Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The V Experience: An email

This is where the dream began.

So there was this topic from our wedding e-group in which I posted a reply to about gowns and Veluz. As you all my readers know, I've always been very vocal and open to the issue of desiring to be one of them Veluz brides but at the time, I had a different designer who was to make me my wedding gown in a cheaper rate. After a while, I checked my email and got a message from a fellow W@Wie about Veluz. She said, "sana tinry mo. no strings attached naman kung makipag appointment ka or magpasketch." and also mentioned a few information about the payment details.

Being the obsessed crazy Velus fan that I was, I immediately wrote a new message, addressed to Miss V's gmail account.

I knew it was a long shot. A very loooong one, for that matter. because considering the situation I was in during that time, even if she replies, I just know we cannot, in my wildest fantasies, afford to pay. And of course, taking into account the fact that my email can be compared to a tiny dust out of all those numerous emails she was getting, I can only expect about 0.000000001% response from her.

But for some miracle, she did! She responded! And I hyperventilated. Hahahahaha! Imagine my shock upon checking my inbox that blessed morning. I was at the office then and one of my agents noticed my discomposure, s/he said, "TC, okay ka lang? Bakit nanginginig ka?" :p

Oh, God must have really loved me.

....to be continued.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Vent Out: Unwanted Pahabol - Long Read

It's been exactly a month from our wedding.

Anyway, I was supposed to finish the selection of images for our wedding album and write more wedding kwentos most especially my V experience and complete our suppliers' ratings but I don't think I'm in the mood. Why? Because one of our 'almost-'wedding supplier is stressing me on top of the work pressure I'm getting.

This is the supplier that we booked when I was at the height of excitement for our wedding preps but this supplier was someone I just settled on getting. At the time, it so happened that this supplier's name was kind of sikat in our e-group for its service affordability and being super nice kausap. yes, the supplier was indeed a very nice person to talk to. However, I didn't expect this supplier to give me this kind of feeling after my wedding, considering that this supplier didnt even have a role on the actual wedding itself...

So we dropped this supplier at least 4-6 weeks before the wedding. The supplier asked why, and of course, it is my responsibility to let them know the reason, for courtesy's sake. After finding out our reason, they asked if we would still avail/claim the final output. I said, "bahala na po kayo kung anong plano nyo but dont worry po, I will pay the remaining balance." The issue was settled then.

From 2days before the wedding until last week, the supplier had been consistently texting me when will I be settling the payment for the remaining balance. It was 25% of the actual price. For 25%, I felt harassed and insulted.

Before I continue this story, let me just write the following:
1. The supplier's first concern was the budget I have for the service.
2. Upon acknowledging the amount I was willing to pay, the supplier will then only discuss how we would go about achieving what we want for the wedding.
3. We weren't given any contract of our agreement. (my fault, I didn't ask for one, I was too trusting with my suppliers)
5. The only documents/proofs that I have from that supplier are the receipts of our payments.

Okay, so you dear readers have a slight idea as to how I view this supplier's business attitude, noh?

I promised this supplier that I will settle the remaining balance today, July 6. He mentioned that there will be a storage cost per day if the payment is not made by July 6. We had the funds to pay and of course, I was very willing to pay even though it kind of means we're throwing away hard earned money for something that we weren't able to make use of. Unfortunately, because of my own procrastination, I fell asleep and I didn't get to pay the deposit to his bank account. I am most happy to take harshness for my partial negligence but please, was it enough to send me messages that imply something like I am a delinquent client who will make takas from my responsibilities?

I perfectly acknowledge my flaws that I forget things and that I tend to be too busy with work wherein I end up losing my time on just sleeping my butt off to catch up on rest. But saying "Naging stigma kasi ang hindi mo pagse-settle eh" as if I intentionally DID NOT settle the money I owe because it's my characteristic as a delinquent citizen or something. It was kind of disappointing. It would've been understandable if we did claim this supplier's full service and then we did not pay but hey, we would pay, time was just too stiff for us and take note; we didn’t get to utilize anything at all from their product and we don’t even have any trace or proof of our transaction except the receipts and a picture of how the supplier's product was supposed to look like. Other than that, do I deserve such a mark and reputation as a delinquent client/payer? On top of it all, we're not even talking about a five-digit amount of cash. Modesty aside, the amount we're talking about here is merely equivalent to the taxes being deducted from my semi-monthly salary.

I've had a couple of big suppliers but never did they make me feel harassed about paying. I may have asked one supplier if it was okay to make the final payment after the wedding (which, for the record, was paid in full at least halfway towards the completion of the service, 2weeks before the wedding) but again, they were all very, very polite and accommodating and I never felt that the whole business was just about money.

My husband and I will always be super thankful for having the people who took part on making our dream wedding come true and I must say that I am just glad we dropped this certain supplier who I see at this point as someone who cares more about the money they'll get rather than being concerned about the quality of their work, service, and their relationship with their clients.

By the way, I will make sure this supplier gets their money as soon as the bank opens tomorrow and I will tell them that I don't want anything to do with them anymore, the product is all theirs, I am not interested on even getting the sight of it.