The annual shopping season is back with the return of the two-month-long Great Singapore Sale (GSS), which started on May 29.

With more than 1,000 retailers across the island dangling hefty discounts, lucky draws and freebies this year, bargain hunters are hitting the streets with full ferocity.

But the incentives seem to have also lured displays of ugly behaviour among shoppers.

The Sunday Times spoke to about 30 retailers along the Orchard Road strip and in heartland malls, and most have myriad tales to tell of fussy demands, fighting among customers and even the occasional case of shoplifting during busy sales periods.

The most common pet peeve among retailers? Shoppers who use the GSS and the recession as bargaining chips to insist on further discounts on sale items or non-discounted new arrivals.

After all, with tourist arrivals in March falling 13.2 per cent from the figure a year earlier, retailers have been pandering to penny-pinching shoppers with one promotion after another - even months before the GSS.

'Customers will say, 'Why only a 10 per cent discount? This is the GSS. Why not 30 per cent?'' said Ms Kong Meng Fui, 36, a sales supervisor at Isetan department store with 13 years of experience in the retail line.

Ms Yuru Chua, 19, a sales assistant at Far East Plaza, added: 'People will ask if an item has a discount. If we tell them 'no', they will just walk out.'

Others will pick on loose threads or slight scratches and stains on sales items to ask for a lower price.

'We cannot give in to such requests unless it's really a factory defect. I'll usually ask them to join our membership programme, which offers a further 5 per cent discount on top of sales prices,' said Mr Isaac Rais, 24, a sales assistant at Skechers shoe store.

Fussy customers who hem and haw for a long time without making purchases are also a frequent occurrence, say retailers. 'They speak to sales assistants with raised voices, treating us like their servants,' said Mr Muhd Hafiz, 25, a sales promoter at a department store.

He recalled a case of a female shopper who asked to try on seven different models of shoes, before eventually buying one.

She later returned to the counter and demanded a cash refund, 'simply because she decided she didn't want the shoe'.

'Eventually, we gave in to her, even though it is not a common policy to issue cash refunds,' he said.

Though 'the customer is always right' rule holds for most, many say they will take a firm stance when it comes to their 'no exchange and refunds' policy during sales season.

'We will inform them of these terms very clearly and ask them to check their items thoroughly before they make their purchase,' said Ms Jennifer Khoo, 40, an assistant outlet manager of the Veeko chain of apparel boutiques.

As sales stock comes in limited quantity and sizes, some customers resort to taking matters into their own hands.

Sales assistant Dila Adileh, 20, once had to shoo away customers who entered her shop's storeroom without her knowledge to look for additional pieces of sales items.

'I was so angry. I told them, 'Off!' This is my shop. They had no right to barge in,' she said.

Customers also jostle over sales pieces, sometimes resulting in heated verbal exchanges, especially in fitting rooms.

'Some customers bring in more than the maximum of four at any one time. Then they leave their stuff inside and take a long time looking at themselves in the mirrors outside,' said Ms Amelia Ishak, who is in her 30s, the store manager of retail chain Mphosis. 'This can be quite tiring and frustrating for others in the queue.'

Squabbles between customers are usually resolved with polite intervention and apologies from staff, she said.

If the scuffles turn violent and pose a physical threat to other customers or staff, mall security or the police will be called in.

Shoppers also try to swop price tags to get a better deal, or insist that they found a non-discounted item among the sales rack and that the item should then have a discount, said Ms Kelly Cher, 36, the store manager of the Esprit outlet at Tampines 1. These tricks are often easily detected by staff, as the sales prices are reflected at the cashier's when the item's price tag is scanned.

Having storewide discounts, rather than discounts on specific racks, helps to mitigate such demands, said Veeko's Ms Khoo.

Sometimes the search for the biggest bargains can traverse legal boundaries.

On several occasions, damaged pieces of clothes have been found in fitting rooms, discarded by shoppers who - unsuccessfully - tried to remove the security tags on them, said Ms Cher. The tags sound an alarm if taken out from the store and can be removed by only the cashier when the item is paid for.

Ms Christine Tay, 46, who runs apparel shop Code Red at the basement of Far East Plaza, noted: 'As the GSS coincides with the school holiday season, a few of our young customers make use of our busy periods to steal items while our assistants are occupied.'

Though she has hired more sales assistants and installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras around her shop, she has encountered at least six shoplifting incidents in the past year. Many of the culprits are school-going teenagers who show no remorse even when caught red-handed.

She said: 'Many of our shoes are already below $20 and even cheaper after discount. It's not like they cannot afford it.'

To prevent shop theft, the police are advising shop owners to install CCTVs and convex mirrors within their premises, display expensive merchandise behind locked showcases, or use empty product packaging, and to be mindful of distraction tactics.

Members of the public are also advised to avoid exposing cash, valuables or jewellery and to watch over their belongings when they shop in crowded areas.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.