Two Missed Calls... EPISODE 2

PREVIOUSLY ON TWO MISSED CALLS

Adelynn and I ventured all the way to Digital Mall to get a phone for Adelynn's mom. The requirement wasnt that high but something crucial; it has to be an original format phone. We managed to get ourselves a deal with a Nokia 7100 Supernova phone for RM500. Yeah, we thought the phone was okay (1.3 MP, cool design, Slide type, MP3 playable etc.) and we were more than happy. But we missed the first call. The phone was far from okay and that made us far from being happy. Lacking of a memory card slot, the phone's internal memory was a mere 5MB! So we thought of coming back to Digital Mall on the next day and we did. The problem we're facing now is that i, who volunteered to do the talking is now standing just a a metre away from the shop owner, whom i just realized is a crossover between the Hulk and an Ah Long.

NOW, ON TWO MISSED CALLS EPISODE TWO

Somehow, the guy looked at me with his unsymmetrical pair of eyes and that was scary. Then again, he agreed for the change. For some reason, he didnt even looked surprised to see us. It is as if he know that we'll be coming. It's either that or he knew that he had sold us a really crappy phone and its a miracle if we're not showing up and demanding a change of model. So he agreed immediately. Hmm.. So that wasnt so hard.

Yeah, it was too easy to be true

The guy took out several models of Nokia original format phones and this time, all of them have higher specs and most importantly, memory card sluts.. eh, i mean, slots. But for some mysterious Ah Long-styled reason, every phone that he laid out in front of us seemed to be more expensive than ystday. I remember a 7610 model he showed me ystday and he claimed that it was Rm900. This time, its more expensive by a hundred bucks plus. I insisted that i want to stick with my (actually, Adelynn's) budget of RM700 to spare and he said he cant get nothing of that sort. Dude! Since when has phones evolved so much that we cant get any phones at Rm700 bucks?? Looking very reluctant, he finally resided to promote us a Sony Ericsson W580 phone which costed around 780. Well, its a lil off budget but the problem is, it's an AP (aka Pirated) format! I asked for an original format and he claimed that the orginal format will cost RM980. Seriously, when the fuck has phone get way off expensive? Adelynn was hesitant to get a pirated version of the phone although it is much cheaper and that is when the Ah Long guy started story telling; he claimed that the phone is not AP- it's CSL (what?). In other words, it's Malaysian original - its still of original format only its not Sony Ericsson orginal, it's CSL original (seriously, WTF??) So yeah, i wager that all of you would ask the same question i did, "what is that supposed to mean?" and this was the guy's explanation. Take out your thinking hats and notebooks, this will be messy.

So, there's AP which are super cheap format phones whereby the warranty of the phone is only valid at the place of purchase. In other words, even though the phone still have its warranty, maintenance in other shops other than the one you bought that phone from will be charging you normally. So far so good? And then there's CSL. They're not pirated, they're CSL original- otherwise, also known as Malaysian original. SO this CSL format phones are not AP phones though an authorized Sony Ericsson outlet will claim it as AP. But CSL wont. In fact, the validity of the provided warranty will be in place as long as you deal with any CSL outlets nationwide, not just from the store you bought the phone from. And finally, here comes the expensive original format phones. These phones are authorized by Sony Ericsson phone an the warranty is valid at all Sony Ericsson branches nationwide. Therefore, getting a CSL 'original' means buying an 'original' phone only its not authorized by the original producer of the phone. Heh.. Sounds like a chinese DVD-selling guy telling you that the CD his selling is not pirated but an Original DVD copy... =___=

So, i told him that we need to think it over and he just heaved and let us leave, making a really pissed face. So i asked Adelynn to think it over and Adelynn decided to walk around while she thinks. And in the meantime, i passed by another phone shop and me, being someone who's always suspicious of people around me, started asking around how much would they be charging for a Nokia 7610 and SE W5810. Shockingly (well.. not really as i expected the Ah Long guy to be lying all along), the price we could get for NOkia 7610 is just RM780 and SE W5810 is RM750 and they're both original formats! By that time, i was friggin pissed with that Ah Long guy and Adelynn was super upset. No matter what choice we will make, we still have to deal with the Ah Long guy as we wanted a full refund of that crappy phone we;re having now and the other shops would obviously only accept trade-ins. And for that crappy Nokia 7100 we're having now, everyone claims that they would just sell the phone for around 400 bucks. We were definitely being cheated in the first place for buying that piece of junk for RM500! And no matter how hard we beg, the highest price they can give us for that phone's trade-in price is just RM280. In other words, either ways, Adelynn will still suffer the loss. Deal with the Ah Long store and she will just run slightly over her budget but the new phone will be of AP format (or CSL original or whatever). Deal with the other store and she will run waaaay off budget but she will get an original phone in exchange. So, finally, she submitted to dealing with the Ah Long store and i am seriously NOT pleased..

And so she did. She was about to submit with the idea that CSL can still be considered original but i know that she's just convincing herself. And the Ah Long guy? Well, he was looking super friggin happy that we will have to submit to his AP and Original shit as well as his price. Stupid Ah Long guy... but wait!

**DELAQROUX RAGE MODE INITIATED! LIMITER RELEASED!!!**

I told Adelynn to hold on with any decisions and i went off on my own. So i started asking every friggin single shop around there regarding this AP, CSL original and Original format crap. And not just that; i called Alvin Heng and asked them of what they know. And guess what? The CSL shit is just another AP. Only difference it holds compared to other AP is that CSL is a large scale pirating company so they have enough money to support pirating branches nationwide while smaller AP pirating company have only few branches. So the Ah Long guy is BS-ing all over! Well, fair readers, when i arrived back at the Ah Long's store, Adelynn has totally surrendered to the CSL story. I'm not sure if the guy had her convinced or its just her lying to herself but regardless, she doesnt seem happy at all but she was about ready to take her wallets out and make the purchase. What should i do then? Tell her the actual story? That would just complicate things up for Adelynn as we have to find out another way all over again to get this issue settled. Just keep the truth to myself and the issue is settled, only Adelynn might walk away not feeling happy even for the slightest bit - and i definitely wont want her to be unhappy. Moral decisions, ladies and gentlemen, dont you just hate making one?

Finally, i dragged Adelynn away from the shop and told her everything; the truth about the lies. Yeah, she was even more upset that now, we obviously can no longer trust the Ah Long shop, meaning that Adelynn's budget might run far away off track. We cant get a refund of that phone and we have to trade it in for very small cashback. No shit... We went back to the other store and Adelynn just resided to going off budget for another phone... way off budget. Its a Samsung L760 with 2 Megapixel, slide design and of course, a memory card slot but it costed RM630. The shop would only accept the trade in for that piece of junk of a phone for only RM300 and that was of his highest sympathy but he cant go any higher with the trade in price, neither with the new phone's. So in total, Adelynn will have to go RM130 off her original budget and considering the fact that the first phone was bought for naught, that just breaks her down. Sigh... Hence, she went to withdraw the extra cash and i just let her be alone for awhile. I was thinking that everything started out with such a good intention , how did things get effed up like this? And the fact that she got cheated yesterday and nearly did once again by the same guy today? Damn... While waiting, i looked around and saw a small Samsung store under the staircase. It was small than any stalls there and the two attendant dont even look trustworthy. But then again i dont want Adelynn to be unhappy and i told her ystday to not give up if she's pursuing something.. well... in this pursuit of Adelynn's happyness, Darkie, you have nothing else to lose. Let's give it one last shot.

So i walked over to the shop and talked with the two guys...

Well, lets just keep what we talked about classified for now ok?

Shall all that begins with a well intention, bring an end of well results, ladies and gentlemen?
After the long discussion, i approached Adelynn and told her the story that the two guys over at the small Samsung stall are willing to sell the same Samsung L760 original model with only... surprise... RM550 and they're also willing to pay the price for the trade in of that Nokia 7100 for RM320!!!!!!!! So, Adelynn will just have to over the budget of a mere 30 Ringgit!!! w00000t!!! So yes, ladies and gentlemen, though i wasnt able to reach total happy ending but at least this is far better than any of the two deals we nearly make. Yeah, Adelynn was happy and i am super glad for that =) Oh yeah, as a side note, the stall was actually a mini outlet of the other shop earlier on (the one where we nearly agreed with a Samsung L760 for RM630) but, yep, the guy attending the stall is totally on our side now. Lolz. EVen found out that his name is James and yep, thanks a million, James! XD

Thus, we headed back and yep, Adelynn was indeed really happy. Its all karma i guess. She had a good intention for buying the phone and going all out to make sure she can give the best one for her mom, and she did get a good return; good phone, high specs and good price... Thank heavens for her. Yeah, i did said karma now didnt I? It was a good karma on her definitely but then again, guess its time for me to pay mine.. a bad one of mine, in fact. I didnt expect it to be that soon but i guess its time for me to miss the second call.. my call...

TO BE CONTINUED