Sentosa sky lantern festival: More than S$20,000 refunded to customers

SINGAPORE: A total of S$20,450 (US$15,300) has been refunded to customers of a "botched" sky lantern festival earlier this year, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said on Thursday (Aug 1).

The figure was revealed by CASE as part of its update on the number of complaints it received in the first half of the year.

The festival, which was held at Sentosa’s Palawan Green on Feb 21, fell far short of what was advertised. Attendees were promised floating lanterns – tethered to the ground – containing lit candles.

Instead, these candles were substituted with LED lights and the lanterns were tied to barricades, as opposed to being suspended in the air.

Tickets cost S$50 per person, excluding booking fees.

The organiser Asian Couture and Boutique had failed to secure permits for the lantern release, which was the event’s main attraction, said CASE.

The consumer watchdog intervened and secured full refunds for affected customers who lodged complaints. 

In the first half of the year, the entertainment industry saw a five-fold increase in the number of complaints – from 105 in the first half of 2023 to 670 complaints in the first six months of this year.

Nearly three-quarters of the complaints were against the lantern festival organiser.

CASE said the surge in complaints in the industry comes on the back of an increase in events and concerts in Singapore.

There were also rising concerns about ticket resellers taking advantage of concertgoers by inflating ticket prices significantly.

About 4 per cent of these complaints were from customers who were told at concert venues that their tickets were invalid.

CASE president Melvin Yong said it was “deeply concerned” about this surge in complaints.

“As Singapore establishes itself as the region’s premier event and concert hub, we anticipate a further increase in related complaints,” he added.

“We are actively studying how overseas jurisdictions are tackling disamenities related to events and concerts, such as the issue of ticket scalping.

“Unfair trade practices in the events and concerts sectors have the potential to impact many consumers as we saw this happen during the botched sky lantern event in February this year.”

OTHER COMPLAINTS

In total, CASE received 7,721 complaints in the first half of the year, a 6 per cent increase from the 7,316 complaints in the same period last year.

There was a 53 per cent increase in e-commerce complaints, largely due to online purchases of event and concert tickets. Other e-commerce complaints included online orders from tingkat delivery companies.

In the first six months this year, prepayment-related losses rose by 312 per cent to about S$1.25 million, from S$302,205 in the first half of 2023.

This was primarily due to the entertainment, food and beverages, as well as bridal industries.

The motorcars industry saw the most complaints in the first half of this year, mainly due to issues with car sharing, rental and second-hand vehicles.

The beauty industry also saw a small increase in complaints, mostly related to pressure sales and unsatisfactory services, said CASE.

CASE saw a 25 per cent increase in complaints for which consumers sought help to negotiate with the businesses, with 1,323 complaints in the first half of 2024.

“This increase reflects the growing role of CASE in supporting consumers and negotiating with retailers,” said the non-governmental organisation.