My very first cellphone was a Nokia 3210 – Finland, not China.
I remember buying … err, charging it to my credit card from a Nokia-Globe booth that was then setup at the second floor of Glorietta near where the Quickmelt Ensaymada is now stationed and just in front of the sizzling plate resto located at the corner of the alley where National Bookstore is. This was way back mid-2000.
It wasn’t an easy purchase, mind you. I went to the booth on a Saturday (if my memory serves me right) intent on buying my first cellphone.
Days earlier I had done the rounds and in those days, there were not that many cellphone stores to go into. Most of the cellular phone vendors setup booths here and there in wherever malls they were able to go into. I spotted that cellphone booth a week earlier and learned that they would be at the mall until Sunday the following week.
So off I went to the booth with my RCBC JCB credit card ready. It was supposed to be the first purchase of my new credit card which I just got a few weeks earlier. There was minimal talk with the sales person as I already knew I wanted a spanking, sparkling, matte-coated Nokia 3210. The guy helping me out readied the invoice, the receipt and the unit and asked for my credit card. The purchase was going to cost about P15,000 – I thought, a good investment.
As fate would have it, the card transaction failed. I got my card back and went home almost in tears because I failed to get my cellphone.
Next day after lunch, with my sister in tow, I went to SM Southmall to again try to “buy” a 3210. We found the semi-official Globe store and proceeded to do the purchase. The saleslady processed my purchase but when she swiped my credit card, the transaction was terminated. She turned to me and asked if I had another card because my JCB did not have enough balance to cover the P15,000 cost of the unit. I argued that the credit card has never been used and still had the full P20,000 credit limit.
The saleslady again swiped my card and keyed in the cost. Failed again.
I felt panic rising from my bowels. It didn’t help that my sister was yammering that I may have used the card before.
The saleslady probably saw the panic in my eyes because she then volunteered to call the RCBC JCB card center to verify my card. I thanked her and gave my consent.
After a few minutes on the phone, she turned to me and said that the bank confirmed a transaction was made with my card the previous day. And the amount was P15,000 so-so – THE SAME AMOUNT AS THE CELLPHONE I WAS BUYING!
I can’t recall if I spoke to the card rep on the phone or the saleslady did, but I got the details of the transaction including the name of the vendor, the transaction date and time, the amount and the transaction reference number. I was then advised to go to that particular merchant to have them credit back the amount to me.
NAKNAMPUTIK! That meant I had to go to Makati at once because the cellphone booth was only available til that day!
With my smirking sister still in tow, I hailed a cab from SM Southmall and went to Glorietta. I think I was charged around P200 for the meter, plus I had to pay for the toll of the South Luzon Expressway.
Harassed, haggard, and a bit short on moolah, we arrived at Glorietta after about 40 minutes on the taxi. We hurried to the second floor and saw that the booth was still there.
Luckily, the guy who helped me the previous day was on shift. He recognized me as the fat guy whose credit card purchase failed. I called his attention and in my most earnest and close-to-sobbing voice explained the situation. I pleaded that they credit back to me the P15,000 they got off my card. Armed with my card and the info I got from the bank, I was able to convince him that my case was legit.
After explaining my case, he asked me to wait for a bit because he had to talk with his boss. The boss, a Chinese-looking lady with rather sharp looks, looked pissed off as she got the news from her staff. She directed dagger looks at me and it didn’t help that she kept frowning and the wrinkles on her forehead seemed to double as the minutes rolled.
After an eternity on the chair, sweating like a pig, the boss and the sales guy approached me – the lady looking more pissed off than ever and the sales person with a look that said, “Why me? Why me?”
The boss looked at me and drew a deep breath. I wasn’t breathing anymore.
She then told me that they cannot credit back the amount that they got off my credit card because of the hassles of verification and stuff.
I was crestfallen.
But the boss added that they could just honor the transaction and that they would give me my cellphone after they’ve verified that my transaction was legit.
I was elated.
It didn’t matter that it took about two hours for them to verify that the “cancelled” transaction did get through. And looking through their inventories, they’ve discovered that they had an extra Nokia 3210 unaccounted for.
We made through the motions again of invoice, signatures and receipts and finally, I got my spanking, sparkling, totally-new, matte-colored, gray Nokia 3210!
