Supermarket payment woes

We have encountered this problem with this upmarket chain at least twice. When it first happened, we brought it to the attention of their PR lady. There was no plausible explanation. Then the situation recurred over the past weekend. After picking up what we needed, we went to the cashier to pay, handing her our BPI ATM card. To our shock, she asked if we knew what our bank balance was. We were aghast! Must customers tell store cashiers their bank balances? She was still holding our ATM card when she tried to connect some wires to the swiping machine. We could not figure out what she was doing. Then she switched the blame to BPI, which she said had some connection problems. Really? Very irritated, we got our card back and left, leaving behind the cart with the merchandise we wanted to pay for.

Why is this particular chain the only supermarket, to our mind, who questions the bank balances of their customers? Why are they the only ones beset with the so called problematic BPI swiping machines? Does the store have the right to check the bank balances of their customers? What is behind this unique policy?

In contrast, everything went well when we shifted our regular weekly grocery shopping to the Robinson’s chain, specifically at its supermarket in Nuvali, Sta.Rosa early the following week. We handed our BPI ATM card to the cashier. There was no irritating question that came from her. In fact, she graciously swiped our card and voila! payment was made. Truly satisfying.

At Robinson’s Sta. Rosa, there is a subliminal campaign for healthy eating in their Wellness Section. We are delighted to note the variety of vegetable and fruit juices, like the Tippo selection from Thailand including broccoli juice, which costs P110.60 for a tetrapack of 1 liter, and the Lichi (lychee) juice blend from South Africa at P86 per. There is Magnolia’s powdered mix, that includes calamansi, P8.80 per pack.

From the Cold Storage freezer, the new items include Lorenzana dulong extract; cream dory portions, boxes of premium cod (gindara) at P516. 29 per 295 gms; premium seaweed salad. Robinson’s has a section for imported processed meat like a variety of sausages and cheeses. There is an ample array of Japanese food stuff, such as tempura sauce and coating. New variants of olive oil are here – bottles mixed with garlic lemon, which should be practical for marinating. The brand is La Española.

A few days ago, we re-visited the BF Parañaque wet market. We were a bit shocked at the high price of seafood there. Still they are cheaper than in the supermarkets.

Fishmongers Mel and Inday said this cold weather makes the fish go deeper, thus fishermen have difficulty catching them. Anyway, we got the lowly GG (galunggong) at P90 for half a kilo and giant bangus at P180. Inday, who we have “baptized” as the P380 lady, was selling practically every catch at that price a kilo, except for the tempura-size prawns at P550 and the jumbo lapu-lapu more than a foot long, at P450. From our rice and egg suki, Carrie, we got extra large eggs at P172 a tray and premium Sinandomeng rice a P48 a kilo. The young man with vegetables gave us white onions at P50 a kilo and tomatoes for P40. We got mangoes, sweet, at P100 a kilo and oranges which were dried up at P25 per.

It was great renewing ties with our favorite vendors and doing problem-free grocery shopping.

You, too, have a great Sunday!

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