A luxury car dealer in Singapore complained Thursday that his showroom smells like a market after an “unhappy” customer paid him Sg$19,000 (R167 200) in coins smelling of fish.
Tang Siu Tong, 44, owner of Exotic Motor that sells Ferraris and Bentleys, said the customer dumped nearly 100kg worth of coins in his showroom on Tuesday after being ordered by a court to pay the dealer the amount.
The customer, 34-year-old businessman Ong Boon Lin, had lost a lawsuit over the costs associated with consigning his Aston Martin V8 Vantage to the showroom in order to sell it.
“He did this deliberately because he was unhappy,” Tang told AFP.
“The coins were soaked in market juices, and smelled of fish. It stank up the whole place and I had to hire professionals to get rid of it. But the smell is still there,” he said.
“I am keeping the coins in 10 separate bags... My lawyers are arranging to have it returned, I am definitely not going to accept it,” he added.
Tang said the coins included those of five, ten, twenty and fifty-cent denominations. There were also Malaysian and Thai coins.
Ong, the customer, told local tabloid The New Paper he decided to settle the amount in coins because he was upset with Tang.
“Was I too much? I was really unhappy with his business practice and I paid the amount in full. So, no,” he said.
Ong's outburst is the second incident in the last week involving the payment of a large amount in coins.
The owner of a mobile phone store was lambasted online by Singaporeans last week after he refunded a Chinese tourist more than Sg$1000 in coins after a claims tribunal ruled against his shop.
Under Singapore's Currency Act, small denomination coins can't be used for payments over a certain amount.
AFP