I am a PHV driver for Grab, who only wanted a change of car and ended up an unwilling victim of a scam, involving a big famous reputable company who clearly does not want to take responsibility for their own staff. Just like that, I have been scammed of $172,000 and the ownership of my own car. I may not be able to get my money back, and God knows where the ownership of my vehicle is transferred to but I hope to share my story to everyone to at least raise the awareness that this, too, can happen to you.
On 25th April 2023, I made multiple enquiries online and browsed through ads on getting a new car. I have been very keen on getting a Toyota Voxy for awhile now. I went to look went down to *name/address redacted* to look around hoping to find what I was looking for. That’s when I met *name redacted*. He was a salesman at *name redacted*. Unfortunately, they did not have the car I was looking for so I left.
2 days later, I was contacted by *name redacted* via Whatsapp. He asked me if he could bring down another alternative vehicle, a Toyota Noah, for viewing at my convenience. I agreed to it because it was non-obligational too. I was reluctant at first because it was not the car I wanted initially but eventually agreed to it. I then made a deposit of $10,000 via scanning a QR code provided by him through his phone.
On the 28th April 2023, I contacted *name redacted* to inform him that after giving it much thought, I wanted to go for a Toyota Yaris Cross instead, and was even willing to deal with full cash, partially due to concerns taking up a loan. He came down, voided the previous agreement, issued a new one and after some discussions, I transferred another $50,000 via a UOB bank account number given by him. 1-2 days later, he told me that car will be ready for collection before 22nd May 2023, and that I could drive down my vehicle to do a swap on the day itself. Needless to say, I was happy to hear that. I was okay with the wait. The next few correspondence was about COE bidding, the rims I want and color to be done up, etc.
On 18th May 2023,*name redacted* came down to my place and he quoted me a price of $105,000 for my trade-in, which is a Honda Shuttle, and made me sign the agreement. I made the balance payment of $7,000 via the QR code again. He also assisted me to do the transfer of ownership of my trade-in vehicle to *name redacted* which I was very grateful for as I am not IT savvy, but ended up regretting later on.
On the 22nd May 2023, the day I was supposed to collect the car, he called me and told me that car was not ready for collection due to port delay and that it was still pending inspection by LTA. I was upset, but he gave me his word that by the 25th, the car will be ready for collection with PHV decal that he agreed to get done for me. As I had a tour trip out of Singapore from the 24th-29th, So I told him that we would do the exchange of vehicles on 30th May in the morning at their Ubi branch.
While on my tour, I attempted to call him to get some updates but to no avail. Even called his office hotline but was told by a lady that he has been on MC for about a week and have not been in the office. I felt more uneasy than ever. I went straight to their office the moment I was back from my tour and I was referred to the sales manager. He told me that the vehicle was ready for collection and they were just waiting for my payment. I was baffled. All payment that needed to be made have been paid so what could he possibly mean? He requested payment proof of everything which I complied. All payment proof was sent to them to do the relevant checking. Within the same day, the sales manager called me and informed me they did not received ANY of the payments I have made thus far, nor was the ownership of my vehicle transferred to them. They were not even aware of the trade-in as the agreement was altered by *name redacted* before handing it to them and that he must have sold it elsewhere. They told me that it will be dealt with accordingly but what will happen to the money I have paid for? Where on earth was the ownership transferred to? Will I be able to get everything back? My heart sank and I felt so lost. The only thing I could think about was to make a police report about it and so I did.
On 1st June 2023, the sales manager contacted me for a meet up with the MD, *name redacted*. I thought that this time, I could get some updates to the situation or maybe some sincere heartfelt apologies to ease my heavy heart but nothing came close. He pointed to the clause stated on sales agreement indicating that “All Payment Above $3,000 must be in cheque/CO made payable to *name redacted*, as if the instructions given to me were not given by their own salesman. To make matters worse, he also added on saying that they are victims themselves and the whole thing ended with me being told to just wait for police investigations to be done for both my money. It was on that day that I made a separate police report regarding my trade-in vehicle.
Which begs the question; what was the meet up even for? Just for *name redacted* to tell me that they have zero part to play in this and to insinuate that it is my fault and due to my negligence, even though we both know that I am not the only one and there are other customers that have fallen victim to this? Is the man that scammed me not your staff? I trusted your company and merely followed the instructions given by your salesman, and yet you have the audacity to turn this back on me? It was your salesman, carrying your company’s brand, who I trusted to do the transfer of the ownership of my car too. I never thought that this would happen to me, especially not with such a reputable company. Do I, as a consumer, as somebody who patronized your business deserve this? To have what happened to me treated so nonchalantly. The man has since been apprehended and many would argue that it is true, that I would have to wait for the police to do their jobs but was there not a better way for *name redacted* to deal with this? Just when I thought there was nothing anybody could do to make me feel worse too. I am enraged, upset, disappointed all at once. I feel betrayed by the company I have trusted enough to patronized. I thought I was careful, or perhaps prejudiced in a way, to go for well-renowned dealerships than smaller ones. Some people may even say that I should have been more cautious and checked on my part but this would be something you would never expect to happen to you. Especially when you’re dealing with company that has multiple big-shots, influencers, celebs and what-nots as their brand ambassadors.
To those who took their time to read my post, thank you and I appreciate it. And to those who are looking to do business with them, think twice because you may risk losing what I have lost and not a care in the world would be given to you. I have learned my lesson the hardest way and I hope nothing like this would ever happen to anyone else.
Is this the kind of company you wish to support? Think again.
