Can you get your money back when purchases fall short?

From defective home appliances to misleading product descriptions, it can be frustrating when your purchases fall short on quality. What rights do customers have when seeking compensation, and when is it all a futile exercise?
Linus Ng, chairperson of the CASE Consumer Education Committee and partner at Donaldson & Burkinshaw, explains if you can get your money back from errant vendors.
Andrea Heng: 
So, here’s one space that we don’t often talk about when we talk about when we talk about making protected purchases. That is the online space. I’ve been influenced into buying something on TikTok Shop before. I made sure it costs no more than S$5, just to be on the safe side.
Others, though, (are) not so lucky, not so prudent. They are spending a lot more money on livestream shopping, what they call “shoppertainment”. And I noticed a lot of these retailers, they are either not based in Singapore, or they are distributed through these TikTok influencers and these businesses. Because they’re home-based and small, they’re not really registered. 
So how do we navigate this really blurry shopping space here? What kind of aid is available if we want to seek redress for something unsatisfactory that we bought online.
Linus Ng: 
Now this is the trend that we have actually seen in recent years. And you’re very wise to cap your damage to a relatively small amount, like S$5.
We have actually received a lot of complaints for this kind of claims, which is actually (when) they walk through what we call the social media kind of business. That in itself, we wouldn’t encourage, but we can see that (it’s) not something that someone can stop. Because when it comes to the ease of buying, you sit back, you look at a computer, you know, and if someone is actually entertaining you with that kind of livestream, and there is this little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) kind of mentality, you know, “I don’t want to miss out.”
There are like, five (products) left, and you have 15,000 people asking for it, and then they are pushing for it. 
Let’s say, for example, if they are influencers doing a livestream from Lazada or Shopee, that in itself will give you some form of credibility – that there is a reputable platform that you can rely on.
But that is also not the best security. The best kind of thing to do is actually you cap it. You make sure that even if I don’t get it, I don’t feel the pain. 
For smaller amounts like S$5, S$10, I think most consumers can stomach that kind of losses. But if there’s more to it, then you got to be very careful.
A lot of times, I tell consumers during our outreach campaigns that the goods are always there, so don’t worry. And with the new goods coming out, these older goods, the price will drop.
Find more episodes of Money Talks here.
A new episode of Money Talks drops every Tuesday. Follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify for the latest updates.
Have a great topic for us? Drop the team an email at cnapodcasts [at] mediacorp.com.sg