The Minion debacle at MyDEAL.com.my

Discussion in 'Adrian Wong' started by Adrian Wong, Oct 13, 2013.

  1. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    It's official. No Minions will be delivered. If you are waiting for this cute little fella to appear at your doorstep, here's a PSA - he's not coming. :wall:

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    This all started when a company called Vii Synergy Marketing started offering the Minion Dave talking action figure on the MyDEAL discount website for just RM 99 (~US$ 31).

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    That was a huge discount off the official price of RM 259 (~US$ 81). Thanks to the Minion craze at that time, and their repeated delays in ending the deal, they sold 5,251 units of Minion Dave for a gross sale value of RM 519,849 (~US$ 162,452)!

    [​IMG]

    This made them greedy and they offered Minion Stuart and Minion Tim at RM 129 (~US$ 40) each. Because of the stiffer price, they sold less than Minion Dave. I don't have the exact figure but I remember it was just over 3,000 units for a gross sale value of at least RM 387,000 (~US$ 120,937).

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    All in all, ViiSynergy Sdn Bhd sold Minion toys worth at least RM 907,000 (~US$ 283,500). That's a huge amount of money for what's really a very small operation.

    After their deals ended and much procrastination, MyDEAL finally admitted that their vendor has absconded on the deal. Here is their official e-mail :

    So they have basically refunded the purchase plus 20% extra for the trouble caused. That's an appropriate gesture IF ONLY they applied it across the board. Unfortunately, the 20% extra is only valid if you choose to spend the refund at MyDeal. If you choose to get a cash refund, they are not going to give you the extra 20% credit.

    IMHO, they should have just refunded everyone in cash or credit PLUS 20% for the trouble caused. This half-assed apology isn't going to end well because of the mistakes they made in this one deal.

    Yes, this is really a bigger crock of shit than it seems. This is why I called it a debacle. It's a long story but bear with me...
     

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    Last edited: Oct 13, 2013
  2. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    In The Beginning...

    When the Minion Dave sale first started, I was very wary about it because they kept delaying the end of the deal. It was supposed to have ended on the 10th of July 2013, but MyDeal kept extending it time and time again just before the deal was scheduled to end.

    I got a little concerned, because they won't ship the toy until 15-30 WORKING DAYS after the deal ends. When can we expect to receive it if the deal never seems to end??? Some folks have also pointed out that with so much money at stake, it's easy for the seller to simply take the money and run.

    Well, to find out what the deal is, I called both the company. Vii Synergy and MyDeal and here's a summary of my findings...

    1. The deal was supposed to end earlier but got extended because they still had a lot more stock. <- this will be a very important point later on...

    2. The deal was set to end on the 20th of July. They claimed that it won't be extended beyond this date.

    3. MyDeal claimed that their merchant, Vii Synergy, is quite reliable based on their past experience (previous deals).

    4. If the merchant cannot deliver the toy, then MyDeal will refund the money.

    5. As of 17th of July, when I called them, the Vii Synergy company rep claimed that they still have a lot of stock left (again!).

    I then advised my Facebook contacts to ignore the constant restarting of the deal, because it's just a tactic to get people who are thinking about buying (and just sitting on the fence) to commit. The end date, according to MyDeal, was 20th of July. They would not extend beyond that.

    In any case, if you paid for this toy using a credit card, you are protected against fraud. If you fail to get a refund from the company or MyDeal if this deal turns bad, you can report to the credit card company and you will receive a FULL REFUND.

    If you paid using a debit card, you MAY be protected against fraud, but that depends on your bank. Debit card, by default, do not protect you against fraud. Think of them as ATM cards that allow direct or online payments. That said, most banks do offer fraud protection for their debit cards to encourage their use.

    If you actually banked the money directly to them, then you better hope they deliver... because you are NOT protected against fraud. If this deal turns bad, your only option is to insist that MyDeal refunds the money to you, or you will have no choice but to take them to the Small Claims Court.

    Satisfied that my ass was covered (legally and literally!), I put down my money for one Minion Dave. I duly received this confirmation e-mail :

    Okay, so now we wait! :mrgreen:
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  3. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    The Delivery Deadline Came And Went...

    15th of September came and went with no sign of Minion Dave. On the 25th, I became quite antsy and shot them an e-mail :

    THERE WAS NO REPLY.

    By the 5th of October, I was beginning to smell trouble. It smelled bad... like that truckload of manure in Back To The Future... :snooty:

    I sent them another e-mail :

    This time, they responded!

    A day later, they sent me a new e-mail :

     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  4. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Now I get pissed!

    When I got that reply from them, I was really pissed, because they always led me to believe that they had the stock at hand ALL THE TIME!

    When I first called both of them up about this deal, they assured me that they had PLENTY OF STOCK. In fact, they had so much stock they had to extend the deal deadline time and time again.

    Then they notified us that they were TESTING the toys to make sure they were working properly before mailing it to us.

    Now they claim that the delivery would be delayed? Who are they kidding??? :evil:

    So I wrote back :

    This time, they were quick in replying (the same day) :

    So I responded :

    That was the last e-mail from me. 6 days later, they sent me Mr. Tom Lienhart's apology letter to notify me that Minion Dave was not going to be my son's new best friend after all... :wall: :wall:
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  5. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    In conclusion...

    MyDeal and their merchant, Vii Synergy lied from the beginning until their Minion Ponzi scheme collapsed.

    Right from the start, they both assured me that there was plenty of stock. Then they e-mailed us, claiming that they were testing the toys before shipping them to us.

    They didn't even bother to contact us after the deadline lapsed. When pushed, they further lied that the delay was due to a delayed shipping process, because just six days later, they admitted that there were no Minion Daves to begin with.

    Now, they are refunding everyone in credit, with 20% extra credit if you are willing to spend all of that in MyDeal. But can we trust them again after they lied no less than 3 times in this one deal?

    I think not. If MyDeal wants to win our confidence and trust again, they should refund everyone in cash PLUS 20% extra for the inconvenience and trouble caused. :hand:
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    It pays to be a pretty girl...

    It looks like at least one person received her Minions - two of them actually.

    The funny thing was she placed her order on the LAST DAY of the deal (20th of July) but she apparently received her Minions while those who booked much earlier did not! :nuts:

    Best of all, she ordered 5 of these Minions, received two of them and refunds for ALL FIVE of her orders! :nuts: :nuts:

    MyDeal is so screwed up! :snooty:
     

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    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  7. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    My reply to Mr. Tom Lienhart

    I thought it would be faster to contact them through Facebook, but they deleted my post. Probably because I posted directly on their wall (hey, they left the option open!).

    I then posted a shorter message under their Minion "rage" thread, but got no reply. So I wrote this e-mail to them :

    Let's see if I get a reply... :snooty:
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  8. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    The girl with the Minions speaks up...

    Interestingly, it has been discovered that the girl who received the two Minions you see above is a friend of Don Hiew, the owner of Vii Synergy, the merchant who came up with this deal. No wonder she received the Minions while other people didn't... :hand:

    After being accused of being a spy or agent provocateur of Vii Synergy, she responded :

    For those who cannot understand Manglish, what she meant was :

     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2013
  9. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    Just sent an email for a cash refund. Let's see... :snooty:
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I think you should have no problem getting the money though. Some of the purchasers have already received their money.

    Incidentally, Marauderz was wondering how much MyDeal stood to make from putting all that money into fixed deposit.

    Well, it's been 4+ months since they started the sale. Assuming the total take was RM 900K for 3 months (since not all of the money came in in the beginning), MyDeal would stand to make RM 6.8K at the current FD rate of 3.05% (3 months).

    But from my recollection, they sold almost 4K the second round and someone calculated that they grossed over RM 1 million. If that's true, then their actual profit from just parking all that money in FD would be about RM 7.6K.

    So while they may enjoy some profit from parking the money in FD, they aren't making all that much.
     
  11. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Mahesh Indru Replied!

    Although I wrote to Tom Lienhart, I didn't get any reply so I forwarded my e-mail to Mahesh Indru, Country Manager for MyDeal. He actually replied!

    Wow... He wanted to come and explain the situation to me in person? Impressive... :thumb:

    However, I didn't want him to waste his time, so I wrote back :

    Unfortunately, he has yet to reply... :|
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Mr. Mahesh Replies...

    MyDeal's Country Manager, Mr. Mahesh Indru, got back to me yesterday...

    I haven't replied yet. Should I meet up with him? What would that accomplish? :think:
     
  13. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    Well... maybe he'll gift you a few minions... :mrgreen: Remember to send one over when that happens... :dance: :beer: :wave: :lol: :hug:
     
  14. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    LOL!!! I highly doubt it.

    So far, no one has received even a single Minion, except for that girl who was later discovered to be a friend of VII Synergy's boss... :mrgreen:
     
  15. Falcone

    Falcone Official Mascot Creator

    Seems to me they miscalculated on their profit margin and realized that they will loose money if the deal is to be honoured.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2013
  16. Ishtim

    Ishtim Super Moderator

    Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt? Sorry, I couldn't resist! Go get 'em!:thumb:
     
  17. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Falcone : Possibly, but the merchant claims they have already ordered the stock and will allow people to buy directly from them at a lower cost.

    Ishtim : Hehehee.....

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    BTW, check out how they got more people to buy and buy and buy... It's like magic! :doh:


    Credit : Jessica Chan
     
  18. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    After this debacle blew over, and MyDeal customers received their refunds (but no Minion), I noticed something sinister....

    During the Minion debacle, many disgruntled MyDeal customers converged on a Facebook group that was ostensibly created by a fellow disgruntled customer. Many of us shared our stories which was how we discovered that MyDeal intentionally misled us about the Minion deal.

    However, recently, I received a notice that the administrator, one ZaCk Lim made MyDeal an admin. He then removed himself from the group completely.

    MyDeal promptly DELETED all negative posts in the group and CHANGED the Anti-MyDeal group name to "myDeal.com Customer Service Line" and then "MyDeal Customer Service Line". They even changed the logo.

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    When I queried them about the changes in the group, they quickly deleted my questions.

    It looks like ZaCk Lim sold out the group to MyDeal.

    If I remember correctly, in the past he was accused of colluding with MyDeal, which he denied. He then slammed his accusers and accusing them of being agents of MyDeal. Looks like the original accusations were true after all.

    I can only wonder how much MyDeal paid him...
     

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  19. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I just found the smoking gun, the damning evidence that ZaCk Lim sold out to MyDeal. If you take a look at this screenshot, you will see that it was ZaCk Lim who added Mydeal Mydeal to the group on the 16th of January, 2014 before making him an admin and then quitting the group.

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    I'm quitting the group, and I strongly suggest that you guys do that too.

    Please note that I'm NOT Anti-MyDeal. I was disappointed at the way they handled the Minion incident but this is not why I posted about ZaCk Lim selling out to MyDeal.

    I just think it's not right for him to sell out the group. The group does NOT belong to him. The group belongs to everyone who participates in it.

    And MyDeal should NEVER have come in by the backdoor, and delete all our posts. That's just wrong and shows that they are not genuine about customer service.

    I also think people like ZaCk should be discouraged from selling out their groups. To do that, we need to make the group he sold out USELESS to MyDeal by quitting the group en masse.

    So please help me spread the word to the other members of the group. Let's quit the group!
     

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    Last edited: Feb 23, 2014

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