Yes some of you may remember that I lost my bluetooth headset to the washing machine just a few days ago.
To make matters worse, I was feeling very broke after spending so much money on booze that night at Velvet but I knew that I just can’t do without a headset.
So the very same day, I went straight to The Curve to buy myself a new one.
I walked around The Curve and ended up on the Ground Floor of Cineileisure Damansara.
There were quite a few mobile phone vendors there so I walked up to one and said
“I just killed my bluetooth today… and I need a new one”.
The man behind the counter took a quick look at me and thought to himself
“Niama… little boy in a “Mr Happy” T-shirt… don’t even know whether he can really afford a bluetooth headset or just playing punk with me!”.
But he decided to humour me anyway
“Sure Sir… we have this very special bluetooth. Locally made but it is very reliable. It costs more than the Motorola, Samsung or Sony Ericsson ones but it is very stable. Trust me, so far no complaint!”.
I have never used a non-Motorola Bluetooth before.
So I thought about it and said
“Hmm… this one some more is like a clip wan… can clip on my baju wan right? Damn cool”.
And there the salesman was thinking to himself
“Stooopid small kid… clip also cool, like never hang baju before”.
So I took a good long look at it and asked some questions about the specs.
The nice salesman smiled and answered my questions promptly… but by the look in his eyes I knew he was thinking
“Niama… this smart Alec asking so many questions… he better buy if not I will do something really bad to him”.
Then the question that he was waiting for came
“Do you have anything cheaper ar?”
The salesman then struck a look in his eyes that I knew what he was thinking
“AH HAH! I KNEW IT! NO MAHNEY TO BUY SOME MORE WAN TO PRETEND CAN AFFORD!!!”
But again on the outside he said
“Unfortunately not sir… this is the only Bluetooth headset we have”.
Then I asked
“How about a normal hands-free set? You know the traditional one with wire one?”
The salesman opened a drawer and took this out.
I asked him how much and he said
“RM10”.
My parents always taught me that my reaction to a price quote should always be
“WAH SO EXPENSIVE AR?!?!”
Of course, I forget that the rule doesn’t apply sometimes, especially when you’re buying cheap products like a kilo of sugar or ….. a fake hands free set.
But I forgot about that so I “accidentally” went on to say
“WAH!!! WHY SO EXPENSIVE?!?!? MADE IN GERMANY AR?!”
The salesman said
“No sir, locally made one… and it’s not expensive lar”.
Seeing that the salesman was still playing it cool on the outside, I went on to say
“Can give cheaper or not?”
I saw that same “pissed-off” look in the salesman’s eyes that I saw earlier… but this time he was thinking
“BLOODY HELL THIS MR HAPPY…. RM10 ALSO WANT TO ASK FOR DISCOUNT… SOMEONE SHOULD BUY HIM A MR. CHEAP SHIRT!!!”
But again on the outside, the nice salesman maintained his cool
“Cannot lar sir… I only make very little from this one sale”.
In the end I thought about it and decided.
I’ve been buying so many bluetooth headsets in the past but they always fail on me one way or another. 
So why not just go back to the basics and buy something that is cheap and works.
Not to mention, Bluetooth headsets have stopped being cool since uncles with flowery shirts started wearing them on the ear everywhere they go even when they’re not on the phone.
So in the end I told the salesman with affirmation
“Forget about the bluetooth… I’ll go for the RM10 wan”.
The salesman took my RM10 and watched me walk away with my new hands free.
I didn’t look back but I knew he was saying to himself
“*(@&(@&($*#(&*$&*(#$(&*#&*($#*($ BLOODY MR CHEAP!!! YOU BETTER NOT CUM BAK AGAIN OR I WILL BEAT YOU SO BAD YOUR OWN MOTHER WON’T BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE YOU”
But after all his frustration I knew he was trying to calm himself down thinking
“Ok lah… sell it for RM10, my cost is RM8 so made RM2 lah… not bad”
I took a few steps away from the counter… then I turned back and said
“Hey… can I have a plastic bag to put this in?”
The salesman grunted and took one out for me, mentally recalculating in his mind
“Cost RM8 + Cost of plastic bag = RM8.10 so made RM1.90, ten sen less… niama this Mr Happy”.
Two days later… I kinda figured out why it doesn’t pay to be cheap sometimes.
Haih… broken already.
‘
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space