‘I know it’s for illustration only, but not this different’: Man seeks refund over coconut ice cream

SINGAPORE: A man who bought a coconut ice cream at a supermarket pop-up event was left disappointed after discovering that the actual serving looked much smaller than the one advertised on the promotional poster.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the customer paid S$2.90 for a scoop of coconut ice cream at a pop-up stall in Clarke Quay. However, when he received his order, he felt the portion fell far short of what had been advertised.

“It only looks like half a cup, which is very different from the photo on the poster,” he said. “I know the photo is for illustration purposes, but it shouldn’t be this different.”

Photos shared by the customer appeared to show a noticeable difference between the serving displayed on the promotional materials and the ice cream he received. While the poster stated that the image was for illustration purposes only, the customer felt the gap between expectation and reality was too significant to ignore.

He subsequently raised the matter with the stall manager and requested a refund.

Following inquiries, it was revealed that the promotion was being run by an external merchant. The supermarket later contacted the customer and arranged a refund. The promotion has also since been removed.

In response to the incident, the supermarket said it would work more closely with participating merchants and review promotional materials to ensure that advertisements accurately reflect the products being sold.

The incident has sparked discussion about how closely promotional images should match the actual products customers receive, even when disclaimers stating that images are for illustration purposes are included.

In a separate incident reported earlier, 10 donation boxes containing more than S$30,000 in contributions were allegedly stolen from outside several shops in Singapore.

The donation boxes belonged to various medical and charitable organisations and had been placed in public areas to collect donations from members of the public.

Read more about the news story here.