Friday, February 27, 2015

tudung o tudung



i wanted to remain anonymous about the famous tudung store when i wanted to write about this. 
but, i guess some of you might be able to make a wild guess. 
after all, what i wrote is what had happened to me, and it was not fabricated and it might be a once-off unfortunate occasion and it did not happened to others, hopefully. 
i insisted of writing because i find it an insult to customer's rights by such a prestigious mentioned-company.

i won't deny how 'silly' a lady can be when it comes to shopping. i called it 'passion'.. hahaha.. that's the only scapegoat answer i could give to my husband when he asked 'how much?'.
i bought expensive ridiculous stuff too. i bought handbags that were so plain and yet because that tiny symbol on the left corner of the bags, i sealed the deal. and of course i was satisfied. i got it cheap online from my buddy who is staying in the US and the bags were demn cheap as compared to the same designs sold in the boutiques in KLCC (and yet the boutiques still have paying customers and they survive!). i bought two pairs of expensive shoes and keep on praying for nice weather or i might have to jump over puddles, which i kept telling aimar "please don't step on my shoes, it's expensive" and his response was sweet "why did you buy a shoe that so expensive if you are going to put it on your feet?".. 

last weekend, my mom bought a tudung. the expensive range from the famous shop. she bought two. one for her and one for me, without me asking. 

okay, i guess mom will always be mom. she used to buy stuff when we were small, and she keeps doing it till now. the only difference is that, she asked for us to pay back this time. and her 'taste' in stuff will mostly be on the new arrival range though the 70% sale signage that made her enter the shop at the first place.

i'm not complaining about her 'buying' skill. but, as she passed me the tudung she bought, and it didn't suited the colour i had in mind and then she told me the price, i was flabbergasted. of course i started nagging to her .. but the least i can do is to get an exchange of the colour that i've wanted.

to me, what she bought was piece of purple show with a 'line' of iron-on beads which i can merely got it by the street at the cost of less than rm50. hers were waaaaaay beyond the 'logical' price for a piece of cloth.

but then again, i couldn't blame the shop when my mom decided to have this impulse buying and i have to pay the price. it's understood that no refund should be granted. but, as i need a green tudung instead, i guess there's nothing wrong of trying to get it exchanged.

man, how wrong could i be. with less than three hours of purchased, i went back to the shop and asked for an exchange. unfortunately, the colour that i've wanted was not in the same range of the purple cloth (yup, to me it's still a piece of cloth with a tiny line of bling2). the green cloth that will match my dress was rm20 cheaper than the purple one. so, i politely asked the salesperson if i could change it and understood should i not be given the difference cashback.

"sorry puan, kita tak boleh tukar tudung ni sebab coding tak sama"
yup, i have hearing issues.. but i thought i heard it right and clearly the first time. trying to control my mental state at that moment, i requested the girl to repeat herself.
and the seconds i realized she was repeating the same sentence, and i repeated for clarity, my anger mode started to tick.

"i'm sure there's something you can do about it. i'm not asking for any refund. and the tudung was only with me for less than three hours. i haven't used it, for goodness sake".

"maaf puan, system kite tak allow"

"please let me talk to your management"

and i've clarified the issued with the smartly-dressed gentleman sitting behind the counter.
"sorry puan, our system did not allowed any exchange of different coding items"
"why is that?"
"it's the procedure"
"by who?"
"the auditor, puan. i do not have the authority to do so"
"this piece of cloth is one of the many that is paying partly for the third-party auditor who you paid to come up with the procedure and proposed the system. if you need to have a complete report stating that a customer insist on not using the automated system and deviate from the procedure that was set by the auditor because she has a change of mind in less than three hours and wanted to have an exchange of an unused product to much lesser value than what she had paid for and not asking for any refund, i could write it for you. and stop abusing the words system, procedures and no authority if you wouldn't mind admitting you are the management"

come on people! stop 'abusing' consumers with these 'power' words.

i wonder how many customers of them that they have 'cheated' in such ugly ways by expressing 'the system can't do it because of the procedure and was instructed by the auditor and i (the management) has no authority'.

shame on you.

of course, me being vocal, i got what i wanted. they even have the guts to tell me "you can pick anything else with the 'extra' money you have paid"
and when i responded "what can i get with rm18 and not to add any single cent more"
the whole clan at the counters took ten minutes of silence to come back with an answer "maybe we can give you a store credit so that you could use it in a next purchase"
well well well
it's sale time and they do not have anything below rm18. bravo!
of course, i took the store credit, not for me to use, but at least it gave me some sort of 'satisfaction'..

really, me? satisfied enough with the store credits...
negative!
it heartbreaking to realized how many customers who was not as blessed as me been saving their money just to get one of the branded tudung as their collection and got cheated..

kawan2, there's more online tudung that is sooooo much nicer, prettier, with higher quality and of course with attractive offers.. just stop buying these oppressive. when the buying slows down, they might realized whether its their auditors they should listen or their customers.

   

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

tears

"mama nangis kenapa?"
...
i normally chose to answer all questions that were thrown to us from the kids. we promoted the boys to ask and ask and ask and ask. we wanted them to be intrigued all the times. we wanted them to understand better on every other things. we wanted them to talk to us and not to shut them off. and the least we wanted them to know the truth and facts of life so that they learn how to live their life. 

but when aimar asked me that question last night, i was muted. i was clueless in looking for the 'politically' right way to answer him that.
...
i can't tell him i cried because i just had to. 

he cried few weeks back, because he was mad when his classmate made fun of him by showing a caricature of a man with beard was him. i told him not to cry. 
"kalau aimar tak sakit, tak luka, aimar tak boleh cry. hero tak cry"
but i did asked him why he cried..and he's answer was cute "mama tak kasi aimar gaduh, so, aimar cry lah"....

right after that, aidan came with a sour face. after threatening him that i won't drive home if he won't tell what was the issue, he started crying. he cried because he was laughing at his classmate and his teacher thought him a 'sweet' lesson by asking him to do the task that his friend did and as it took the same difficulties like his friend did, his teacher told him that he shouldn't laugh at his mates at the first place. the strong abang in him brokedown and cried in front of mama. but then again, i told him "aidan knew it was wrong. takpelah, next time you'll remember and won't repeat it again. for now, nangis lah"
...
i had a myringotomy surgery in June last year. It's a simple procedures where the surgeon poke a hole in my ear and put a tube so that my middle ear won't get blocked as the air and fluid in the ears is building up, results from the radiotherapy. Last week, the plastic tube that was in the left year was loosen up and fell off. I had been uncomfortable since then. my hearing,which has been deteriorating from the treatment, is getting from good to so-so. my hubby tried making conversation, but i somehow misheard few words and repeating sentences to your wife over and over again is not something comforting. 

my supplement supplies were shorts for days. my dad managed to bought it yesterday and passed them to me this morning. but, lacks of supplements made my body from so-so to too-tired-to-even-to breath. but ladies, please envy me. my hubby let me sleep most of the times, and i do sleep like a baby. 

of course, i'm planning for another myringotomy and i've got my supplement for the month.

but yesterday, as i prayed, i felt like crying. 
i'm not giving up life.
i felt blessed.
i have always been blessed with good life, good people, good things.
one thing i was lacking before is to be thankful of all the blessings. 
nauzubillah, i do not want to go there again.. i do not want to be those who were not thankful. 
i've been given my life back. 
i could die.
i could gave up.
but i guess, it's okay for me to cry. 
...
i cried for how grateful i am with all the blessings and opportunities for betterment.
i cried for how tired and sick i felt, Allah gave me my caring loving husband and my concern families for me.
i cried for how sad i am and as i felt like i'm letting myself down, i knew kasih Allah is there, and all i have to do is 'ask'.
i cried for all the sins i did, and i hope the pain i felt washed it away, ameen.
...
aidan, aimar,
sometimes, we cry .. just because we had to.