A FUNNY thing happened to me in a local grocery last week. Good thing no one was quick enough to record the incident on a mobile phone. Otherwise, I would have gone viral for all the wrong and right reasons.
My sister instructed me to buy some stuff for our house and I readily went to oblige. For one reason or another, going through an alley of neatly stacked items, selecting the best from so many choices on display and finding the ones that I need have some calming effect on me. So, I went through the motion of checking the prices of the items. In less than half an hour, I was able to complete my grocery list and then went straight to the cashier to pay. I was about to go when the cashier told me that she did not have 35 centavos in her cash register so she gave me two candies instead.
I would have just let this incident pass. Honestly, I was also asking myself if giving a little lecture to these grocery workers regarding the two candies as my change was worth my time and my energy. To my surprise, the middle-aged lady behind me remarked, “Ay sir, antyan la pu palagi keni. Potang barya na ing sukli agad dang sabyan ala lang panyukli anya kendi na mu pu ing bibye da.”
This made me realize that it was now or never! I decided to tell the cashier and her immediate supervisor who was there overseeing the other cashiers that it was wrong and unlawful to give candies as change. I reminded them of Republic Act 10909 also known as the “No Shortchanging Act.”
Signed into law in 2016, the “No Shortchanging Act” also referred to as the Exact Change Law aims to protect the welfare of consumers from unscrupulous business owners who give insufficient change or give customers candies in lieu of monetary change.
Under the law, first time violators of RA 10909 will pay P500 fine. For the second offense, the license of the establishment to operate will be suspended for three months and a P15,000 fine will be imposed. And for the third offense, the license to operate will be revoked and P25,000 fine will be imposed.
The amount involved, 35 centavos, may be immaterial and insignificant. But let us do a little math here. If the average daily number of people who go to this particular grocery is say, 200, and each receive candies instead of the loose change. This will now be translated to a ‘total savings’ of P70 per day, or P2,100 per month, or P25,200 for an entire year. If we look at it this way, the loose change becomes very significant. This is even a safe estimate as there are peak days and peak months in the business cycle of any store. As any budget-conscious mother would say, every single centavo counts in this day and age when prices of basic commodities continue to rise as the monthly household income remains at a standstill.
This incident made me think how we Filipinos have the tendency to let such incident pass and get unnoticed simply because we are afraid to be branded as ‘makwenta’ and ‘mareklamo.’
But how can we correct bad business practices if we choose to be silent? How can we rectify errors if we decide to look the other way? How can we expect situations to improve if we react only when it is convenient for us?
Calling out business establishments so they can provide better services is never wrong. Many enterprises continue to thrive because they know how to listen to customer feedback. They make informed decisions based on how their customers see and value them.
Every now and then, consumers fail to recognize their rights despite the presence of laws to protect them.
As we demand business people to be more responsible and fuly compliant to all trade fair laws, let us also do everything that we can to be more vigilant in exercising our rights as consumers.
