FB user says maid was charged $145 for screen protector at Lucky Plaza shop

A Facebook user said that her domestic helper was ripped off after allegedly paying $145 for a screen protector at a Lucky Plaza shop. 

The incident reportedly happened on Sunday afternoon (Feb 18) at EZ Advance Trading Enterprise, a shop in Lucky Plaza. 

In a post by Facebook user Denise Han, she said that a shop assistant pasted the screen protector on the phone before her helper could ask how much it was. 

The helper later received the shock of her life when the shop issued her an invoice of $145. 

Said Ms Han:

“$145 is a lot of money for (a) domestic worker and she has to feed (her) entire family back home!”

Ms Han also said that her cousin had called the shop on the same day, and was told:

“Rolex watch is watch. Patek Phillippe also watch. Quality matters. This is a good quality tempered glass too. 

“Our tempered glass comes with free replacement, there’s a 1 year warranty.”

“$145 is a small sum. It’s her word against my staff’s. How can you prove???”

“Cannot be you come in to buy a screen protector and you see me put it on for you and then you say you don’t want to buy.”

Lianhe Wanbao later contacted Ms Han who said that her maid had gone to the shop to replace the screen protector for her Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus. 

She approached a shop employee who told her that there were stocks available. 

Thinking that it wouldn't cost more than $20, the helper did not ask further, nor did the employee clarify the price. 

It was only after the screen protector was placed on the phone when the employee told her that it cost an eye-watering $145. 

Ms Han told reporters:

“The employee said that the CCTV already captured him placing the screen protector on.

"Furthermore, the protector comes with a one year warranty that allows the customer to change it twice. 

“He then asked my helper to pay up.”

Feeling helpless and not wanting to create further problems, the helper paid up using money from the red packets she collected over the Chinese New Year. 

She later told Ms Han about what happened. 

Ms Han added that her helper has four or five children, along with siblings who depend on her for financial support. 

The helper had originally gone to Lucky Plaza so she could transfer money back home, before losing a considerate chunk of it to the shop. 

According to Ms Han, $145 is about 25 per cent of her helper’s monthly salary and almost half the price of the phone itself. 

On its Facebook page, EZ Advance Trading Enterprise said that the screen protector sold to the helper was of high quality, and came with a one year warranty, hence justifying the $145 price tag. 

Despite their claims, many netizens did not agree with the explanation.

The shop has since received many messages and harassment calls criticising its practices. 

In an update on its Facebook page, EZ Advance Trading Enterprise warned members of the public to stop the calls, or it would report the case to the police. 

An employee told Shin Min Daily News that after the incident, the shop received at least 100 harassment calls.

Callers would simply scold shop employees over the phone. 

The barrage of calls was so frustrating that the employees ultimately removed the battery from the store phone so they could stop receiving calls. 

The employee also revealed:

“We can’t prevent others from doing what they want, but this incident has taught us about how terrifying the word of mouth can be.”