Huawei has begun to reach out in batches to 5,000 customers here who were promised $100 discount vouchers following its $54 smartphone promotion that went awry on July 26.
Almost 2,000 have received the vouchers via SMS as of yesterday and the rest can expect theirs by the end of this month.
The vouchers are valid for a week from the day they are sent and can be redeemed at any of 10 selected outlets. Close to 1,000 customers have redeemed the vouchers so far.
With Huawei keen on preventing a repeat of the chaotic scenes witnessed on July 26, the number of vouchers sent out daily is carefully moderated based on expected customer traffic at its stores.
On that day, thousands had queued for hours at stores for the Y6 Pro National Day promotion, which offered the phone for just $54 to those aged 50 and above. But most of them queued in vain as the stores ran out of stock quickly, some before opening hours.
Police were called in to manage increasingly agitated crowds at several locations, and a 53-year-old woman was arrested for causing a commotion inside a Huawei store in Jem shopping mall when she was unable to purchase the phone.
Disappointed customers went on social media to vent their anger, saying Huawei should have made it clear that limited sets were available for the promotion.
Huawei announced on July 30 that it would give out $100 vouchers to the 5,000 people who had registered with the stores after failing to buy the smartphone when stocks ran out.
The voucher allows customers to buy the Y6 Pro for $48 instead of its current retail price of $148, but the voucher can also be used for other selected models such as the P30 Pro, P30 and P30 Lite.
To redeem the voucher, customers must present the SMS, their identity card and a QR code from a link in the text message. Huawei began contacting customers from Aug 2.
Mechanic Salehim Aman, 53, received the SMS last Tuesday and purchased a Y6 Pro that day from Huawei's store in Jurong Point.
He had queued at Huawei's Westgate store on July 26 for about an hour before his contact details were taken down. He estimated he was in the middle of the queue.
"The price for the Y6 Pro is also lower than in the first promotion, so I consider this a stroke of good luck." he said.
In a similar but separate deal offered earlier this month, hundreds of customers who queued at Courts outlets for the July 26 promotion have also received $100 vouchers to purchase Huawei devices.
A Courts spokesman said SMSes were sent out to those who registered with Courts offering the $100 voucher "as a gesture of goodwill to customers who have been inconvenienced".
Courts' offer is valid until Aug 31 and can be redeemed only at its flagship store in Tampines. Customers need to show the original text message.
Ms Minnie Kow, 44, got the Courts SMS on Aug 2. She had been at Courts Tampines store on July 26 to buy the phone for her father. She got to the store at 7.45am and, after about two hours, staff asked customers for their details.
"I saw on Facebook that many people who queued at other places said they didn't get the chance to register, so I feel quite fortunate I went to Courts," said the HR executive, who bought a Y6 Pro with her voucher last Saturday.
Asked why only 5,000 customers managed to register, a Huawei spokesman said there were customers who were not aware of the registration, "as there was an overwhelming turnout during that time and our staff and the authorities had to disperse the crowd".
"We will definitely take those who were in the queue and did not get to register into consideration on a case-by-case basis," he added.
