I met up with B on Saturday morning to engage in most Singporeans' favourite past time: Queuing up for a sale.. = )
This time round, it's the Fossil sale at Suntec convention center. Up to 80% off time pieces and accessories. I didn't buy anything in the end, but let's just say it's one of the worst sales i've been to. Much worse than the Crocs sale at Singapore Expo..
When we reached the convention room 30 minutes before the doors open, there was already a snaking queue. Which was expected. Except that we didn't realize the people at Fossil were so stingy that they booked a really small room with a really small queueing area.
It was so bad we couldn't even find the end of the queue and had to walk around the sea of people just to find the end of the queue. It took us about 40 mins to get in.. and then the squeezing and pushing began.
The watches were tied to cardboard egg trays with cable ties, and placed on the tables. So only the people at the first row could see the watches. Those at the back (like myself) just had to hope and pray people in front will leave soon, and then squeeze our way to the front. Problem was, there were a lot of inconsiderate people at the front row who just take their own sweet time looking at the watches, staying rooted to the ground..
So there i was, being sandwiched and pushed around.. when this couple came along and stood behind me on the last row. The guy came so close i could feel his crotch pushing against my back.. The problem was, there was nobody behind him! So i got irritated, turned back and said to him: "Excuse me, could you please move back a little, i don't feel too comfortable." His girlfriend pulled him away from me after that..
That was not all. When i finally squeezed my way to the front row, the Fossil staff was already totally pissed off that people kept pushing the tables. So this lady shouted: "Can you all please move back and stop pushing the tables?!" and without warning, gave the table a hard push. Before i could react or move, the wheels on the table had run over my right foot. I was wearing my Crocs mary janes then, so the wheels went over the top of my naked foot. I almost died. But since i couldn't really move anyway, i decided to continue browsing through the cardboard egg trays.
After an hour of madness, B and I decided to stop shopping and proceed to the cashier. The process was like this: If you see a watch you like, the staff will issue you a sales memo, then you go and make payment, and then join another queue to collect your purchase after payment. B bought an Armani watch (at 80% discount) so we went through the whole process. So we had to queue again to pay.
Then after paying, we exited the room and realized the queue to collect the watch was super long. I met my friend from university while queuing to collect B's watch. She had collected hers, and told me that the wait took 2 hours. Mainly because a lot of watches were missing and the staff had problems finding them. By then, i was hungry and pissed off at the inefficient people at the collection counter, and the people who had organized this sale. To me, the entire process was bogus. How can there be 3 seperate queues just to buy one stupid watch??
The worse thing was, the notice in the room said goods sold were not refundable. My friend kinda reinforced that fact when i asked her if we could get a refund and get the hell out of here. So B and I were stuck in the queue for the next 2 hours because we have already paid. 50 mins into the queue, and i was starting to get pissed off. I was hungry, and the stupid girl behind me was so fidgety she kept"carressing" me (with her hand, her hair, her bag etc..).
By then, K had been waiting for us for the past 30 mins to have lunch. So when i told him the collection will take another 2 hours, he told me he would head home.. I was actually quite sad, cause i wanted to meet K, but couldn't bear to leave B alone in the queue, even though i didn't buy anything myself. So i asked K to go home while I waited with B, cause i knew B would do the same for me. Then K suggested that i go to the front of the queue and check what's happening. Which I did.
There were like 10 people at the collection counter, but all moving extremely slowly.. it was as if they don't care there was a 2 hour queue waiting outside. I walked down the queue near the counter and began asking a few people how long they waited to come this far. The answers were like: "Very long!!" or "about 2 hours". So i walked back to B and told him the bad news. B was already super guilty by then. = )
As the saying goes, desperate times calls for desperate measures. So i had to think fast. One of the Fossil staff walked past me and i grabbed her and asked her to help me get a refund. She asked me to follow her and referred me to her supervisor at the collection counter, who was looking flustered from all the mess. So I put on my sweetest smile and voice and asked her in the most polite way to help me get a refund for B's watch. I told her I had to rush off to somewhere and simply could not afford to wait for the next 2 hours for the watch. And Viola! Ask and you shall receive. = )
Because of me, we did not have to waste another 2 hours queuing for a stupid watch. In the end, we got to meet K for lunch, and we had porridge buffet at Joaquim.. = )
Don't think i will be going for another sale anytime soon.. felt like i had been queuing the entire day on Saturday.. totally claustrophobic!!
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