G.A. Viray
“Don’t judge people by how they look” is a lesson everyone learns in kindergarten. And this is so true with today’s article.
A chef and restaurateur from Bacolod wanted to buy an Isuzu DMAX truck. However, since he was only wearing simple clothing he was ignored at Isuzu Bacolod.
Reinhard Celis, also known as Chef Jun Celis, is a famous chef and the owner of Virgelio’s Grill chain of restaurants. He is also a culinary consultant for many hotels and restaurants here and abroad, and also the director of a culinary school. A very simple and humble man as he was, he went to Isuzu Bacolod in his usual simple getup of shirt, shorts, and unbranded slippers. He was excited to purchase the sports vehicle from Isuzu Bacolod, but got the cold shoulder instead. When he arrived at their showroom, the salespeople did not entertain him and kept passing him on from one agent to another. He decided to ask the front desk officer instead how much the truck cost. However, the front desk officer did not answer him politely and made him wait for five minutes. Disappointed, he asked the security guard why they do not entertain customers who are only wearing simple clothing but the guard only smiled at him.
Photo Credit: Reinhard Celis’s Facebook Page
The Dailypedia contacted Chef Celis about the incident and he said that it seemed that they did not want to entertain him because of what he wore that day. However, even if he was not treated right, he just kept his calm and controlled himself from doing anything he would regret.
Saddened by the incident, Chef Celis left the showroom and called his bank instead. He ordered a Mitsubishi Strada and had it delivered at his doorstep.
Photo Screen-grabbed from Reinhard Celis’ Facebook Page.
Chef Celis tells the public in his post to not judge people by how they look. We are sure he definitely knows good customer service being a chef and restaurant owner himself. Too bad for Isuzu Bacolod, you just lost a sale. And unfortunately, maybe, you’ll lose more when people learn how you treat potential customers.
Nice move chef jun,, MITSUBISHI STRADA is much better than isuzu D-max…
A similar situation happened to my mom when she walked in a Toyota Dealership wearing similar clothes 20 years ago. In her case though a manager noticed her about to walk out and literally forced a salesman to assist her. After the sale (Mom’s old school – she paid cash) the salesman pointed out another customer to her and said “Look at the guy, he’s wearing a real fancy business suit and yet can’t get approved for a loan. What a loser!”.
Hard to believe that to this day car salesmen still carry that mindset to judge people’s worth by their attire.
Stories like these are not uncommon. We had a similar experience from a five star hotel in Tagaytay which we had set our hearts on as the reception venue for our wedding. Travelling from Sydney and accompanied by another staff from our wedding coordinator’s office we paid the hotel a site visit. When we arrived at reception dressed in casual wear we were ignored and passed around from staff to staff who were too busy to take us around for a tour. Eventually a reluctant bellboy showed us the room and the reception hall but was clearly annoyed at us for being there.
Furious at the reception and the lack of customer service, we dumped the so called 5-star hotel and decided on Tagaytay Highlands as our venue. I emailed the hotel manager and marketing manager for the hotel group expressing my disgust on how we were treated. To their credit, they did respond apologetically and asked us to reconsider but it was too late.
This hotel is just one example of the judgemental attitudes that we’ve received from our fellow filipinos which is unfortunate but that’s the reality.
nice story! Lesson learned for those who loves to judge people the way they look. 😉
Sir, keep it up!
Isuzu Bacolod, sorry na lang po…
Eto nasaksihan ng tatay ko ng binili namin dmax namin. Minsan sa isang kasa sa Maynila may pumasok na matanda at halatang galing probinsya na naka damit pang bukid at may dalang bayong. Dahil sa itsura ng matanda walang ng umasikaso sa kanya hanggang sa may naawang isang ahente at kinausap ito. Sabi ng matanda magkano ito tinuturo ang top of the line na Isuzu Alterra (noong panahon na iyon ay madami nakakabit na accessories). sabi ng ahente mahal po iyan baka hindi ninyo kaya iba na lang po. Sabay sabi ng matanda hindi iyan ang gusto ko eto pera sa bayong ko babayaran ko ng cash. Tapos tanggalin mo na yang mga nakakabit na iyan at sa iyo na yan.
Sabay nagbigay pa ng tip sa ahente.
Dressing doesn’t always mean you are not humble. It’s a sign of respect to people you are going to meet. If you don’t respect them then you will not bother since you regard yourself as superior and they’re not worth the hassle.
Lesson to sales agents also. Entertain everybody because some rich people wear simple clothes when they go to places they think they can buy like your car showrooms.
To rich people. If you can get a truck by caĺling your bank then just do it. Don’t go around trying to bring out the bad in people then tell the world how bad they are.
very well said.
It’s the rich people’s choice whether to walk in to buy car or to call their bank. What if he just wanted to personally see the pick up from Isuzu and compared it to Mitsubishi? I dont see the motive of bringing out the bad people from this guy. Lets face the reality, discrimination among fellow filipinos because of looks are still rampant.
Yeah relate much that also happened to me when im in Samsung store here in Calamba .i asked for the availability of the item i wanted to buy and no one from the counter responded.so i transferred on other store instead luckily almost all the staff entertain our query..bought two samsung unit for my daughter:)
This is very “Normal” in the Philippines. We , filipinos, hate racism/discrimination BUT we are the worst when it comes to discrimination. I have had several encounters of these… while trying to enter a Stock exchange for viewing…i was stopped at the main door and not allowed to enter mainly because i was not wearing “proper attire”. In other countries, people wearing slippers and shorts come and go. Same “wearing proper attire” will be experience when eating in a restaurant …. but you can see foreigners wearing shorts and dilapidated tshirts and slippers entering the restaurant with no questions ask. At one time, i with my gf , together with my family and a few other friends entered a hotel restaurant using dinner coupons from my sister’s Company. Upon knowing that we are using coupons to eat there, the waiters/waitresses were so rude… ang pag serve ng pagkain is like pabagsak na para bang nagdadabog… i was so irritated that after they served the food, i told my whole family and friends not to eat/drink what was served and to stand up and walk to the opposite seafood restaurant which was a LOT more expensive. These discrimination thing is rampant in the Philippines…Filipinos judge a person by how they look, what they wear , how they speak etc etc.
Bull. He could have ordered the DMax from the bank and got it without a hitch. Smells like an advertisement for Strada.
Yes, that is very true, those people there in Isuzu Bacolod branch are very lazy and unpolite kind of human species. I experience that once also, way back 2012, eventhough I have a scheduled check-up of my brand new Isuzu XUV for which the problem was the very noisy vibrating sound of the door. They let me wait for more than an hour, they only acted on it when i already confronted the office secretary and talking in english just to let them know that i am an educated engineer. I was just wearing my shortpants and t-shirt. I traveled more than 200 kms from dumaguete just to go there in bacolod for my schedule. I hope this attitude and manner of their car distributor will be corrected by Isuzu Japan or better change the distributorship. If only the Lemon law was already there on that time i could have returned the unit . Imagine i bought a brand new Isuzu and for using it for six months the engine belt is squeaking, the clip in the rear floor mat got rusted, black smoke was emitting from exhaust. I complained it to the branch here in dumaguet but yet they will pasapasa you to lente nga taga Bacolod office. any way, to all new buyers of cars, please do not follow our ordeal. Just buy another brand of car, they are as better as isuzu. I am construction contractor, since then i never bought an Isuzu brand, I do have my Hi-lux and KIa.
My experience is almost similiar with this one, but in my case I was buying a motorcycle to be used as service vehicle for my delivery staff as I own a water refilling station.
I went to the dealer, dressed in sando, cargo shorts and cheap sandals (my usual outfit – I feel most comfortable with it). An employee approach me and asked how can she help me. I said I’m there to buy a motorcycle. To my surprise she stared at me head-to-foot and passed me to another salesman. She told the salesman in Ilocano “Kasaritam man, damagek metlang a no addaa kuartana (Interview him, ask him if he has money)” and flashed a sarcastic smile.
The salesman then started asking questions like what model or type of motorcycle I want to purchased, from where I am and if I will be paying by installment or cash. He was nice. And he did not asked directly if I have the money.
To cut the story short, I ended up buying 5 motorcycle unit worth 65k each. In cash.
I gave the salesman 5k tip for being nice and assistive. Call me cruel but I made sure that the not-so-nice saleswoman saw me when I gave the tip.
stupid judgmental isuzu car agent haha lost a sale
same thing also happened to me at a mall in Libis. But mine is different. They are selling Aqua Mineral for facial. Since I was dressed also so simple but the lady tried to sell her products and made all the sample on my face and I bought also a lot of. And she said
it’s good she did not judge how I dressed up. No expensive bag, no jewelries, only a simple make same she said dont judge the book by it’s cover.
Good choice sir! Actually it’s a blessing in disguise kc honestly may kinuha along boondock na gold 4×4 pero binenta ko after one year kc im not really happy with it. Masikip sa loob and maingay. I got my all new 4×4 strada last May and it’s very roomy, hndi maingay mas nice amg handling andaa maganda hitsura. Good choice sir. Same tyo unit puti tapos pinalitan rims.
lessons learned…. it’s never the car nor its brand…. it’s in the attitude of the people we meet everyday anywhere…. be courteous and polite always, whoever they are…. ISUZU big heads must have read this post already… Better if they send their sales people to rigid training on customer service muna….
ad the same experience which I encountered in ISUZU IMUS naman. I am an OFW/seaman-kapitan sa barko. It was on Feb 2015 and I was still inboard the vsl, when my wife brought our Isuzu Sportivo for the regular PMS check up. And on that time, a guy from Service dept who is a friend and who regularly assists us. He informed my wife that Isuzu has launched the MUX. In returned my wife advise me about it. We got interested to buy the MUX. And as we learned that MUX was being sold like a hot potato and it will takes 2 to 3 months to release the unit. So immediately, we paid the reservation fee(5000 pesos) as I was due for vacation by May 2015. So tamang tama sa pag uwi ko yung hihintayin namin. And by May 2015 , I arrived in the Phil. And the very next day, me and my family went in IMUS ISUZU to confirm our purchase, to close the deal and for the payment.I was wearing only a casual clothes (jeans, white hanes shirt and worned out sandals). That time our friend who was also assisting us for the purchase was absent. I decided to ask from the two lady sales personnel for a brochure , as I wanted to know more info about the Isuzu MUX. They asked me if I already talked with some one. I told them that I already paid the reservation fee.The ladies told me to wait as they will get one for me. More than hour has passed but they just kept on chatting with long lasting chikahan. So, I approached them where is the brochure I was requesting. Alas! They replied that they dont have an available brochure.Wow, they asked me to wait for nothing……Immediately, I told my wife and two sons for us to leave.And informed them that I changed my mind and I was not interested to buy a MUX anymore. We decided to go on FORD IMUS. There we were approached and assisted courteously. They even offered us a drinks. So we finally decided to purchase FORD RANGER WILDTRACK..I dont regret buying this unit inplace of ISUZU MUX..Sinong nawalan ngayon…. Dahil mukhang gusgusin ako at nakabayad na ako ng reservation fee ay binalewala na ako ng dalawa. Pinaghintay pa ako ng matagal.The fact is, I am their regular customer at Sa ISUZU IMUS ko nabili ang SPORTIVO ko at casa maintained ang unit ko( sa ISUZU IMUS), pero that time puro friendly at courteous ang mga sales personnel..Maski nakabili na ako at pag dadalhin ko ang unit ko for PMS check up , ay binabati at nag a assist sila. Wake up ISUZU! As I am an owner of Sportivo, I would admit that I love ISUZU car. But due to this bad experience, you’ve just lost one loyal customer….
Lesson learned for Isuzu Bacolod. Better luck next time.
Never underestimate people who are dress simple because most of the times, these are the people who are capable of buying. The focal point of each business is income, these should be your focus and not how a person is dress or looks like because you can never judge a book by its cover when you are in business, every human being is a potential buyer. Isuzu Bacolod that employee of yours does not deserve to be in that place. If you dont know how to value customers or potential customer, then you shouldnt be in that place. The company does not need you because at the end of the day its how much you bring in and not how many youve met for the day.
I’m in a buy n sell business…i used short and sleeveless and wear slippers when i look for suv to buy…but i never encounter people the way you met…maybe they are not train enough to deal with people…its a big money they lost…..so bad…