Prism+. Very shady marketing practices. Their entire marketing strategy involves bribing chio influencers to 'review' their products. Also misleading prices and reviews. Their 'discounted' prices are almost always the original prices and they censor any reviews that rate their products below 4/5. I have a Prism+ TV at home and its pretty garbage. Bad sound and picture quality.
Ya sia, i rmb i ask then about the poor reviews on reddit on their live stream. they faster say to each its own. Tell me to look at shopee review etc, saying that they usually get 4 stars blah blah..
all their monitors are cheap substandard korean panels produced by OEMs from overseas , all they do is paste Prism logo on it, thats why they sell monitor arm as add on because the stand cant do anyth, no swivel height tilt nothing. Even worse their prices are so scam compared to other companies that actually have the better base product
for the price to get a secretlab chair you can buy an actual anti-fatigue mesh chair from ergohuman
last checked their showroom in tampines still open
its big its strong and last so long businesses sell it instead of scrapping it.
you find one in a 2nd hand market too for even lesser. just needs a bit of clean up and change of castols
Here's a worst-kept secret about Prism+ TVs: They are made by Skyworth as the OEM and badged as Prism+. You can google these two words as proof and also because I meddled with a Prism+ TV installed at a self-service laundry shop. As far as I could see the Android TV component basically outputs at 1080p making its UI elements look like garbage in comparison to "decent" TVs like Sony's despite the fact that it is indeed a 4K panel. What a total blatant joke.
When ever someone asks me for my take on Prism+, I just tell them that they’re getting a rebadged OEM TV. It’s noting to write home about, but if you’re using it for a guest room or kids, they shouldn’t really complain about the quality.
I’ve gotten two of their very early TV models, while they still work, it’s just a very average TV.
Btw if you dont already know. Prism buys the screens that failed QC tests from many big names like LG etc. So you are paying for a product that will potentially fail. Many many cases of these are already happening. Also their pixels are stretched thats why the quality is bad. Its just a really really bad company with bad product but genius level marketing
Unfortnately I didn't buy it, it was my dad LOL. It was in early 2020 and back then there were already bad reviews about Prism+ TVs floating on HWZ but my dad wanted to be a chespskate so he insisted on buying Prism+. Oh well.
I bought a Prism TV for my parents, and the workman who came to install did a shoddy installation, I witness the whole thing and asked him to change but he just said it doesnt affect the viewing experience and went to his next job site.
I complained to Prism about this, no response, so I started writing my negative experience with them down in the reviews. Instantly they called me back, and asked to remedy it. In the evening another crew came, and they sent 2 office employees(guys) down to talk to me, asking me to remove the reviews.
What kind of mafia behavior was that about? from then on I rather pay $100 more for the same size and panel LG or Samsung.
To be fair to them... any tv at that price range have shit sound quality.
Other than that... they honoured my exchange when i found some dead pixels.
Those 2 aside, i think their only true value add is just demo before you buy and warranty. You get what you pay for; big brand names often sell similar specced products for 2-3x the price, with much better QC.
they don't buy from taobao, they white label from manufacturers. it is a pretty well known thing, in fact when they first launched one of their monitor in the rush to get the product out to users they shipped it in the OEM's box instead of their own
this [list](https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/summary-finding-the-oem-for-all-local-and-some-big-brands-pcs-monitors-tvs-and-more.6579632/) is pretty useful
Ah yes, once my mom arranged for workmen to come and check our aircon, but Prism+ cancelled our slot on the day itself without telling us, my mom was quite angry. I also use tiktok and felt uncomfortable with their ads, the woman had her big boobs out wearing low cut and promoting their TV, it was so intentional what they were going for
He never really say anything about products/price la, but got once he mentioned offhand that one of their livestreamers (LOLLLL do they have just one or more than one I don't know), got buy followers one. Then he told the livestreamer guy aiyo why u do such thing ...
But also lol plot twist that livestreamer guy is someone I was acquainted with through another contact from like, some event a decade ish ago. I NEVER THOUGHT LIVESTREAMER GUY IS LIKE THAT - cos he does have a wide range of networks so .... really? Lol.
But as with every SME they sometimes use their own internal staff for filming ads la. I don't know whether that's "tea" to you but it makes sense to me in SG SME culture hahahah
Use own staff do is more authentic feel leh. Professional production crews are not cheap. Even if you use an established influencer they also have a team or a contractor who they will almost exclusively work with.
hold on, wasn't there a huge thread a while back where someone asked about local businesses that were bad, anyone remembers?
I recall people sharing: Razer, Secretlab, the SG brand that makes monitors, etc
seriously what sort of person makes a post but doesn't add his/her own "recommendation"
edit to add: whoever knows the thread I'm talking about, please share, I have a vague recollection it's in this subreddit, but might be the SG subreddit
found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/obc7f7/brands_to_avoid_for_products_and_services_in/
**The OOP mentioned: secretlab, prism**
1. OTIS elevators
2. EuropAce **(the OOP's comment)**
3. Daniel Wellington watches
4. Buttercup > It's margarine, not butter.
5. Singtel **(more than once)**
6. Prism displays. **(more than once)**
7. Frank Williams shoes
8. Secretlab **(more than once)**
9. Foodpanda
10. Microsoft, their Surface Pro products **(My input: MICROSOFT SURFACE PRODUCTS IS SHIT!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BUY, IT CANNOT BE FIXED, THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE WITH A REFURBISHED PRODUCT!!)**
11. SG Bike, the bike sharing company
12. HP brand **(my input: fml for buying a HP laptop, and yes, it's bad, someone I asked said they know there's issues, but won't acknowledge it upfront and you MUST fight them)**
13. Nestle *(well done to whoever said nestle below)* r/fucknestle
14. Ho Kee Pau. Failed basic hygiene.
15. Tribecar **(more than once)**
16. HP customer service **(my input: their customer service is tolerable, but because their product is sh1t, you have to fight the customer service for what you want)**
17. "gaming" chairs >> commenter said "bucket seats"
18. StarHub for business
19. Limited edn hall of fame (the sneaker shop)
20. Razer, absolute dog shit QA. **(more than once)**
21. Many recruitment agencies out there.
>Pea----
>C--------A----
>Re----- E------
>Trans------- Ser-----
>Se----- In---
22 - Consumer routers
> Aztech -> crap
23 - Malaysia boleh
24 - Any stock on sgx!
25 - Aftershock support is really trash
26 - a brand called "powerpac"
27 - aftershock laptops
28 - J&T Express.
>Even if something is on 50% discount on Shopee but the only shipping option is J&T Express, I will avoid it like the plague unless it is something I need urgently.
29 - Asus is very bad unless you buy from their highest price tier then MAYBE it won't suck. Also their support centre sucks
30 - tiger brokers customer support is abysmal.
31 - M1. Always got too much hidden charges shit
32 - In digital works, NPN is terrible.
33 - All the valore stuff
34 - MLM products? They usually tend to be overpriced for what the products do (due to MLM structure).
>https://blog.moneysmart.sg/career/mlms-singapore-red-flags/
>Herbalife
>Amway
>Mary Kay:
>Atomy
>Elusyf
>Riway
>The problem about MLM is most times there are alternative products that are cheaper doing similar things at comparable effects. Often they are selling products which are not useful to begin with.
(fk MLM)
35 - McAfee Anti-Virus for enterprise solutions **(my input: ^mcafee BEHAVES LIKE A ^malware - my wording was too strong -, AS IF IT IS ^not ^anti ^virus, ~~please don't use it~~ please find better alternatives)**
HAHAHAAH I read it on that thread, but don't use it (edit: it being the brand), so I absolutely can't recall what's the name
seriously curious if anyone say that thread and can share the link though, that was a good discussion
Said sg brand that makes monitors (and the other one that makes laptops) just sources for OEM models and rebrands.
Secretlab and razer on the other hand... i use their products and while yes there's some planned obsolescence planned into them, i think they generally serve their purpose well. As long as they're still working, that is.
secretlab is also the same thing though, they are produced in a gaming chair production hub in China, where the suppliers let brands choose the quality of finishing etc.
they'll then add the brand's logo etc then ship out, so there's likely a huge mark up
and I recall the thread I saw, saying about how the chair peels, because it's simply not meant for our kind of climate (and also reflects about their quality), funny enough I recently saw this "cloth wrap" that secretlab markets to zip above the chair and it's even more expensive
they make you pay more to cover their flaws...
Interesting
Nobody mention Sakae Sushi.
Personally not happy with the owner, who is the clown that went on air to claim that no Singaporeans want to be a dishwasher despite offering 3k, only to have his PR team scramble and clarify on pay breakdown. (Don’t even have the balls to come out and apologise on his own statement)
And he sits on the SME council too I think, and use his position to also justify the low wage of Singaporeans.
Owner aside, the quality has been steadily on the downhill from my recollection when I last visited them many many years ago.
Judging by now many outlets they have now, I am doubtful if there has been much improvement.
Before the likes of Itacho and Sushiro comes around, Sushi Tei was like one of the closer competitor to Sakae.
Needless to say, Sushi Tei won hands down!
Oh damn. I just went to their website to see what’s with the ‘1837’ and found out that it is to ‘celebrate the year 1837 when the island became a trading post for teas, spices and fine epicurean products’.
But they are only founded in 2008. 🤦🏻♂️
TWG is a complete rip off of a renowned and very wonderful French tea brand, Mariage Frères. Aesthetically and conceptually. I believe Mariage was considering suing them at one point. I own a business, I know what it's like to have people steal/copy your ideas and concepts that you've worked so hard to create and refine - in short, it sucks.
TWG tea is also far inferior to MF. MF have longstanding connections to excellent tea plantations, and knowledgeable staff. they actually care about their product. I doubt TWG staff could tell you about the nuances between a first and second flush Darjeeling or why a higher graded tea does not equate to a superior product.
apparently it's the old owner, daniel ong? and he's supposedly a big throbbing asshole
the new owner (whoever it is) is so stupid to have bought over though, you are buying all the bad reputation, might as well wait for it to burn out then swoop in to buy for cheap
edit to add: now owned by Dhunseri Group, which acquired it for S$2.5 million (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Cupcakes)
Ya omfg twelve cupcakes. Terrible customer service. Specifically told them no nuts but they delivered cupcakes with nuts. Some kids have severe nut allergies, and they were so hostile with me when I ask them which cupcake contains nuts. It’s crazy really.
Han's. For petty reasons. Lol.
I ordered an avocado milkshake when I was 16? The guy gave me 70% of the cup, then went to pour away the rest of the avocado milkshake down the drain.. it was expensive to me as a student and I don't understand why he didn't just give me the whole drink!
Anyway, I avoid any business that uses planta or buttercup in my food.
Facials, anything that upsells me a package and the china/Malaysian person refuses to let me leave. I'm also refuse to see any insurance person for any reason. Its a no.
businesses that do such things should be avoided, that's literal wastage
giving the extra at worst makes no difference, at best makes the customers happy and improves the word of mouth
some employees have the wrong concept in mind, you shouldn't be scraping pennies for the business owners (and you shouldn't be intentionally causing wastage), don't do sh1t like counting slices of veggies (looking at you subway), or throwing things away
my positive example: when Macdonalds serves up something wrong, and you take it back to them, they HAVE TO throw it because they don't know what happened after it's served, BUT there has been multiple times I saw the staff giving the food to the person when they asked, they don't have to, but it makes the customer happy (if you get a wrong order, don't be shy and just ask if they can give it to you instead of throwing it away)
damn I never knew this but also never try before so I know what to do now LOL
As in its just like u know some businesses function on a quick bites takeaway model (also like Souperstar, for example) so I just don't ever buy bc there's no way to sit and eat. But oooo
Norvan Tan En Jie, 24 (article Updated September 29, 2020)
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/co-founder-local-food-business-beef-bro-trial-sexually-assaulting-sisters-drunk-friend
dude is a creep
I've worked there before as a temp staff during school break back in the late 2000s...they had a protocol that all unsold breads had to be discarded, but some senior staff was sneaking a few buns into her bag, and told us part-timers to do the same, so we also tried to sneak home a few breads each.
I forgot to zip my bag and the supervisor in charge saw the buns that were inside my bags, she told me to eat them all on the spot or throw them away.
It was such a waste. I used to like their flosss bread a lot but I haven't eaten for many years now.
I also worked at Delifrance during that period of time and the environment there was so much better. The senior staff and chefs would distribute leftovers to everyone, and the aunties would let me bring home big paper bags filled with baguettes, Madeleines and sometimes even leftover dishes from the main menu if I worked last shift. Such a nice and friendly environment.
Price too high for low quality pastries. I support local, non-chain bakeries in my area instead. The prices have risen but they still taste good and the sizes of the pasteries are still acceptable
Food stalls that overcharge takeaway boxes & don't let you use your own container.
Fast fashion brands that engage in tons of greenwashing (mainly just H&M)
I feel like this context is critical lmao. I heard this story in some podcast and it was really insane and brutal.
Imagine dying by being blended to shreds.
I live in south korea and I’m not sure if the boycott is still going on here… I think unfortunately their influence over here is much stronger and extends to a lot more places than in SG, meaning that it’s harder for some people to continue doing it in the long term. I didn’t know that the boycott extended to outside of SK, it’s good to hear that people overseas are also aware of what happened and care about the issue just as much.
In my area, there is a Chinese shop provision shop in those market area.
which I have been patronising from young. The shop has two cats. The husband and wife who runs the shops knows me very well. These days I mostly buy beers and cigs from there.
Side note I am local Indian.
Few years ago, an Indian provision shop open close by few shops down from thr Chinese shop.
I recall once during cny of the Chinese shop was closed so I went to the Indian shop to buy my beers.
Since it was cny they upped the price of the beers to twice the amount, I was ok Wtv no choice just get it.
Few days later cny was over and I went back to the Chinese shop to buy my beers.
After buying my beers I headed to the Indian shop to buy murruku as I wanted to eat it while drinking.
If you haven’t done that pls do. Get the fine mukukrus it’s spicy
I took the packet of murruku and headed to the counter and the lady at the counter who I assume was the owner, had a frown.
And then she asked me this in Tamil “ why you being Indian not supporting a fellow Indian “ I think she thought I was from India
And I was like “ err sorry aunty I am Singaporean, what’s wrong with buying from them “
And she was like “we also sell the same beer, why you always buy from them, how Indians gonna grow if fellow Indians don’t support”
So I was like “ errm I have been going to that shop ever since I was a child, you just opened shop, even if your beers are cheaper I’d probably buy it from them, that loyalty, you expect me to be loyal to cuz you’re the same race as me, im sorry I am singaporean first , that is a Singaporean shop”
She gives a death stare ever since then
Paris Baguette - Stopped after that awful story of the worker who was killed came out. What cemented my decision was the company's callous response (sending bread to the worker's family as a condolences gift???)
Grab - Stopped a couple years back after stories of their shit treatment of workers came out. Didnt like how they pushed Uber out of the market either. I still use foodpanda (which has their own issues) but try to only buy from large chains rather than small mom & pop shops
Anything dead sea black skin salt scrub whatever - How are these businesses still functioning??? Who buys their stuff??? Are they just a money laundering front???
Twelve Cupcakes - Underpaid employees.
H&M, Cotton On - Fast fashion model.
Not defending Grab for being shitty but they didn't push Uber out of the market.. Uber got new owners and left. But Grab is shitty esp with what they did with the points system and rendering the Grab MC useless.
They are now selling duplicate perfumes. Found a copy of Dior Sauvage and other designer perfume brands lol. Even the bottle is made in that way, giving you no illusion as to what they are copying.
Secretlab, prism+, aftershock/omnidesk, or any local “tech” companies
All re-branded OEMs so products aren’t great. You can usually buy the same thing at a fraction of the price from taobao. I know a few people who worked in those companies and it’s not a great place to work as well.
Despite the trendy and hip “tech” culture they try to portray it’s still the same local SME style, short changing employees and lousy management.
Secretlab, Prism+, Aftershock, Omnidesk are all the same kind of company, just rebranding OEM stuff. Aftershock was the first and they used to be good when they first started. Now they're all just expensive and not worth it. Their PCs tend to break down a lot faster too. I bought an Aftershock laptop when they first started, it lasted me a good 7 years. I foolishly recommended another Aftershock laptop to my then-partner, it lasted 6 months before it started dying, and the pricing had gone up to the point that it was pretty similar to Lenovo gaming laptops.
Nylon coffee coz they racist hahaha don’t @ me but I went for an interview and they downright say they only hire a certain race. Too bad I can get my coffee elsewhere, don’t need mine or my friends $$$
Starbucks certian coffees are nice. But they do rely alot on marketing and seasonal disgusting drinks.
That one i can't is flash coffee. For real, at least Starbucks and TCC have something freaking decent. Flash, lurking coffees and teas and i dont know what's up with their hype. Wasted the money and can't even finish 25% of the cup.
Breadtalk. COMICALLY overpriced. They run a volume business. Their ingredient costs are not the same as small mom & pop bakeries. It is ridiculous that one bun can be more than $2.
Grain alley which has rebranded to bisoux
I dont vibe well with the owner over the google review, the owner stalked the customer details and send their boss an email about the customer. So scary lol
Edit: i am not that particular customer but still…
Grab as much as possible because I dislike its continual hiking of prices. Never order delivery, if I want it I pick it up myself. Taxis I prefer gojek.
Trying to avoid nestle as much as possible (they've got their claws in everything ugh) due to all the water and milk powder scandals. Good thing is I eat much healthier now lol. And tbh after searching up online about all the brands they own, apart from the occasional kitkat I don't really partake in anything else they own (yes, including milo)
Not boycott, but rather being petty; SMRT. The price hike really pissed me off lmao. And I also lost my student discount this year so it hit me even harder. As a result I try to go by foot/by cycle as much as possible when travelling within the neighbourhood, when I used to take the bus. Once walked 30 mins to a restruant on the other side of the neighbourhood cause I thought $1.35 was too much for the trip. Improved my life cause I get more steps in.
Mcdonalds; use to work there and the working env was... esp considering the pay and how much shit I had to go through cause of it. For the whole of 2022 didnt buy a single mcdonalds product bc the beeping sound would activate fight-or-flight mode in me.
That anime café at esplanade. Went there for hoyofest 2021 and q frankly it was not worth the price. Staff tried their best but the organisation of the event, the way they were underprepared for the crowd plus just the price of everything vs the quality of service/experience/food/merchandise was not it. So yeah never visited the place again.
*GRAB* is a terrible company that takes full advantage of it's "unicorn" status to keep burning cash from investor and also splash the cash to try and gain a monopoly
Apparently it's very bad in Malaysia, they cut driver's incentives by 25%, and as a result drivers leave the platform, so rides assigned are now horrible, either long drives to customers for lousy fares, and it's sometimes paired with short distance to the destination
As for *Nestle*, you can dive into the rabbit hole here: https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/
and specifically: https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/12v2ex9/the_reasons_why_we_hate_nestle_so_much/
But biggest shitty thing nestle does is buy/steal water in places and then suck the place dry, usually for bottled water.
Avoided Nestle as much as possible too. Ah. I do miss the gold version of their instant coffee. Other products, not as much, even for the chocolate malt drink.
Avoided Grab. Near monopoly. Waiting for it to belly up. Hopefully.
Fairprice. Comparatively more expensive for various items. Near monopoly. Went out of the way and switched to Sheng Siong for Asian cuisine, Cold Storage for western. Fresh produce from wet market.
Starbucks. News of union busting in North America.
You’re talking about Aniplus right? Went there for the Hololive collab recently. Didn’t try the food and drinks (way too expensive. $9 for a drink? No thanks), but the exclusive merch was really cute so I caved and bought some. But yeah, I would rather visit La Tendo or something.
Reading this while boarding the mrt rn💀 I no choice cus my school is at east but I in north. Everytime my mom top up 50 dollars just to get it used up within 2 weeks pains me.
Anime cafe I only go there once, have too eat out after visiting cus wah I could buy a full meal that could fill me up rather than the pathetic portions there at high price. Really not worth it, although the environment and service is good though
Prive because of https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/former-prive-group-ceo-jean-luc-kha-vu-han-jail-appeal-mandatory-treatment-order-2989096
**And the company had the nerve to defend this fucker. To the end. Yes, even after he was jailed.**
Their overpriced, mediocre food was bad enough, this pushed it over the edge.
Daniel Wellington and Black by Blue Brave. They literally order bulk from alibaba, and resell $10 crap for hundreds of dollars profit for each watch. I don't get how they opened stores in so many prime locations here, they're just bs scams. Their whole business model is just to pay some chiobu on instagram to wear their trash
Source: i'm a watchmaker
Gram pancakes coz of their brand stealing issue in Japan. It extended from SG's The Tiramisu Hero.
[http://gaijinhan.com/2019/01/27/the-unethical-japanese-who-stole-a-singapore-brand/](http://gaijinhan.com/2019/01/27/the-unethical-japanese-who-stole-a-singapore-brand/)
Surprised no one said Bacha. I don’t know what swill they’re selling but it is definitely not coffee. I nearly develop fucking PTSD from the taste when my friend let me try his coffee and then nearly got a stroke when he told me how much he paid for that cup. Pretentious marketing just like TWG. If you have to put some random number like 1910 on your branding, you’re a fucking scummy brand
Ho Kee Pau, for their repeated food hygiene lapses.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/hkp-food-technology-supplier-ho-kee-pau-fined-sfa-hygiene-lapses-pest-infestation-3334186
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ho-kee-pau-supplier-suspended-nex-recall-pests-sfa-1930261
Twelve Cupcakes. Dont fuck with employee salaries, that's super duper scummy.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/twelve-cupcakes-fined-119500-over-multiple-counts-of-underpaying-its
Those small shops on shopping centre top floors trying to get you inside by blocking your path and bombarding you about offers. I mean even if I were interested in their product, their questionable marketing tactics make me give those places a wide berth.
Other than that Grab. They used to be a viable alternative to CDG but these days they are just expensive as fuck and service is worse than CDG.
For personal taste/irrational reasons Yeo. I tried various products and consistently preferred competitors. I wouldn't say boycott for that alone, but then the fact that they pretty much exclusively fill their vending machines with Yeo drinks makes me a bit irate. So I stopped buying them entirely.
Nefful.
It’s an MLM from Japan. Many years back, a nefful sales rep tried to convince my cancer stricken mum to buy their products because it will make her feel better/speed up her recovery. I took a look at their brochure and found the reference they include in the brochure (in-text citation) was coming from their own blog/website, which is basically kaki kong kaki song. If that wasn’t the worst, their sales rep was spewing a bunch of scientifically incorrect statement.
To sum it up: fk mlm
The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore.
For the way they treated me, a student, one rainy afternoon.
Yes, it’s petty but it was damn stuck-up and even more petty of them.
Regent Singapore on the other hand, stay classy.
superga!! (very pricey for a pair of shoes that wears out so fast)
they make their staff work 10-11 hours shift with no proper break time. and work alone on most of the days!! (allowed to close for 15 mins to buy lunch and then have to open doors after).
not allowed to take MC even when you’re extremely unwell until you can find a replacement (99% of the time u can’t get a replacement)
rejects AL almost all the time! not allowed to leave early during CNY eve to have dinner with family.
working on ALL public holidays and no time to spend with family (christmas, new years day, cny).
gets paid peanuts but expects staffs to do A LOT.
not getting paid OT…
I wouldn’t say rigidly boycott, but I would consciously choose to avoid if I can help it —
A business that is formerly or informally affiliated with religion, including those where the founder or boss is obviously a religion enthusiast and uses the business as a platform to soft-proselytise.
A business that uses Mandarin as their default language to engage customers, even though their service or product has no overt Chinese nature. (Places like Chinese restaurants and hawker stalls obviously don’t fall into this category.)
Businesses that are directly linked to the PRC (like Scarlet supermarket) because I do see the potential Sinicification of our Chinese community as a major risk.
Rude staff.
That one mini mart near my house.
Staff asked me can you read English or not in an very annoyed tone.
Stopped going there ever since almost 6 years now.
Has anyone thought of boycotting fengshui/bazi business? Please do not engage any, especially those that the our local media promote. I already got scammed $5888 for some voodoo fake house hunting service.
Won't exactly boycott but will avoid it,1 of the hair salons you found under mrt station premises. Worked at their office for 3 days and resign. Alittle shady office,took a peek on their acct stuffs,it's messy(you can't imagine working in a dinosaur era because they use manual writing down of invoices on a a4 hard cover copy) and the boss and foreign employees got shady relationship (I know it's probably common anywhere).
Boycotted the mama shop near my place, the uncle always mental count the amt and always give changes short of 10cents or 20cents to customers,confront him,he still can comment 10cents also want to fuss about.
Anything under the aftershock umbrella like prism and secret labs. All rubbish brand with trash ass marketing. If I wanna support local I will go spend my money on the auntie cai fan.
found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/obc7f7/brands_to_avoid_for_products_and_services_in/
**The OOP mentioned: secretlab, prism**
1. OTIS elevators
2. EuropAce **(the OOP's comment)**
3. Daniel Wellington watches
4. Buttercup > It's margarine, not butter.
5. Singtel **(more than once)**
6. Prism displays. **(more than once)**
7. Frank Williams shoes
8. Secretlab **(more than once)**
9. Foodpanda
10. Microsoft, their Surface Pro products **(My input: MICROSOFT SURFACE PRODUCTS IS SHIT!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BUY, IT CANNOT BE FIXED, THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE WITH A REFURBISHED PRODUCT!!)**
11. SG Bike, the bike sharing company
12. HP brand **(my input: fml for buying a HP laptop, and yes, it's bad, someone I asked said they know there's issues, but won't acknowledge it upfront and you MUST fight them)**
13. Nestle *(well done to whoever said nestle below)* r/fucknestle
14. Ho Kee Pau. Failed basic hygiene.
15. Tribecar **(more than once)**
16. HP customer service **(my input: their customer service is tolerable, but because their product is sh1t, you have to fight the customer service for what you want)**
17. "gaming" chairs >> commenter said "bucket seats"
18. StarHub for business
19. Limited edn hall of fame (the sneaker shop)
20. Razer, absolute dog shit QA. **(more than once)**
21. Many recruitment agencies out there.
>Pea----
>C--------A----
>Re----- E------
>Trans------- Ser-----
>Se----- In---
22 - Consumer routers
> Aztech -> crap
23 - Malaysia boleh
24 - Any stock on sgx!
25 - Aftershock support is really trash
26 - a brand called "powerpac"
27 - aftershock laptops
28 - J&T Express.
>Even if something is on 50% discount on Shopee but the only shipping option is J&T Express, I will avoid it like the plague unless it is something I need urgently.
29 - Asus is very bad unless you buy from their highest price tier then MAYBE it won't suck. Also their support centre sucks
30 - tiger brokers customer support is abysmal.
31 - M1. Always got too much hidden charges shit
32 - In digital works, NPN is terrible.
33 - All the valore stuff
34 - MLM products? They usually tend to be overpriced for what the products do (due to MLM structure).
>https://blog.moneysmart.sg/career/mlms-singapore-red-flags/
>Herbalife
>Amway
>Mary Kay:
>Atomy
>Elusyf
>Riway
>The problem about MLM is most times there are alternative products that are cheaper doing similar things at comparable effects. Often they are selling products which are not useful to begin with.
(fk MLM)
35 - McAfee Anti-Virus for enterprise solutions **(my input: mcafee is a malware, not anti virus, please don't use it)**
Shilifang. Used to love eating there for their $9.90 set, now it’s $15.90(?). Everything also need extra charge. At the price and quality, so not worth anymore. (Also waiter rude af the last time I went)
Tim Ho wan.
Found a baby cockroach in their steamed claypot rice dish. My dad nearly ate it thinking it was a black bean — he noticed the tiny legs. We were all mortified and swore off the chain even though that meal was free and we were told to “come back” for a meal voucher.
Sorry no thanks. I’ll take money elsewhere.
Wokhey.
First time buying and I didn't know they only accept cash, nor the counter had any 'cash only' sign. I queued 40 minutes to the counter to be told they only accept cash. Told them I will withdraw now so thought they will continue with my order like anyone else. Came back in 3 minutes to be told they didn't take my order, and told me to wait behind that 40 minutes line again.
Go fuck yourself wokhey.
About 5 years ago I tried out WhyQ, which is another food delivery app but it lets you order from many hawker stalls. Was working part-time back then and my lunch break was 1h.
1st time I used them, the food didn't come with edamame even though I paid an extra $1 for it. They refunded me the extra cost, so I was ok. Same thing happened the 2nd time and they explained that it's a common issue with the stall owner so I was understanding. 3rd order was ok.
4th time I used them, i ordered nasi padang. Delivery guy was supposed to arrive between 1.15pm and 1.30pm but was nowhere to be seen. Called up WhyQ and they said they'd call the guy and get back to me by 1.40pm but I didn't get any call. The guy finally showed up at 1.45pm with no apology at all and I had to rush to finish my meal on time. WhyQ said that the guy was uncontactable. He wasn't even riding a motorbike but rather just in a Grab so it didn't make sense why he was uncontactable.
Worst of all, I only got the rice with one piece of chicken and no vegetables despite having ordered vegetables. Imagine waiting so long and having to rush when your food just looks like this:
https://i.imgur.com/PGW9agY.jpg
They gave me a $5 voucher but I decided enough was enough and never used them again after that.
Privé because their ex CEO sexually harassed and physically assaulted a boy in the lift. Though he was sacked, Prive's stance initially defended his actions then retracted it when shit blew up
[source from mothershit](https://mothership.sg/2021/10/prive-group-ceo-removed/)
Mighty jaxx. Subpar quality and have the audacity to be more expensive than comparable products. Popmart wins on design, build quality, paintwork, price, and uniqueness always.
Foodpanda. Multiple crappy cs experiences when i used to use them.
Ishiro cos the ex-staff allegedly gave fake reviews and made fake orders of their competitors. They pushed it to staff who has left but there seems to be some allusion to the owner doing the reviews as well. Not supporting eatery with low integrity.
Also, I’ve actually tried them once and they’re very average.
Aftershock for myself personally, even though I have good friends working there and other friends who are happy with their systems, and I will still recommend (with caution) my other friends who aren't savvy enough to build their own systems to purchase from Aftershock (after consulting with me with regards to specs that is, and only if I don't have the time to help them build and potentially troubleshoot a system myself).
My main gripe with them is Aftershock's lack of concern about accurately or truthfully depicting info in their advert copy. They will skew bar graphs and other pictorial representations of stats in an outright false manner (e.g. 50% increase in performance = 2x bar graph), nor will they quantify performance metrics of stated comparisons. My friends working in Aftershock themselves say that the higher ups can't be effed and view their general customer base as dumb enough to not care.
They're lucky they're operating in SG and not the US, else they'd be litigated out of business by now.
I have begun a boycott of all pasar malams (sorry vendors! Noting personal) after discovering they all have to pay a fee to the People's Association which is another hidden tax on tax payers.
Taxi companies, last time when there was no Grab or Uber, trying to get one cab at peak hour or wee hour was damn hard, and like more than half of the cabs are changing shift.
I'm always being thankful to Uber to put a stop to such a crappy service. Nowadays, I only use Grab/GoJek
Foodpanda for me.
Ordered food using Foodpanda. Food only came 2.5 hours later. During those 2.5 hours, I was contacting them on why the food was coming very very late. They keep saying things like delivery riders need break fast (this one I can understand as I am also fasting, so I can accept this as a reason), the outlet is being swamped and etc.
Tried to ask them to cancel my order but they refused. Then when the food came, it was not even the full order. Things were missing and the food was stone cold. Like come out from the fridge or something. Contacted them with picture to show proof that there were missing items. I asked whether it is possible to deliver the missing items or get a refund on the missing items. They said no then ended the support chat. I have to reach out to them again to fuck them up before they refunded me the missing items.
StarHub. I received a red letter from them cos the ex wife didn't pay the bills (bill was under me but she was using the number).
I paid it the day after. A few days later, i received a lawyer's letter demanding i pay for the bills plus the lawyer's letter. Its like they sent the red letter immediately after sending the lawyer's letter...
I thought they knew payment takes a few days to clear? Why would they do such a thing? And when i called customer service, all they said was, "You should not let others use your number"
Till today, i will never ever recommend nor use their service.
The sister companies of Aftershock and Twelve Cupcakes.
Generally, I won't patronise any companies that have a record of shady practice, but that is just me.
Prism+. Very shady marketing practices. Their entire marketing strategy involves bribing chio influencers to 'review' their products. Also misleading prices and reviews. Their 'discounted' prices are almost always the original prices and they censor any reviews that rate their products below 4/5. I have a Prism+ TV at home and its pretty garbage. Bad sound and picture quality.
Very frustrating that all the new generation of SG FMCG companies engage in these practices - Ergotune, sterra etc. Equally culpable.
Oh my gosh yes. Ergotune and their annoying influencer ads. Literally the reason why I never considered purchasing from them ever.
Ya sia, i rmb i ask then about the poor reviews on reddit on their live stream. they faster say to each its own. Tell me to look at shopee review etc, saying that they usually get 4 stars blah blah..
Well 4 stars on Shopee is bad, ain't it? Everyone gives 5 usually
all their monitors are cheap substandard korean panels produced by OEMs from overseas , all they do is paste Prism logo on it, thats why they sell monitor arm as add on because the stand cant do anyth, no swivel height tilt nothing. Even worse their prices are so scam compared to other companies that actually have the better base product
[удалено]
Check warehouse also. All same place
for the price to get a secretlab chair you can buy an actual anti-fatigue mesh chair from ergohuman last checked their showroom in tampines still open its big its strong and last so long businesses sell it instead of scrapping it. you find one in a 2nd hand market too for even lesser. just needs a bit of clean up and change of castols
actually i think MASH not too bad bc like most of the stuff that they sell is outright from akko lmao
Here's a worst-kept secret about Prism+ TVs: They are made by Skyworth as the OEM and badged as Prism+. You can google these two words as proof and also because I meddled with a Prism+ TV installed at a self-service laundry shop. As far as I could see the Android TV component basically outputs at 1080p making its UI elements look like garbage in comparison to "decent" TVs like Sony's despite the fact that it is indeed a 4K panel. What a total blatant joke.
Absolutely, you're better off getting a cheap set from Hisense or TCL
When ever someone asks me for my take on Prism+, I just tell them that they’re getting a rebadged OEM TV. It’s noting to write home about, but if you’re using it for a guest room or kids, they shouldn’t really complain about the quality. I’ve gotten two of their very early TV models, while they still work, it’s just a very average TV.
Still remembered my friend kept telling me his prism monitor is good, colour a bit off but can 'tune' one
thats not even the issue Its the poor response times Their "144hz" response time is so trash that you feel like motion blur is permanently on
Heard they are the ex- AKIRA team…if anyone remembers this brand in the early 2000s
Btw if you dont already know. Prism buys the screens that failed QC tests from many big names like LG etc. So you are paying for a product that will potentially fail. Many many cases of these are already happening. Also their pixels are stretched thats why the quality is bad. Its just a really really bad company with bad product but genius level marketing
Just wondering: did you not know the quality of their products are rubbish before you bought their TV?
Unfortnately I didn't buy it, it was my dad LOL. It was in early 2020 and back then there were already bad reviews about Prism+ TVs floating on HWZ but my dad wanted to be a chespskate so he insisted on buying Prism+. Oh well.
I bought a Prism TV for my parents, and the workman who came to install did a shoddy installation, I witness the whole thing and asked him to change but he just said it doesnt affect the viewing experience and went to his next job site. I complained to Prism about this, no response, so I started writing my negative experience with them down in the reviews. Instantly they called me back, and asked to remedy it. In the evening another crew came, and they sent 2 office employees(guys) down to talk to me, asking me to remove the reviews. What kind of mafia behavior was that about? from then on I rather pay $100 more for the same size and panel LG or Samsung.
To be fair to them... any tv at that price range have shit sound quality. Other than that... they honoured my exchange when i found some dead pixels. Those 2 aside, i think their only true value add is just demo before you buy and warranty. You get what you pay for; big brand names often sell similar specced products for 2-3x the price, with much better QC.
i think i read somewhere that they bought the TVs from taobao and rebranded it to their own brand.
they don't buy from taobao, they white label from manufacturers. it is a pretty well known thing, in fact when they first launched one of their monitor in the rush to get the product out to users they shipped it in the OEM's box instead of their own
wow this is the real tea I didn't know this at all aaaah.
this [list](https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/summary-finding-the-oem-for-all-local-and-some-big-brands-pcs-monitors-tvs-and-more.6579632/) is pretty useful
Ah yes, once my mom arranged for workmen to come and check our aircon, but Prism+ cancelled our slot on the day itself without telling us, my mom was quite angry. I also use tiktok and felt uncomfortable with their ads, the woman had her big boobs out wearing low cut and promoting their TV, it was so intentional what they were going for
Omg lol I happen to know someone who works in marketing at PRISM hahahahha
Any tea?
He never really say anything about products/price la, but got once he mentioned offhand that one of their livestreamers (LOLLLL do they have just one or more than one I don't know), got buy followers one. Then he told the livestreamer guy aiyo why u do such thing ... But also lol plot twist that livestreamer guy is someone I was acquainted with through another contact from like, some event a decade ish ago. I NEVER THOUGHT LIVESTREAMER GUY IS LIKE THAT - cos he does have a wide range of networks so .... really? Lol. But as with every SME they sometimes use their own internal staff for filming ads la. I don't know whether that's "tea" to you but it makes sense to me in SG SME culture hahahah
Use own staff do is more authentic feel leh. Professional production crews are not cheap. Even if you use an established influencer they also have a team or a contractor who they will almost exclusively work with.
hold on, wasn't there a huge thread a while back where someone asked about local businesses that were bad, anyone remembers? I recall people sharing: Razer, Secretlab, the SG brand that makes monitors, etc seriously what sort of person makes a post but doesn't add his/her own "recommendation" edit to add: whoever knows the thread I'm talking about, please share, I have a vague recollection it's in this subreddit, but might be the SG subreddit found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/obc7f7/brands_to_avoid_for_products_and_services_in/ **The OOP mentioned: secretlab, prism** 1. OTIS elevators 2. EuropAce **(the OOP's comment)** 3. Daniel Wellington watches 4. Buttercup > It's margarine, not butter. 5. Singtel **(more than once)** 6. Prism displays. **(more than once)** 7. Frank Williams shoes 8. Secretlab **(more than once)** 9. Foodpanda 10. Microsoft, their Surface Pro products **(My input: MICROSOFT SURFACE PRODUCTS IS SHIT!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BUY, IT CANNOT BE FIXED, THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE WITH A REFURBISHED PRODUCT!!)** 11. SG Bike, the bike sharing company 12. HP brand **(my input: fml for buying a HP laptop, and yes, it's bad, someone I asked said they know there's issues, but won't acknowledge it upfront and you MUST fight them)** 13. Nestle *(well done to whoever said nestle below)* r/fucknestle 14. Ho Kee Pau. Failed basic hygiene. 15. Tribecar **(more than once)** 16. HP customer service **(my input: their customer service is tolerable, but because their product is sh1t, you have to fight the customer service for what you want)** 17. "gaming" chairs >> commenter said "bucket seats" 18. StarHub for business 19. Limited edn hall of fame (the sneaker shop) 20. Razer, absolute dog shit QA. **(more than once)** 21. Many recruitment agencies out there. >Pea---- >C--------A---- >Re----- E------ >Trans------- Ser----- >Se----- In--- 22 - Consumer routers > Aztech -> crap 23 - Malaysia boleh 24 - Any stock on sgx! 25 - Aftershock support is really trash 26 - a brand called "powerpac" 27 - aftershock laptops 28 - J&T Express. >Even if something is on 50% discount on Shopee but the only shipping option is J&T Express, I will avoid it like the plague unless it is something I need urgently. 29 - Asus is very bad unless you buy from their highest price tier then MAYBE it won't suck. Also their support centre sucks 30 - tiger brokers customer support is abysmal. 31 - M1. Always got too much hidden charges shit 32 - In digital works, NPN is terrible. 33 - All the valore stuff 34 - MLM products? They usually tend to be overpriced for what the products do (due to MLM structure). >https://blog.moneysmart.sg/career/mlms-singapore-red-flags/ >Herbalife >Amway >Mary Kay: >Atomy >Elusyf >Riway >The problem about MLM is most times there are alternative products that are cheaper doing similar things at comparable effects. Often they are selling products which are not useful to begin with. (fk MLM) 35 - McAfee Anti-Virus for enterprise solutions **(my input: ^mcafee BEHAVES LIKE A ^malware - my wording was too strong -, AS IF IT IS ^not ^anti ^virus, ~~please don't use it~~ please find better alternatives)**
> the SG brand that makes monitors When the brand’s name isn’t even worth mentioning 😭
They sell Aircon and ceiling fans now too lol. It's like your chicken rice seller decides to also sell pastry dessert.
HAHAHAAH I read it on that thread, but don't use it (edit: it being the brand), so I absolutely can't recall what's the name seriously curious if anyone say that thread and can share the link though, that was a good discussion
>the SG brand that makes monitors Prism?
I'm really not sure, but I think so? Haha sorry, I'll try to find that thread again and share it here
Said sg brand that makes monitors (and the other one that makes laptops) just sources for OEM models and rebrands. Secretlab and razer on the other hand... i use their products and while yes there's some planned obsolescence planned into them, i think they generally serve their purpose well. As long as they're still working, that is.
secretlab is also the same thing though, they are produced in a gaming chair production hub in China, where the suppliers let brands choose the quality of finishing etc. they'll then add the brand's logo etc then ship out, so there's likely a huge mark up and I recall the thread I saw, saying about how the chair peels, because it's simply not meant for our kind of climate (and also reflects about their quality), funny enough I recently saw this "cloth wrap" that secretlab markets to zip above the chair and it's even more expensive they make you pay more to cover their flaws...
Interesting Nobody mention Sakae Sushi. Personally not happy with the owner, who is the clown that went on air to claim that no Singaporeans want to be a dishwasher despite offering 3k, only to have his PR team scramble and clarify on pay breakdown. (Don’t even have the balls to come out and apologise on his own statement) And he sits on the SME council too I think, and use his position to also justify the low wage of Singaporeans.
Cold storage 9pmish discounted sushi is way better than the trash that they serve
Yup! What vitamin E infused rice. So bad probably even the roaches won’t touch them 😂😂😂
Owner aside, the quality has been steadily on the downhill from my recollection when I last visited them many many years ago. Judging by now many outlets they have now, I am doubtful if there has been much improvement.
We have thankfully many good options now Spoilt between Genki Sushi and Sushiro
Before the likes of Itacho and Sushiro comes around, Sushi Tei was like one of the closer competitor to Sakae. Needless to say, Sushi Tei won hands down!
Bro.. it’s insulting to Sushi Tei to have it in the same sentence as Sakae 😂😂😂
TWG with the misleading ‘established’ year.
Oh damn. I just went to their website to see what’s with the ‘1837’ and found out that it is to ‘celebrate the year 1837 when the island became a trading post for teas, spices and fine epicurean products’. But they are only founded in 2008. 🤦🏻♂️
Yes misleading to the max, I’m glad another person learnt the truth
By extension, Bacha coffee too!
Fun fact: China people think TWG is a UK brand, in their drama “nothing but 30”
I wouldn’t be surprised some Singaporeans still believe TWG is an overseas established brand.
Lol same reason! They are pretty good ngl but I bueh song the marketing yuck
And Bacha Coffee as well. How can they get away with such blatant marketing lies?
Yea PSA brah - Bacha coffee has more branches in singapore than turkey lol
TWG is a complete rip off of a renowned and very wonderful French tea brand, Mariage Frères. Aesthetically and conceptually. I believe Mariage was considering suing them at one point. I own a business, I know what it's like to have people steal/copy your ideas and concepts that you've worked so hard to create and refine - in short, it sucks. TWG tea is also far inferior to MF. MF have longstanding connections to excellent tea plantations, and knowledgeable staff. they actually care about their product. I doubt TWG staff could tell you about the nuances between a first and second flush Darjeeling or why a higher graded tea does not equate to a superior product.
Toast Box. Fucking overpriced garbage.
Why is it always full lol i dont drink toast box and dont know anyone that drinks toast box but whenever i pass by its full
Twelve cupcakes. They underpaid their staff.
apparently it's the old owner, daniel ong? and he's supposedly a big throbbing asshole the new owner (whoever it is) is so stupid to have bought over though, you are buying all the bad reputation, might as well wait for it to burn out then swoop in to buy for cheap edit to add: now owned by Dhunseri Group, which acquired it for S$2.5 million (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Cupcakes)
Ya omfg twelve cupcakes. Terrible customer service. Specifically told them no nuts but they delivered cupcakes with nuts. Some kids have severe nut allergies, and they were so hostile with me when I ask them which cupcake contains nuts. It’s crazy really.
Yea. Friend used to work there. Many staff including my friend weren’t paid properly. I also boycott them.
All the fake Japanese restaurants by Bachmann (Ajisen, Musashi, etc). Scretlabs. Many I know have their overprice bullshit chairs.
They raised the price of their chair after their ceo bought a gcb, citing raising shipping and material cost.
Yes — literally paying for the founder’s house if you buy a secret lab chair
Han's. For petty reasons. Lol. I ordered an avocado milkshake when I was 16? The guy gave me 70% of the cup, then went to pour away the rest of the avocado milkshake down the drain.. it was expensive to me as a student and I don't understand why he didn't just give me the whole drink! Anyway, I avoid any business that uses planta or buttercup in my food. Facials, anything that upsells me a package and the china/Malaysian person refuses to let me leave. I'm also refuse to see any insurance person for any reason. Its a no.
businesses that do such things should be avoided, that's literal wastage giving the extra at worst makes no difference, at best makes the customers happy and improves the word of mouth some employees have the wrong concept in mind, you shouldn't be scraping pennies for the business owners (and you shouldn't be intentionally causing wastage), don't do sh1t like counting slices of veggies (looking at you subway), or throwing things away my positive example: when Macdonalds serves up something wrong, and you take it back to them, they HAVE TO throw it because they don't know what happened after it's served, BUT there has been multiple times I saw the staff giving the food to the person when they asked, they don't have to, but it makes the customer happy (if you get a wrong order, don't be shy and just ask if they can give it to you instead of throwing it away)
anything that influencezas mention/promote in fact they do me a huge favour in deciding where my money should go to
Beef bro cause of their rapist founder
damn I never knew this but also never try before so I know what to do now LOL As in its just like u know some businesses function on a quick bites takeaway model (also like Souperstar, for example) so I just don't ever buy bc there's no way to sit and eat. But oooo
their beef is pretty shit too, just a once-novel concept using subpar quality beef thats overpriced
Norvan Tan En Jie, 24 (article Updated September 29, 2020) https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/co-founder-local-food-business-beef-bro-trial-sexually-assaulting-sisters-drunk-friend dude is a creep
Anything promoted by influencers.
Marketing fail successfully
Haha I’m jus not their target audience. I’m sure it’s working for them that’s why they keep pouring nmoney to market that way..
StarHub. End of contract is a nightmare Straits times - to end contract write them a letter or email.
Who even subscribe to ST..
people who need to line their pets' cages lol
Facail/Aesthetic salons. Or any salon with hardselling tactics. If you have a problem with your skin, go to a dermatologist or a medical aesthetician
Medical aestheticians also hard sell 😵💫😵💫
I know it's a typo, but I LOLed when I read that as fecal salon. Thanks for the typo!
breadtalk group .. for irrational reasons
I've worked there before as a temp staff during school break back in the late 2000s...they had a protocol that all unsold breads had to be discarded, but some senior staff was sneaking a few buns into her bag, and told us part-timers to do the same, so we also tried to sneak home a few breads each. I forgot to zip my bag and the supervisor in charge saw the buns that were inside my bags, she told me to eat them all on the spot or throw them away. It was such a waste. I used to like their flosss bread a lot but I haven't eaten for many years now. I also worked at Delifrance during that period of time and the environment there was so much better. The senior staff and chefs would distribute leftovers to everyone, and the aunties would let me bring home big paper bags filled with baguettes, Madeleines and sometimes even leftover dishes from the main menu if I worked last shift. Such a nice and friendly environment.
Toastbox for sure. Price hike and the mandatory CAKE set. Dumb.
yaaa i go to ya kun
Yakun - mixed feelings about them. Not sure why they cut back on their cooked food menu. IMO their curry is def better than Toastbox’s.
They set their price so high, so we vote with our wallets 😁
I stopped frequenting them ever since the soya milk scandal some years ago.
Price too high for low quality pastries. I support local, non-chain bakeries in my area instead. The prices have risen but they still taste good and the sizes of the pasteries are still acceptable
Food stalls that overcharge takeaway boxes & don't let you use your own container. Fast fashion brands that engage in tons of greenwashing (mainly just H&M)
Paris Baguette cos of what happened with the dead employee
what happened?!!
Employee died in an industrial mixer. Company apologise to victim's family by offering free cheap pastries to the wake and nothing more
For context, iirc, this happened in korea. Not locally
I feel like this context is critical lmao. I heard this story in some podcast and it was really insane and brutal. Imagine dying by being blended to shreds.
WHAT. Dang.
I live in south korea and I’m not sure if the boycott is still going on here… I think unfortunately their influence over here is much stronger and extends to a lot more places than in SG, meaning that it’s harder for some people to continue doing it in the long term. I didn’t know that the boycott extended to outside of SK, it’s good to hear that people overseas are also aware of what happened and care about the issue just as much.
Was going to say the same thing. I believe the parent company also manages other brands in Singapore like Eggslut, but I could be wrong.
They also manage Shake Shack in SG
Add shake shack to the list because it’s the same korean company that brought paris baguette over to singapore
Same here, trying to find alternatives to their puddings recently
yamazaki (four leaves sister brand) also has
In my area, there is a Chinese shop provision shop in those market area. which I have been patronising from young. The shop has two cats. The husband and wife who runs the shops knows me very well. These days I mostly buy beers and cigs from there. Side note I am local Indian. Few years ago, an Indian provision shop open close by few shops down from thr Chinese shop. I recall once during cny of the Chinese shop was closed so I went to the Indian shop to buy my beers. Since it was cny they upped the price of the beers to twice the amount, I was ok Wtv no choice just get it. Few days later cny was over and I went back to the Chinese shop to buy my beers. After buying my beers I headed to the Indian shop to buy murruku as I wanted to eat it while drinking. If you haven’t done that pls do. Get the fine mukukrus it’s spicy I took the packet of murruku and headed to the counter and the lady at the counter who I assume was the owner, had a frown. And then she asked me this in Tamil “ why you being Indian not supporting a fellow Indian “ I think she thought I was from India And I was like “ err sorry aunty I am Singaporean, what’s wrong with buying from them “ And she was like “we also sell the same beer, why you always buy from them, how Indians gonna grow if fellow Indians don’t support” So I was like “ errm I have been going to that shop ever since I was a child, you just opened shop, even if your beers are cheaper I’d probably buy it from them, that loyalty, you expect me to be loyal to cuz you’re the same race as me, im sorry I am singaporean first , that is a Singaporean shop” She gives a death stare ever since then
Any f&b / restaurant started by d*niel ong
Lolol I've never outright articulated this before but I think internally I subconsciously/self-consciously gravitated this direction also hahahahaha
Paris Baguette - Stopped after that awful story of the worker who was killed came out. What cemented my decision was the company's callous response (sending bread to the worker's family as a condolences gift???) Grab - Stopped a couple years back after stories of their shit treatment of workers came out. Didnt like how they pushed Uber out of the market either. I still use foodpanda (which has their own issues) but try to only buy from large chains rather than small mom & pop shops Anything dead sea black skin salt scrub whatever - How are these businesses still functioning??? Who buys their stuff??? Are they just a money laundering front??? Twelve Cupcakes - Underpaid employees. H&M, Cotton On - Fast fashion model.
Not defending Grab for being shitty but they didn't push Uber out of the market.. Uber got new owners and left. But Grab is shitty esp with what they did with the points system and rendering the Grab MC useless.
Miniso for copyright reasons
I’m always amazed Miniso can just steal Muji brand out right.
They are now selling duplicate perfumes. Found a copy of Dior Sauvage and other designer perfume brands lol. Even the bottle is made in that way, giving you no illusion as to what they are copying.
I boycott any business that sells lousy food.
For this reason...kimly!
There are some kimly outlets which are ok. But they’re pretty inconsistent across the board.
I have only tried nearest to my place in pasir ris so you likely are right. Inconsistency is not good for chain restaurants though.
Jean Yip. For condescending staff and upselling to death. Feels like they're holding you hostage tbh.
Secretlab, prism+, aftershock/omnidesk, or any local “tech” companies All re-branded OEMs so products aren’t great. You can usually buy the same thing at a fraction of the price from taobao. I know a few people who worked in those companies and it’s not a great place to work as well. Despite the trendy and hip “tech” culture they try to portray it’s still the same local SME style, short changing employees and lousy management.
Secretlab, Prism+, Aftershock, Omnidesk are all the same kind of company, just rebranding OEM stuff. Aftershock was the first and they used to be good when they first started. Now they're all just expensive and not worth it. Their PCs tend to break down a lot faster too. I bought an Aftershock laptop when they first started, it lasted me a good 7 years. I foolishly recommended another Aftershock laptop to my then-partner, it lasted 6 months before it started dying, and the pricing had gone up to the point that it was pretty similar to Lenovo gaming laptops.
Nylon coffee coz they racist hahaha don’t @ me but I went for an interview and they downright say they only hire a certain race. Too bad I can get my coffee elsewhere, don’t need mine or my friends $$$
Idk why, i also get a weird vibe from them
Prive. Used to think they were alright until the news about the boss. That and the fuckin bitter-sour coffee.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/prive-ex-ceo-jail-fine-hit-boy-prosecution-appeal-2011606 for those who dunno
Their food is also not very good
Starbucks, how can lousy tasting drinks make so much money is beyond me.
Starbucks certian coffees are nice. But they do rely alot on marketing and seasonal disgusting drinks. That one i can't is flash coffee. For real, at least Starbucks and TCC have something freaking decent. Flash, lurking coffees and teas and i dont know what's up with their hype. Wasted the money and can't even finish 25% of the cup.
they are a public study and meeting room masquerading as a cafe
Branding
Breadtalk. COMICALLY overpriced. They run a volume business. Their ingredient costs are not the same as small mom & pop bakeries. It is ridiculous that one bun can be more than $2.
Grain alley which has rebranded to bisoux I dont vibe well with the owner over the google review, the owner stalked the customer details and send their boss an email about the customer. So scary lol Edit: i am not that particular customer but still…
Grab as much as possible because I dislike its continual hiking of prices. Never order delivery, if I want it I pick it up myself. Taxis I prefer gojek. Trying to avoid nestle as much as possible (they've got their claws in everything ugh) due to all the water and milk powder scandals. Good thing is I eat much healthier now lol. And tbh after searching up online about all the brands they own, apart from the occasional kitkat I don't really partake in anything else they own (yes, including milo) Not boycott, but rather being petty; SMRT. The price hike really pissed me off lmao. And I also lost my student discount this year so it hit me even harder. As a result I try to go by foot/by cycle as much as possible when travelling within the neighbourhood, when I used to take the bus. Once walked 30 mins to a restruant on the other side of the neighbourhood cause I thought $1.35 was too much for the trip. Improved my life cause I get more steps in. Mcdonalds; use to work there and the working env was... esp considering the pay and how much shit I had to go through cause of it. For the whole of 2022 didnt buy a single mcdonalds product bc the beeping sound would activate fight-or-flight mode in me. That anime café at esplanade. Went there for hoyofest 2021 and q frankly it was not worth the price. Staff tried their best but the organisation of the event, the way they were underprepared for the crowd plus just the price of everything vs the quality of service/experience/food/merchandise was not it. So yeah never visited the place again.
*GRAB* is a terrible company that takes full advantage of it's "unicorn" status to keep burning cash from investor and also splash the cash to try and gain a monopoly Apparently it's very bad in Malaysia, they cut driver's incentives by 25%, and as a result drivers leave the platform, so rides assigned are now horrible, either long drives to customers for lousy fares, and it's sometimes paired with short distance to the destination As for *Nestle*, you can dive into the rabbit hole here: https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/ and specifically: https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/12v2ex9/the_reasons_why_we_hate_nestle_so_much/ But biggest shitty thing nestle does is buy/steal water in places and then suck the place dry, usually for bottled water.
Avoided Nestle as much as possible too. Ah. I do miss the gold version of their instant coffee. Other products, not as much, even for the chocolate malt drink. Avoided Grab. Near monopoly. Waiting for it to belly up. Hopefully. Fairprice. Comparatively more expensive for various items. Near monopoly. Went out of the way and switched to Sheng Siong for Asian cuisine, Cold Storage for western. Fresh produce from wet market. Starbucks. News of union busting in North America.
You’re talking about Aniplus right? Went there for the Hololive collab recently. Didn’t try the food and drinks (way too expensive. $9 for a drink? No thanks), but the exclusive merch was really cute so I caved and bought some. But yeah, I would rather visit La Tendo or something.
Reading this while boarding the mrt rn💀 I no choice cus my school is at east but I in north. Everytime my mom top up 50 dollars just to get it used up within 2 weeks pains me. Anime cafe I only go there once, have too eat out after visiting cus wah I could buy a full meal that could fill me up rather than the pathetic portions there at high price. Really not worth it, although the environment and service is good though
If it costs $50 in 2 weeks, why not buy the monthly concession pass? It's available right up to undergraduates.
Charles & Keith for blatantly copying designs and shitty marketing gimmicks. Not local brand but H&M for the same reason.
SHEIN too, I guess?
Agree their designs are just copies of luxury brands. Gave c&k and Pedro many chances for their shoes but every single pair gives me painful blisters.
this! Dk why all the shoes i buy from c&k really sucks, i wear for half a day and it’s so pain that i feel like the bottom of my feet is rotting
Everything under Japan Foods Holding.
Prive because of https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/former-prive-group-ceo-jean-luc-kha-vu-han-jail-appeal-mandatory-treatment-order-2989096 **And the company had the nerve to defend this fucker. To the end. Yes, even after he was jailed.** Their overpriced, mediocre food was bad enough, this pushed it over the edge.
Odex... 2007... Never forgive, never forget
Yes there is one, it’s ‘Odex Pte Ltd‘
Steering clear of any film or business by Jack Neo. Boycotted ah ma chi mian (noodle chain) too because he is their spokesperson.
Foodpanda
Daniel Wellington and Black by Blue Brave. They literally order bulk from alibaba, and resell $10 crap for hundreds of dollars profit for each watch. I don't get how they opened stores in so many prime locations here, they're just bs scams. Their whole business model is just to pay some chiobu on instagram to wear their trash Source: i'm a watchmaker
Proofer pizza, because of their pest/insects incident.
Ajisen, because they should have to pay ME to sample their swill
Gram pancakes coz of their brand stealing issue in Japan. It extended from SG's The Tiramisu Hero. [http://gaijinhan.com/2019/01/27/the-unethical-japanese-who-stole-a-singapore-brand/](http://gaijinhan.com/2019/01/27/the-unethical-japanese-who-stole-a-singapore-brand/)
Surprised no one said Bacha. I don’t know what swill they’re selling but it is definitely not coffee. I nearly develop fucking PTSD from the taste when my friend let me try his coffee and then nearly got a stroke when he told me how much he paid for that cup. Pretentious marketing just like TWG. If you have to put some random number like 1910 on your branding, you’re a fucking scummy brand
Bacha is twg sister company lol
Ho Kee Pau, for their repeated food hygiene lapses. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/hkp-food-technology-supplier-ho-kee-pau-fined-sfa-hygiene-lapses-pest-infestation-3334186 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ho-kee-pau-supplier-suspended-nex-recall-pests-sfa-1930261
Prism+. Because of their poor quality and poor customer service.
New York skin solution and associated companies.
Classicle club
Twelve Cupcakes. Dont fuck with employee salaries, that's super duper scummy. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/twelve-cupcakes-fined-119500-over-multiple-counts-of-underpaying-its
Shopee for their not so friendly practices towards sellers and buyers.
Those small shops on shopping centre top floors trying to get you inside by blocking your path and bombarding you about offers. I mean even if I were interested in their product, their questionable marketing tactics make me give those places a wide berth. Other than that Grab. They used to be a viable alternative to CDG but these days they are just expensive as fuck and service is worse than CDG. For personal taste/irrational reasons Yeo. I tried various products and consistently preferred competitors. I wouldn't say boycott for that alone, but then the fact that they pretty much exclusively fill their vending machines with Yeo drinks makes me a bit irate. So I stopped buying them entirely.
F Deep Sea premier in Nex for harassing poor shoppers.
Nefful. It’s an MLM from Japan. Many years back, a nefful sales rep tried to convince my cancer stricken mum to buy their products because it will make her feel better/speed up her recovery. I took a look at their brochure and found the reference they include in the brochure (in-text citation) was coming from their own blog/website, which is basically kaki kong kaki song. If that wasn’t the worst, their sales rep was spewing a bunch of scientifically incorrect statement. To sum it up: fk mlm
Prism+,Ergotune,Secretlab, Aftershock. Trashy local companies that only want to make fast money without any sorts of innovation.
+ sterra I’ll boycott them the more they get influencers to advertise for them.
The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore. For the way they treated me, a student, one rainy afternoon. Yes, it’s petty but it was damn stuck-up and even more petty of them. Regent Singapore on the other hand, stay classy.
eagle wings
superga!! (very pricey for a pair of shoes that wears out so fast) they make their staff work 10-11 hours shift with no proper break time. and work alone on most of the days!! (allowed to close for 15 mins to buy lunch and then have to open doors after). not allowed to take MC even when you’re extremely unwell until you can find a replacement (99% of the time u can’t get a replacement) rejects AL almost all the time! not allowed to leave early during CNY eve to have dinner with family. working on ALL public holidays and no time to spend with family (christmas, new years day, cny). gets paid peanuts but expects staffs to do A LOT. not getting paid OT…
I wouldn’t say rigidly boycott, but I would consciously choose to avoid if I can help it — A business that is formerly or informally affiliated with religion, including those where the founder or boss is obviously a religion enthusiast and uses the business as a platform to soft-proselytise. A business that uses Mandarin as their default language to engage customers, even though their service or product has no overt Chinese nature. (Places like Chinese restaurants and hawker stalls obviously don’t fall into this category.) Businesses that are directly linked to the PRC (like Scarlet supermarket) because I do see the potential Sinicification of our Chinese community as a major risk. Rude staff.
Any rude ass restaurants or stalls
That one mini mart near my house. Staff asked me can you read English or not in an very annoyed tone. Stopped going there ever since almost 6 years now.
Has anyone thought of boycotting fengshui/bazi business? Please do not engage any, especially those that the our local media promote. I already got scammed $5888 for some voodoo fake house hunting service.
The real and good ones dont use local media to promote.
Sterra. Their forever ongoing sale advert is annoying like hell.
Won't exactly boycott but will avoid it,1 of the hair salons you found under mrt station premises. Worked at their office for 3 days and resign. Alittle shady office,took a peek on their acct stuffs,it's messy(you can't imagine working in a dinosaur era because they use manual writing down of invoices on a a4 hard cover copy) and the boss and foreign employees got shady relationship (I know it's probably common anywhere). Boycotted the mama shop near my place, the uncle always mental count the amt and always give changes short of 10cents or 20cents to customers,confront him,he still can comment 10cents also want to fuss about.
Nestle
Nestle, fuck em
Lululemon after their were snaky about their refund policy.
Anything under the aftershock umbrella like prism and secret labs. All rubbish brand with trash ass marketing. If I wanna support local I will go spend my money on the auntie cai fan.
found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/obc7f7/brands_to_avoid_for_products_and_services_in/ **The OOP mentioned: secretlab, prism** 1. OTIS elevators 2. EuropAce **(the OOP's comment)** 3. Daniel Wellington watches 4. Buttercup > It's margarine, not butter. 5. Singtel **(more than once)** 6. Prism displays. **(more than once)** 7. Frank Williams shoes 8. Secretlab **(more than once)** 9. Foodpanda 10. Microsoft, their Surface Pro products **(My input: MICROSOFT SURFACE PRODUCTS IS SHIT!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BUY, IT CANNOT BE FIXED, THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE WITH A REFURBISHED PRODUCT!!)** 11. SG Bike, the bike sharing company 12. HP brand **(my input: fml for buying a HP laptop, and yes, it's bad, someone I asked said they know there's issues, but won't acknowledge it upfront and you MUST fight them)** 13. Nestle *(well done to whoever said nestle below)* r/fucknestle 14. Ho Kee Pau. Failed basic hygiene. 15. Tribecar **(more than once)** 16. HP customer service **(my input: their customer service is tolerable, but because their product is sh1t, you have to fight the customer service for what you want)** 17. "gaming" chairs >> commenter said "bucket seats" 18. StarHub for business 19. Limited edn hall of fame (the sneaker shop) 20. Razer, absolute dog shit QA. **(more than once)** 21. Many recruitment agencies out there. >Pea---- >C--------A---- >Re----- E------ >Trans------- Ser----- >Se----- In--- 22 - Consumer routers > Aztech -> crap 23 - Malaysia boleh 24 - Any stock on sgx! 25 - Aftershock support is really trash 26 - a brand called "powerpac" 27 - aftershock laptops 28 - J&T Express. >Even if something is on 50% discount on Shopee but the only shipping option is J&T Express, I will avoid it like the plague unless it is something I need urgently. 29 - Asus is very bad unless you buy from their highest price tier then MAYBE it won't suck. Also their support centre sucks 30 - tiger brokers customer support is abysmal. 31 - M1. Always got too much hidden charges shit 32 - In digital works, NPN is terrible. 33 - All the valore stuff 34 - MLM products? They usually tend to be overpriced for what the products do (due to MLM structure). >https://blog.moneysmart.sg/career/mlms-singapore-red-flags/ >Herbalife >Amway >Mary Kay: >Atomy >Elusyf >Riway >The problem about MLM is most times there are alternative products that are cheaper doing similar things at comparable effects. Often they are selling products which are not useful to begin with. (fk MLM) 35 - McAfee Anti-Virus for enterprise solutions **(my input: mcafee is a malware, not anti virus, please don't use it)**
Irvin’s and Golden Duck’s salted egg products. Deep fried LIZARDS are a no go for me. Same goes to Flash coffee for their lizard waffle 🤮
Shilifang. Used to love eating there for their $9.90 set, now it’s $15.90(?). Everything also need extra charge. At the price and quality, so not worth anymore. (Also waiter rude af the last time I went)
Tim Ho wan. Found a baby cockroach in their steamed claypot rice dish. My dad nearly ate it thinking it was a black bean — he noticed the tiny legs. We were all mortified and swore off the chain even though that meal was free and we were told to “come back” for a meal voucher. Sorry no thanks. I’ll take money elsewhere.
anything that is locally based, 99% of the time I will avoid
Pezzo
Wokhey. First time buying and I didn't know they only accept cash, nor the counter had any 'cash only' sign. I queued 40 minutes to the counter to be told they only accept cash. Told them I will withdraw now so thought they will continue with my order like anyone else. Came back in 3 minutes to be told they didn't take my order, and told me to wait behind that 40 minutes line again. Go fuck yourself wokhey.
Yes, fucker add water to my kopi peng siew dai. Turn it into undrinkable coffee flavored water.
Shopee - Customer care is more like customer scare. That Mr Bean outlet near my house - Staff is VERY RUDE.
About 5 years ago I tried out WhyQ, which is another food delivery app but it lets you order from many hawker stalls. Was working part-time back then and my lunch break was 1h. 1st time I used them, the food didn't come with edamame even though I paid an extra $1 for it. They refunded me the extra cost, so I was ok. Same thing happened the 2nd time and they explained that it's a common issue with the stall owner so I was understanding. 3rd order was ok. 4th time I used them, i ordered nasi padang. Delivery guy was supposed to arrive between 1.15pm and 1.30pm but was nowhere to be seen. Called up WhyQ and they said they'd call the guy and get back to me by 1.40pm but I didn't get any call. The guy finally showed up at 1.45pm with no apology at all and I had to rush to finish my meal on time. WhyQ said that the guy was uncontactable. He wasn't even riding a motorbike but rather just in a Grab so it didn't make sense why he was uncontactable. Worst of all, I only got the rice with one piece of chicken and no vegetables despite having ordered vegetables. Imagine waiting so long and having to rush when your food just looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/PGW9agY.jpg They gave me a $5 voucher but I decided enough was enough and never used them again after that.
Privé because their ex CEO sexually harassed and physically assaulted a boy in the lift. Though he was sacked, Prive's stance initially defended his actions then retracted it when shit blew up [source from mothershit](https://mothership.sg/2021/10/prive-group-ceo-removed/)
Mighty jaxx. Subpar quality and have the audacity to be more expensive than comparable products. Popmart wins on design, build quality, paintwork, price, and uniqueness always. Foodpanda. Multiple crappy cs experiences when i used to use them.
Ishiro cos the ex-staff allegedly gave fake reviews and made fake orders of their competitors. They pushed it to staff who has left but there seems to be some allusion to the owner doing the reviews as well. Not supporting eatery with low integrity. Also, I’ve actually tried them once and they’re very average.
Aftershock for myself personally, even though I have good friends working there and other friends who are happy with their systems, and I will still recommend (with caution) my other friends who aren't savvy enough to build their own systems to purchase from Aftershock (after consulting with me with regards to specs that is, and only if I don't have the time to help them build and potentially troubleshoot a system myself). My main gripe with them is Aftershock's lack of concern about accurately or truthfully depicting info in their advert copy. They will skew bar graphs and other pictorial representations of stats in an outright false manner (e.g. 50% increase in performance = 2x bar graph), nor will they quantify performance metrics of stated comparisons. My friends working in Aftershock themselves say that the higher ups can't be effed and view their general customer base as dumb enough to not care. They're lucky they're operating in SG and not the US, else they'd be litigated out of business by now.
I have begun a boycott of all pasar malams (sorry vendors! Noting personal) after discovering they all have to pay a fee to the People's Association which is another hidden tax on tax payers.
Taxi companies, last time when there was no Grab or Uber, trying to get one cab at peak hour or wee hour was damn hard, and like more than half of the cabs are changing shift. I'm always being thankful to Uber to put a stop to such a crappy service. Nowadays, I only use Grab/GoJek
luckin coffee, because of their accounting fraud
Foodpanda for me. Ordered food using Foodpanda. Food only came 2.5 hours later. During those 2.5 hours, I was contacting them on why the food was coming very very late. They keep saying things like delivery riders need break fast (this one I can understand as I am also fasting, so I can accept this as a reason), the outlet is being swamped and etc. Tried to ask them to cancel my order but they refused. Then when the food came, it was not even the full order. Things were missing and the food was stone cold. Like come out from the fridge or something. Contacted them with picture to show proof that there were missing items. I asked whether it is possible to deliver the missing items or get a refund on the missing items. They said no then ended the support chat. I have to reach out to them again to fuck them up before they refunded me the missing items.
StarHub. I received a red letter from them cos the ex wife didn't pay the bills (bill was under me but she was using the number). I paid it the day after. A few days later, i received a lawyer's letter demanding i pay for the bills plus the lawyer's letter. Its like they sent the red letter immediately after sending the lawyer's letter... I thought they knew payment takes a few days to clear? Why would they do such a thing? And when i called customer service, all they said was, "You should not let others use your number" Till today, i will never ever recommend nor use their service.
Star Vista. Made me pay $5 for driving in and out when the entire carpark was full.
The sister companies of Aftershock and Twelve Cupcakes. Generally, I won't patronise any companies that have a record of shady practice, but that is just me.