Free! Free!

Nothing is free anymore... Everything has a price to it.

So when I heard that Mr Judge's dad had got a call saying that he had won a Naza Citra I was very skeptical about it. Nevertheless, I agreed to follow him to the office of the company that was giving the gift away the next day, just to feast my curiosity.

The office was located in a very secluded row of shophouses, somewhere in Rawang. As soon as we stepped into the office, I knew that it was a scam.

How I know?

1. The reception area was only filled with one run down table and lots and lots of plastic chairs (ala... yang macam kerusi kat kenduri kawin tuh...)
2. The faces of the people there doesn't reflect any aura of professionalism (muka macam mamat pecah rumah pun ada)

We were then ushered into a meeting room that consist of one small table and few more plastic chairs. I tried my best not to let the first impression to affect my judgment. So I gave the girl a chance to explain the whole procedure and everything.

She said that her company was giving away 10 Naza Citra this year in order to avoid from paying a high tax return. Hence, since they are an electronic component supplier, they have pre-selected few customers (with clean credit background) that had purchased home electronic products over the past few years . That was how Mr. Judge's dad got selected (whipeee! yeah rite...)

So what they needed the selected winners to do is simple. The company will issue 2 receipts (1 for the company to keep, and another for the winner to retain) that cannot be duplicated (meaning tak boleh photostat lar - I really don't get this part. When I asked why can't they just give us a duplicated copy of the receipt, the girl said "Sapa-sapa pun boleh photostat receipt"). The company will need the winner's copy of the receipt back after a few weeks upon the receipt of the Naza Citra. So, to ensure that the receipt will be intact and not be misplaced by the winner, the winner needed to put a collateral of RM7,650 (hah! that's the catch).

Kejap... Kejap... Belum habis lagi.

In order to prove to the winner that the company was not going to cheat, they will give another free gift on top of the free Naza Citra. Upon agreeing to the terms, the winner gets to select one envelope out of 6 prizes, that consist of one Perodua Kenari, One Virago bike, RM13k worth of jeweleries, RM11k worth of home theater system and RM9k cash. If you pick one, you get to bring back the gift on the very same day!!!

Best tuh...!

Being the typical accountant that I am, I started deducing in my head. Should the company be in a position to reduce its tax payable for the year, it must have generated quite a high profit. However, how come the office that we were in looked very shabby? Can't the company spend some of the profit to upgrade its office with new furnitures and fixtures? That will surely reduce its tax payable by increasing its capital allowance. Haaa... kan dah masuk all the technical terms.

Apart from that, the file that the girl was using was all torn up and dirty. Very the unprofessional. There was no official letter issued out to the winners with an official signatory. When I asked for the company's license, all of them looked at each other and paused. One of them went out to retrieve it from somewhere. When asked how come it was only a photostated copy of the license (with no "certified true copy" stamp on it), she said "Takkan lar nak tunjuk yang original. Yang original dah frame and gantung kat dinding". Then I rephrased what she told me earlier, "Tadi you sendiri cakap, sapa-sapa pun boleh buat photostated copy...". Senyap aje semua.

At that point of time, I really wanted to walk out of the office and just forget all about it. However, Mr. Judge, being a typical male, thought that it was a win-win thing. He said that even if he pays the RM7k and gets one of the 6 prizes and not get the Naza Citra in the end, he will still make profit out of it. But that is IF he gets one of the 6 prizes lar kan. What if tak dapat? Pening kepala aje dapat kan.

I advised him to go home and just google the company up and see if there's any related forum regarding the company. I was very sure that it was a scam. And I was right. Never trust MEGA INTOP SDN BHD!!! Read it here and here.

So, what I am trying to say here is that NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE.


And one more thing....


always...


always...


always...


trust women's instinct!




binx: BWM 1 series lagi best! ;)