I posted about a special offer from HTC for three days, beginning today (9th October), at 10am to Sunday 10pm, where a total of 65 units of the Touch2 smartphone which comes with Windows Mobile 6.5 is going to be on sale daily at a steep discount of 65% off its retail price. As the retail price of the Touch2 is RM 1,599, this means that you can buy the Touch2 at RM 559.65. And as I tweeted, one would be either stupid or silly, or heaven forbid, both, to miss an offer like this. And since I do not like to call myself either, I decided to head on down to Sunway Pyramid to perhaps get a few to make some money. I kid, of course.
So, imagine my horror when I got there at 945am, only to see that there were already more than 80-90 people in the queue in front of me. Here are some pictures I took with my iPhone on the length of the queue when I got there.
So, here’s my advice if you really want to buy one:
- head on down there tomorrow or Sunday. Plan to reach there at 6am or earlier. You won’t probably get in, but I think you can queue up at the door right next to where they are holding the event on the “Blue Atrium” of Sunway Pyramid. Why 6am? The people in the queue were already starting to queue at this time, and today is a Friday, a working day. So imagine what one has to do when it is a weekend?
- bring a foldable chair or something if you value your back. Standing in line for more than 4 hours to enjoy a RM 1,000 discount is no fun.
- bring lots of patience. When I left at 1115am just now, the queue was still there, the sale of the Touch2 had not started yet. It was quite a disaster really. There were a number of frustrated looking faces in the queue.
- try to insist on a queue number from the organiser. You know the typical Malaysian style when there’s an opportunity to make easy money – people will cheat, lie, cut queue, murder, maim, etc to get what they want.
- only one unit per person. If you want 20 units, bring along 19 other friends with you to queue up.
Drop a comment here if you manage to get your grubby hands on a unit!
u guys r crazy over the rm1000 discount….really salute!
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
@JJ, RM 1,000 is a lot of money, no? And if you use the phone for one day and don’t like it, you can still sell it off at a profit of around RM 800, is my rough guess. What better deal in IT gadgets that you can get which is better than this?
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just curious… those ppl in Q at 66~70… will HTC offer them too??
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Jack Lee Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Why should they? You know something we don’t?
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Actually, why dun the guards and the retailer work together to save everyone a lot of angst. Just let the first 65 people through the glass doors and let them wait inside. Done deal. The others who come later can then straightway go home. I waited there for almost 2 hours before I knew I was actually waiting for nothing as they didn’t let anyone in at all, whether it was 65 or 100 people there. If I knew earlier, I would have gone home earlier and wasted less time.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
@Jack,i totally agree with you,that’s what on my mind.Tonite,i’m going to approach the guard,tell your idea and we wait what is their feedback.Will you come early,just to lend your support?
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
@Jack, let’s hope they learn from experience these past two days. If they learn, we can’t blame them. If they don’t, I guess they’re no better than an amoeba. Even my dog can learn, hahahaha…
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just curious only.. why people still wait there when they know they are after number 65??? so try to ask here.. anyone is Q after but still insist to wait??
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Anonymous Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I’m also puzzled,anyone care to post a comment?Will those people get some other forms of discounts???
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
@Anonymous, I think it’s highly unlikely. Where do you draw the line if this is the case? But I hope, and wish, that the next time, HTC will offer more units for sale, as well as organise it better.
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Bro, the point precisely is that they DON’T know they are after No. 65 lor! Unless of course it is too obvious. How are they going to know? Yes, they can do a headcount, but how do they know who is actually buying the phone and who is just there to accompany a friend/boyfriend/galfriend?
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Ken77 Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Bro,you have any good suggestions?Can you come up with a plan?Time is running,if not…i’m afraid our chance of getting that phone is pretty slim.We are going against hundreds of wishful buyers.Tonite i bet,there will be more people than the 2 previous days,because D.A.D has also mentioned,those people from other states are coming over there too.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
@Ken77, sad to say, I think the situation tonight is going to be even worse. I think one probably needs to have the patience of a saint in order to be successful! But I wish all my readers who are going, good luck and may the force be with you…erk…oops…wrong saying…
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are u guys going to Q again later tonight??
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sad to tell you that.. some guys from lowyat.net is planing to Q there from 10pm tonight.. and quite a number of them… and i am too old to do such crazy thing.. good luck to you all…
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
@Anonymous, haha, like I said, hardcore! Deal too good to be true!
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ANDY Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
yes , me too , i am old , cant bear with all the youngster and student…
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
@andy, in hindsight, I think it was good that you did not drive up all the way to PJ from JB in the middle of the night!
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I’m going over at 9 something….wish me luck to grab a spot.I’ll post again,tomorrow when i’m home.Ciao!!
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
@Ken77, I wish you all the best of luck, and hopefully you can come back here tomorrow after your purchase with some pictures of your shiny new toy!
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Ken77 Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
@D.A.D,i’m back home already.Just woke up from my sleep(Haven’t been sleeping for 30 hours) and have to say i’m really pissed with the whole offer thing.I have no luck at all.Maybe i am fated not to get this phone.It’s a wasted effort for me.Jack Lee is with me together to get it.Both of us went home empty handed.
I’ll just let Jack post the rest of the story,what really went wrong on this particular event,as i cant think straight right now.(nausea effect)
P.S
Jack Lee,hope you can tell the rest of the story to our fellow readers in this blog,Thank You,Bro.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
@Ken77, sorry to hear that, my friend. The entire affair sounded like a shambles, especially the last two days. When I was there on Friday, it was “more organised” likely due to the much smaller sized crowd. I’ll feed this back to the HTC people, if they’re willing to listen.
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Hey, I charged my friend RM100 for every late hour they arrive. But at 8.30 there were 30 plus people and they said no cut queue! Or you will be out of the queue
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
@Ridzuan, hahaha! Good for you! At that rate, I think you got the phone completely free, right?
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VX Reply:
October 10th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
basket company force me for a meeting on friday morning. my leave also let them cancelled. If not i will be there with you getting this gadget.
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Dear All,
I was just informed by Ken77 just now at about 9pm, the queue is now FULL. He had very kindly told me to not bother to come. It was too late for him also. He asked me to pass on this message to all other readers here as well.
This is crazy shite, man! But yeah, the next time they have something like this, they should offer 200 units per day or something. However, having said that, it seems that this event was organised by one reseller or retailer themselves (I am assuming with the permission of HTC, of course), which I think is Action Mobile or something. It is not really a HTC organised thingy, apparently. The other authorised resellers / retailers are not in on this. I managed to find this out from a friend of a friend of a friend who happens to be the boss of a pda retailer. in Sunway Pyramid itself. l also heard the same info from another friend of a friend who has a shop in Digital Mall.
Ah well, I tried to win a free Nokia N97 last time, but failed. Now I tried to get an ultra cheap bargain HTC Touch2 and failed too. Sigh…. moral of my story? Just work hard and earn the money and buy the damn things outright! Hahaha! Its been fun, boyz and galz…!
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Latest development from Ken77 who is on site…. it seems there has been a lot of confusion. Firstly they say the list will secure your place. Then they just said that it will be strictly first come, first served basis.
The conclusion…. eerrr… I dunno really. But if anyone is still interested, just head on over and see for yourself, I guess.
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everyone is heading over @ 12.00am to be the 1st behind the roller shutter. List is no longer important. Anyone could create a list and tell the whole world, “hey i create this list since 1pm”. Who cares, as long who the 1st in the line will get it.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@VX, kill, maim!!!
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tonite 11pm something oredi 100++ ppl dy….. those ppl really kisiao de…. ==
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
@kev, ahaks!
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HTC should issue number ticket to appreciate those sacrificed their sleepless nights to queue up the night before. Those violent/uneducated moron ran in the shop in the morning and got the phone effortless, not fair to those who had waited on the line.
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ANDY Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
htc king , sad to hear it , you are over night here ? still cant get it ? how this ppl ran into the shop , is many entrance to the shop ? not only one…
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This event is organised by Microsoft to launch the WinMo 6.5 therefore, they have an agreement with action to have the HTC touch2 to be sold for the first 65 at 65% discount (in conjunction with the 6.5) therefore they wont be selling more units at discounted price… I heard from an insider during first day when i was queueing to get the HTC, a guy said that initially they plan to sell it at RM65 only!!! but after some discussion and thoughts they came out with 65% discount on the RRP…
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
@JK, since it’s an HTC device, nothing happens without HTC’s express approval. The reseller definitely isn’t going to sell the Touch2 at RM 560 when their cost from HTC is much much higher. So, HTC has to provide 65 units of the Touch2 to this reseller so that they can sell it at RM 560; what the reseller gets in return for doing this event is between HTC and themselves.
I honestly do not think that Microsoft has any say or hand in this. If they did, why only force HTC to do this special deal? Garmin-Asus was there at the launch, so was LG, I believe.
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JK Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Garmin-asus hav offers too,just trade in any electronic gadget n get 50% off for garmin-asus smart phone..btw,i think htc n microsoft hav an agreement on this promo in return for something by microsoft???action is the appointed reseller for htc for this event
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ANDY Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
JK , really , i only saw LG RM500 off , if half price , i may consider , do you know , how to deal with it ?
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Apparently Microsoft may have subsidised the 195 units of Touch2 to get it to sell at such a cheap price.
The whole thing on Sunday was a freakin’ fiasco for many many people. I got there at about 12am plus. Met up with Ken77 and stayed up the whole time. Ken77 got us a fantastic position to wait which was literally right in front of the glass doors. As in so close, we can just touch the glass doors or lean on it if we wanted too. Made friends with some other people near the door too, especially this one guy whom I shall just call “A”.
Just before 7am, it got a bit crazy. Everyone at the back suddenly just stood up and surged foward, expectingthe doors to open soon desite being told that it will only open at 10am. The ones in front were being pushed. Guards came to try to control the situation. Things got crazier as time went by. Just before 9am, more uards came and started shouting and pushing everyone back from the glass doors and trying to make us queue in one line (too little too late). The guards treated us like dogs and were pushing and shoving and pulling and shouting all the time. Worse than football hooligans, if you asked me. As a result, I was pushed front to the back. Ken77 managed to stay pretty up front still. “A” was still right in front. Some who just came managed to get up front. People were starting to cut the “queue”. In other words, all the good positioning from coming early and staying the whole night were thrown out the window mostly by the moronic guards. I had to slowly reposition myself a little to the front but to one side of the crowd.
Then a few minutes later, the doors suddenly opened WIDE, the guards shouted “Do NOt Enter” But of course, when you suddenly have a big gaping entrance, what else was gonna happen? The people in the front listened to the guards and did not move. But of course, the people from the back did not give a shit and just forced and surged through. All hell broke lose then.
Everyone rushed to the front to get the registration booth. Ken77 and and “A” was up front. I had like some 50 people ahead of me. I thought I still had a chance then.
The guards who were humiliated earlier had to coma back and enforce their rule. They started pushing and pulling everyone away from the registration booth. Then they started pushing and shoving and pulling everyone to form a single line queue. People were repositioned very very randomly. For some reason, Ken77 and “A”, who were in front, were pulled away and repositioned right at the back of the queue. I was similarly repositioned by the force of the crowd due the guards randomly pushing and shoving everyone to to form a line. In the end, I was definitely not within the first 65. Worst of all, Ken77 and “A” were repositioned behind me, how ridiculous is that!!! And “A” even injured his hand in the process. Although the crowd situation was getting crazy, there was no necessity yet to treat us like prisoners in a prison riot!
In the end, there were many many people who just came got the phone and many many people who stayed up the whole night went home empty handed.
The main problem here the crowd control. There were no facilities for proper queuing from outside to inside the building. There was no system to ensure fairness as far as possible. In fact the guards played a hand in ensuring UNFAIRNESS… It was obvious the organisers and the security did not sit down and properly formulate a plan for crowd control. It was all done ad hoc. Even a moron could foresee such things happening. But the organisers either somehow stupidly did not foresee it or they did nothing to plan for contingencies. And that is what makes it worse, it was foreseeable and they did next to nothing to have prevention plans.
Apparently, the person in charge is some manager from Microsoft. A lot of people of course looked for the fella later and complained. In the end, the manager made an announcement… we will all be given forms to fill in our names and contact particulars and write down our complaints and the organisers shall look at them and see what they can do. One Auntie, whose 2 kids went to queue since the night before, complained kaw kaw in front of everyone who gathered there. She wanted a decision there and then and not ask us to write down the complaints and see how later. Some people even started crumpling up the forms and throwing them on the floor in front of the mini stage where the manager was standing on. I wrote down my complaints and I advised Ken77 to do the same. We then submitted the forms.
A lot a lot of people were unhappy. I overhead some people even planning to later to give HTC, the event and even HTC products bad publicity (by what means I wasn’t sure). It was not clear the event was organised by whom, but the roadshow itself had Samsung, Garmin-Asus and LG participating as well, apart from HTC. Perhaps the organiser was Microsoft who was trying to promote Winmo 6.5. If its true that the organiser was Microsoft, then it is unfortunate that HTC has been dragged in and they may get bad publicity as well.
DAD, if you are in touch (pun intended) with HTC, please ask them to investigate the whole fiasco as their reputation is now at stake as well. It was badly organised in terms of crowd organisation and many people felt great injustice.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
@Jack, sorry to hear this. This is indeed very disappointing indeed. I guess when you pay peanuts, you can expect retarded monkeys to work as guards with no idea of crowd control or anything else. I am quite shocked to hear that the organisers did not learn their lessons from Saturday so that they could at least plan better for Sunday – again, I have no idea why this is the case.
Not only is HTC’s reputation at stake here, but Microsoft’s as well, since it was an event to “celebrate” the launching of Windows Mobile 6.5. The winners in this? Maybe the other smartphone platforms once people swear off Windows Mobile products forever! But let’s wait and see how Microsoft decides to fix all this, in conjunction with HTC.
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ANDY Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
JACK , i also suffering, i all the way from JB with family , all my time , saman speedy , my hotel , my petrol , my car , compare to you is much higher , thinking about me , you may feel better lah……
life
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Jack Lee Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Thinking about your situation does not make me feel any better… it makes me even more pissed off at the organisers, Andy. I really feel sorry for you and for many others like you who made the long trip from far away. I met someone who came all the way from Ipoh as well.
I went on Saturday morning at about 5am plus, came back empty handed, went again practically that same nite and waited till the morning without any sleep at all and still came back empty handed.
We all suffered Andy, just that some more than others. But we would not have thought of it as suffering (even if we didn’t end up getting the phone) if things were better managed and the whole process more fair.
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Ken77 Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 6:06 am
@Jack,Thank you very much for posting such a through comment on this particular event.Yes,this was the actual incident what had happened over there,people.I would like to add my part of the story to you all to read.Hopefully it is not boring to you guys,reading it.Here Goes the incident:- Myself and Jack were literally theated like dogs by the security guards.Imagine,i was one of the 10th over people that managed to form a line,was being accused of cutting queue,pulled out by force and throw me to the back of the line.There is no justice at all.I tried to complain,but no one cares about you.Did you all know,what’s the saddest part,the top ranking security personnel said to me,”Maaf,itu U punya nasib”.I was really sad at that time.I felt nothing can be done anymore.I could say,i have a 99% of getting that phone,but the remaining 1% was just bad luck.(being pulled out by the guards)So,you see….life is pretty much uncertain sometimes.It may not turn out what you expected it to be.You win some,you lose some. One thing i’ve learn from this incident is as long,you don’t put so much high hopes on such irresistable offers,you’ll don’t feel hurt and sad.Life goes on………with or without them.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 10:53 am
@Ken77, hearing your story makes me angrier. I wonder what right the guards had in physically abusing people? I am sure that if people took pictures and videos of this happening, one can pursue a legal case against the management of Sunway Pyramid. I’m no lawyer, but I think there’s a basis for a claim here, if only one had the proof.
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Just to add:
If it was organised by HTC, then they truly deserved bad publicity for cocking things up….!
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
@Jack, see my latest post on this. I am one of those who are trying to get them to “rectify” things. Stay tuned. No promises though – I’m only a nobody in the online world. Now I feel bad for alerting people to the offer and making people waste their time
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
@Jack, this was an event organised by Microsoft to celebrate the launching of Windows Mobile 6.5 in Malaysia. The Touch2 offer was done in conjunction with HTC, who I understand had little to do with the organisation.
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Jack Lee Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
That what I thought. But unfortunately a lot of people had the impression all this was by HTC… looks like HTC gets dragged in to the mud as well.
I hope Microsoft comes back to us in a reasonable time with a satisfactory answer. Otherwise the Malaysian CEO here will be receiving a not so nice email from me.
Please don’t feel bad about alerting people to this offer. Offers are always good news to be shared! You had nothing to do with whatever bad that happened and nobody expected such unprofessional and amateurish management by the organisers.
Ken77 was really really disappointed initially. I hope he feels better now. As for me, I am just pissed off at how Ken77, myself and others were robbed of this opportunity after a lot of hard effort and sacrifice. I initially started this endeavour as a challenge to myself and to see whether I would be able to hack it. It seemed like a very interesting challenge. Unfortunately I totally did not expect that the security personnel would have a hand in totally screwing things up for me. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
@Jack, I am trying to do my utmost to at least make things better, and as I said in the latest post, will keep you guys informed on developments.
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Jack Lee Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thank you very very much, bro. Whatever the outcome, I assure you your efforts are very very highly appreciated. You can bet on that!
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Pingback: [ M A T E C H U L O U S ] – theITChannel Podcast Episode 22: Ride the wave to the launch party
hey guys, can I find all HTC phones in Ipoh? Cuz this city is nearest to my UTP, thanks.)
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 2:16 am
@Ula, have you gone online to check for a list of HTC resellers in Ipoh?
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