Some things never change. I remember years ago when Hong Kong was a great place to shop for electronics.
Vendors had a reputation for being cagey when dealing with tourists shopping for electronic bargains.
It seems similar practices still exist today and I found evidence of this at another famous shopping area in Bangkok.
MBK is a huge mall in central Bangkok that is well frequented by tourists.
The fourth floor of MBK is devoted to electronics and mobile phones.
At first glance everything seems fine. As you walk past the vendors and inquire about the products on your short list, you think you have found some bargains.
Prices of well known brand names are much cheaper here than in other places.
Well at least that is what you think until you return to one of the vendors who quoted you a really low price on that mp3 player.
You take out your wallet and are ready to handover your hard earned money and just before you hand it to the vendor, you ask to check the contents of the box.
When the box is opened you notice there is no charger or manual inside.
You think that maybe the vendor forgot to put the manual and charger back in the box but no.
The vendor tells you that if you want the manual and charger you will have to pay extra.
Your bargain has just gone down the drain.
You argue that the charger and manual are part of the product but the vendor slyly shakes his head
Be careful of vendors at MBK. If they can get you to hand over your cash before you check the exact contents, you will find yourself ripped off.
Not every vendor in MBK is dishonest but many will take advantage of you if you drop your guard.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Pinoys Fighting Corruption
Ok Pinoys. Let’s be realistic. You will not succeed in stamping out corruption by changing one corrupt administration for another.
I am trying to use some lateral thinking.
Why focus on the top hierarchy when corruption can be seen so easily in the lower echelons?
When do pretexts of being business minded give way to the realization that each one of us plays out his part in the grand scheme of corruption?
When does a bible reading Pinoy who is in a privileged position stop kidding himself into believing that god would understand he is only trying to survive?
What about when a schoolteacher complains about the administration but at the same time accepts bribes to give good marks?
What about when a policeman pulls up a taxi driver for a farcical on the spot fine and still wears his uniform with pride?
It is up to every single person to disentangle himself from the web before pointing the finger.
Corruption is only relative to positioning of power. The only difference between the above examples and The Philippine administration is the price.
Until Filipinos can resist the lure of ill-gotten rewards, even in the face of poverty, there will never ever be a better Philippines.
I am trying to use some lateral thinking.
Why focus on the top hierarchy when corruption can be seen so easily in the lower echelons?
When do pretexts of being business minded give way to the realization that each one of us plays out his part in the grand scheme of corruption?
When does a bible reading Pinoy who is in a privileged position stop kidding himself into believing that god would understand he is only trying to survive?
What about when a schoolteacher complains about the administration but at the same time accepts bribes to give good marks?
What about when a policeman pulls up a taxi driver for a farcical on the spot fine and still wears his uniform with pride?
It is up to every single person to disentangle himself from the web before pointing the finger.
Corruption is only relative to positioning of power. The only difference between the above examples and The Philippine administration is the price.
Until Filipinos can resist the lure of ill-gotten rewards, even in the face of poverty, there will never ever be a better Philippines.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Airlines Ripping Off Customers.
I am getting a bit tired of the bad service I am getting from the airlines.
It is one thing to be penalized for mucking them around at the last minute, but why should a customer be penalized for mistakes that the airlines make?
Mileage Points, Frequent Flyer Points or whatever you want to call them is something that is earned by travelers and is not a gift or favor from the airlines.
I am a member of three frequent flyer schemes and have had arguments with two of them.
The first was with Thai Air. I was peeved when I found I was not credited some miles that were omitted from my account.
When I received the statement and noticed that miles were not credited for one of my trips, I rang them and was told that I had to send in my two boarding passes with a letter.
I informed them that I still had a copy of my ticket but only one boarding pass could be found but they refused to give me the full points credit.
Begrudgingly I accepted their decision and as luck would have it I later found the missing boarding pass and contacted Thai Air to claim the missing points.
They told me that it was too late to do anything about it.
I don’t why they felt the need to cheat me. As far as I was concerned I had sufficient proof but they preferred to deny me rather than offer me fair service.
I have never flown with them since.
More recently, I have experienced problems with Philippine Airlines.
Upon checking my online statement I noticed that they had also forgotten to credit me with some miles. I went through my file box and dug out the copy of the electronic ticket pertaining to that date.
I rang Philippine Airlines thinking all that was needed was for me to quote my ticket number to them and the missing miles would be updated on the phone.
According to the voice on the phone, this was not possible.
Instead I was advised to use the online facility to claim the points. I filled in all the missing spaces and then clicked return and promptly got an email from Mabuhay Miles.
The mail said that the online submission was not successful and I would have to print out a form and send it off to them, enclosing all copies of ticket and boarding passes.
At this stage I have located the copy of the ticket and three of the four required boarding passes. One boarding pass is still missing
I will post these off to Philippine Airlines on Monday.
Guess who will blow their stack if Philippine Airlines don’t give me full credit for the missing points?
One needs to bear in mind that the missing miles points was an error by them not by me and I have better things to do than be on the back foot for a mistake that was not mine in the first place.
It is one thing to be penalized for mucking them around at the last minute, but why should a customer be penalized for mistakes that the airlines make?
Mileage Points, Frequent Flyer Points or whatever you want to call them is something that is earned by travelers and is not a gift or favor from the airlines.
I am a member of three frequent flyer schemes and have had arguments with two of them.
The first was with Thai Air. I was peeved when I found I was not credited some miles that were omitted from my account.
When I received the statement and noticed that miles were not credited for one of my trips, I rang them and was told that I had to send in my two boarding passes with a letter.
I informed them that I still had a copy of my ticket but only one boarding pass could be found but they refused to give me the full points credit.
Begrudgingly I accepted their decision and as luck would have it I later found the missing boarding pass and contacted Thai Air to claim the missing points.
They told me that it was too late to do anything about it.
I don’t why they felt the need to cheat me. As far as I was concerned I had sufficient proof but they preferred to deny me rather than offer me fair service.
I have never flown with them since.
More recently, I have experienced problems with Philippine Airlines.
Upon checking my online statement I noticed that they had also forgotten to credit me with some miles. I went through my file box and dug out the copy of the electronic ticket pertaining to that date.
I rang Philippine Airlines thinking all that was needed was for me to quote my ticket number to them and the missing miles would be updated on the phone.
According to the voice on the phone, this was not possible.
Instead I was advised to use the online facility to claim the points. I filled in all the missing spaces and then clicked return and promptly got an email from Mabuhay Miles.
The mail said that the online submission was not successful and I would have to print out a form and send it off to them, enclosing all copies of ticket and boarding passes.
At this stage I have located the copy of the ticket and three of the four required boarding passes. One boarding pass is still missing
I will post these off to Philippine Airlines on Monday.
Guess who will blow their stack if Philippine Airlines don’t give me full credit for the missing points?
One needs to bear in mind that the missing miles points was an error by them not by me and I have better things to do than be on the back foot for a mistake that was not mine in the first place.
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