People were left frustrated at Changi Village on Feb. 12, 2024, after the lifts at the Housing and Development Board (HDB) mechanised car park apparently malfunctioned.

The affected parties had to wait for at least an hour to retrieve their vehicles.

Speaking to Mothership, one of the affected drivers, Linda (not her real name), said she had wanted to retrieve her car from the car park at 1:15pm.

However, she was only able to do over two hours later at 3:45pm, after technicians resolved the issue.

According to Linda, one of the car park's lifts malfunctioned while it was retrieving her car.

12 other parties were also waiting to retrieve their cars

Linda said that when she headed to the car park, there were already 12 other parties in front of her also waiting to retrieve their vehicles.

In addition, one of them said they had already been waiting for an hour.

A technician was already on the scene when she arrived, working to resolve the issue.

According to a photo Linda shared with Mothership, all of the lifts were under "maintenance" when she arrived on the scene.

Second technician had to be called in for help

At about 2pm, the technician was able to fix lifts D and C.

However, lift C was able only to retrieve one car before it malfunctioned again.

Linda added that she was still unable to retrieve her car at this point as lift D can only retrieve cars which are parked at the first level. 

According to the first technician, lift C was stuck at the third level as it was not aligned with the floor's platform, she said.

The first technician also called a second technician to come to the scene.

She also claimed that when she called the engineering company responsible for the lifts, Chris-Ray Engineering, she did not receive an answer.

In addition, after waiting for almost two hours since 1:15pm, her husband called the police out of frustration as he felt that the second technician did not seem to be a demonstrating a sense of urgency in showing up.

She was only able to retrieve her car after the second technician arrived.

Not the first time drivers stuck at the mechanised carpark

This is not the first time users of the mechanised carpark at Changi Village have faced issues.

Previously on Jan. 1, 2023, around 30 people were left in the lurch in the evening following a malfunction at the carpark, Shin Min Daily News reported.

People were reportedly left waiting for about three hours to retrieve their vehicles before technicians arrived to resolve the matter.

Several Google reviews of the carpark from later in 2023 have also complained about the delays in retrieving one's car, as well as the slow response over resolving the issues.

Mothership has reached to both Chris-Ray Engineering and HDB for more information on the matter.

Top photos courtesy of Linda