Buzz Cancels Mask Sales An Hour Before & Apologises For Inconvenience Caused
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, health equipment like masks and sanitisers have been hot items, often selling out fast.
Hoping to meet rising demands, Buzz Convenience Store in Singapore announced mask sales at several stores islandwide today (20 Feb).
The poster was up just after 10am, but a mere 3 hours or so later, Buzz released another announcement cancelling the event.
Planned to sell box of 50 masks for $35
In the first Facebook post publicising the sale, Buzz listed the outlets that would be selling the masks from 3pm on Thursday (20 Feb).
At the end of the post, they revealed the price — $35 for a box of 50 masks, and each customer can only buy 1 box.
Immediately, this sparked a slew of angry comments from netizens, who felt that the prices were too steep.
One even likened the deal to “daylight robbery”, saying it’s no different from buying from an online re-seller who typically jacks up prices.
For a rather established name like Buzz, netizens were clearly disappointed.
Customers who queued early allegedly turned away
Those who didn’t mind the price too much queued early, hoping to snag a box before stocks run out.
Some arrived to an apologetic notice pasted on the store front.
Others like this netizen who visited a Punggol store at 1pm were allegedly turned away by the store assistant.
The management probably couldn’t anticipate the problems that would occur, resulting in some miscommunication.
Buzz confirms cancellation of mask sale an hour before
While early birds dealt with the above situation on the ground, Buzz only confirmed the cancellation about an hour before the sales were due to happen.
Explaining that the sale “was an error in judgment”, they apologised for the inconvenience caused.
Thankfully, the masks they have stocked for the sales will now go to a good cause, as the post also mentions that Buzz will donate them to “charities in need of the supplies”.
Buzz could have avoided the slip-up, but kudos to them for rectifying the situation as soon as they could.
Let’s hope those genuinely in need of the masks will receive them as promised.
Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
