A few days from now, I will be saying hello to another year of my existence.  I want to relax and say “What the heck, it’s just another birthday.” But honestly, I am pretty much freaked out.  For one, I will be crossing the “calendar borderline” thingy- or as we Filipinos put it, wala na ako sa kalendaryo… Geeez… I am turning 32 and as far as I’m concerned, I have not attained anything really worth boasting for.  To add to this, I am feeling the lose of youth- – more responsibilities, more health problems, more physical deterioration… Oh, I know I should not worry about this…worrying adds to the gravity of the situation and I do not want to compound it.  My rational brain prompts me to embrace another era of my life… to work my butt off while at the same time, enjoy what life has to offer.  Thankfully, I am slowly but imminently gaining another perspective in life… that of paving a better and brighter future for my kids.  I guess I am steering away from a life of self-centeredness and moving towards a more fulfilling and worthy one… As regards to achieving something to be proud of, well, besides being a good wife and mother, I have yet to figure that one out…. 

Just recently, I emailed this letter to Banco De Oro’s Customer Relations Officer for Credit Cards… I do not want to say anything about my case- I guess, reading this email will give you already an idea as to how unfair their system is… To clarify, I am not trying to evade my responsibilities (excuse me…).  I can outright pay what I am reasonably due- no questions asked. I do not have money problems, (and suppose I do, I can instantly ask the help of my mom, heheheh… Anyway, I do not need help for a 10 thousand debt eeeww..) I just want a fair treatment, that’s all… Any advice as regards to my situation right now will be very much appreciated…
I will be sharing the contents of my email- no holds barred, hehehe… I was not really in my sensible and reasonable self when I wrote it… I mean, to hell with editing and correct grammar… my mouth, if ever everything was verbal, was already akin to a machine gun… unstoppable and deadly… so, for all of you who care enough to know, here it is…

To whom it may concern:
Let me just blurt out the circumstances of my concern. As I am not a sucker for insignificant details so I am not sure about the exact dates of the following:

I have been an Equitable-JCB member for more or less 2 or 3 years. I am what credit card companies would love to have- as I religiously pay the interest of my credit every month . On rare occasions, I would pay a big amount but I never reached zero balance.

Equitable was then acquired by BDO and all hell broke lose. I was suddenly getting calls from customer service representatives inquiring about my payments where in fact I do pay! That was probably around May when I realized that my credit card had expired January of 2009 and I could not use it. I was not given a new card and honestly, that made me lose interest to pay my dues on time.

Since that incident, I have been frequently contacted by BDO and in turn, I would always make a follow-up as to when my card would be renewed. My request was due to the fact that, basing from my experience with other credit card companies, they would automatically give me a new card.

Then in early October of 2009, I was texted by BDO saying that my request for renewal was not approved. This was a surprise to me because aren’t clients supposed to be the one to say that? I mean, its OK because I did not like ‘really’ request for one, hello…. what I believed was that it was automatic considering the fact that I still have a balance and I do pay my interests (anyway, I do not give a S – – -… there are other credit card companies who would treat me better, and I likewise will do the same for them).

Given the information, I asked that the membership fee from February to date be waived as I am not a member anymore. The CSR stated that she will give me an update in a few days time, but nobody called me about this matter.

Now, I have received another text message stating that I am due to pay last October 9, but I did not even receive a billing statement.

Honestly, this is making me crazy! If they did not approve my renewal, why didn’t they inform me last February so I could have paid in full by that time and not pay the monthly interests!!! And to think that for every month since I have found out that it was expired, the CSR’s were assuring me that they would follow-up!!!

About the said matter, I want to rid myself of this monthly hassle and pay my due in full so that these people can get out of my life!!
To be exact, I would want the following to be done:
1) deduct the membership fee from February to date to my final bill.
2) deduct the interest that I have paid from February to date to my final bill (if they would have informed me, I would have paid my total debt right there and then!)
3) provide me with a REASONABLE final billing statement and I will pay before October ends

Honestly, I think BDO has very poor customer relations. My sister works in Citibank and they do not treat their customers like pieces of crap! Regardless of how big or small their accounts are, or whether they are platinum card holders or poor JCB cardholders like I once was, they do not give a rat’s ass… all are treated justly and equally.

I am willing to pay the amount in FULL but I will not do so without you removing the membership fee starting from the time you cut your ties with me… Also, I am filing for a complaint for not notifying me earlier— this led me to believing that my card has been renewed, costing me thousands of pesos in interest….
* I have talked to your CSR today and as per him, the complaint for a callback has been denied again… You are such crazy people… Why will I pay for a membership fee if I was not even a member??? He said he is going to file for another request…. With all my bantering over the phone, his responses were “I understand” I do not need your understanding— i need a fair and just assessment of my situation… Do this and accomplish me my final billing statement and I will slap my measly 10 thousand or so debt to you sick people… But NEVER will I pay for something that I never OWED you in the first place…

BDW… I will be blogging about how you treated me… I will make sure that all my friends are aware of how sick and unjust you guys are to your customers.

If any of you guys have any helpful advices… please let me know… As I have said, I just want this over and done with… Thanks…

**** Update: After being denied 3 times, BDO finally deducted the membership fee charges from my account… I paid the amount in full last December 11… with a note, get the hell out of my life…  I am now seriously considering to never get another credit card… ever…

Don’t you just hate it when you hear comments such as “Ah kaya pala…. babae kasi…” Remarks such as this seriously tick me off… I mean, so what if women tend to reverse at a slower pace, or be more cautious when parallel parking. That does not imply that we are poor drivers. In my opinion, it’s more of being defensive and careful. I, for one, could not risk bumping into anything or running over someone just to show everybody that I am a hotshot driver. I would rather be on the safe side and have my car and my record in pristine condition for the longest time possible…

I have been driving for quite some time now… give or take, 15 years. I cannot say that I am an expert driver- especially based on pathetic male standards. If there is really such a thing as defensive driving, then I do qualify myself as one. I enjoy driving better than being a passenger. I have driven to work for the entirety of my professional life and being so, I believe that I have earned the right to be a certified and expert driver…
However, I still have my share of stares and frowns from masochistic male drivers who seem to believe that they are the only ones who deserve to dominate the highway. Honestly, I could not help throwing a few curses over jeepney drivers who stop anywhere and anytime they feel like it, with no courtesy at all for other people on the road. I guess, this scenario is especially common in our country where rule bending is regarded as normal human behavior. If I have the power, I would make a total reformation of our public transport system and adopt a more organized scheme of using buses and cabs such as those in developed countries. If that were the case, I would even opt to leave my car at home.
I don’t know about other lady drivers out there but me, I won’t let anybody trample over my right to drive at will and for pleasure. I will do as I please and drive within the confines of the rules and regulations of LTRFB. In the end, it’s not how fast you drive or how good you are in parking that counts… it’s how you have been responsible enough to care for your own and your loved ones’ well being, your hard-earned possession, and other people’s safety.