What supposed to be was a fun Sunday shopping spree went sour when Mindanaoan was almost “robbed” of nearly 400 pesos by a boutique in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao. It’s really disappointing and I’m writing about this to reiterate the need and importance of consumer protection and rights of paying customers.

The CDO Limketkai Mall branch of ForMe, a company owned by Golden ABC (which also runs Oxygen, Red Logo, Memo, Regatta and Penshoppe), failed to bill me correctly and if I wasn’t able to double check my purchases and receipt, I would have been “robbed” of P379.20

Here’s what happened…

I bought two tops at the Cagayan de Oro branch of ForMe at the Ground Floor of Limketkai Mall. The store was offering a sale. One top was originally priced at P998.00 (it had a barcode of 30260935) but was on a 30 percent discount sale. The other top was originally priced at P798.00 (it had a barcode of 30263792) but was being offered with a 10 percent discount.

As I paid for my purchases, the cashier (whose name – I will withhold for the time being – is printed on the official receipt which is still in my possession) offered me their so-called “privilege card.” I wasn’t interested so I just told her to ring my purchases. I could sense her disappointment. When she handed me my change and purchased items, she didn’t even thank me (which I think is customary) but I just brushed it off as a sign that she probably was just tired.

The total price that I paid – P1,796.00

So I left and caught up with my brother and mother at a nearby key duplication booth. My brother had a key duplicated and as we waited, I mentally calculated my purchases from the ForMe store. I figured that there was no way that I should’ve paid P1,796.00 since both tops were supposed to be sold at discounted rates. So I checked my receipt and lo behold, the cashier DID fail to subtract the discounts!

I immediately went back to the ForMe Cagayan de Oro store and confronted the cashier. She was standing near the cash register. I told her about what happened — that she billed me for both items at their respective regular prices. She looked at me dryly and said, “Ay nakalimot diay ko.” (I forgot)

I got pissed at how she reacted and at her measly excuse. How can a cashier for chrissakes forget that their store was offering a SALE? Almost all, if not all, items were being offered at discounted rates! Plus both of the tops that I chose were displayed along racks that bore huge signs that said “30% DISCOUNT” and “10% OFF” I mean, really, can you forget? Or was it a deliberate move on the cashier’s part? I’d hate to think that the latter was correct.

The female store manager approached us and asked what was wrong. I explained the whole thing to her. Embarrassed, she re-computed my bill and admitted that her staff “overbilled” me P379.20 The total price that I should have paid was only supposed to be P1,416.80

The store manager issued a new official receipt and gave me P379.20

Even though the issue was settled, I still warned the store manager to double check on her staff. P379.20 may not be a big deal but a small situation like this can definitely ward off customers. I myself won’t be buying a thing from that ForMe store anymore. Period.

Hopefully, this can serve as a lesson to business owners. Always double check on your staff especially on your frontliners. They can make or break your business. Seriously.

And as for paying customers like myself — PLEASE double check your change, your official receipt and your money. And always, ALWAYS remember that you have the right to complain. You have rights as consumer/customer. Fight for your rights and be protected.

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