KM Viray
SM Malls are a haven for shoppers. With the tagline, “We’ve got it all for you,” it’s no wonder consumers wait for their popular three-day sales to score great finds for a fraction of the original cost. But what if the sale price you scored is actually higher than the original?
The Facebook page OFW Family posted a photo shared by a netizen who discovered that the sale price of P2,400 he paid for an item was originally priced at 1,599.75. The sale price was in yellow tag, an obvious sign that an item is on sale. But how could this have happened?
The photo’s aption read, “Katotohanan sa likod ng SALE sa SM. share ko lang po sa mga mahilig mamili sa mga SM Malls pag nag sale sila, ndi naman totoo yan gngawa nila 30%-70% sale, kc bago ang date ng promo tinataasan n nila ang price ng mga items. Imagine un 100 pesos ggawin nila 200 tas sale ng 125pesos, kita prin sila ng additional 25pesos sa sale… [The truth behind the “sales” at SM. It’s not true customers get dicounts from 30%-70% because before the sale actually starts, they raise the prices of the items. For example, a 100-peso item becomes P200 then they put it on sale for P125, so in reality they earn P25 from the sale.]”
Many netizens also commented about their similar experiences with SM.
Netizens related how they had certain products in mind to purchase at a mallwide sale, but when they were already at the mall, they saw the “sale” price was actually the original one.
Some netizens confirmed that this was indeed something the sales representatives would do.
Netizen Dominique Dolor said his mom confirmed that it was a strategy sales reps used to earn more commission. His mother, he said, was the department store manager in SM Megamall for more than 20 years and she had caught employees cheating several times, either to lower prices for their relatives or to reach their quotas. However, these employees were never caught since all the wrongdoings were allegedly done in the stock room.
On the other hand, some netizens defended SM saying these instances were just errors and should not be thought of as intentional.
Some netizens claimed to have been past employees of SM and said these things could not be true because such incidences could be reported to the Department of Trade and Industry. To add, most brands are usually just on consignment agreements.
Nonetheless, anyone venturing into a business has the responsibility to be transparent with his consumers on prices. A relationship of trust should be established and maintained if the business has any hopes of staying afloat for a long time.
As of this writing, SM has not yet released a statement regarding this post nor the comments of the netizens.
