A Malaysian customer sparked a sting operation after complaining about a bizarre rule at a convenience store in Ipoh, Perak.
Apparently, the store imposed a “buy one, get one” policy... for cooking oil.
The customer reported that an employee wouldn’t allow them to purchase more than one pack of cooking oil unless they added other items to their basket.
Consequently, The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) took action, sending an undercover officer to verify the claim.
The undercover officer, acting like a regular customer, confirmed the strange restriction.
They were told they couldn’t buy more than one pack of cooking oil without purchasing additional items.
However, when uniformed KPDN officers visited the store later, a different employee offered a completely opposite answer.
This inconsistency exposed a clear miscommunication within the store’s staff.
Regardless of the confusion, the initial restriction on buying cooking oil violated The Control of Supplies Act 1961.
Moreover, KPDN issued a notice to the store reminding them that conditional purchases are illegal.
Due to this, Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh further emphasized that vendors should report supply concerns to the authorities instead of implementing unfair buying limitations for customers.
