tindera

yesterday, i accompanied my balikbayan aunt and cousin to the greenhills tiangge for a little shopping. my cousin was very excited to go there after hearing so much about it from her filipino friends and relatives. everybody urged her to see the stuff they sell there, especially the "branded" shoes and bags and she wasn't disappointed. even if the prices were almost double from the ones sold in divi mall or 168, they were more than satisfied with what they bought. they were careful, though, not to buy too much fake bags coz airport officials are strict now and they might get fined, or even charged.

anyway, as we were going through one of the stalls, my cousin saw a pair of gym pants that she liked. i haggled for her but the saleslady wouldn't budge. she said the prices were fixed and wouldn't give even a P5 discount. so i told her we would get them anyway but she had to give me an official receipt. yes, a receipt from the BIR. i read in the papers that even tiangges or bazaars should issue receipts and it's my right to demand one. with arrogance, she told me that they indeed have a receipt. so i told her again to issue me one. that's when she told me, still with arrogance, that they did have a receipt but it's in their other store somewhere in the tiangge. i told her to get one and we will wait for it.

my golly, all these started when she wouldn't give us a discount! i just thought that since she wouldn't budge, i might as well ensure that they were paying their taxes. she was proud that they had an official receipt, but what was the good in it if it remained unused. she was just plain lazy to give me one. in fact, it wouldn't even be her who would pay the taxes, it would be her boss, the owner of the store. but then, it was possible too that her boss instructed her not to give out receipts so as not to pay higher taxes to the government. hay nako!

by habit, i don't really ask for receipts, especially in flea markets or tiangges. it's just a waste of my time when i need to cover a lot in just a little amount of time. but when there are salespeople who are rude, i make sure that my right, as a consumer, are not ignored or forgotten.

so what happened with my cousin's gym pants? we didn't buy them...but i memorized the store's name, which was, by the way, mimax or mimox, and looked for their other store somewhere in that tiangge. babaw!