Despite reports of long queues in the rain, undeterred prospective customers continued getting in line to sign up for an offer by local telecommunications company, Simba, on Dec. 14, which was the final day of the deal. The promotion was part of the telco’s fifth anniversary. Customers were entitled to S$120 worth of credits when they topped up S$60 to their accounts between Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 at a Simba service centre. However, on Dec. 13, long queues formed and some customers were turned away, leaving them disgruntled. In a video posted on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Dec. 14, customers holding umbrellas waited in line as they were pelted by rain. The queue led to a Simba service centre located at Block 208 Upper New Changi Road in Bedok. The queue extended outdoors as those in line apparently avoided waiting directly under the sheltered area in front of the various shop fronts. In the comment section on Facebook, one commenter claimed that she failed to top up her account despite queuing for two days in the rain. She described Simba’s marketing campaign as “insincere”. Some others suggested that the company could have done an online promotion. One customer, Lin (transliteration), 40, told Shin Min Daily News that the weather started out fine before it started raining heavily. She was waiting to enter the New Upper Changi Road service centre. Some did not have umbrellas with them, so they had no choice but to leave the line to seek shelter, according to Lin. “The queue was long. I queued for close to an hour before I successfully topped up my account,” Lin said. Customer went early only to find an long queue People were also seen lining up in the rain at Simba’s service centres in Bukit Batok and Bedok, Shin Min reported. At around 2pm, close to a hundred people were seen in line at Simba’s Jurong Point service centre, according to Shin Min. One customer, Xu (transliteration), 64, shared that he arrived at 2pm to try to beat the crowd. Nevertheless, by the time he got there, a long queue had already formed. One shop attendant said some customers were already in line even before the shop opened for business. They pre-registered some of their phone numbers, but had to stop as there were too many people. “The mall’s security was also present to help maintain orderliness,” the staff said. On Dec. 13, snaking queues were reported at a number of Simba service centres, such as the one in Serangoon, Bedok and Tampines. At Serangoon, the police was called in and they urged those in queue to go home. It was observed that a number of those queueing up were seniors. Customers had received a text message from Simba informing them of the offer on Dec. 12. They were later informed in a separate message on Dec. 13 that the offer would only be available for an hour, between 3pm to 4pm. According to a social media post by Simba, only eight service centres served as participating outlets. Top image via Shin Min Daily News #tiktoksg #sgnews
♬ Rihanna Umbrella – Sᴛᴜɴɴɪɴɢ Mᴜsɪᴄ
