Try Before You Own^{4}

While I haven’t purchased a lot of electrical items in the Philippines, I have bought a few. I’ve also been with friends and relatives when they’ve had the opportunity to purchase some smaller appliances. It always amazes me the routine that is gone through before you leave the store with your item.

Here in the States I’ve grown accustomed to the Costco and Nordstrom style of customer service which includes virtually unlimited returns on items. In most cases you don’t even need a receipt. I believe that both Costco (especially on electronic items) and Nordstrom have tightened their policies recently due to abuse, but it is still very easy to return most things at either place. With that standard being set, a lot of other retailers have followed their lead and have favorable return policies.

This is a far cry from what I’ve experienced in the Philippines. It may vary from store to store, or region to region, but from what I understand, for the most part, that it is very difficult to return items there. What they do is have a sales clerk plug in the item, make sure it is good working order and send then you on your way hoping it doesn’t break down when you arrive home.

My first exposure to this routine was with my brother and sister-in-law at the department store in the little mall near their condo. They were looking for some item (I can’t remember what exactly) for their newly arrived son. The store only had a small selection of this item and they were intent on showing each one working. Some had batteries, some did not. They couldn’t find the correct batteries, as the item didn’t come with them. We ended up spending a whole lot of time just waiting for them to track things down and then show us the various working units. If memory serves me, we ended up grabbing one the working units, not because that was necessarily the one they wanted, but obviously it worked, and it wasn’t important enough to spend all day there trying to figure out why one of the more desirable ones didn’t.

I can see where this might save some hassle for the store down the road, especially if there is a no return policy. Maybe things have changed some what since my experiences there. It has been a couple of years since I’ve been there, and even longer since I bought anything of note there. If they haven’t, there is always the option of buying online. For many things, like computers, that may be a better option anyway due to the high cost of foreign made electronics in the Philippines.

Just one of the multitude of life style adjustments I will need to make.

photo credit: Charles Keng | www.charleskeng.com/images-sm/smasia3181u.jpg

By Randy Countryman Category: Cost of living, Electricity Tags: Appliance, Costco, electrical items, Nordstrom, receipt, return policies, unlimited returns