Majeed F.
Yelp
I have been coming to Singapore since 1996, I have had wonderful experiences since then and interacted with wonderful, genuine, helpful and straight forward honest people.... I can count 3 occasions in the last 19 years where the taxi driver claimed the meter is not working, took me on a way longer than necessary, where I felt that they where not being straightforward. The difference was few dollars so I let it go.
That is true until I made the mistake of looking at and being lured into this Meiko Tailor. Eve and Ronnie told me that this was their first day opening the shop, introduced me to the "master tailor" Mr Chung, all sounded very jolly. I asked about the cost of a shirt, they said it was S$130, I felt that it was comparable to the price of another tailor close by that I checked earlier and more importantly, comparable to my great tailor Simon of Coloc that I have built long friendship with and his sister over the last 19 years of using their excellent services.
I thought, ok I will give them a go, so I asked to have a shirt made, picked a patterned cream (off white) Italian cotton material for it, they took my measurements, style, collar, cuffs, buttons etc, the price all of a sudden jumped to S$270. When I said this is not what you told me earlier, they claimed that it's the material I chose... Ronnie, Chung and Eve have all ganged up and were talking continuously to deflect attention. All of a sudden they wanted me to sit down, got me a bottle of water, a little cheap looking gift appeared, Eve introduced me to some shady character that was trying to sell me water that is full of antioxidants.... Making some surreal claims..... At the time, I thought ok it is expensive, it's their happy opening day, let's trying it, it could be something special.....
Having slept over it and this evening I went over to collect the shirt, the shirt was nothing special, the seam looked like it was sawn in a hurry and isn't even.
I am really disappointed. This is the first time in 20 years of coming to Singapore that I felt I was cheated. It bothered me. Ronnie, Eve and Chung have conned me, bait and switch is an old dis-honest practice, if they are reputable, they certainly have failed to demonstrate it. It is ok to inflate prices slightly for foreigners, but to double it, what they displayed is short sighted dis-honesty. These practices have no place in modern flourishing Singapore. They are doomed to fail.
Based in my only experience, I cannot recommend Meiko Tailor to any of my friends or their friends, their behavior was not trust-worthy. I am sorry to give them one star, they did not show any star quality, I suggest that Yelp consider adding an icon for piece of coal, or a black splat or a no entry sign, courtesy of con artists, and regrettable experiences.