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Allow me to express my frustration regarding the worst customer service experience I had in my entire life. First-hand experience from the 3 managers of your company assigned at Jollibee Volleygolf Cainta, Rizal named – Angelo Magno, Adrian Dalangin and Angela Panlaqui.
Last December 5, around 8PM, I and my 5 year old son planned to visit my boyfriend –Dinniz, in his place because he was sick and no one is looking after him. Dinniz requested for a chickenjoy for his “pasalubong” as he hasn’t eaten dinner that time. Since I have rewards coupon from my BPI Credit Card transactions, I decided to drop by the nearest Jollibee store to redeem my rewards– Jollibee Volleygolf Cainta.

I and my son went to the aforementioned store around 8:30 PM. I was entertained by Angelo. He took the BCodes with 1 transaction worth Php 12, 000 and 2 transactions worth 2,500 each. As we waited at the table, Angelo informed me that only the Php 12,000 transaction was being accepted by the system and I had to call BPI because the 2 transactions worth Php 2,500 each were invalid. I did not agree. I told him that he needs to contact BPI and find out why the codes were invalid. He denied my request and according to him, their role is only to validate the codes and encode it in the system. If the code is being negated by the system, they should tell customers to call BPI. I expressed my disagreement again arguing that validation entails calling BPI being your partner and finding out why the codes are being rejected. Angelo once again insisted that they cannot call the partner bank. I told him that I am not willing to call BPI because they should be able to resolve the issue. We had a discussion regarding his role as a manager, taking ownership and going extra-mile for their customers. Angelo said he will try to call BPI.

After a few minutes, he said he cannot contact BPI because it was busy. So I verified," 89-100 is busy???” He said, yes! And so I said, “niloloko mo ba ako? I’ve been a BPI customer for 6-7 years now and I never had failed attempt when I call them. Customer service yon kaya 24x7 sila.” He went inside and came back with the other manager- Angela. Angela said the same thing - they cannot call BPI. Upon asking why, she said it’s because BPI would ask them information that I, myself can only give. And so I told them that I am authorizing them to call BPI on my behalf and I can supply any information they need just to get this over and done with. Unfortunately, she still insisted that they cannot do it. I asked them if I can just use their phone to call BPI, she said only authorized persons can go inside their office. So I said, “Wala talaga kayong ownership nang issues ng customers nyo, noh? Anong role nyo dito as managers? Magutos sa tao nyo tapos kumuha ng pera pagkabigay ng pagkain, ganon lang? Hindi ba kayo marunong ng extra mile?” Angelo said, “extra-mile na nga po yung ginagawa namin e.” I responded, “extra-mile na yun? E bigla mo nalang ako dine-direct sa BPI, wala ka pang nagagawa.” He then started discussing their role once again –to validate and encode. So if the code is invalid, customers should call BPI. I insisted that I won’t call BPI. So what he did was to get the codes again from my phone. I actually lost count of the number of times he went back and forth to get the codes from my cellphone. When it yielded the same result, his co-manager Adrian approached me, saying that the reason for the invalidity of the 2 transactions was because the reference codes were the same. So I said, “pano nagkaparehas ang 066 at 055 (pinpointing at the SMS reference code sent by BPI.) Baka naman kasi mali ung tinatype.” Adrian said, they will try it again. And so they went back and forth again and again to get the codes from my cellphone. Adrian was very arrogant the entire time he was talking to me. He was smiling sarcastically while I was talking. I even had to say, “Stop laughing because there’s nothing to laugh at. If you need your job, you have to do something for your customers.”

They went inside the office. When they came back, they informed me of the same thing – code is invalid and I have to call BPI. I still insisted that I won’t call BPI. Angela approached me again showing the copy of their memo and explained what it contains while underlining the part that says: “kindly tell customer to call the BPI Hotline: Metro Manila 89-100/Provincial 1-800-188-89100”. She maintained with condescending tone of voice, “Wala na po talaga kaming magagawa, eto po talaga protocol namin, pag may problema sa code dapat tumawag yung customer sa BPI. Ganon din po yung sinasabi namin san ibang customers. Excuse me po.” And then, she turned her back and went to the cashier area with the other 2 managers – Angelo and Adrian. I was really surprised with how Angela treated me. All I said that moment was, “really?? Tinalukuran mo customer mo!” I was left without any option but to read the memo. To my surprise, your Memo JBNB-M-14-0004 dated November 7, 2014 states:

Re: BPI Promo 2014 –Important Reminders
To All Stores: Greetings! Please be informed of the following important reminders/clarifications:
1. For SMS validation – we have a partner validating the Bcodes and it is NOT BPI. Thus, if there are concerns on the validation of the Bcodes, store should not call the BPI Hotline. The store should instead call BCode Helpdesk at (02) 405-8080.

2. Customer Concerns – if customer has concerns related to the mechanics and new procedures like getting the mobile coupon, follow-up on the issuance of the coupon, kindly tell customer to call the BPI Hotline: Metro Manila 89-100/Provincial 1-800-188-89100.

Your memo is clear. The only time customers should be contacting BPI is, if we have questions about the mechanics and new procedures of the promo. We can also contact them if we have questions on how to get the mobile coupon or if we haven’t received it. It doesn’t say that if codes are invalid, customers should call BPI, instead, paragraph 1 is clear saying, your store personnel should call the BCode helpdesk and not the customer as being advised by your managers.

After reading the memo, I went immediately to the cashier area where the 3 managers were. I showed and explained to them what the memo states. There was a moment of silence amongst the 3 while reading the parts of the memo I am explaining. I saw how surprised they were to find out that they are not aligned with their process. Upon asking why they are directing customers to BPI while the memo is clear that it should be the store who should contact BCode Helpdesk, Angelo said, “I-ttry ko pong kontakin, Ma’am.” I immediately answered, “So you will try? Meaning, you’re not aware of this number. You don’t really know the protocol that you’ve been insisting since 8:30?” He reasoned out, “Kinontak ko po kanina, Ma’am, busy po.” So I responded, “ So busy naman ngayon. Kapag ba busy, sinabi dito na patawagin mo yung customer sa BPI? Wag nyo na kong paikutin dahil lalo lang akong nagagalit. Sayang na sayang na ang oras ko. Papunta ako sa may sakit. Dapat kanina pa! Ayusin nyo yan. I want the interaction number of your call with this Bcode helpdesk”
I went back to the table where my son is waiting. Angelo came back and forth again to get the reference numbers and details of the SMS from my cell phone. He even explained to me what they will do differently this time. I am under the impression that he was able to successfully contact the Bcode helpdesk that’s why he now has an idea how to rectify the issue. He said, he will try to change the Zero to Letter “O” and will try to encode everything to see if it will work. I just said, “do whatever you need to do. I’m tired and exhausted.”

After quite some time, Angelo came back to me and said, everything is fine now and I can redeem my rewards. I said, “So, mali lang ginagawa mo kanina pa. Sinayang nyo pa oras ko. Kawawa naman yung may sakit at ang anak ko.” He responded saying, “it’s the system really that’s why.” I said, “Of course, you won’t admit. You can’t even admit that you misunderstood your memo. I-expect ko pa bang aamin ka. Ayusin mo na yan para matapos na.”
After giving me the products, I demanded for a documentation of what transpired within that 2 hours of my interaction with them. I asked him to put in black and white everything that they have advised me and what he did to resolved my concerns but he declined. He asked help from his co-managers. Angelo came back with Adrian who was really arrogant and sarcastic while talking to me. He doesn’t even let me finish. He kept on interrupting while I was talking. He had shown me the same gesture as Angela’s. I insisted to have an incident report. Adrian said they cannot give me an incident report because incident report is just for internal purposes only. I said, “Fine! Just give me any document, whatever you want to call it stating what transpired tonight. I need that because I am filing a complaint to your corporate office.” They went inside again. Angela approached me saying the same thing. When I argued that it is my right to demand documentation of what transpired in the four corners of their store because I am being inconvenienced already for almost 3 hours now, she said with a loud tone of voice, “IT IS NOT YOUR RIGHT MA’AM TO HAVE THE DOCUMENTS THAT YOU ARE REQUESTING BECAUSE IT IS OURS!” I responded, “Are you sure what you are talking about? Customer’s right is paramount than yours!” I demanded for higher personnel that I could talk to and can give my request. Ms. Betchay called me up and was also insisting that they cannot provide me anything.

At this moment, I could hardly breathe. Words are not enough to say how upset and disappointed I was that time! I couldn’t believe that I am getting such treatment from 3 different managers of Jollibee. To think that your service is supposed to bring happiness like what your –Jolly Joy! Joy! Commercial is advertising. What’s more frustrating is, I am talking to Managers!
I wanted to shout and vent out but I am afraid my son will get scared and worry more about me because he’s been asking the entire time of what’s happening and if I’m still ok. I was really trying hard to control my anger, not to mention the stress and trauma me and my son had to endure when all I wanted was to bring “pasalubong” for my boyfriend –Dinniz. However, while I was trying to contain myself, I was finding it hard to breathe and noticed that I’m having chest pain.

Angelo only gave me water when he saw that I am already catching my breath and I looked so pale. I had to call Dinniz and my mom to inform them that I might lose consciousness at any moment because I could hardly breathe. Dinniz and my mom rushed to the store to find out what’s happening. When Dinniz and mom were already inside the store, the 3 managers opted not to talk to them despite my boyfriend’s demand. They just hid inside their office. What made it worse, Dinniz and another customer almost had a fight mainly because the latter wanted Dinniz to stop shouting. This scenario also proved the lack of customer service because not one of your managers came out to stop the confrontation.

We had no choice but to get in touch with the policemen. We asked their help and they immediately responded. The 3 managers only came out of their office while I was in the middle of my conversation with the investigator. Angela was still insisting that it was a system issue and that they are just following their protocol. The policemen said, unfortunately, it was really clear that what happened what just a typo error / encoding error and a misunderstanding on the Managers’ part of what they are referring to as memo, that they were negligent and fell short in their role as Managers. Angela was really sardonic that time, while she was apologizing, her tone of voice was so insincere and up until the last minute, she was still convincing everyone that they just followed their protocol. Yes, protocol that they didn’t even understand. The investigator also stated that the customers’ right precedes protocol.

I was advised by the investigator to file a formal complaint in their precinct to have this documented so I could take legal actions and have this escalated to your office. We left your store around 11:30 in the evening. We went to Cainta Police Station and filed a complaint against your store and your managers. We arrived home around 2:30 am.

I am really hoping that you will take actions to remove these very incompetent managers out of your company. I could just imagine the number of customers they have advised of the same thing. These people do not know what customer service means. As managers, they are expected to partner with customers for the success of your company; unfortunately, they only know how to get rid of their customers.

This experience is really unforgettable. Please be advised that I am taking legal actions against your company and the managers involved in this incident.

Kindly advice on what actions your company will take to avoid this incident from ever happening again and the actions you have taken to discipline these employees.

Thank you,
RHODA DELA TORRE

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