Konsume ang Consumer

PLDT My DSL

2006-06-19T19:48:00.000+08:00

PLDT DSL is fast. I'll give them that. Guess what though? Recently, we needed technical support. We called up the 172 number and the tech told us that they'll send someone over within 24 hours. After 20 calls (really) and a week later, we have yet to see the so-called technician. Jeesh. How's that for service.

We have now switched to Bayantel. Hopefully, we'll have a better experience.

Terranova

2004-08-31T14:45:00.000+08:00

I bought an Orange shirt from Terranova, which currently has a SALE! Everything retails for P299 I think, from pants to blouses to accessories. Gauging from the response of consumers, this place is a hit.

I have no service complaints.

4/5

Of Thieves and Cockroaches in Greenbelt 3

2004-08-11T15:00:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends,

I just want to share with you some nerve-wrecking experiences I had in Greenbelt 3 the past two months in a row. Please don't get me wrong because Greenbelt 3 (GB3) is my favorite place to go. It is clean (so I thought), seem safe (or so I thought, too!) and spacious. My favorite place to hangout used to be Glorietta 4 until yacky experiences happened there, too. But that is another story that I will also narrate at the end of this email.

This email is not to malign management of Ayala Land but more to call their attention and their tenants. I called the attention of their security for the first incident but I felt so frustrated that nothing came out of it. First on the security issue. While my son, Mikko, and I watched movie at Greenbelt 3 (I think it was Shrek 2) last week of June, my other son, CJ (14 years old), opted to play computer games at Be Connected in Greenbelt 1 because he has watched the movie ahead of us. It is normal for us to part ways when we have different plans to do in GB3. We have been doing this for several years na. When he was about to enter Be Connected, a man (in civilian clothes) approached him and said, "Ayala security ako. Nasaan ticket mo?" CJ, young as he is, might have been confused and answered "Nasa Mommy ko." The following conversation followed:

Man: Nasaan Mommy mo? CJ: Nandun sa Greenbelt 3, nanood ng sine. Man: Halika. Puntahan natin para i-verify. (They walked all the way from GB1 to GB3 and stopped at the food court of GB3, where Go Nuts Donuts is!!!) Man: Tawagan natin Mommy mo. May cellphone ka ba? Akin na para tawagan natin Mommy mo. (Take note. This was the only time that CJ took out his cellphone from his pocket!) Man: Dito ka lang maghintay. Punta lang ako sa counter (where we buy tickets for the movie) at kausapin ko ang babae kung saan theater Mommy mo.

Viola, the man was gone and nowhere to be seen! Goodbye cellphone! My son approached one of the guys in blue na parang "drum and bugle uniform" at the counter and reported the incident. Nothing happened. So CJ waited until we got out of the theater. Immediately after, I approached the guy in blue uniform and it turned out that they are security personnel pala...but only for the movie theater. My mistake was I was not able to get his name. I reprimanded him why he did not take action. He kept on saying that he was only security for the theaters. "Whaaaaaaaat?" , I said. "That does not mean that you will not take action at all. You should have called the Ayala security to report the incident!" He just kept on mumbling words and insisting that his responsibility is only the theaters! Talk about being proactive and teamwork! This man is definitely not one! I even asked him where the Ayala security was so I will be the one to report. You know what he told me?! "Their office is at the corner of EDSA and Ayala Avenue." I told him, "I don't believe you. It is impossible not to have a security office or detachment in GB3!" Does Ayala trust this kind of nincampoop to secure the theaters?!!! I know a lot about security measures and he just can't answer me like that. True enough, when I approached the Ayala security guard in white uniform, there IS an office in the parking lot below GB3! Haaaaaaay!

That was the only time I felt relief because those guys in white were efficient enough to call on radio and report the incident. But that was already an hour after the incident happened. If that security guy in blue reported it earlier, there may have been an apprehension. I approached a certain R. Gomez (a security officer, I think) but I felt that everything is water under the bridge. It was too late for any action to be taken. This Gomez guy just gave me a lecture about the different modus operandi of pickpockets and thieves in Greenbelt that they encounter. But this is the first time that he has heard about my story. Well, that is for the record and I hope they have done something about it. I still continue to go to GB3 and I always tell CJ to be on the lookout for the guy who approached him. I will be the one to smack his face!

When I was telling my story to a friend, apparently, the same thing happened to his son sometime in April naman this year. This time, it happened at Power Books in GB3 also. The guy approached him and said that he was Ayala security and that he was just checking if he took any items. He told him to call his mom, too. And that's it, goodbye cellphone!

And now for the second incident that happened only last Sunday, August 8. And this is really yaaaaaaaki! I would have let the incident pass but then it had a psychological effect on me the past few days that I feel I just had to share this, too! My kids and I ate at Casa Armas in GB3 (again!). I was the one who insisted pa to my kids to eat there because the food is really good even if it is expensive. Everything went well and we were even salivating when we saw the lechon de leche served on the other table. While waiting for our food, Mikko saw a big cockroach crawling on the wall behind the long table beside us. We called the attention of the waiter and they took action immediately. My daughter, Janice, who has worked on several restaurants, was saying that it means they are not fumigating or cleaning their restaurant. We continued enjoying our lunch until another big cockroach fell right on CJ's (again him!) arroz ala cubana! Yiiiiiiiikes! It was just so gross!!!! We lost our appetites talaga and didn't finish our food. Of course, the waiters were so apologetic profusely but the manager (I think it was the guy in pink shirt!) approached us and parang wala lang! He did apologize pero it was unlike the way the waiters were so embarrassed. He did it parang it happens all the time in their restaurant! The waiter was saying that it may have happened because the other restaurant fumigated the night before! Sooooooo what. di ba? That does make an excuse for the cockroach to fall from the ceiling straight to me sons food?

And here's the catch. You know what? They made us pay for our food except that of CJ's! If I were the restaurant owner, I would offer everything for free. That is what customer relations is all about, isn't it? Well, I guess, these people don't have that at all. You know how much I paid for the food minus CJ's...P1,700+! Do you think that was fair? Was it worth it? They did give us some chocolate bars but I saw the other tables had it, too! Haaaaay!

So my question now is, how clean are the restaurants in GB3? PV, I hope you will forward this to CJ Jesena of Ayala. Gigi, I hope you will forward this to Anna G so she can tell her dad about their restaurant.

I don't know what my consumers' rights are but I really do hope you friends out there will be more careful and warn your kids on the new modus operandi of cellphone snatching and yaki restaurants. I was telling my kids that if this happened in the US or in Europe, Casa Armas would have been closed down by Health authorities! I hope they will do the same here in the Philippines.

By the way, you know why I do not go to Glorietta 4 anymore (other than it being so crowded already) except for extreme needs only? When I was watching movie two years ago at Glorietta 4, a small cockroach crawled on my arms! Ever since that time, I swear never to watch movie there again! So what is this with cockroaches and Ayala malls?

Thanks for hearing my heart out everyone! :-) Please forward this to other friends, too.

Sony J. Jalandoni
sonyj@infinit1.com.ph
sonyj@mydestiny.net

Ricco Renzo Galleries

2004-08-02T15:13:00.000+08:00

CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

AUGUST – OCTOBER
WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS

PAINTING WORKSHOP FOR BEGINNERS
Learn to draw and paint still life and work with materials such as charcoal, pastel and acrylic. Watercolor is optional.

*50% Discount for any student who brings in 5 other students

Schedule: Wednesdays and Saturdays 1-3pm

Wednesdays and Saturdays 6-8pm

Dates: August 25, 28, September 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25

Fee: Php 6,600.00

INTERMEDIATE PAINTING WORKSHOP
Learn to draw and paint and work with materials such as charcoal, pastel and acrylic and get to paint outdoors every other session. Watercolor is optional.

*50% Discount for any student who brings in 5 other students

Schedule: Fridays 1-3 pm at Ricco - Renzo

Saturdays 10am – 12 nn at the Orchidarium

Dates: August 20, 21, 27, 28, September 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18

Fee: Php 6,600.00

CREATIVE WRITING FOR BEGINNERS AND PROFESSIONALS
with Tweetums Gonzales

Learn techniques on how to write creatively for any purpose and overcome blocks.

Minimum 12 students.

Schedule: Fridays 6-9pm

Dates: August 27, September 3, 10, 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, 25

Fee: Php 12,000.00

BASIC ANIMATION DRAWING FOR BEGINNERS
Learn cartooning and animation.

50% Discount for any student who brings in 6 other students

Schedule: Saturdays 10am-12nn

Dates: September 18, 25, October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, November 6, 13, 20, 27, December 4

Fee: TBA

LIFE SKILLS I
Align your heart, mind and spirit and be empowered to reach your full potential and prosperity.

Schedule: Wednesdays 6-8pm

Dates: September 22, 29, October 6, 14

Fee: TBA

FLORAL ARTISTY
Learn techniques on contemporary and stylish FRESH flower arranging for hobbyists and professionals.

Schedule: M-W-F 1-3PM

Dates: September 6, 8, 10

Fee: TBA

OTHER ACTIVITIES

PAINTING SESSIONS every Fridays 4-7pm with various artists and subjects. (Sitters are requested to schedule their portraits in advance.)

LIVE MUSIC (Jazz & Latin Jazz) every Wednesdays and Fridays and starts at 8.

Man Han (libis)

2004-07-12T10:33:00.000+08:00

The place needs a makeover. The airconditioning units are insufficient. The food, including the soy chicken and ribs were okay. There was, however, duck soup that looked like a cross between dinuguan and sotanghon. According to my companions, it tasted funky. There was no response from the manager after we complained it.

2.5/5

KitKat (by Nestle)

2004-07-04T06:25:00.000+08:00

I love this stuff!!! So do my worms! 5/5

Blogwise

2004-06-28T23:46:00.000+08:00

Commercial: add your blogs to Blogwise

Automatic Transmission Master

2004-06-21T12:38:00.000+08:00

This is an auto shop "specializing" in transmission repair located along Visayas Ave., Quezon City. My experience started out positive enough. I talked to a gloved, uniformed and generally credible man and asked for an estimate. He inspected the car and wrote down his estimate in an honest to goodness 'estimate sheet'. He told me that the repair would probably take a whole day.

I returned the following morning and left my spanking old car. ;-) I went back for it later that afternoon, already optimistic that my power steering leak problem has already been resolved.

It was.

But damn, when I drove out, it felt like I was steering a whole aircraft carrier. I made them look at it again and they diagnosed that the problem would be at some hose. This spelled additional cost, for which I was not emotionally prepared.

For this whole experience, I rate that place 2/5

Land Transportation Office (LTO) - East Avenue

2004-06-16T19:43:00.000+08:00

The task: have a new certificate of registration (CR) issued as my old one got lost.

The challenges: There was no parking when I drove in. A fixer greeted me at every turn. I felt like I was in The Amazing Race with the way I was running around in circles. People from the LTO didn't know any better and showed no enthusiasm in helping. This girl named Vicky in counter 21 had me going back to her four damn times. Over two hours later, I was instructed to go to another LTO! Damn bureaucracy. I wanted to fire them all on the spot.

0/5

Chubbies

2004-06-10T19:01:00.000+08:00

Chubbies serves charbroiled burgers and a variety of hot plate dishes. It is located in Circle C in Congressional Ave., QC. Everything I've eaten here has been good. My only problem is that even when business is lean, it still takes them quite a while to prepare the food: a few minutes too long for a fast casual joint. Since my grilled chicken was also partly burned ealier, I would shave half a point from their rating. 3.5/5

FILWEBhosting - Philippine Web Hosting Services

2004-06-07T16:23:00.000+08:00

If you're a new graduate of free hosts like Geocities and Tripod, this company's hosting service may be for you. It's affordable, so far reliable and doesn't require you to pay via credit card on-line. For sure, some of us may still be hesitant paying on-line for fear of getting our cards hijacked. Customer service is alright, and may sometimes be even real time when filwebhosting is online on YM.

I would give it a 4/5 rating.

Surf Maxx Prepaid Internet Card

2004-05-31T05:01:00.000+08:00

I've gone through a lot of prepaid Internet cards. I've had both good and bad experiences. Let me focus on the one I'm currently using.

Surf Maxx costs P100 for 25 hours. It seems to have nationwide coverage. It's also fairly easy to use. Just plug in the numbers and a few settings. You don't have to specify DNS, Gateway and those other stuff.

The speed and reliability are both acceptable. The drawback is that I've never been able to connect before midnight. This is not for early birds. I'd give it a 3/5 rating.

I'm in a testing mood

2004-04-08T01:40:00.000+08:00

test

consumer test

2004-03-08T01:41:00.000+08:00

consumer test

2004-02-08T01:41:00.000+08:00

consumer test

2004-01-08T01:41:00.000+08:00

consumer test

2003-12-08T01:42:00.000+08:00

consumer test

2003-11-08T01:42:00.000+08:00

consumer test