Hocus pocus? $188 talisman bought by willing buyer, says fortune teller accused of cheating

It was a deal closed by a willing buyer and a willing seller — that's the response of a fortune teller following a complaint by a customer that he felt cheated after a consultation.

In a post on the Voice Your Grievances Facebook page last Saturday (May 28), user Yew Leong detailed how he and a friend had visited a fortune teller located in Fu Lu Shou Complex.

He mentioned that the fortune teller charged $12 for each question and that a few questions were asked.

However, Yew Leong noted that while the fortune teller had accurately pinpointed some events which happened in their past, she gave "nonsense advice".

"She say [that] you can rent out your 2-room BTO. She obviously don't know sg law [sic], that 2-room BTO cannot be rented out during [the] 5 years MOP (minimum occupation period)," he wrote.

But that's not all.

Yew Leong shared that after his friend asked her if there was a way to change his luck, the fortune-teller advised him to get a talisman for $188 and pray to it.

Yew Leong, who posted a photo of the talisman as well as the name card of the fortune teller, stated that he too bought one "when I saw my friend getting it", although he seemed to regret his decision in hindsight.

"Now when I think back, I felt we got cheated. But my friend still continue to believe in her [sic]."

When contacted by 8world, the fortune teller, a 60-year-old woman who only gave her name as Joyce, said that both buyers and herself were willing parties in the transaction.

She noted that the customer had come to her for help to change his luck and that the accusation was baseless.

According to 8world, Joyce gave the example of how a pair of shoes may cost $1,000, but if a customer had willingly paid for it, there is no reason for him to complain that the shop had cheated him of his money.

She stressed that she's not trying to make money off her customers, but just like everyone, she has bills to pay. She shared that her monthly expenses include $1,600 for rent and utilities.

Joyce added that she is willing to provide a refund for the return of the talisman should it prove to be of no help, but warned against desecrating the religious item.

Yew Leong's Facebook post on the matter has so far drawn more than a hundred responses from users, with most of their comments directed at the seemingly unprofessional drawing on the talisman. 

However, one commenter noted, "Nobody take knife force you go and give false impressions of anything [sic], so you have no right to say people cheated you. Now you have done a bad deed by trying to affect someone's rice bowl."

candicecai@asiaone.com