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THEY had been promised a free laptop.
But all some of them got was an afternoon of waiting - for nothing.
The pitch was attractive: Sign up for a broadband Internet plan with StarHub and get a free laptop.
All they had to do was turn up at the redemption centre at Funan DigitaLife Mall to collect their gift.
But an overwhelming number of people turned up yesterday.
And as the queue got longer, tempers flared.
It didn't help that the redemption centre had a shortage of laptops. People in the queue were told that there were only about 1,100 laptops to be given away yesterday.
When The New Paper arrived at 7.30pm, the queue number had reached about 1,600.
A sign was also placed at the front of the centre, offering two options to those who were left out - come back next month to collect the laptop, or register with the counter staff to have it sent by post.
Four to five people were busy working at the registration counter.
After registering their details, customers were given a slip of paper to take to another counter, two doors down, to pick up their laptops.
While the registration went slowly, there was almost no wait to collect the laptops - customers were seen picking them once they had escaped the jam at registration.
TIRED
There were still about 60 to 70 people milling around at the registration counter by the time we arrived.
Many of them looked tired, and, when asked, said they had been at the centre for the better part of the afternoon.
One customer, who declined to be named, launched into a tirade upon hearing we were from the media.
'I've been here since 1 pm and I still don't have a laptop,' he said.
'How can it be so difficult to just collect something? All the signups were done earlier, so don't they already know how many laptops to keep?'
One customer Mr Sugi, 31, got his queue number, 886, at lunchtime.
When another customer, Mr Chua, arrived at 3 pm, the queue number had gone up to 1409.
At 7.30pm, both were still waiting for their queue numbers to be called.
Mr Chua claimed: 'I've seen people without a queue number just push their way up to the counter and give their registration details. The staff attended to them anyway.'
Hearing this, Mr Sugi added: 'It was worse just now when there were more people.'
When approached, the staff at the counter said that they were very busy, and that their manager was not around to comment.
The New Paper understands that the redemption centre is not run by StarHub.
Why the confusion?
Some customers showed The New Paper a letter stating that the laptops could be collected from today.
When asked why she didn't pick a later date to collect her laptop, one woman replied: 'Lucky I was here today. See, they ran out of laptops anyway.
'If I had come tomorrow, I would have got nothing.'
NEW STOCKS IN AUGUST
Mr Michael Sim, spokesman for StarHub, apologised for the confusion and said that new stocks should arrive on 11 Aug or sooner.
He explained that the collections were staggered over a few dates, and that customers were told they could collect their laptops from a certain date.
He also said anyone in the queue who registered would not have to pay delivery charges for their laptop.
Customers who have yet to redeem their gifts should call the redemption centre at 6883-0512 to check if stocks are available.
'We are sorry that people had to wait for so long in the queue. We hope for our customers' patience and understanding,' Mr Sim said.
Alamak how cum SuckHub happy happy promotion aw end up in a warzone 1 har? Y spend so much time n moni 2 organise such promotion n end up having tons of unhappy customer... Haizz..:(
But all some of them got was an afternoon of waiting - for nothing.
The pitch was attractive: Sign up for a broadband Internet plan with StarHub and get a free laptop.
All they had to do was turn up at the redemption centre at Funan DigitaLife Mall to collect their gift.
But an overwhelming number of people turned up yesterday.
And as the queue got longer, tempers flared.
It didn't help that the redemption centre had a shortage of laptops. People in the queue were told that there were only about 1,100 laptops to be given away yesterday.
When The New Paper arrived at 7.30pm, the queue number had reached about 1,600.
A sign was also placed at the front of the centre, offering two options to those who were left out - come back next month to collect the laptop, or register with the counter staff to have it sent by post.
Four to five people were busy working at the registration counter.
After registering their details, customers were given a slip of paper to take to another counter, two doors down, to pick up their laptops.
While the registration went slowly, there was almost no wait to collect the laptops - customers were seen picking them once they had escaped the jam at registration.
TIRED
There were still about 60 to 70 people milling around at the registration counter by the time we arrived.
Many of them looked tired, and, when asked, said they had been at the centre for the better part of the afternoon.
One customer, who declined to be named, launched into a tirade upon hearing we were from the media.
'I've been here since 1 pm and I still don't have a laptop,' he said.
'How can it be so difficult to just collect something? All the signups were done earlier, so don't they already know how many laptops to keep?'
One customer Mr Sugi, 31, got his queue number, 886, at lunchtime.
When another customer, Mr Chua, arrived at 3 pm, the queue number had gone up to 1409.
At 7.30pm, both were still waiting for their queue numbers to be called.
Mr Chua claimed: 'I've seen people without a queue number just push their way up to the counter and give their registration details. The staff attended to them anyway.'
Hearing this, Mr Sugi added: 'It was worse just now when there were more people.'
When approached, the staff at the counter said that they were very busy, and that their manager was not around to comment.
The New Paper understands that the redemption centre is not run by StarHub.
Why the confusion?
Some customers showed The New Paper a letter stating that the laptops could be collected from today.
When asked why she didn't pick a later date to collect her laptop, one woman replied: 'Lucky I was here today. See, they ran out of laptops anyway.
'If I had come tomorrow, I would have got nothing.'
NEW STOCKS IN AUGUST
Mr Michael Sim, spokesman for StarHub, apologised for the confusion and said that new stocks should arrive on 11 Aug or sooner.
He explained that the collections were staggered over a few dates, and that customers were told they could collect their laptops from a certain date.
He also said anyone in the queue who registered would not have to pay delivery charges for their laptop.
Customers who have yet to redeem their gifts should call the redemption centre at 6883-0512 to check if stocks are available.
'We are sorry that people had to wait for so long in the queue. We hope for our customers' patience and understanding,' Mr Sim said.
Alamak how cum SuckHub happy happy promotion aw end up in a warzone 1 har? Y spend so much time n moni 2 organise such promotion n end up having tons of unhappy customer... Haizz..:(
