SINGAPORE: A man has called out Sylls Auto Pte Ltd on social media for allegedly threatening to withhold his $300 deposit unless he changed his negative Google review.
In a post on the Facebook group ‘Complaint Singapore,’ Mr. Jim Ng recounted his frustrating experience with the car rental service. He stated that on November 28, he paid a $300 deposit for an Audi A4 and confirmed a pickup time of 1 pm for the following day.
“I also messaged Alex, ‘the boss’, that I will collect the car around 1 pm on November 29th. I even sent a WhatsApp message mentioning this,” he wrote.
Mr. Ng said that he arrived at the Kaki Bukit outlet at 1:10 pm. “While I acknowledge that I was 10 minutes late (which I nonetheless mentioned “around 1 pm”), I did apologize via WhatsApp for any inconvenience this may have caused,” he said. “However, I had already paid for the rental period and was entitled to collect the car within a reasonable timeframe.”
To his surprise, Mr. Ng encountered an unhelpful staff member who simply shrugged and said, “I’m not the boss,” and later learned that the car wasn’t even available at the outlet.
“He (Alex) promised to send a staff member to pick me up and take me to the Yio Chu Kang outlet. The entire ordeal, from start to finish, took nearly an hour,” he added.
Feeling disrespected, Mr. Ng left a 2-star review on Google. Later that evening, he was contacted by Alex, who demanded he take down the negative review.
“He insisted that I remove or change the review because I was late and wanted to blame others,” he said. “Additionally, he accused me of not informing him beforehand that I was on the way, a requirement that was never communicated during our initial booking process.”
To make matters worse, on the second day of the rental, Mr. Ng discovered some maintenance issues with the Audi, including an oil top-up and coolant problems.
“I had to make an unplanned detour on 30th November 2024 to their Workshop at Kaki Bukit again to rectify the issue,” he said. “Finally, on 2nd December 2024, at 3pm, after I returned the car, Alex decided not to return my deposit of $300.”
“He is holding my ‘$300’ hostage unless I give a positive review. The company appears incapable of accepting criticism, albeit constructive or negative, and holds the customer’s deposit hostage until they receive a positive review,” he explained.
“This is outrageous. What’s even more ludicrous is his feeble attempt to buy my silence for $10. He attempted to give me $10 if I were to remove my review. I rejected. The truth and freedom of expression is far more important,” he added.
Mr. Ng ended his post by warning others about Sylls Auto’s questionable business practices, urging potential customers to be cautious about dealing with a company that withholds deposits and pressures customers into leaving positive reviews.
Mr Alex Soo responds to the accusations, told Stomp he’ll take legal action
In response to the accusations, Mr. Alex Soo, the boss of Sylls Auto Pte Ltd, told Stomp that Mr. Ng had simply “misunderstood” the situation. He explained that the company had offered to refund the deposit immediately if Mr. Ng removed his negative review.
The offer was meant to be a quick solution, especially since most rental companies typically take several days to a month to process refunds. Sylls Auto, however, was willing to refund the deposit on the spot, without inspecting the car.
Mr. Soo felt that Mr. Ng didn’t appreciate the offer, likely due to a miscommunication over WhatsApp. He emphasized that Sylls Auto, which has been in business for eight years, has always returned deposits without any problems.
He also shared that after noticing the negative review, he tried calling Mr. Ng several times, but Mr. Ng refused to answer and insisted on communicating via messages.
“He wants everything in a message so that he can post it on Facebook and flame. This guy really wants to become famous on FB. He is indeed a keyboard warrior,” he said.
Mr Soo remarked that 99 per cent of their customers are ‘nice people’ and that they have always done their best to accommodate them.
“Cars always have issues and shifting of cars requires a lot of manpower too. So in order to get him (the Stomper) to the car, I even secretly pay my driver $20 just to get him to the car without even telling him. Ended up kena bad review,” he said.
Mr. Soo added that he plans to take legal action against Mr. Ng. He has filed a police report under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) due to numerous unwanted messages, taunts, and calls, and has consulted his lawyer about pursuing a defamation lawsuit.
Netizens’ reactions: “$10, treating you like some gian png beggar”
Under Mr. Ng’s post, netizens chimed in with mixed reactions to the incident. One commenter sarcastically remarked, “$10, treating you like some gian png beggar,” mocking the company’s alleged attempt to resolve the matter with a token amount.
Another commenter sided with Mr Ng, calling out the company’s behaviour as unreasonable, “Quite ridiculous to complain about you being 10 mins late when they themselves caused a much bigger delay. They are just grasping for any trivial matter they can try to blame you for.”
However, not everyone agreed with how Mr. Ng handled the situation. Some questioned his decision to post a negative review while still renting the car, pointing out that it might have escalated the conflict unnecessarily.
One commenter said, “You should not have posted the negative review while you were still renting. And since you did, you should have: deleted the negative review, collected back your $300 deposit, do not take the extra $10, [and then] reposted the negative review.”