» Should I Go Back to Cabalen Trinoma? » Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?

15 Jan, 2008

Should I Go Back to Cabalen Trinoma?

Posted by: AJ In: Cabalen| From Bakla| Reklamo| Trinoma ()

That it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
-One Republic Ft. Timbaland

Is it too late to accept an apology? I don’t think it is. I am a very forgiving person. I forgive, but I don’t forget.

Around lunch time yesterday, my phone rang and a woman with a very apologetic tone of voice said hello and asked me if I was AJ. She told me she was the Branch Manager of the Cabalen branch in TriNoMa and she has received my email about the unfortunate incident that transpired inside their branch last week.

After apologizing more than ten times, she introduced herself as Jenny Montero, then continued to apologize some more. By the tone of her voice, I sensed that she was sincere, but I also sensed an urgent damage control tone of voice. I have been working in the service industry for quite some time now and I knew where she was gonna lead me to. Initially though, when I heard the word manager, I half-wished it was that “manager” Anne.

Jenny asked me to narrate to her what happened during that unfateful day and I gladly and calmly recounted what happened. At every negative turn of the story, she would gasp and react sympathetically. She informed me that corrective measure has already been done on the behavior that was displayed by Annabel Pangilinan (aka Anne), who turned out to be a Duty Supervisor and not the Manager. Jenny said that it was her rest day and she delegated the tasks of welcoming the bloggers to Anne. The event, as Jenny said, would have been good marketing and publicity for them.

I told Jenny that unfortunately for them, the opposite of what she would have wanted has already happened, and still is happening - online. I added that no one has the right to treat customers the way we were treated. And one lesson learned is that even if people are there to dine for free, they shouldn’t be treated any differently from the paying customers.

I think it’s about time they knew the power of bloggers and the power of the Internet. I am not saying that bloggers have all the right in the world to complain about every single thing they want to. All I’m saying is that if it is with good reason and you were really offended, then go ahead and spread the word.

Jenny then invited me to go back to their branch anytime I want to and bring some of my friends and she would personally take care of us. She said that Anne’s behavior was very unprofessional and is way below the standards that Cabalen expects from their employees. Jenny said that she would personally attend to me and the friends that I bring so that I can experience the real Cabalen treatment. She also offered to give me discounts in case I plan on throwing a party or holding a function at Cabalen. I asked her how many friends I can bring with me and she told me it was up to me, but maybe around 5? or 6?

I told her that her apology was accepted but I’d still think about her offer.

What do you think? Should I go back to Cabalen, Trinoma?

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