By Crystal Chan

THE sales pitch from some of these teenagers is hard to ignore.

Please buy ice cream from us because our parents are too sick to work and this is the only way we can earn money.

They go door to door, persuading home owners to take pity on them as they have been lugging their chillers of ice cream around for hours.

But once the sale has been made, the tears dry up almost instantly, and the teens disappear to count their profits.

These teen ice cream vendors, who are hired by independent ice cream distributors, have been drawing the ire of HDB residents all over Singapore for their aggressive tactics.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) received feedback about the issue from one consumer earlier this month.

Other members of the public, like Mr Nick Lee, have resorted to flaming the teenagers on online forums and blogs.

Mr Lee, 26, wrote in his blog about how he has had the youths knocking on the door of his Clementi flat three times over the last three months.

No sales talk

In an e-mail reply to The New Paper, he said: "There was no sales talk by them, but tons of ice creams and pleas to try to get me to buy."

Mr Lee, a computer repairman, said he did not buy from the teenagers as they sold ice cream in thin cardboard packing, which he did not like.

Miss Jeanette Lee, 32, a civil servant, said she paid $10 for five sticks of Wall's ice cream last weekend.

The New Paper's checks revealed that a similar stick of Wall's ice cream costs only 60 cents in retail outlets. This means that the teens are enjoying profits of at least $1.40 for each stick of ice cream sold - a profit margin of over 200 per cent.

UNSOLD: This group of teenagers was seen loading unsold boxes of ice cream into a truck and driving off after peddling the ice cream in Bedok Reservoir Road (picture below).

Miss Lee, who lives in Tampines, was surprised when she learnt the ice cream was overpriced.

She said: "I will never open my door to these teenagers again. They're out to rip you off."

The teenagers do not always go door-to-door.

Miss Joy Wong, 28, an accountant, was approached by a group of youths as she walked through a void deck in Yishun last week, but declined to buy from them.

When The New Paper spoke to three teenagers selling Wall's ice cream at Bedok Reservoir Road, they said they had to inflate prices to make more money.

One of them, who gave his name as David, 15, said: "We have to make ourselves look pitiful so people will buy from us."

He said his basic wage was $50 a day and claimed he could make at least $100 a day while working from 6 to 10pm, including commission.

He said: "It's up to us to price our ice cream. Sometimes, we try to sell at $10 for three sticks of ice cream. If we reduce the price to $5 we can still make money because each stick costs around 30 cents."

David and his friends declined to reveal more about how their commission was calculated. Ice cream distributors are still recruiting teenagers for direct sales.

One online advertisement stated it was looking for teenagers aged at least 15, have a persistent attitude and have a passion for sales. Basic wages range from $30 to $50 a day, excluding commission.

When The New Paper called the distributors, they declined to give details over the phone.

But they admitted to supplying ice cream to the teenagers.

A staff member was surprised when The New Paper told him the teenagers sold overpriced ice cream.

He said: "Actually, sales haven't been good because there have been complaints about the teenagers' aggressive tactics and use of sob stories.

"We're monitoring the situation and we have advised the teenagers not to be so pushy."

Case's executive director, Mr Seah Seng Choon, said it is the first time he's heard of such sales tactics.

Firmly refuse

Mr Seah said home owners should firmly refuse to buy the ice cream if they do not want it.

What if people want the ice cream?

He said: "We would still urge home owners to exercise caution as there is usually no receipt issued for such a purchase, and it would be difficult for them to seek redress if they have to."

The National Environment Agency is aware of these young ice cream sellers, saying their actions constitute illegal hawking.

Its spokesman said that this month alone, eight people contacted the agency to give feedback about the ice cream sellers.

He said: "We have contacted the ice cream distributors to warn them against engaging individuals for such door-to-door sales.

"NEA takes a serious view of such offences as improper storage of the ice cream could lead to food spoilage and pose a risk of food poisoning."

- Additional reporting by Samuel Wee and Woo Sian Boon

crystalc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.