shampoo stress

You all know how much my wife and I love S&R. In the three years that we’ve been members, we’ve been very satisfied. That is until their last sale.

As I’ve mentioned in my post here, we went to S&R Alabang on the first day of the sale, which was Wednesday. I even went as far as promoting them and urging people to visit and experience S&R too. I’ve also mentioned in that post that we were excited to come back again on Friday, this time joined by our friends, F. and M.

The trouble actually started when F. and M. saw Dove shampoos with this display tag.

Clearly, the tag says that those specific shampoos were at a PRICE OFF! of just Php399.95 for four pieces. So they asked one store clerk to verify the price tag, and he confirmed it. Still not convinced, they asked another staff, and he confirmed it too.

My wife and I finished our shopping early as we were there just last Wednesday, and we only bought a few more items, like the 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheet set that we’ve been eyeing. At about 8:00 PM, we were seated in front of the cashier enjoying our Blue Bunny (Bunny Tracks flavor) ice cream when our friends came to pay for their purchases. When the cashier scanned the Dove shampoos, it read Php399.95 each. So our friends mentioned the price off. The cashier asked another guy in the store, probably her supervisor, and he said that it was Php399.95 each. Our friends again mentioned the display tag, and they said that it was wrong.

They weren’t apologetic at all of the mistake, and the cashier even made this swaggering comment “Eh di sana bumuli rin ako” with so much indignation that our friends were stunned at the response. Talk about customer service huh?! I think that actually nailed it, and M. made his way back to the display shelves, took the display tag, and showed it to them. But still, they wouldn’t admit their mistake and instead glared at our friends. Utterly appalled at the behavior these people are showing, M., who’s actually a Vice President of a major financial institution here in the country, told them that he’s a lawyer and that they are misleading their customers. He further went on to declare that he would call the DTI and report this deceit. It took several minutes, and nasty threats, for the management to see fit and correct their mistakes and take responsibility of the matter. And our friends went home with four pieces of Dove shampoo for Php399.95, but not after making them aware that they are violating the Consumer Act and we would report this incident to the DTI.

I sure hope the management learns how to handle situations like this. They might find themselves googling how to prevent hair loss from the stress when DTI comes knocking one of these days. It’s a bit sad that bad customer service like this can ruin such a great time. We actually planned to grab dinner at S&R (I was craving for roasted chicken and churros) after paying, but the bad service ruined our appetite.

babies in bars

First off, I’d like to confess that I do have my fair share of good and bad things I’ve done in my life. I was doing anything and everything I can think of. There were some good things like going to the gym for quick weight loss and engaging in sports. And of course there were some bad things too, like going out every night to drink beer, get a bit drunk, and drive home. But I’d like to emphasize that I used to drink beer and that I know what effects it has on the body.

But has anybody read about this guy bringing his 14-month-old baby girl while he drinks in bars? These are the real father and baby in the article.

I’m no expert on family, or on beer, but I think that’s just totally wrong. THIS IS NOT COOL. I don’t care how badly he wants/needs a beer. You are exposing and endangering not only yourslef but also your daugther. I wonder what the U.S. Social Services has to say about this? Bars are no place for babies and children. No matter how seasoned a drinker you are, even a small serving or shot of liquor will somehow affect you.

When ingested, alcohol passes from the stomach into the small intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body. Because it is distributed so quickly and thoroughly the alcohol can affect the central nervous system even in small concentrations.

With alcohol, a person experiences diminution of attention, judgement, and control. A person also begins to experience mild impairments in sensory motor skills and reduced visual acuity. And that’s just from having one drink. What more if you have a few more?  And with a baby in tow, I can only see that it will lead to trouble!

S&R good buys

We initially had no definite plan on when we’ll go to S&R. We will go, that’s for sure. But having an actual date, either today, tomorrow, Saturday, or Sunday, well, there was nothing definite. We actually had visitors yesterday when we got home: a friend we haven’t seen in a long time. But when she left quite early, we figured why waste this time when we could be shopping?

So we picked up my MIL to treat her to a little bit of shopping too because it’s her birthday in a few days. Also in tow were my FIL and my wife’s cousin. I was actually thinking that maybe we should have brought a van because I don’t think my car’s trunk would hold our shopping bags.

And just in case you haven’t hauled your ass there, I see no reason for you not to drop by, either you’re looking for appliances (which are also on sale) or the best multivitamin, I’m sure you’ll find something. Apart from a few grocery items, the good buys are really the towels. At around Php350 on a buy-one take-one promo, this was a steal! These towels are thicker than those we have in local stores/malls, and most of the designs are beautiful. But our favorites would be the sheets! If you must know, we love buying sheets. It’s one of the few luxuries we have. Previously, we only bought 300-thread-count sheets. Higher thread counts and the price gets high too. But last night, I spied these 600-thread-count sheet sets at only Php1500! The set includes one fitted sheet, one flat sheet, and two pillow cases. Also on sale were our favorite Ben&Jerry’s ice cream at around Php160 per tub!

The main reason why I’m so passionate and insistent about this is so that it would stay. If I stay mum about it and the company doesn’t get good business, then it’ll go bankrupt and we’d have to find another source for the products that only S&R carries. And you know what? We will be back there again tomorrow night! See you!

S&R sale, again

I wonder how long one has to repeatedly do something to call it a tradition? The reason I asked was because we’ve been going to S&R’s biannual sale and we haven’t miss one in three years. Over the years though, we’ve noticed an increase in purchases. Either we’re becoming more materialistic (which I refuse to believe) or S&R’s stocks have greatly improved over the years. I mean, who could resist the cheap spa filters, soft and thick towels, and 300-thread-count sheets!? If you have a free time today (March 17) until Sunday (March 21), I urge you to come and visit the nearest S&R branch near you: Bonifacio Global City, Congressional, Alabang, and Aseana Baclaran. Come armed with a lot of patience because expect the lines to be long.

looking and feeling good

Lately, we’ve been receiving compliments from officemates, friends, and family that my wife is blooming, that pregnancy suits her, and that our baby will most likely be a girl. While I would admit though that we are silently rooting for a girl too, we don’t want to associate the people’s kind remarks with the baby. I think most women use pregnancy as an excuse to not fix themselves up.

Long before we got pregnant, my wife promised that she wouldn’t look as “haggard” as most pregnant women we commonly see. That no matter how lazy pregnant women can sometimes get, she’d make an effort to look good, not just for me or the people around us but for herself. So despite the fatigue and the frequent trips to our American Standard toilet at night (we’re thinking of getting an arinola), nausea, dizziness, sleepiness, and general laziness, she makes that extra effort to dress and look good. And I support her all the way. And I think that all pregnant women will be like her too, still striving to look and feel good despite the circumstances.

Sony camcorder

We were in Glorietta two days ago to check out the BPI Express Credit Installment Madness Sale that’s happening until the end of March. We were primarily there to window shop for an aircon. But coming into the Sony booth had us drooling for their camcorders. One of our plans was to buy a camcorder for the baby, and those we saw were drool worthy. We initially thought that buying one would cost the same thing as getting an orlando timeshare. But we were surprised to see one particular model at just around Php19,000. We talked to the salesman, and he did the demo.

They actually have three types of camcorders. The first type is an advanced amateur/professional camcorder, the kind people use to make movies or short films. This is too pricey and too professional. The second type is called a high-definition camcorder. Now this one was smaller and lighter. It has awesome features and great specs, but the price was way, waaaay, our budget. And the third type is called standard definition camcorder. The particular model that we saw had 4 GB of embedded flash memory (expandable with an additional memory slot), 60x optical zoom (Wow!) and 2000x digital zoom (to better see those pores, of course), a 2.7 inch panel display, and is powered by a Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar lens.

This can be yours at staggered payments for 12 to 18 months. As always, I asked he could give us a discount if we pay cash (the benefits of paying cash). He went to his supervisor and we got an initial quote of just Php17,000. I further pressed on and he said he could arrange something to get the price lower. Incidentally, KG’s sister is also looking for a camcorder. We will have to talk to her and see if we could get bigger discounts if we will get two units.