The Divisoria AOWA Incident

My last trip to Divisoria with my mom two weeks ago was memorable, first because it almost took me a month to really go there because of the continues rains(you don’t want to be there when it’s been raining coz of muddy streets) and we almost been a victim of a scam.

We went to Divisoria in the afternoon so that it won’t be too hot and doing so we were on a very strict schedule to buy what we needed; most of the good shops in Divisoria close at 6pm. It was nearing 5pm when I decided to eat, we only have the fabrics left to buy for the new curtains and new blankets and maybe see new toys near Divisoria Mall and Ilaya. Since we are at 168 Mall and their foodcourt have authentic Chinese food that is where we went. But before we even reach the stalls we were greeted by a group of well dressed men, asking us if we can watch their product demonstration and they would give us a shopping bag as a token. We accepted.

I was strapped to their foot massager and my mom to some pads connected to the massager to help massage her back. What was supposed to be a short product demo turned into a nightmare before my eyes, the massager would stopped in time so I can’t get my feet out as they presented the it’s good effects but as the minutes passed they were already asking so many questions like where do you live? Do you have a credit card? What is the name of your bank? At the same time, another person was presenting their array of AOWA products; giving pictures of famous stars who bought them and making us watch a video of the TV shows using their product.

They started calling their “manager” on the phone because since we live in Quezon City we were entitled to another major product. I was powerless to stop it since my mother kept answering they’re questions and we were separated by two people doing the product the demo and I can’t catch her eye. What turned out to be a short demo wasted almost an hour of our time. At their last attempts, their “manager” approved us winning all the products in their booth, sets of stainless cookware, the convection stove, the massager and even a pressure cooker all of which was totaling more than 200 thousand pesos, if I buy any one of their featured products. And their product costs around 45 thousand pesos and above. I said I don’t have that kind of money but they keep telling me to write a check or use my credit card, they even have a zero installment plan with my bank. Since my mom babbled about my financial status they were really badgering me; lucky for me I don’t bring my credit cards or checkbook just 2,000 pesos that day. They are even asking my address already so they can deliver all the products.

It was only when I raised my voice and started to get mad that they stopped. Luckily I was taking pictures while everything was going on and even informed them I will be blogging about them. They became hostile when I refused to buy and was still taking pictures of their booth, “bawal daw yun”.

Our afternoon was ruined, we were not able to eat because it is already nearing 6pm. We dashed to Ilaya and sadly most of the fabric stalls inside were already closed and Anding’s toy store was closed too. We bought our fabrics at the stalls on the street limited choices but it was enough given the circumstances.

There were things we were not able to buy that afternoon but thankful that we avoided that AOWA scam. So an advice to those going to Divisoria bring just enough money to buy what you intended and be wary of those product demos, I think some Malls around Metro Manila have these kinds of scams also.