the item last Oct 10 and it was delivered to his house in Taman Adda Heights on Oct 24.

“The fungus started to appear in November, a month after the cupboard was delivered,” he said outside the Johor Consumer Claims Tribunal.

Tamal Salvan said that apart from fungus, the cupboard also had several defects such as scratches, loose screws, and dents.

He called the outlet and was promised that workers would be dispatched to pick up the faulty item.

However, the shop kept delaying with the excuse that it was a busy period due to the approaching festive seasons.

“We moved into our new house in January. The outlet promised to send workers in February after the Chinese New Year holiday was over,” said Tamal Salvan.

However, they never came and the company blocked his number when Tamal Salvan repeatedly requested a replacement for the fungi-infested furniture.

The claimant said the Skudai outlet had since closed. He said he needed to buy a new cupboard to store his toddler’s items.

Tribunal president Hafez ordered the respondent, who did not attend the hearing, to pay RM150 to the claimant within two weeks.

Those who need assistance in tribunal matters can call 07-227 1755/1766.