I told myself that I should wait to post this story, especially after all the blog entries I wrote about my Philippine love (don't worry, it still has not changed). I sent this to the local newspaper and blog websites.
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Hello. I am a foreigner currently attending UB for nursing. I am already a 4th year student so I am not exactly new to this country. I try to keep a low profile and I keep a lot of Filipino friends. I also look very Filipino, but my Tagalog is not very good. I have my Filipino friends to get me by and help me when I need to buy things. And no offense to anyone, but it's hard to get a good deal as a foreigner. But that is not the reason for my story.
I have maintained the same cell phone for about 3 years now. Finally it gave up on me and I decided to just buy a new one. I have an extra one for emergencies and it is quite a reliable phone, but it does not have any features of technology e.g. camera, bluetooth. My old cell phone had every feature I could desire, personally.
I am extremely on budget so I asked around from my friends where I can buy a cheap phone. My friend said that she knew someone on General Luna. Against my better judgement, I thought “well what are the chances that I would get screwed”. This was a big “tatanga” for me. We went to the spot on General Luna, near the school where all these people were celling the cell phones. Her friend, unfortunately, was not there, and I was in quite a hurry for a phone. I had brought my old cell phone and my emergency phone as trade ins because I knew that I could not make much “tawad”.
We looked up and down the street, and a woman was selling a Nokia 5200 for 3500. I was on budget for 2500, so I tried to trade in my old phone. Ironically (you will realize later why), she would not take my old broken phone but she would take my trusty emergency nokia. Like a sucker, I took the deal, gave my phone, and paid 2300 pesos. I came home, extremely excited to fool around with my new phone with MP3 features, mini cards and all. I have never had anything like this and I barely treat myself to anything besides some clothes at the “ukay-ukay”. I did notice, however, that my Globe sim icon was not showing up, but the network was visible. And the network seemed to be terrible. I assumed it was my house, because even before my network wasn't that good, and I could live without the Globe icon. I charged my phone, then unplugged it just before I went to bed. I know that the quality of a Nokia battery is absolutely impeccable so I shouldn't need to charge it at least a few days (with constant MP3 use).
I woke up in the morning to an empty battery. I thought to myself, “this is strange, she gave me a brand new battery.” The phone would not even stay on. So I plugged it in, and it said it was charging. I waited, removed the charger, and it said full battery. All of a sudden, the phone claimed that the battery was empty and it turned off on me again. I knew that it had to be the phone. Well the woman had given me a 3 day warranty, and I asked another Filipino friend to join me to either get the phone fixed or make a trade.
When we got there, the woman was absent. There was a young man in the stall next to her, and he asked what was the problem. We explained the situation and he wanted to make a trade. The trades did have anything close to the phone that I had just purchased. And if I wanted those features, I would have to pay more. Now, this does not make any sense. I should receive something at least really close to equal in return. The phones he wanted to trade me, did not even have bluetooth, and that was my number one priority at the time. I then told him to just give me back my trade in, and the money I paid since they can not help me. Apparently, it was sold right away, like a thief in the night. I asked the young man when the woman would be back, and he informed me that she would be back the next day. I told him (which I think was my downfall) that I would return the next day.
After that, I went to a reputable cell phone repair shop because I figured if I can at least get this fixed I won't go through so much trouble. The man told me that the phone was completely unfix able. That the phone was taken from China, and the inside was burnt so no one would know and the phone will always turn off. There was nothing wrong with the battery or the electrical wiring inside. It simply would never work. Then he fixed my other broken phone for 100 pesos, and that is when an American (myself) will say “well isn't that a kick in the ass”.
The next day, absolutely furious, and this time with 2 Filipino friends, we marched back to the woman's shop. That is when I realized how “tanga” I really was and I lost this battle the minute I gave up my money. The woman's shop was completely boarded up and closed for business. The same “young man” from the stall next door claimed that he never knew her and that no one had any idea who she was. He is absolutely terrible at lying, because who works next to someone, is willing to do business for them (as in try to trade in a downgraded phone to me) but not know who they are?
I did not cry. I just stood there and thought to my self “siang”. I spent my budgeted money, so I only could eat what little food I had at my house, and basically walk everywhere until my next allowance. Now I can mention the ironic part. She would not buy my broken phone, when she just sold me a broken phone. She could have easily sold my broken phone to any other fool just like myself.
We tried to go the police, but they were not available. All we could do was file a complaint with the Barangay Captain. Maybe he did something, but I will not know. I gave up on it, and spent yet another budgeted allowance on a brand new 1 year warranty phone and am extremely happy, even though I am hungry.
Now I am not proud of what I am about to tell you. I told a friend of mine to go back there and try to sell the phone back to them but go to different stalls. Maybe I can get some money back. If they did it to me, I can try to do it right back. But I am sure God saw through my ill intentions, and to no avail, he could not sell it. They told him that they all know that serial number...
I am writing this , to inform you and whoever reads this of what goes on right under our nose. And I know that readers will think “well she is foreign, and what was she doing buying from there?” But the big question is how can we allow people to sell things there? How can we allow people to get screwed and we just call them “tanga”? And believe me, they didn't see a foreigner buying the phone. They saw Filipinos. This is just a major insult to your country (and I consider mine as well) and homeland. I am just hoping that enough people might read this and do something about it. Even if people never buy from them, at least my “tanga”ness was not sacrificed in vain. And like I said in the beginning, I knew my instincts said no but my heart said to give them a chance. They only proved that I need to always listen to my instincts.
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The moral of the story is when you know it's wrong...it's wrong.
Please don't criticize me because of my Tagalog spelling, that's really annoying hehe.
We ate this delicious quaint place called Church Street Cafe in Albuquerque. There is nothing like chili with your omlette. The staff and customer service was excellent, and I recommend anyone who is visiting New Mexico to eat there.
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