Sometime ago, daughter and I went to Alphaland for lunch. There were dozens of restaurants to choose from. After some thought, we settled for Teriyaki Boy.
There were less people maybe because it was past lunch time.
There was a guy, around 40 years old, seated 3 tables away, who was speaking to someone on his cell phone, loud enough for Oyen and I to hear his every word.
Guy———- “Tumawag nga yung Service Advisor, papalitan daw yung brake pads. Three thousand_______ daw yung babayaran. Gusto lang nun makalusot. Hindi nila alam meron akong Mazda, limang taon na hindi pa napalitan yung brake pads.
…………… sa Pasong Tamo………… kaya nga mabuti sa tabi-tabing talyer na lang, yung sa Casa, nanloloko, may racket sila……….. .
He said many things that were not good. He made sweeping statements against Toyota in Pasong Tamo that hit my sensitivity. He was clearly making accusatory remarks against all car dealers in general. Kumunot talaga ang noo ko.
As soon as he put down his phone…. I dropped my chopsticks.
“Anak, I am going there now.”
Oyen———- “Go.”
With that, I stood up and walked over to the guy.
Omb———– “Hi, excuse me, I couldn’t help but hear your complaints about a car dealer.
I am a car dealer. You are accusing them, may I know which car dealer you’re referring to? You said Pasong Tamo”.
I gave him my business card.
The guy was taken aback. He looked up at me, trying to digest what I was saying.
When I said “I am a car dealer”, he changed his tune and said “hindi naman pa ako sure”.
Toyota Pasong Tamo daw.
I told him “sorry to give unsolicited advise, but I am a car dealer, if you have questions about the amount the dealer quoted you, ask them. Do not accuse. You are making conclusions…..”
Mahaba pa sana sermon ko sa kanya but Oyen called me…
“Ma!”
So I left him and went back to my chair. Kung hindi lang ako pinigil ni Oyen, sinermonan ko talaga yung lalaki na yun mula ulo hanggang paa nya.
He’s accusing Toyota Pasong Tamo of cheating him. Service Advisors have a price list which are quoted to the customers. When in doubt, ask, ask and ask. Wala naman pala siyang proof, eh bakit he is making sweeping statements like “gustong maka-isa, manloloko, may racket”. My God. Those are very offensive.
Judging from the P3,000+ quoted to him for his brake pads, eh talaga namang ganun ang mga presyo ng brake pads, Mas mura pa ang Toyota. Meron pa ngang P10,000, mas mahal depende sa klase at brand ng sasakyan.
A friend told me that people think lowly of car dealers. Why? Because they conclude that all of us want to make a quick buck to augment our income. And why is that? Because he said our profits are low that we want to think of ways to earn more.
He is right in saying – that car dealers’ profit margin is low. He is right also in saying that we want to think of ways to earn more. Of course, how can we survive?. Meralco is not free. They keep on increasing their rates in wanton disregard of consumers’ welfare. Tax is not complimentary. Rent comes every month.
Even Janitors who are grade 6 school graduates get at least P456 a day due to the mandatory minimum wage law.
We try to earn a little bit more to survive the very harsh business climate nowadays. The cost of doing business in the Philippines is very high.
We survive not by cheating customers, but by being more efficient and cost conscious. By limiting our aircon usage and avoid wasting water. By doing what is right to satisfy our customers within our human capacity, earn their trust and confidence, so that they come back and patronize our business.
