Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Sorry Sir, We Are Now Offline

I decided to stop off at a Globe store to pay my phone and internet bill. Not wanting to stop at the  busy mall I visited a tiny out of the way store where there is usually not a crowd.

The doorman handed me a number and I sat down to wait. Number 9. Third in line. The first person was done transacting business shortly after I arrived. The next customer took about 10 minutes to process whatever he was doing.

Then number 8 was called.  I have no idea what he was doing but he pulled out all of his receipts and dumped them on the counter looking for something. Finally after about 15 minutes he pulls out a 1000 peso bill and his transaction looks as if it is almost over.  

But then the lights flashed and the roar of the air-conditioner became silent.

A power outage!  A POWER OUTAGE! 

I asked the cashier, "Did the power just go out. Will I still be able to pay my bill."

"Sorry sir, we are now offline but you can come back later."

"So I just wasted 30 minutes for nothing!!!", I shouted and stormed out.

I had to walk back to the store because I left with my numbered ticket. I will never return to that store.  It's actually not the first time this has happened. There have been a few instances when I have arrived at opening time only to be told they are offline and please come back later. 

Why don't they have generators or some way to insure they are never offline or only briefly? It's bad for the customer and the business as it stops work completely.

3 comments:

  1. Why don't they take the payment, issue a receipt and then enter the payment when the power comes back on?

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    Replies
    1. No way! Haha. There is no trust here for them to do that. Everyone here is a suspected thief. Can't even use a credit card over the phone because they are so sacred of fraud. How many times have you seen employees being frisked as they leave work? It's pathetic. Trust is the glue for any functional society and it's not here at all.

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  2. I'ver seen them stand in line at Merelco for hours on end so they could get their P5 change.

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