ABN, what’s this, Dave, another day of acronyms? Well, sorry for those who hate an alphabet soup, but this country is more full of acronyms than an alphabet warehouse, and sometimes, using an acronym, even one that you made up. helps you remember things important to living here in the Philippines.
ABN is something I made up (so far as I know), and it stands for Always Buy Now. In my context, it points up a fact of life about how to live in the Philippines that many foreigners (like me), don’t get for many years. If you go to the store and see something you want, do what it takes to buy it then and there. Don’t analyze, wait for a better deal, shop around and check prices, etc. Why? Because it won’t be there tomorrow … or the extra expense and paperwork you will have to go through are worse than anything you might save by shilly-shallying around.
Coffee is a good example. Here we buy commercial US ground coffee in the big three (or so pound) cans from our local membership store, S&R Membership Shopping. These stores, only in the Metro Manila area, by the way, are the Philippines answer to establishments like CostCo. A poor answer too, by the way, you who still live in the “homeland” have no idea at all how well off you are regarding shopping, selection and in particular, price. You can live cheap in the Philippines … very cheap if need be … but you can not live like an average American cheaply … put that idea out of your head. If you want US-style shopping and products, you will spend, and typically spend more. Trust me.
Back to the coffee. Every morning I make a pot of coffee in our US-style, cheap Chinese-made Mr. Coffee type coffee maker. I almost never make coffee any other time of the day. In the afternoon, usually after a nap, I enjoy a cup of coffee but it’s way too wasteful to brew just one cup, so we always try to keep little packets of Philippine instant three-in-one coffee. (three-in-one-one is instant coffee, creamer and sugar all in a little cachet, ready to dump into hot water and stir. Not much of a treat for a coffee connoisseur, but it acts like a nice little afternoon pick me up.
Problem? Even large grocery stores never stock the same brand and sizes two weeks in a row. You see one in the brand you prefer and with enough sachets to meet your needs, don’t buy one or two packs. By 10, (or more if they let you) because when you come back next week, that brand will be replaced by something else. Will your favorite ever come back? Maybe yes, maybe no … and don’t expect the store workers to know … they are always happy, smiling and polite, but no one tells them anything, they have no idea when or if your favorite brand will be back. If you see it, buy it.
Let me give you one other example … the object lesson I learned in the past few days yet again. (you guys don’t think I’m smart enough to always follow my own advice, do you? 
). Computer equipment.
In my local mall there is a branch of a medium size computer/electronic retail chain in the Philippines known as Octagon Computers. I’ve bought a couple things at the Octagon store in the three years I have been living here and the experience has been pretty good … assuming they have anything resembling what I went into the store for in the first place.
A few months ago I wanted to buy a new printer. I went to the Octagon store and a nice lady there, Jane, explained what offerings they have, features, even prices for replacement cartridges. Helpful and well informed. “Ok.” says I, “Let’s test one and write up the sale.”
(Remember, never buy any electronic product without testing it in the store because once you buy it, sales are final … even if you take it home and it doesn’t even turn on, all you can do is take it back and they will ship it to the manufacturer for warranty service … which can take months. Even exchange or refund after the box is opened? Forget it, Jack, ain’t gonna happen.)
Those of you who already live here in the Philippines probably already know what the response was … after all the time talking about prices, features, specifications, etc., when I want to buy … “Out of stock, sir.”
“When will you get more?”
“Don’t know, sir.”
This same exchange took place several times over the past two months or so when I passed the store. One reason the cost of living here in the Philippines can be a lot cheaper than living in the US is, it can be darn hard to spend your money.
A few days, Friday of last week, ago we needed to buy something that we just knew was not available locally. We took a trip to the SM North EDSA mall. Even though the stores there are mostly the same as the stores here locally, it’s a whole different world of shopping. I’ve written a number of time before about what it is like to be a “Promdi” … a resident of any place in the Philippines that is not within the bounds of Metro Manila. There really is a huge difference in the availability of items in stores and both the width and depth of the product lines they chose to stock.
While I was at SM North I saw that they had completely renovated (actually moved to anew building) their electronics area, so I wandered in like a kid in a candy store. Quite predictably I spotted an Octagon store, with a display of box after box in the window of the very printer that hadn’t been available for months. I went in and a nice gentleman name of Sherwin showed me all the features and then even steered me to a competing printer that was significantly cheaper.
“Ok, I’ll buy.”
“Certainly sir, let’s test one.”
So Sherwin took one of the many printers to choose from over to the side of the store where they had dozens of live demo display computers running (wow, imagine being able to actually see a computer you are thinking of buying running, and have it be ‘touchable’.). Sherwin unboxed my printer to be, plugged in the cables, showed me how to put in the cartridges and printed some test pages.
I wasn’t watching everything he did, though. I was focusing instead on the machine he was testing with. It was tiny, very powerful and a beautiful pearlescent white in color instead of the tradition black or gray. Now I’m a practical man and I know the color of a computer has very little real value in real life, but none of us wants to live in the Henry Ford days of “any color so long as it is black” days .. we all normally buy cars in the color that appeals to us, even though they would run just as good in nay other color.
I looked at the little display card for this “white wonder”, which was complete with a very eye-appealing matching white 19 inch LCD monitor and noticed that the specs were pretty good,dual-core Intel processor, etc., etc, and then I realized that the price included the monitor. Wow! Less than $100 or so over a similar US marketed machine. Decent enough deal for being here in the Philippines
I wanted one, than and there. But i didn’t have cash in my pocket to buy it, and it always costs one way or another to use a credit card. Cash is king. So I just took my printer and left, looking longingly over my shoulder at my new computer infatuation.
I mentioned the deal to my wife later and her answer was, “You make money with computers, if you want it, buy it.” But we were already home then and I also thought of my little local store here and I wanted them to be able to say something to me other than “No can do, sir.”
Next morning I hied myself over to the local Octagon store and inquired if they had the same special available.
“Out of stock sir, but we can order and have it here Thursday.”
Good enough, I thought. I knew I should have bought it when I first saw it Friday. But on that Saturday, I had my nephews in tow and they were tired an a bit of a handful, so I told my fiend Jane, “Ok, since it is available, I will be in tomorrow am and we’ll place the order.”
Sunday I got to the store not long after it opened and Jane recognized me right away and came up to the counter with papers in her hand … usually a good sign. After a few more questions I thought I would be given the order form to fill up and lave my deposit and hope to get my new ‘baby’ on Thursday. Instead Jane said to me, “Sir I will go now and check with my supervisor regarding availability.”.
“Huh? I asked you yesterday and you said it was available.”
“Sir, we can’t check availability until an order is actually placed.”
After a long wait the supervisor came over and spoke to Jane. Perish the thought she would speak to me so that I got the un-garbled word, always pass information through one or more intermediaries, that way there are always more opportunities for misunderstanding.
The message? “Sir, it’s Sunday and no one is available to tell us if the merchandise is available. Come back tomorrow.”
I’m proud to say I didn’t loose my temper “much”. I spoke only one word. “Thanks” and then I just walked straight out the door, both women staring at the back of the mysterious, unreasonably hard to please foreigner. (There’s just no pleasing those guys, they are so demanding).
And no, I didn’t leave off any expression of regret for wasting my time and I didn’t leave off any please on the “Come back tomorrow” imperative. That’s exactly the words they spoke to me.
If you want to buy something here in the Philippines, especially if it isn’t dusty old stock that has been on the shelf for ay ear, you need to work at it. And you will also find out that rather than being a customer to be served, you suddenly switch roles to being an employee of whomever you are trying to buy from.
In reality I think she meant to say, “Come back tomorrow and we’ll find another reason not to sell you this machine.” I mean, who knows, perhaps their ball pen will be out of ink the next time I ask there and they can tell me to come back another day.
Customer service? Forget it. That’s an item that is virtually always “out of stock”. One wonders how chain stores like this stay alive in the Philippines. One reason is, Filipinos just accept “unacceptable” service like this day after day., week after week. It can really get depressing at times.
Well, it’s now the tomorrow Jane talked about yesterday, and I have a pocket full of pesos but still no new computer, nor one on order. What will I do?
1. Go back to see Jane and make “paki usap” (sweet talk) and wait for them to laboriously check for availability, then go through the various hoops they want to put me through to get my machine ordered. (Authors note: Not fire trucking likely!)
2. Call Sherwin at the EDSA store and find out if they have a system in stock, then drive there and buy it from him (don’t forget, in addition to the initial drive, tolls, parking fees, and time … with traffic that trip will eat at east three hours … doing it that means I will have to take my machine there for warranty service if required in the future) … but on the other had, Sherwin seemed to act like he worked for me rather than the other way ‘round.
3. Go to an independent local shop and have them build me a system. I can probably save a few pesos this way, but it will be a Hodgepodge Lodge of parts and certainly won’t look as pretty. And I am sure I’ll wait longer than Thursday (it’s Monday as I write this).
4. Put the money back in my peso account and forget about spending money on a computer. The one I am writing this on right now works good and it is long ago bought and paid for.
These experiences are far from the only times I have wandered around in the Philippines with a handful of pesos in my hand and no one willing and able to take tem from me. Many folks, Filipinos in particular, tell me there is no opportunity here in the Philippines. I disagree. What there is a lack of is not opportunity, but instead business owners and employees willing to grasp the opportunity passing them by each and every day.
Feel free to give me your thoughts on this … I’d really enjoy hearing what you would do yourself in this situation.
And remember the rule/expression of the day … your “take away” from this article. If you want to live in the Philippines and be happy living in the Philippines, what do we say, boys and girls? All together now:
Always Buy Now!
Popularity: 6% [?]
I wouldn’t go so far as to say you can never get anything replaced but it only happens at the big stores. I bought a water cooler at Home Handyman (Robinson’s) which leaked and didn’t work and after exhaustive testing on the shop floor they agreed that it was faulty and gave us a new one on the spot. But generally yes, customer service in terms of giving a warranty for goods you sell is not part of the retail culture here. The attitude seems to be that if the goods are faulty it was the manufacturer’s fault and nothing to do with the retailer.
You’re right that it’s infuriating … but there is another positive side that is worth remembering. Twice recently I’ve bought self-assemble furniture: quite a large computer desk and a microwave oven stand on wheels. Both times I asked if the shop could assemble for me and both times they said sure. The stand was done in the shop on the spot, while for the computer desk the guy came to my apartment and did it there for the same price as home delivery of the kit would have cost. Having watched them do the assembly (and the desk had no instructions!!) I was profoundly grateful I did not have to attempt it myself.
Basically I think a lot of individual Filipinos are very happy to serve but the corporate policies are terrible, although both statements are over-generalisations.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your comments. To be sure there may be times you can get a replacement for something that is actually faulty. But that is not always the case. And, in particular, you can never expect to get your money back … you can get an exchange or you can get credit, but actually taking something back, as if perhaps it wouldn’t fit … rarely, if ever.
And my article is not intended to be anti-Filipino .. but if it is perceived as anti-Filipino retailing practices, amen, I conveyed the message. Buying anything like a computer can turn into a real job of work and it is hard to spend your money sometimes. There are so many stores focused on _not_ making the experience easy for the customer that you wonder how they survive.
That’s why I tool the time to highlight the excellent service I got from Sherwin at the SM North store … believe me, it stood out and I appreciated it.
Anyway, as a bit of an update, I still have my money and I still don’t have a new computer … I spent an hour this am at several other shops in the mall trying to find something that would substitute for what I wanted and still fit in the space I wanted it to, but no luck. Tomorrow there’s a bunch of medical stuff going on, so more on the computer challenge when it happens. Always Buy Now.
Dave;
The store stock of items that seem to not be there next week! This is how it works as explained to me by the Manager of Royal Duty Free Subic. Items are stripped from stores and warehouses in Europe and the U.S., loaded into shipping vans and sent around the world. The reason, there’s less than one year shelf life left on the product.
Now the van arrives in the P.I., all the big chains and distributers bid on the items in the van. This week it could be Folgers Coffee, or another brand. The next week it happens again with other brands available. The brand you like might not show up for a month, or never. They can’t order by brand unless the stores want to pay the premium price plus shipping. When buying by lot there is no shipping cost.
As my last four years in the Navy were as a Commissary Store Officer, I understood what the guy was explaining to me. I hope this will clear the air on this subject, and as you said, “If you see it buy it now!” Or forever hold your peace. That’s why I have an upright freezer!
Mr. Whipple (of Charmin fame) signing off! You wrote a very funny story btw.
P.S. My all time favorite Philippine acronym is the one for Congressional Assembly or as it’s on the News “ConAss”.
Thanks Paul, for that helpful information. I had along discussion with one of the managers at my local HyperMartket (part of the SM chain) regarding the instant coffee I was talking about, and the whole way their business is managed surrpised me. The department managers and the overall manager have very little say on what goes on the shelves. Coffee, for example, is provided by a coffee wholesaler who comes several times a week and stocks the shelves in the coffee section. The manager just tells him what shelves he can have … what he stocks on those shelves is not controlled by the store ownership at all. Store managers can ‘request for” a particular item but the wholesaler deices if he wants to provide it or not … or if he even wants to listen.
Yes, Dave that’s true with a lot of items in a grocery store. Their called “vendor stocked” they get so much space allotted and they are responsible to maintain those items. At the Commissary store we would fight with them about what we wanted, and if they did not provide them, we would just keep shrinking their space and listen to them howl. They always came around to our way of thinking. What I was speaking to above were imported items that the store had no control over here in the Philippines. Local items they should control or hire a better manager.