Wednesday, January 23, 2008 Ocampo: Illegal phones By Tek Ocampo Newsroom
LAST Monday, a woman came to GMA network Davao office asking for our assistance. She was complaining about a day old cellular phone that she bought from one of the stalls in DCLA shopping center at Ramon Magsaysay Avenue in Davao City.
The complainant bought the cellular phone for P3,250. After buying the phone, she charged it upon arriving home at Indangan in Buhangin. However, when the phone was fully charged, she noticed two vertical lines appearing on the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen.
The following morning, she returned the phone with the receipt to the store to have it replaced. To her disappointment, the saleslady refused to have the phone replaced because the LCD is not covered by the warranty. The store is willing to replace the phone but she has to pay an additional amount of P525.
All brand new phones come with at least a three-month warranty, other cellular phone manufacturers even extend their warranty up to 12 months.
The receipt to the phone does not bear the name of the store, its address, contact number, and the TIN (tax identification number). With this missing information, it only means that the receipt was not registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
This happened even after the NTC conducted a raid on various establishments in Davao.
The customer filed a complaint before the Department of Trade and Industry but according to the complainant, they did not act on it.
GMA network Davao immediately coordinated with the NTC to verify the veracity of the complaint. The NTC suspected the complainant bought a reconditioned phone. It's illegal to sell recon phones because it does not come straight from legitimate cellular phone companies. NTC regional director Josue de Villa Go ordered his people to inspect the units displayed at the store and check if they have NTC permits.
With our video camera rolling, the GMA crew, the complainant, and NTC personnel went to the second floor of DCLA where the store was located. To our surprise, the store was already closed! The people there told us the store closed just minutes before we arrived.
It is either the owner has mental telepathy that they could see our moves or simply has a good network of spies.
However, on that very same day, the complainant was allegedly contacted by an NTC officer asking her to go back to DCLA. This time, she should go alone and without the GMA crew. The storeowner gave her a full refund of the amount she paid for the cell phone in exchange for not pursuing her complaint anymore.
Two weeks ago, the National Telecommunications Commission 11 confiscated several cellular phones from various shopping centers here in Davao city. The NTC head office in Manila ordered the raid nationwide.
They want to make sure that all stores selling cell phones have the necessary permits both from the local government and from the NTC itself. They also wanted to make sure that all phones being sold to the buying public are in good quality and sourced from legitimate suppliers.
The NTC have been receiving calls and letters from customers complaining about the poor quality of cell phones sold to them. That is why they continue to persuade the public to buy only in legitimate cellular phone retailers.
Here are some tips before buying a cellular phone: 1. Ask if the store has an NTC permit. If it does not have any, don't buy there anymore. 2. Check the unit for the NTC sticker or logo located at the back portion of the phone where the battery is placed. 3. If the unit does not have the NTC sticker or logo ask the storeowner if it's NTC approved and comes with a warranty. 4. Always ask for BIR registered receipt that shows the name of the store, address, contact number and TIN. 5. Never buy a reconditioned phone. 6. And, when in doubt, call the NTC at (082) 2960625.
Always remember that as customers, it is always our right to know about the products and services we are offered.
