The Muslim Consumers’ Association (PPIM) has rejected claims by customers that Petronas petrol stations are engaged in a scam, following failure to claim a free umbrella promised in a promotion.

PPIM chief Nadzim Johan, when contacted, said that he believes Petronas had truly run out of stock to distribute to their customers.

“It’s not an issue of Petronas cheating customers. If one customer can claim up to 15 umbrellas, then Petronas has no choice but to be fair to all.

“For me, the only solution is for customers to be patient and wait for Petronas to replenish its stock so it can distribute the umbrellas to deserving customers,” he said.

He added that Petronas, too, had explained its situation to PPIM after the promotion received off the charts responses.

PPIM had also received at least six complaints from customers who were unhappy with the campaign.

Nadzim also referred to Petronas’ statement on its Facebook page on Aug 18, which states that the promotion was on a ‘first-come first-served’ basis.

Online outrage

The promotion, which runs from July 20 to Sept 15, requires customers to collect 10 fuel purchase receipts in order to redeem a special umbrella.

Checks found that Petronas’ Facebook page was also flooded with comments on the missing umbrellas.

The customers are also crying foul over the ‘first-come first-served’ clause which they claim was not stated when the promotion started in July.

One customer, Fadzullah S Medar, said he believes the umbrellas never existed.

“Consumers have been tricked by Petronas... The promotional item does not exist,” he wrote on the page.

Another customer, Lucas Xian Loong, said that Petronas should have put the umbrellas on sale instead.

“Your umbrellas are as precious as gold. It’s better for you to put a price on them and sell them, if you’re so scared of losing money (by giving away) the umbrellas,” he said.

“Great, Petronas!” he wrote, cynically.

One upset customer found a creative outlet for his frustration by producing a parody video of his experience of being told that the umbrellas are out of stock at no less than five Petronas stations.

The two-minute video was spliced with footage of 1980's heartthrob Faizal Hussein riding a motorcycle with a rucksack and sleeping bag on his back from the cult movie ‘Gila-gila Remaja’.

Renamed ‘Gila-gila Payung’ (Crazy over umbrellas), the video has received more than 6,000 views on YouTube.

NADIA OTHMAN is a trainee journalist at Malaysiakini .