To put it simply - what happened in SM Southmall was HELL...My Mom, my husband and I were there early, around 10am, to buy a bed for my parents. As this was my first time to go to a mall-wide sale that early, I was surprised to learn that there was an additional 10% discount if you buy an item before 12noon (from the department store), and if you are an SM advantage member (aside from the store-wide discount of 10%). Since we were already quite sure of what we wanted to buy, we hurried up a bit so we can take advantage of that additional discount. So we stood in line for almost 2 hours...only to be told (when we were just 3 persons away from the actual cashier) that there was some mistake on the sale procedures/whatever, and we would only get 10% discount - because we were members of SMAC (SM Advantage Club); the 10% discount that the sales staff were earlier so eagerly pushing into our faces was apparently not valid, even though we hold in our hands an invoice with the earlier discounted price. What MAJORLY pissed me off was that, they would tell us that small detail after they have issued the invoice, and when we're just a few people away from the cashier-- and after patiently standing in line for almost 2 hours?! The price difference was not the biggest issue for me at that moment, the EXTREMELY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE was!!! Those who know me would agree that I'm one of the most non-confrontational people in the world, but at that moment, I wasn't afraid or shy to let the people there know exactly what I think about their service...
My husband said I went ballistic, but that I still managed to keep my emotions and temper under control. My mom found a supervisor and told him about what happened, and I wasn't shy either in telling him, in a slightly loud but controlled voice - "the price isn't the major issue here. What you people are doing is just plain BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE". He gave me some line about looking into the matter, but I just ignored him and went on to pay for the bed. That same manager wanted to talk to us right after we have paid, but I just asked my mom and my husband if we can just leave the place ASAP, as I think my blood pressure can't take more crap from the people in the immediate vicinity.
I believe a few other people were victimized that day by SM's incompetent handling of their sales procedures/regulations. The supervisors, sales assistants and even the cashiers were all doing their share of finger-pointing as to who was to blame for that major booboo. Bottom line is, something wasn't really ironed out, yet it seemed that mega-retailer SM just can't pass up the chance to proceed with the much-advertised 3-Day Sale, regardless of the hassle and disappointment some of their customers will experience.
I hope this is the last time I have to write a rant post, as it's not really something I cherish and plan on doing on a regular basis. I won't be a hypocrite and say that I'm never going to buy anything else from SM from now on, because I think it's kind of impossible nowadays to travel for an hour or so, and not see an SM mall wedged between cities and municipalities (heck, Las Pinas has 2 SMs!). I just hope not to encounter anything like this anymore, in SM or in any other mall/store.
On behalf of the millions of consumers who regularly flock to SM malls regularly (out of necessity or out of frivolity), here's a message for the SM management: Clean up your act! You owe it to all of us.
