SINGAPORE: A woman who purchased what she believed to be an authentic first-generation Labubu doll for S$220 first tried to get a refund from the seller when she discovered the item was fake.
However, when the seller refused to give 37-year-old Mdm Du back her money, she resorted to calling the police.
Mdm Du, a hardcore fan of the popular toy, has already spent five figures on her collection of Labubu dolls, according to a recent report in Shin Min Daily News.
She had found the seller in a Facebook group. While the item’s original price had only been $39.90, it was already out of stock, and vendors had been selling them at high prices, she explained.
Mdm Du asked the seller for the product’s QR code authentication and told the Chinese-language daily that it appeared legitimate.
With the seller telling her that she needed the money at once so she could buy concert tickets, Mdm Toh transferred the payment to the seller’s account on Dec 2.
The two then agreed on a meet-up near Pasir Ris on the evening of Dec 4.
However, when Mdm Du looked closely at the doll, she noticed that the colour of its face and hands did not match. This made her suspicious that the Labubu was not genuine.
“This is the first time I’ve encountered people selling fakes. If it’s a counterfeit at a lower price, I might just let it go. But at such a high price for a fake, I’m very angry,” she said.
She asked for her money back after confronting the seller.
Mdm Du said, “She wasn’t surprised at all, as if she already knew she was selling a counterfeit. I asked for my money back, but she kept saying she didn’t have any money.”
She added that the seller appeared “completely indifferent.”
The report in Shin Min Daily News featured photos of the seller, who seems to be a young girl. This is likely why Mdm Du asked for the contact number of the seller’s parents so she could talk to them about the matter.
However, she added that when she did so, it was the girl’s parents who suggested that she lodged a police report when she told them about the fake Labubu doll she had been sold.
When the police arrived, they suggested that Mdm Du submit a report to the Small Claims Tribunals. /TISG