Don't Be Fooled @ Hoffman MC Depot

2

Written on Sunday, September 28, 2008 by Ennah, the comsci student

It's sad to hear a lot of people are taking advantage of other individuals for their own benefit. It's been common here in the internet world - scamming, phishing attacks and etc. And not only in the internet world, but as well in the REAL world.

Yesterday, my mother and I went to MC Home Depot at their branch at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. We went there to buy vinyl tiles and as we went there, there was a promo girl in front who approached us and said that she will give us a mug by just visiting their showroom. I was skeptic about it. My mom said it would be nice if we could get a discount at their tiles. So even though I did not like the idea of going to their showroom, I just went with my mom.

The promo girl did not actually say anything about their product as we were walking towards the showroom so we both thought that it was a showroom of tiles, lighting or home furnitures. When we went there, it was actually a showroom of electronic appliances - made by HOFFMAN.

Because the promo girl said that she'll just tell to us some of their product, i sat down with my mom and attentively listen to the promo girl with their manager babbling about the usual - what's good about their product and what makes it a best buy. I don't want to be rude so even though i'm skeptic about the whole idea, I listen through all of it. Some of their products are 19 inch portable lcd t.v., chiller, air purifier, dvd player and some plates (they were extra ordinary because only 100 pieces of it are distributed through out the Philippines; they said Imelda Marcos actually bought one like that). What I liked from all about their product is only the 19-inch portable lcd t.v.

As we are about to go, the promo girl gave us a discount and asked us if where we live. My mom said that we lived in Makati. All the staffs including the promo girl and the manager was astonished to find out that we lived in Makati because they have a promo that the first 10 person to go to their showroom who lived in Makati will be given free 19-inch portable lcd t.v. worth about 39,000 pesos. I looked like I don't believe it. So the manager explained that it was free because instead of hiring a model to endorse their product, they were giving it free. For me to believe it, he actually called their supervisor that it was actually true. My mom talked to him and confirmed that it was actually true, and not only that, they're giving away the chiller, air purifier and two set of the extra-ordinary plates.

I was still not convinced because I would like to know the catch about it so the manager told us the three conditions. The manager said that the only conditions are: (1) we have to say that it was not given free - as if we really bought it; (2) we will use it for a year and we will not sell it to other people; (3) we will not in any way erase or block the brand name HOFFMAN in their product. The conditions were not that hard to comply with so my mom was actually happy to hear that it was actually free.

They have placed the products already in place for us to bring it, when the manager said that we have to buy at least one for us to bring to whole package. That's the big catch over there. They were actually forcing us to buy it because it was already packed and was already in place.

Without further ado, I said that we don't have that money right now (the cheapest was the lcd monitor worth 39,000 pesos and it's not our main purpose there anyway) and walked away from the showroom. The staff there did not even gave our supposedly free mug for visiting the showroom. And I was actually disappointed that they were fooling us to buy their product. They should have said that in the first place.

I did not post it to ruin someone's business. I post it for people to know what they are ACTUALLY doing. That's really not a good thing to force people to buy your product. I hope everybody should be aware of this kind of thing.

If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to our feed

2 Comments

  1. a.m.! |

    SAME HAPPENED TO ME AND MY DAD TODAY!
    THEY ARE SUCH GOOD ACTORS! GOOD THING MY DAD WAS SMART ENOUGH!


    and it is quite sad that this happens. :(

     
  2. Ennah, the comsci student |

    good thing you are smart enough not to buy the whole hoffman thing. geez, they are so desperate.

     

Post a Comment