Thursday, May 24, 2007 Ariola: A rip-off By Jose Paolo Ariola I Still Walk the Line
FIVE years ago I took out a college educational plan for my daughter from the only reputable pre-need plan company left (in the wake of the CAP and PEP debacles) in Bacolod City. Like any responsible parent, I thought then that it was prudential on my part to prepare for my child’s future education. From out of my hard earned income, I religiously paid my premiums until I was able to fully pay the said educational plan. I was so confident of the firm’s stability and goodwill that I did not even bother to get my certificate of full payment immediately upon full payment. I thought then that as soon as my daughter will reach college, that’ll be the time, when I’d drop by their office and avail of the plan’s benefits.
So there I was at their office located at San Juan-Luzuriaga Streets (formerly called the SPCMA Building ) first thing Tuesday morning exuding with confidence that everything will be a walk-in-the-park.
But boy, little did I know that I’d be in for the shock of my life. First, Jocelyn (the clerk-in-charge of educational plans) explained to me that my daughter’s plan is for a “state college.” Then she asked me in what school was my daughter going to enroll in. So I answered, in La Salle. It was then that I noticed her facial expression change.
Subsequently, she explained to me that considering that my daughter’s plan was for a “state college” the company might not be paying the full credit for the semester. At first, I thought that whatever the difference between La Salle ’s total payable tuition fees vis-à-vis that of a state college, I’d be willing to shoulder the difference. But I thought wrong.
Jocelyn then timidly explained to me that because of company policy, in cases where the plan is for a “state college” but the beneficiary will enroll in a private school, the company will pay only fifteen percent minus other charges from the total tuition fee of the private school. So for example, if the total tuition fee for the semester is Php20,000.00, the company will be paying me only the measly sum of Php2,500.00.
When I heard that amount from Jocelyn, I thought I must have heard her wrong. So I asked her again. And I got the same answer.
What? Only Php2,500.00? Why that amount is hardly enough for cover the miscellaneous fees. Even for my daughter’s school uniform alone or just a new pair of shoes, it can barely cover the expenses. I nearly fell off my chair as it dawned upon me that I’ve been ripped off by this company which prides itself as “God-fearing.”
Oh, boy, this is one hell of a corporate con scheme perpetrated against unwitting planholders who paid hard earned money just to provide for their children’s future education.
Well, in fairness to Jocelyn she ushered me to their manager whose family name, ironically, connotes justice. And so I pleaded my sentiments to the manager, not as a lawyer nor a judge but as a parent even as I tried to appeal to their company’s sense of justice, decency, and fair play. The Php2,500.00 is a paltry sum, if not an insult of the highest order, to their planholders who expect a decent return on their money. Guess what she answered? Yup, you guessed it – it’s company policy. In exasperation, I told her that I might as well surrender my daughter’s educational plan if only to put an end to this scam perpetrated against innocent planholders like us. I was expecting that if there was an excess in the matriculation fees of my daughter in La Salle vis-à-vis that in a state college, I’d cover up the difference. Well, I was wrong. Or I was hoping that may be the company might perhaps pay even only 50 percent of the total amount of tuition fees, that would be fine. But to no avail.
It’s company policy, you know. So there goes my hard earned money as well as those of my other fellow planholders who find themselves in the same boat as I am. In the end I ultimately realized that my decision to take out an educational plan from this company turned out not to be too prudential as I thought it was. In fact, they’re no better than the first two pre-need companies which took the easy way out of their liabilities by way of bankruptcy claims yet in the process fleecing their planholders of their investments. I’m afraid I too have been conned, duped, and double-crossed into believing that I’d still get my money’s worth from out of my daughter’s educational plan. And what, pray tell, could I do with Php2,500.00? Why that’s not even enough to cover my daughter’s school uniforms much less a new pair of shoes. So this is a caveat to planholders out there who are on the same boat like me. You better check it out. Or you might end up with a paltry sum.
