29 May 2007


Mr. Caesar T. Michelena
President
COCOPLANS
Corporate Business Center
5th Floor Rufino Plaza Bldg.
Ayala Ave., cor. V.A. Rufino Street, Makati City


Dear Mr. Michelena,

I hope this email finds you well.

I would just like to bring to your and to the company management's attention an incident that happened between myself and Ms. Ces Guerrero, Sales Manager. I met with her last Monday, 28 May, 2007, around 7.00 pm at the Cocoplans Corporate Business Center, 5/F Rufino Plaza Bldg., when I claimed a free insurance policy and she explained to me the company's products. After explaining the products, she asked me how much from my personal budget I can set aside considering my other priorities and obligations, and without changing my lifestyle drastically. I said I can set aside Php 500-1,000 a month. (This was my best estimate of a modest and realistic amount, because I did not want to give false hopes that I can set aside so much, when I have other obligations, and I will end up being inconvenienced because of overcommitting to many parties.) She then explained the different payment methods and said so as not to cause inconvenience or waste time, they usually operate in yearly terms.

At that point, it occurred to me that she seemed to find that amount disappointingly small. I can understand because the maturity value she showed in her earlier example was about Php 1M. But given her earlier statement (please see underlined phrase above), I trusted that she would respect whatever amount I gave. I felt slight embarassed when I saw her reaction, but she did continue to say that the company provides a 'special,' more flexible (presumably more affordable) plan. She proceeded to explain the alternative, and then said words to these effect: "Since interested ka, nagustuhan mo naman ang benefits, and IF (she repeatedly stressed the IF) kaya sa budget, and I'm not saying that you need to pay ngayon, pero in case may cash ka, how much ang pwede mo ibigay?"

Not wanting to waste either of our times, I told her rightaway that I did not have any cash with me at the moment. She said again "IF lang naman.." So under the assumption that we were discussing theoretically, since she repeatedly stressed the IF, I said I will give Php 1,000. And then she suddenly scoffed and said: "Php 1,000…? Kukuha ka ng Php 1,000 na premium?"

I was very, very upset. In the first place, she only asked me theoretically how much I could give, given her first statement above. Secondly, she told me of the payment terms, but when she asked me how much I can give, she did not say that I needed to think of an amount in annual terms. She presumes in her statement "Kukuha ka ng Php 1,000 na premium?" that I am stupid to assume I can get a premium for Php 1,000. Of course I will not pay only Php 1,000 a year.

I told her frankly that: "Naiinsulto ako sa yo." And instead of apologizing, she laughed me off (in my opinion, disbelievingly and condescendingly) and immediately justified what she did, in effect giving me the impression that I am wrong to feel insulted. She said she was not there to insult me and asked how it is I felt insulted, and I said her approach towards me just then was insulting. She said: "I am just making light of the situation, to put you at ease, kasi nung pumasok ka dito, di ka nags-smile, meron ka nang inhibitions, may takot ka." At that point, I felt that I should leave because I could really feel my temper rising. She did absolutely nothing to appease me. I said that I was not interested in the plan anymore and left.

I have never felt so insulted before. I have a plan with another company as well, which I told Ces right from the beginning. And when I came to them two years ago with an amount less than what I am planning to give Cocoplan, they accommodated me, and subsequently discussed an alternative plan for me, according to what I could only afford at that time. I am not saying the company should always conform to all its customers' needs. But the company's representative is there only to find a match between its products and the customers' needs and capacity. If this amount is only what I can afford at this time, I don't need someone to tell me that my Php 1,000 is worth nothing. I should have been told tactfully, that at this time, there is no match between my capacity and the products. I would understand that. I was waiting for her to say that because earlier on, she already established in a roundabout way, that the offer lasts only yesterday, and that the company does not accept customers once they declined the first time, and I also established that I did not have capacity to pay right there and then. Therefore, there was no way I could have done anything yesterday.

Although I had my reservations, I kept an open mind and listened to her while she presented the products, and I liked it. I was very interested in what she was offering me, and I was actually thinking of a way to reshuffle my expenses to accommodate a second plan. But having received very bad treatment from her, a ranking officer, nonetheless, I am now of the thought that I will never consider doing business with the company again. I will not spread rumors or bad propaganda because I do not think that how Ces acted was a reflection of the company. But I will certainly tell everyone I know of this particular experience with her, and it is beyond my control if any of them think this behavior mirrors the company's values.

I am bringing this to your attention so that appropriate action may be taken, and steps to improve customer service be implemented. Ces' reaction was uncalled for, and is certainly not the way you want to treat a potential customer. Apologies for the length of my letter, but I wanted to put everything on record because I am treating this as a very serious matter, and I trust that the company will also. Thank you very much in advance.