A FIVE-SPEAKER home theatre system sits unused in Mr G S Ng's storeroom.
The 27-year-old was talked into shelling out $600 for the new system.
A salesman operating from a van even drove Mr Ng to an ATM so he could withdraw the cash and hand it over.
Mr Ng now regrets succumbing to that sales pitch.
His cousin-in-law, a businessman who designs and sells audio systems for homes and cars, has told him that the new speakers would probably cost only $200 to $300.
Mr Ng, a building contractor who lives in Choa Chu Kang, had been approached by the spokesman in a Bedok North carpark two Wednesdays ago . He had been checking on the progress of works done to some flats.
Recalled Mr Ng: 'I was just about to go into my lorry when a van drew up... The driver came out and told me he had high-end speakers going for very low prices because his supplier had given him too many sets.
'I agreed to let him show me the speakers in the van. He didn't discuss prices with me at that point.'
The speakers were of impressive size, standing 1.4 m tall.
Mr Ng was persuaded to buy a five-speaker set, even though he already has a $1,000 home theatre system, complete with amplifier, that he bought three years ago.
When he said he had no money, the driver of the van even volunteered to drive him to an ATM.
Another man, who was with the driver, even helped moved a set of speakers from the van to Mr Ng's lorry.
Mr Ng said: 'Once he received the money, he went back to his van and drove off.'
The entire transaction was over within about 20 minutes.
Mr Ng said: 'He didn't force me to buy anything but he was very good at selling the speakers. It was only after he left that I realised that I may have made a mistake.'
'KNUCKLE TEST'
His cousin-in-law, businessman Alex Ong, 32, who performed a simple 'knuckle test' by knocking on the speakers, said: 'The sound given out when knocked is very hollow.
'This shows that the speakers suffer from poor quality.'
'On the first look, the speakers look okay.
'But look closer and you can see the construction is very bad.'
Mr Ong, who has been designing and selling speakers for about 10 years, said the brand of speakers Mr Ng purchased is not sold in shops here.
He noted that some people may think the speakers were a good buy because of their size: They may look impressive to those who don't know much about speakers.
'So when told that the speakers are selling cheap, buyers may be tempted,' he said.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) warns consumers against buying speakers from these van-borne salesmen because there is no guarantee that customers can trace the sellers should anything go wrong with their purchases.
And last year (2006), Case received 22 complaints about such salesmen.
Unfortunately for Mr Ng, he didn't know about this earlier.
Now he does not know what to do with the new speakers he has bought.
His wife Madam M Y Tan, 26, said: 'We will most likely leave them in our storeroom.'
Source
CLUELESS ABOUT SELLER BUT HE OVERPAYS BY $400 
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