Sunday, April 17, 2011

Operation: Get-Away Car | Rant over Car Supplier

This, probably, is our first stressing-inducing issue with a supplier. Honestly, I dont want to make a big fuzz about it, but I just want to weigh things whether we should go forward or back out and dismiss them as part of our crew.

For our get-away car, we were looking at Chrysler 300c, but after searching the web for a provider, we came up with another option: a Fortuner.

I have kept some potential crew members for this, along with some potential providers for a Chrysler. With all our options laid down, we came up with the decision to go with the Fortuner. I made some inquiries to our short-listed providers, and noted the details of their packages. After the phone calls, exchange of email and text messages, we finally booked our get-away car and deposited our reservation. As per their post on their website and my first inquiry, the package we got was:
 - For a black Fortuner
 - 8 hours of use
 - to be driven by a chauffer anywhere within Metro Manila
 - includes gas, parking and toll fees whenever applicable
 - package was supposed to include flowers, but since the flowers from the bridal car is already included in our florist's package, I asked if I can just have that deducted from the package. Ronnie said yes, deducting 250Php from the total rent price of 4750.
 - Total Bridal Car Cost: 4500

After confirming our reservation, I received an email from them asking for our itinerary. Of course, they need my itinerary in black in white. So i just sent what I have told him in our phone conversations:
 - Pick up at the hotel (probably in Linden Suites, Ortigas) at around 2pm
 - Church: Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati. Ceremony at 3pm
 - Reception at Pasay after the ceremony and photo ops

Then, at the end of my email, I said that I am hoping that they can still bring us back to the hotel, as I thought we would still be within our rented hours by the time the reception is done. I also thought that in case he thinks that this would be beyond 8 hours, he would tell me how much it would be for the excess hour (car rentals work that way, right). This was his reply:

   "After checking our email trails, i just realized that you never gave me your exact wedding itinerary   until you've made a deposit... as i was expecting your itinerary (hotel, church and reception) to be just within the area...
   For this reason, may i please ask an additional p500 just to help us cover for gas from the reception to hotel and back to our base?... i apologize for not following up on where the itinerary after you first email response... ty much and please let me know if you have any question... ronnie"

Okay, 500 additional. No problem. But that I got confused, because I thought, would this be on top of the "overtime" charge or this is how much I should add. So I emailed him back:

  "We have talked about the itinerary when we talked on the phone, so I had the impression you knew the itinerary, since you mentioned what we ave discussed earlier. 
  The wedding will be just in Makati and the reception will be in Pasay, just straight ahead of Buendia. Paverify na lang po nito..."

With that, I was trying to point out that it IS still within the area. Ortigas isn't far from Pergola, right, since that was what he was trying to say? I just said that I was HOPING that they can still bring us back. Then he sent me this reply:

   "i do not recall the exact itinerary discussed on the phone or else i would have charged higher due to fuel consumption... for P4,500, we can do only up to reception -- not back to the hotel, or if you want to be dropped off to the hotel, we need an additional P500 or we'll refund your deposit so you can find another supplier... should you want a refund, just advise me of your bank details... ty -- ronnie"

Man, 500 bucks can't be a big deal! I told him where the hotel, the church and the reception are. I just mentioned about bringing us back to the hotel. It never came to me that our rental was itinerary-based, since we were talking about 8 HOURS of rent. The lady who first answered my phone call told me we can have the car for 8 HOURS. Why would I need the car to stay for 8 hours if they can't bring us back to the hotel? But what really ticked us off was the way he said " if you want to be dropped off to the hotel, we need an additional P500 or we'll refund your deposit so you can find another supplier..." whoa, my man... that was rude!

I had taught e-mail writing and customer service for almost three years, and I must say: this... is... one... bad email! The tone was rude, sounded like a threat, and arrogant. I am also a supplier, and there may some not-so-good and mildly "unagreeable" moments with some clients, but I never answer this way, and no one should.

Now, the dilemma, ladies and gentlemen, should I keep them, or should I send him my request for refund, and find another supplier? We don't mind paying an additional 500Php, but the way he looks at things and replies, not so good customer service, and may not even worth the cost. It's just funny; he mentioned on his first email that they "wouldn't ruin [our] reputation for just P4,500, as [we] care more about their reputation that the money [we] make." Well, guess again... they gave that impression of their "reputation".

c",)

PS:
Just double checked their multiply site, and I saw their Fortuner is also up for rent for 10 hours. Hmmm... Then they have bridal packages for the Fortuner. I guess he thought differently because he knew it's gonna be used for a wedding. Hmm... 

4 comments:

  1. hi miah!

    i suggest you let this one go. better to work with someone you're comfortable with regardless of the cost.

    if they're like this now... what can you expect come wedding day?

    i do hope they're not one of our exhibitors... please...

    many blessings ahead!

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  2. Hi. I contacted ronnie before for one of our out of town trips. I found him via their multiply site. I came across your blog while looking for the latest feedback. Anyway, from what I gathered, he's just an "agent" and has a lot of car rental contacts. The one he assigned to us back then was Skywalker, who told us the whole ronnie business and said that the next time we need car rental, we can just go straight to them instead of ronnie. I thought I'd share this just in case you don't know. My point is, you can always look for another supplier. He's not worth the stress.

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  3. Hello Anonymous. Thanks for visiting our blog, and for the info you shared. Well, I guess that figures... he doesn't really have control over the rates, or maybe just kept on changing what they offer. It's just confusing, that he can't keep his packages as it is. I just dont see the difference between renting a vehicle for a wedding vs for personal or business use.

    Thanks dear.

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  4. sabi ko naman sa yo bff, it's not worth the stress. buti ngayon pa lang, stress na sha. pwede pang ilet go. eh kung wedding mo na at nakalimutan nila yung wedding date mo.. kumusta naman ang byuti mo. baka maging totoong mafia ka...hehehehe..

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