Bloopers

The incident involving the death of Trinidad "Trina" Etong, wife of ABS CBN broadcaster Ted Failon has stirred the whole country specifically the way the Quezon City Police District treated the case and the people involved in the case. The harsh treatment accorded to Ted Failon and his wife's relatives, who were dragged like criminals, gave rise to the fear among ordinary citizens.

Despite the heartaches and the headaches this case has brought not only to Ted Failon here's one amusing blooper involving an interview between a police officer and Alex Santos of ABS CBN just this morning.

Alex Santos was asking a police officer from QCPD if they have aleady ruled if the Trina Etong case was suicide or parricide.

Alex Santos: Sa tingin nyo po ba sir ang suicide ay krimen?

Police officer: Mahirap hong sagutin yan---alangan namang kasuhan natin yung patay!

Unionbank Explanation On PayPal Fiasco Illogical

I am still uncomfortable with my PayPal deposits via Unionbank because of the discrepancy that happened just this week. The amount which appeared in my account record is way below the expected amount withdrawn from Paypal. However, what is more disconcerting are the events following my written email to Unionbank about the discrepancy which has remained unanswered up to now.

My mistake. I did not get a printscreen of the transaction. When I checked back, the P1,900 something wrongly deposited to my account disappeared. What more? The transaction fiasco itself disappeared from the online transaction box like Houdini's Magic.

After hounding the bank staff she agreed to connect me to the 1-800-188882277-not-so-hot-hotline and after several attempts we were able to talk to the operator who lo and behold! said she was seeing my accounts and the transactions I made and there was no transaction reflecting the P1, 900 deposit made to my account nor the transaction withdrawing the same amount from my account. So was I lying to myself and to her just so I can make a blog entry out of it? Whew!

The customer rep said that at the time I complained about the questionable transaction they were still updating the system and maybe my account has not yet been updated. Well, I am no bank term genius but what I understand from an un-updated account is an account that is supposed to show the exact money I had before any transaction has been made. So why was there an update, meaning I got a new deposit?

She insisted that my account has not yet been updated that time and when I told her again about the wrong amount appearing there, she kept on repeating that same keyword phrase that would have landed first page in Google due to repetition.

I was stupid enough not to get a printscreen of that transaction so the next time any of these happen to you make sure you get a printscreen so you have some form of evidence when they deny everything.

Unionbank's PayPal Bloopers

Is Unionbank efficient enough to handle PayPal remittances, not only for its debit cards but also for savings accounts?

This question did not accidentally enter my mind. I just had a very bad experience with Unionbank's PayPal remittance services. It may be called a minor blooper in the ordinary world but for a bank as big as Unionbank (who may be handling millions of dollars and accounts for its clients) this is not only a blooper but it speaks bad about how it handles its accounts---big or small.

I was waiting for my PayPal withdrawal of $196.19 so I kept on checking my online account with Unionbank. Funny but when I checked this morning only P1,905.81 was reflected. Either the peso-dollar rate has plunged to P10 per dollar or Unionbank committed a booboo in its data entry. I was just watching TV earlier to check the business news so I know the peso-dollar rate is P41.80 to a dollar. Which means Unionbank's data entry personnel or teller or whoever the hell is in charge of converting dollar remittances to peso is grossly inefficient.

To make matters worse, I called up the Victoria Branch and asked for the error to be rectified but the lady merely told me to call their toll free number as they cannot do anything about this. PERIOD! I may have lost it somewhere along the internet while cruising but isn't customer service also a part of the bank's local branches' commitment?

And to rub it in, I called up the 1-800-1888-2277 (which I memorized and can recall even while I am asleep) is always busy. I managed to get in after dialling 20 times (or more!) but a stupid recording on the other line says: "sorry, all our customer representatives are busy.....". I waited until the recording got tired and the line went pfffttt.. So I dialed again and got the busy tone.

There goes the hotline that's not so hot after all...