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Woes of stranded airport passengers
Source: Inquirer
Author: Marietta Velasco Giron
Date: 2001-03-02
 
ALWAYS check early enough if your flight schedule is okay. And to avoid the usual hassles, you should be prepared for flight delays or cancellations, especially if you have nowhere to go when it occurs. As it happens, some airline companies just don’t give a damn if their passengers go hungry or if they sleep on the bench while waiting for the next flight.



We were among the unfortunate passengers last Sunday who did not know that our 3:30 p.m. flight to Laoag was to be delayed for seven hours. Finally, when we were airborne at 10:30, PAL compensated by serving dinner on board: a box of Jollibee’s one-piece chicken meal. But woe is to the vegetarians on board.



Unfortunately for our dinner host in Laoag, it was too late when he learned of the delay. We thank our caring dinner host, Nonong Ablan of Palazzio de Laoag, who waited up several hours in his restaurant and kept warm the authentic Ilocano dishes until we arrived. The following native dishes never tasted so good: fried river hito, the katuday and pukpuklao (native seaweed) salad, balatong, Ilokano caldereta, dinuguan, and many more.



Parking hassles



T. Mercado has good reasons to gripe about the P30 parking fee at the Ortigas Center parking facility, specifically at the Pearl Drive area.



He wrote to us: "The guards slap you right away with the parking fee even if you are just stepping out of your car. This is a contrast to the cordial treatment I get from the Makati Park guards who are considerate enough to waive the fee when I park my car for only a few minutes.



"I wish the Ortigas Center guard near Pearl Drive will be considerate enough. They should also wear uniform and identification card," Mercado wrote.



No official receipt at carpark



From Nicholas Y of Megamall "Like other stores at Megamall I always issue official receipts and I expect other stores to do the same, as required by the Megamall management. Last Feb. 6, however, the cashier at the parking area said she could not issue a receipt because the machine was out of order. I asked her for a signed provisional receipt which was reluctantly issued. It took her 25 minutes to do it. Why do I have to ask for my official receipt all the time?



DTI replies to reader’s query



E.Landicho of Los Baños, Laguna sent us an e-mail questioning the replacement fee added on to the price tag of two items sold at Abenson’s in Waltermart-Calamba.



He wrote: "I would like to know whether or not the following price-tagging practice is legal.



"The price tags of a coffee maker and a gas stove were lower by P200 each than the amount written on the purchase receipt issued by store. According to the sales clerk, while warranty on the products guaranteed free repair for the first year, the P200 represented the replacement tax in case the appliances will need parts’ replacement on the second year."



Here is the reply of Director Ma. Teresa Arao-Mahiwo of the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection: "Department AO No. 4 specifies that all price tags, labels, markings and price lists must be clear, and shall indicate the price of the consumer product per unit in pesos and centavos. They should indicate prices of goods and service incorporating all price components such as the Value Added Tax.



"Further, the DTI Office of Legal Affairs, in its memorandum of July 28, 1999 opined that the term ‘all price components’ covers all charges, fees, and expenses, which the seller requires the consumers to pay in connection with the sale of consumer product or service…"

 

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