My Lazada Philippines's Second Online Shopping Experience

After almost forsaking Lazada Philippines in this article,  I procured my second order on the online shop site to make use of the gift check they gave me as an endowment for the hassle they've caused.

To tell you the truth, I got a mixed feeling about it, one part excited since I'm about to find out if Lazada Philippines could pull out my order fast and redeem themselves, while on the other hand, anxious that their failure might recur, and this is the main reason why I opted to buy an item that had the closest price to the gift check.

To really gave a direct comparison to the previous transaction, I choose the very same process that I did before; same payments system (via DragonPay), same confirmations process, etc. I wanted to measure the changes made by the company on these areas.

Interestingly, within the payment and confirmation process, I've notice that the company now had an SMS system sent to customer's registered contact number reminding him/her to settle the amount ordered on the allowed time frame, a welcome addition, but unfortunately the message came in very late, thats about a day after the item was delivered. A little improvement on this I believe will be very effective in addressing cancellation issues. Lazada should also make the SMS system more interactive, like maybe an option to reply on it to confirm or deny the said notice.

Well, if your wondering why the text came in very late for me, thats because my ordered item was delivered in less than 2 days after the confirmation, a huge difference here compared to the previous! I can see that they were really serious on wanting to improve their services and hopefully, its for good. Great job guys!

Then again, making one impressive transaction won't rest my apprehensions aside about the company's performance. They still need to prove more to regain my full trust and recommendation. If they could retain the same performance on my next two to three orders, maybe, everything depends on them. As I've mentioned on my previous article, I want them to grow and improve since they gave me and the rest of the buyers from the province the opportunity to buy products that we could hardly find locally.

Make it happen Lazada Philippines, you can do it! :)

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My Lazada Philippines's Wicked Online Shopping Experience! Part 2

Read the first part of the article HERE.

Day 13

09:29 +8GMT, July 29, 2012

I received a reply via email from Lazada Philippines denying the validation from DragonPay and continuously claim that they did not receive the payment. Find the scenario quite weird actually because they’re both denying responsibility and accused one another instead of working together to solve the problem as partners in a business that thrives in the trust and confidence of customers to succeed.

Day 15

10:03 +8GMT, July 31, 2012

Called up Lazada customer service again to follow up on the refund but unfortunately, no feedback was made by the accounting department so the rep couldn't give me any as well and instead informed me that the normal processing time of refunds takes about 5 - 10 days. Typhoon Gener also hit the Manila that time with floods everywhere so they had a valid excuse since banks and offices were closed. They promised a callback again if they have any developments.

Day 17

13:52 +8GMT, August 2, 2012

Called up Lazada customer hotline again to follow up. I thought they could finally give me the answers I expected but unfortunately they weren't able to send the refund yet because they're still on the process trying to figure things out as to what really happen to my payment. They promised a callback again within the day.

Day 22

12:27 +8GMT, August 8, 2012

Called up Lazada customer service rep again to follow up since I didn't receive any call from them for more than a week, well they never did even once anyway, but as usual, I heard the same reasons and excuses. I’m already sick and tired with their bullshit that’s why I decided to email DragonPay again to follow up. To be fair to DragonPay, they really made it a point to reply to my queries within the day unlike Lazada's empty promises. DragonPay assured me that they will follow up the refund with Lazada.

Before the end of the day, I receive a forwarded message from DragonPay with a conversation between them and a certain Lazada personnel, asking feedback on my case.

Day 23

15:48 +8GMT, August 9, 2012

Very much frustrated on the situation, I called up Lazada again to inquire but instead of giving solace to an erring customer, the female service rep gave me the most fascinating excuse/tale of all, accordingly, they already sent my refund last July 28! My God, of all the possible stupid excuses! How in the world would I care calling the customer hotline countless of times to follow up my refund if I already received it? I was so furious that time that she keeps putting me on hold several times to check and recheck my refund information. She then told me that my refund was still on process and that it would take them 15 days for the deposited money to be cleared in the bank, another wild hallucinating story that further ignite my anger. Who would ever believe that a bank deposit will take 15 days to clear, it’s shitty! I then inform the service rep that I had enough of their lies and I'm going to send my lawyer to pick up the refund on their office as well as file a formal complaint to the DTI afterwards for violation of Contract to Sale.

The rep was startled and went on the 15 business days excused/defense again for processing refund and promised to follow up the accounting department. I told her that an online shop receiving orders and payments 24 hours a day 7 days a week is equated as having the same official business day and she wasn't able to answer this argument. Also, since they've always use the "follow up with the accounting department" excuse, I vehemently asked for the number of the said department so I could follow it up myself but she refused.

She then went to the feeling sorry maneuver and that I don't need to send a lawyer to their office because they will process my refund. My last word in the conversation, "tell that excused to my lawyer!".

I then remember the email that DragonPay sent to me the yesterday, it was a forwarded message with a reply from what I suspect, a Lazada accounting department insider since DragonPay communicated with him to follow up. His email address was on the message so I gave it a try.

Day 27

11:30 +8GMT, August 13, 2012

To my surprise and on the day where I threatened to send a lawyer and have the case forwarded to the DTI, LJ, the person I emailed last August 9th, called me up. He was sorry that the incident happened and offered me right away a gift coupon worth 500 pesos to compensate for the delays and troubles they’ve cause. He also asked me if I want to push through with the refund or wanted the item reordered and delivered the soonest since I told him in the email that what happened was a forcible refund proceeding. I then choose to reorder since I already have doubts about their refund process, and that I also badly need the tablet as well.

Well, at least they started to care about the situation unlike the empty promises made by the service reps before him.

Day 31

17:04 +8GMT, August 17, 2012

Followed up LJ on the reorder and he told me that he already processed it but due to high demand of the item, it might take them a few more days to deliver it. He also assured to contact me by Wednesday for an update.

Day 36

11:41 +8GMT, August 22, 2012

Texted LJ again for an update since he promise to give me one since Wednesday but have not received anything. A reply came in saying that he will follow it up.

Day 38

09:55 +8GMT, August 24, 2012

Sent another follow up text but this time, I signifying to change my ordered unit to any available one. LJ texted back informing me that the unit is already available and is ready for shipment.

Day 43

15:00 +8GMT, August 29, 2012

Item was delivered by LBC.

Day 50

15:39 +8GMT, August 29, 2012

Received a text from LJ with my voucher code.

All in all, it took Lazada Philippines, 43 days to complete the transaction. 43 days of fear, anguished and regrets on my part.

So, the moral lesson of the story?

- Buying the old way is still preferable since you can get your item right away after paying for it. Online shopping is easy and convenient but you also risk everything. It might be that I’m just a victim of circumstances with the "technical glitch" on Lazada’s system but the stress and trauma I experience was immeasurable. With the coupon with me at the moment, I surely need to order an item from them again but beyond this, it will take me some time to shop online again most specially with Lazada. Trust and confidence is difficult to rebuild.
- On the part of Lazada, I hope they can fix their problem on the payment system to prevent further complications and negative feedback's from customers. Its just that I happen to be a blogger who believe that sharing my story is a social responsibility specially on sensitive issues such as this one. Lazada needs to reconfigure their payment mechanism and show to the world that they can be fully trusted. They must as well reorganize and train there service reps on how to properly handle customers and refrain them from making fascinating stories/excuses and empty promises. They could as well change the delivery time from 5-10 days to 40-45 days.
- When dealing with service representatives, you must imposed fear on them so they won’t take you for granted. I supposed they would have not acted on the problem if I didn’t threatened them to file a formal complaint to the DTI.
- Service reps were usually third party groups hired by a company to handle concerns, they only rely on the feedback from company insiders. If you have the same problem like mine, better asks for contacts from the company itself so your concern will be address fairly.
- Be assertive and fight for your rights as a customer in good faith.

I’m not saying that you should avoid buying from Lazada Philippines, this article only serves as a reference on what to expect and not to expect from them. And by the way, I did not file a formal complaint to the DTI because I'm giving them a chance to redeem themselves and grow as one of the premier online shops in the country. Everyone deserves a second chance.

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My Lazada Philippines's Wicked Online Shopping Experience! Part 1

When I first find out about Lazada.com.ph, I really felt delighted, that finally we have a local online store with a refined website offering products that could hardly be found in the provinces. With a heartbeat and full confidence, I decided to give it a try by ordering a tablet that I could use in school. Tablet becomes handy in my case specially that Law School requires us to read Supreme Court Reports Annotated (SCRA’s), Republic Acts, Decree’s among other texts that could easily be downloaded on the internet in PDF format.

Day 1

17:53 +8GMT, July 17, 2012

I place an order via the website. The order went fine as Lazada provided a systematic process. I opted to choose DragonPay as a method of payment whom, in return and within a few minutes, sent me an email stating the deposit instruction and confirmation procedure. (Screenshot photo below)


Day 2

12:31 +8GMT, July 18, 2012

I paid the item through the account of DragonPay via Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI). DragonPay by the way is a third party online payment company that had promised to provide greater security and convenience than traditional credit cards while on the other hand has a greater market reached by utilizing Philippine Bank networks and non-traditional outlets like convenience stores, business centers, remittance centers and pawnshops. (Inset image of the deposit slip below)


13:32 +8GMT, July 18, 2012

Send a tweet to @LazadaPh, the company’s official twitter account, informing them of my payment and they replied by saying that they received my payment and processing my order. Delivery will be within 5-10 Business day. (Screenshot photo below)


18:19 +8GMT, July 18, 2012

I had my payment confirmed by undergoing few steps as instructed. DragonPay, like what they did previously, sent me another email after a few minutes to signify successful processing and validation. (Screenshot photo below)


Day 4

20:25 +8GMT, July 20, 2012

I tweeted them asking for the tracking number of my item, they replied by saying that I will be informed as soon as they sent the item.

Day 11

10:05 +8GMT, July 27, 2012

I tweeted them again asking for an update, then a reply came afterwards saying that they will follow it up with the logistics.

16:52 +8GMT, July 27, 2012

Another tweet came, this time, informing me that they did not receive my payment and want me to call their customer service landline number.

17:30 +8GMT, July 27, 2012

I called them up and a very fluent customer service rep was on the line answering all my queries. She said my order was canceled because their system did not receive my payment within 2 days. I then explained to her about my DragonPay transaction and the confirmation I received out of the said payment as well as the Twitter replies. She then asked for a few hours so they could refer it to the accounting section and have the incident investigated. They even promised a callback before the end of the day.

Day 12

12:30 +8GMT, July 28, 2012

Anxiously waiting for feedback, I called up Lazada again to follow up. A representative answered but unlike yesterday, he was very certain this time that their system did not received my payment via DragonPay and that he cannot do anything about it. Right there and then my world begin to crumble, I was so worried that my hard earned money just went to waste that I felt so uneasy for the rest of the day even to the point that I couldn't sleep that night. Come to think of it, an online shop like Lazada who relies on electronic order and payment had a crappy and unreliable payment system, an unprecedented and unforgivable mistake for a business banking on public trust.

I also heard the most ridiculous scenario that same call when the customer service representative asked me to file a refund for the said transaction. Why in the freaking world would they want to give a refund for an unreceived payment? This only proves that they recognized receiving my payment, reconfirming the tweet I received last July 18th.

The rep asked for my banking details and told me that the refund will processed in 3 days.

Very curious about the reps move for force refund, I opted to eMail DragonPay to confirm if Lazada indeed receive the payment or not. I got a reply that same day telling me that the payment was validated. (Screenshot below) It became a word war then between the two company, one was lying and one was not. I sent an eMail then to Lazada about DragonPay's feedback to get to the bottom of it.

.... and I have to cut my post being too long already. Watch these space for the continuation of my experienced nightmare, I will assure your utmost enjoyment.

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