As you’ve traveled throughout the world do you remember seeing the signs posted in stores stating; “Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Cheerfully refunded?” As you enter the Philippines take a minute and flush that slogan from your lexicon. It does not apply here.
Down in the comment section after you read this there will be comments submitted by some readers trying to dispel what I’ve said. With claims that they in fact had cash refunded to them. To them I will say this. Go to any store, buy a San Miguel beer in a bottle and pay the deposit. Go outside and suck down that refreshing beer and then go right back into the store and try to get the deposit back, It won’t happen, that money is gone to a higher astral plane never to be seen again. But yes they will sell you another beer, sans the deposit if you’ve returned the empty.
Buy anything else in any store and no matter what you bought it cannot be returned for cash. You can receive store credit on a like or similar item, but never the cash. Rack your brain and try to disprove my observations, please prove me wrong. I need a pleasant shock in my life once in a while. I speak of you leaving the building and going home first, not 25 seconds after you purchase it. Come on be fair!
I was at Car World Subic in the parts department talking to Angel about ordering an aftermarket accessory a set of spiffy front bumper lamps covered in chrome that Mayang thought would look nifty on the front of her new car. The set cost PNP 11,200.00 to be paid up front. I foolishly did that. Sadly, I should know better.
A week later I was called and informed that the part had arrived and that it would cost PNP 3,500.00 for painting. Say what? It’s black, with a strip of chrome and a light in the middle. Paint what? When I arrived there was a box about two foot square and six feet long. My right hand moved quickly to my head and I preformed a near perfect head scratch in front of the lord and anyone who was looking.
My name was on the box, but the box was large enough to hold ten sets of the lamps I ordered, upon opening the box we found a front bumper that in fact would hold those lights with the chrome if they had sent them but even the bumper didn’t have the lights as the must be ordered separately. But I now understood the painting part! Remember I had already paid for the bumper that I didn’t order. My, my, what a pickle this is!
Manic head scratching was going on with all concerned even a guy passing by the area stopped to scratch his head in simpatico with me. I deeply appreciated his gesturer and thanked him.
Carlos the High Person and parts manager was looking at Vanessa (Angel’s fellow worker), when I pointed out that this young lady was not involved in any way with this mess up Angle was off for training for 30 days and I now understood why.. But Paul was not angry at anyone as mistakes will happen and besides my former rust problem has been solved by Chris’s cousin a few days before for the price of a lunch
Vanessa looked up the part on her puter and found that the part I needed was just two pieces of chrome that cost PNP 1,900.00 as the original item was on my car yet sans the light and chrome, I passed on the lights as they were fog lamps and I’ve never seen fog in my area. There was still the matter of the PNP 9,300.00 that was owed to me and now I could hear the excuses and the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So remembering the “Philippine Prime Directive” of never returning cash I said to Vanessa that I would like to order some other parts until we reached our target number of over 9,000.00 pesos. I was like a kid in a candy store with credit up the old wazoo; I went nuts buying all the little Doo Dads to make Mayang’s New Mirage G4 GLX a Pogi car.
A calamity was averted, the problem was solved and for those who will be inclined to wonder, yes I would have bought those five extra items anyway so it worked out well for all concerned. Plus I didn’t have to pay to paint the bumper I didn’t need.
Funny situation then happened here in the Philippines, Randy Landis of retiredinsamar was in Olongapo visiting and went to Car World and bought a new Mitsubishi Hatchback. Due to Easter weekend he couldn’t pick it up until Monday as the country was shut down. He stayed in Bataan with his wife’s (Terry) family. Monday morning I picked him up in beautiful downtown Dinalupihan Bataan and escorted him to the dealership and his bank as he finished up the purchase. The inner workings of that day I’ll let him explain on his site. But while we were waiting Vanessa from the parts department told me that my order was in and Jeff the car detailer would install everything. Remember the chrome piece on the front I ordered? The company sent the wrong item and it was for the Hatchback and not the G4 that I have. Why did I know that would happen? But it did fit on Randy’s new car and he talked them into giving it to him for FREE!!!! I could have been angry but then I received the good news, it seems that because Randy mentioned my name when he purchased his car the dealership paid me PNP 3,000.00 as a Bird-Dog fee. But no refund!
Being fair to Car World and the managers there, I really feel that if I pushed it I might have received a refund, but only by violating the “Prime Directive” and I’d never want to do that. I took the path of least resistance and did the right thing.
Now flood me with all the times you gotten your money back in the Philippines and show me I am wrong. But remember that bottle of beer!
You would have bought that second beer anyway, come on admit it!
Refund…of course we can get that….But not in Philippines.
A few times I have been asked to pay upfront, it really makes me laugh, so much i have to turn around – and walk away. I never pay upfront here, I know it will give me a lot of trouble in the end. They come up with an item i didn’t order, or the item is not as i expected. Money back?…yeah..once in a blue moon.
We wanted to buy a dishwashing machine, but no matter where we looked – not in stock, but “you can order Sir” – and pay upfront. No way i do that, when the item arrives it could be a washing machine or a brush for dishwashing, or the machine could be useless seen from my point of view.
You are absolutely right…refund doesn’t exist here. If i buy a box of SMB and bring back the empty…money?? Noooo, but you can buy another without deposit at least – and i do, the circle of life. 😉
Alex;
A Dish washing machine is a maid isn’t it, you can buy them now? (LOL) I bought my wife a clothes washing machine and only the rinse cycle is ever used. Oh you can get a refund from the SMB truck driver but honesty, why would you unless you were leaving the Philippines. Bit you are right 99.9% of the time you will never receive a refund.
To find a reliable maid isn’t easy, we have tried, believe me.
The good side of life without maid is that i have all the peace in the house i like, no one to disturb, no one to take into account, consideration. I can move freely in my own house.
Washing machine? Yes we bought one recently, because the lady that did our laundry stopped. We just didn’t want to find another one – and wow…that was a good investment.
SMB truck driver??? What the heck is that? We don’t have that kind here, got get yourself is what it is called here.
Alex;
If there is SMB where you live there must be a truck, as it passes flag it down and buy cheap beer. If you can guarantee him two cases more he will drop by your house every week.
We needed a maid when my wife was ill, (She’s fine now) we hired her twin sister who lives five minutes away, She works from 8am until 2pm with lunch and TV after 11:30. Since she is family there has never been a problem, but you are right finding a good maid is difficult. I pay her to work a few hours and socialize with my wife and daughter, and I have no complaints as the money I pay her she uses to send my niece to school, which I would be paying otherwise, so basically she comes here every day for free. Please don’t tell her that!!!
I was shocked last week i bought a jar of nestle gold coffee at the small market nearby. i did not notice until a fews days later to open the jar its was expired last may. In that case they did give me a refund i was shocked first time ever a refund here.
Arnie E
I am shocked also, flabbergasted even, but not by the expiration date, but by the fact that it would matter, as it was instant coffee. (LOL) That answer for me was just too easy, I’m sorry. But did they replace the jar or hand you the cash? That part was a little vague.
My wife and I went into a small, nice restaurant in Robinson’s Mall in Ermita with large murals of halo halo and ice cream on the walls. We each ordered a mail. My wife placed the order in Tagalog while pointing at the items on the menu. The waitress brought me the wrong meal. When I complained, she readily said she was sorry and would order another. After a twenty minute wait I did receive the correct meal, however, when I was paying to leave, they insisted that I pay for both meals … the right one, and the incorrect one, even though I never touched! They don’t seem to understand the value of Goodwill. They lost my business forever for about 200 pesos.
Don,
From the waitress’s point of view, it is better to lose you as a customer than to pay for the meal herself.
I was thinking about the same thing. I suspect the waitress didn’t tell the management about her mistake for fear of losing her job, especially if she had been making far too many mistakes lately. I am almost sure management would have absorbed the loss if they knew about the foul-up through no fault of the customer. In fact, since the customer had to sit there and wait another 20 minutes for his dinner while the rest of the party were already half-way through their meals, the best way to handle the situation if you were the manager and want your customers to come back is to apologize profusely and offer that customer a drink or a glass of wine ON THE HOUSE. Some high end restaurants will even write off the cost of your meal, if not the entire bill for the entire party if the service was that bad. I’ve seen it happen.
John;
I agree with you theory about the waitress having to pay and losing a day’s wages by doing that. When my girls in Puerto Rico served that wrong drink, they could GIVE it to any customer who was drinking that drink mix, (And no boyfriends we allowed in the bar) or drink it themselves. But if that happened too often…
Don Rua;
Someone had to pay for it, and they choose you. But normally they would keep it and serve it to the next person who ordered that menu item sometime during the day.
Bong;
Then that is the management’s faults for making the waitress have to do that, as a former club owner I’ll tell you; “The customer is NOT always right but they are always your customer, if you’re smart enough to allow you staff to make a small decision such as that.
Paul gives me a reason (more) to love mondays
Alex;
Monday means nothing unless you must work.
Monday is…monday, work or not. It never change in my mind 😉 Notice, there’s a lot of people around me that work and that surely have some influence on my weekdays.
Alex;
I refuse to hang around with the working class, it might rub off on me.
But work fascinates me. I can sit and watch it for hours.
Take care,
Pete
Pete;
Even watching work tires me out.
Hahahaha ,, I’ll drink to that
Russell;
There is not much I won’t drink to.
Always happy when the readers are happy.
Bob;
That’s our lot in life to spread mirth and merriment, Hell no one could pay me to do this as then it would be a job.
You do a good job…
Alex;
We try bit it’s fun for me also, I can’t drink beer 24/7.
Paul, you keep calling Axel, “Alex”, and he’s not saying anything to correct you. I find that REAL funny. LOL Now, as for the bottle deposit, I won’t ask for refund from the store if there is none forthcoming. What I would do, though, is to sell all the empty bottles of San Miguel accumulating in my man cave to the passing Chinese bottle buyer (are they still around?) with that thing balanced on his shoulder like a taho vendor. That way I get my deposit back. Think of it as a refund. LOL
John;
He is European and forgives we Americans, when we err. But Axel I will work on that.
The miner of metal and glad will buy them but by weight only not the deposit value. But if you have the case the truck driver will take them. And you were supposed to trade an empty for a full one not collect them. (LOL)
Think about it: Mondays are a terrible way to spend one-seventh of your life.
Paul;
If it wasn’t for Bob posting my articles on Monday someone would have to tell me when it arrived.
I’m still on my Sunday here in Oregon……
Don M;
You’ll catch up…Tomorrow.
Possibly one reason for a No Return No Refund policy is that some people go into a store without any intention of actually buying an item, they just want to ” rent it ” for a day or two and then return it to the store to get their money back. Here in the USA, I think some of the major retailers who will take just about anything back for exchange or refund, keep track of how many times the same individual returns something and for what reason. Suppose you wanted a Karokie machine for a weekend party, you go and buy it on a Friday and then return it on a Monday and want a refund ?
Fortunately for me, any of the major appliances or other costly items I have purchased in The Philippines as donations or gifts there have not been any problem with. I try to do repeat business with retailers that know me now, just in case there ever is a problem.
With all of the tropical fruit so fresh and readily available I guess there are plenty of Lemons, but no ” Lemon Law ” as there is here in the USA.
Bob (NY);
That is a good point about the “Borrowers” that never crossed my mind.
When you gift it’s over unless you give the sales receipt for without that you can’t even get it repaired…
The lemon law here is called the mango law, go home and eat one and don’t bother them again.
Very interesting story! I enjoyed it.
Bill;
Glad to hear that, thanks.
It is so true, things work here like that, Bill Asberry!
Bob;
And I never want it to change.
I remember the story about the rusted wheels too. Paul’s way of handling these types of issues are very clever. I enjoy how he and others like him uses his head in order to resolve an issue. Nicely done! Thanks for posting the article Bob!
Bill;
To get angry and blow up causes you more harm than them, one must understand that each person you deal with is just doing what their bosses told them to do. That is why I never lose my temper with the employee.
There are usually few things to look forward to on a Monday, but Pauls articles on ” LIP ” are one thing that can be looked forward to on a Monday !
Bob;
Thank you for those kind words! That is my payday!
I’ve been reading his articles amongst others. I don’t doubt that one bit, but here in Wisconsin – it’s rain! 🙂
Bill;
But it sure does beat the snow you had a short time back.
Paul,
We’ve never have attempted to return anything, but you can bet Anne would attempt to if the opportunity presented itself. She can ague with the best of them. At least Randy was clever enough to mention your name so you could get 3000p, which made up for the lights. By the way did you watch your favorite presidents arrival in Manila today lol.
Randy;
My other friend Randy Landis did me a favour that way and Vanessa did him a favour by ordering the wrong chrome strip. As for Mr. Obama I spent the day avoiding him on TV if he wouldn’t lay a wreath at the Rizal Monument I knew Bataan was safe. (My wife told me about the wreath.) Oh and if Anne ever returns something for cash, please let us know; Enquiring Minds need to know!
Hi Paul ,, Even with laws in Australia about refunds some company’s and retailers try it on ,,, if they can bully you into not giving a refund they will ,,,, and very few will order you an item without a deposit,,, …
Probably the best are the supermarkets , they will refund money even if you have eaten the item or the next time its free,,,
Russell;
Someday the stores will figure out its good for business and start. A refund on something you ate? That’s a first for me.
cash back in the Philippines. I LIKE the idea of it, but have never seen it. I have also never seen Bigfoot either, but I like the IDEA of that too!
What I have seen and also been involved with is: trade in for the same item if it don’t work correctly, but this one is hit and miss for sure. I have done it twice however at ACE and CD-R King recently.
Wrong order sent to the table? I have never been asked to pay for the wrong order…ever. And I have been eating out in the Philippines for over 30 years. HOWEVER, I always make sure that the server is not blamed or harassed and it always works out great for all of us. Mistakes DO happen, but someone should not have to lose a job over it.
Large Purchase after sale service: Last trip over we bought a Ref, and it DID work at the store, but two days on….no cold whatsoever. Went back to the store and asked them how the warranty repair would work. The boss came out and said where do you live?, we will pick up the old one and bring you a new one…just pay for the deliver charge. When I asked him what that was exactly he said buy lunch for his guys.
“5 Deliverers” later, a new ref in place lunch from a very nice place in town and my wallet was only 800 pesos lighter. (The original ref only required two guys but hey I was happy and so was everyone else!.)
You could have knocked me over wit a feather after that pleasant experience. (BTW, the store was Abenson Appliances in Meycauayan and they DO know how to make things right. and finer folks you could never meet. YMMV but you can guess where I will be buying from again in the future.
but getting cash back anywhere in the Philippines? We can only ever dream about that one!
Tito Joe;
In Olongapo we have Ocampo’s store that are excellent in their repair or replacement policy, as you said a pleasure to deal with and just try to get me into another store when making a large purchase.
But your money cheerfully refunded? That will never happen, it’s just part of life and I’ve learned to shut up and accept it. No ulcers yet!
Paul,
Did you know “No Refund Sir” was common place in the UK pre-1980s.
You would get an exchange or credit note, but a refund was rare.
If I remember correctly, Marks and Spencer were the first to introduce refunds, but they initially left themselves wide open.
You could get a refund on any current product that bore the M&S label without the receipt.
The Shoplifters had a field day, stealing stuff one day and returning it the next for refund.
They soon introduced a proof of receipt policy, lol.
Chas.
There will always be that few that mess it up for the rest of us.