I bought two Gandiva vouchers through Ensogo. Unfortunately, we were late for our appointment. At first, the Gandiva personnel refused to accommodate us, saying that our appointment had become invalid since we were more than 15 minutes late. We were at fault, no argument about that, but we were still hoping that we would be accommodated since all the other voucher merchants had accommodated us even if we were late. I got a little annoyed when the Gandiva guy stated that the 15-minute limitation was printed on the voucher when it was not. Anyway, after a few minutes, he said that he would ask his boss. The voucher cost P300 each. Bf and I did not want to kiss our P600 goodbye so we crossed our fingers. When the Gandiva personnel returned, he said they would accommodate us. Whew! and Yipee!
Even though we were off in a not-too-smooth a start, that Gandiva guy assisted us well during our stay. He was the one who briefed us newbies on how to use the equipment and how things were done in the archery area.
First, he taught us how to attach the bracer (arm guard that protected the inside of the arm holding the bow from being hit by the bow string and that prevented clothes from catching the string) and finger tab (for the fingers of the other hand). He attached our paper targets on the boards and brought us our bows and metal arrows contained in quivers. Bf's quiver was a belt-type one while mine had a hook for attaching to a belt hoop. He then told us how to position ourselves and how to draw and fire an arrow.
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| bows |
To prevent accidental death and loss of body parts, the archers had to retrieve their arrows from the target boards all at the same time. A signal was given before the archers were to approach the boards and another when the archers were to start shooting arrows. While waiting for others to finish, we could rest our bows on the Y-shaped stands.
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| bows resting on bow stands |
I was hoping for a beginner's luck, like what I had when I first fired a pistol. Alas, luck was nowhere to be found that day. Instead, I sucked. I did not even hit any of the three concentric yellow circles in the middle. Kinda disgraceful since I was a Green Archer. 
Despite the suck, we enjoyed the experience.
Despite the suck, we enjoyed the experience.
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| their awards |
Click here for a review of Gandiva Cafe's food.
The problem with our Ensogo voucher
Halfway through our session, another Gandiva personnel approached us. Apparently, he checked our vouchers and on his list, one of our vouchers was already marked Used. He couldn't tell us when it was used though so I didn't know how that happened. Was it a glitch on Ensogo's Web site? Did someone from Gandiva mistakenly mark our voucher? Did someone hack my Ensogo account then made a fake ID, and pretended to be me (a bit farfetched). Anyway, since we were already halfway through (no backing out) and it was a Saturday (Ensogo's office was closed), we just paid the regular price and would refund that voucher. Since my previous refund experience with Ensogo was terrible, I cringed and mentally screamed Oh no, not again!
Update: I got my refund.
Update: I got my refund.
Gandiva Cafe and Archery Range
7F One Corporate Center
Julia Vargas Ave cor. Meralco Ave.
Ortigas, Pasig City, Metro Manila
Web site
Facebook page
Ouch! That was quite a scary experience. But at least, only 1 voucher was marked used. Anyway, I hope Ensogo responds and refunds asap. I had a horrible experience with using a voucher before. The merchant says it was not valid, so to save face I decided to just pay the full amount and it costed be over 1k.. >.< I was the one at fault naman since I bought the voucher from a third-party seller, but good thing the seller refunded.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I already got my refund (I'm just slow to post stuff hehe). Good thing you also got your refund even if that was from a third-party seller. I wonder why your voucher became invalid tho.
Deleteactually nakakainis din minsan ang merchants kasi they treat you like crap when you use a voucher. Bakit kaya its not like you didnt pay for it di ba? napansin ko lang yan bagsak ang service nila pag voucher ginagamit mo.
ReplyDeleteSome merchants feel as if they're doing you a favor. True, yes, but the voucher thingie is also a marketing campaign for them. It's a way for them to make or break their reputation to many people at a short amount of time. In fairness to merchants, I've encountered lots of merchants which provided excellent service even when we used vouchers.
DeleteI've never thought of archery for killing time. That's a nice tip for summer. And can we sue Ensogo for the glitch? It was clearly their fault of the missed printed information on the coupon.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand, some voucher sites give access to merchants so merchants can log in and monitor how their offers are doing. Because no explanation was given, I can't tell if what happened was a system glitch or if was human error on the part of an Ensogo staff or the Gandiva staff that had access.
Deletewow that looks exciting! and good that you got your refund.
ReplyDeleteHope you can join my red hot summer giveaway.
that's why I never used them that's my fear also
ReplyDeleteexciting! That seems to be fun and unique. I always browse ensogo but never did I bought one voucher.
ReplyDeleteCool hobby you have here.
ReplyDeleteAnd ohh...it reminds me that it really pays to be early in any appointment. Some lates will cost you much --- the good thing is that those guys in there are considerate enough to let you in.
yup, thank goodness they still accommodated us :D
DeleteI'm also interested in this kind of sport, archery. But, so far, I've not tried. I already experienced holding the bow and the arrow, but never shoot. What an experienced you have had. :)
ReplyDeleteit was fun. try it when you get the chance :)
DeleteI couldn't open your link for you refund article but I hope you didn't have a hard time on that one. I've had a refund transaction with Ensogo before and it was a breeze.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think the bow is heavy, I've tried one when I was much younger but haven't had the chance to try again. There are no archery lessons in my city. I would have purchased this deal, too, if it was offered here. =)
I got my refund 8 days after my request. Glad to hear you had a speedy refund too. I hope my previous refund was just a fluke.
DeleteI remember using a voucher @ a resto in Greenhills, the receptionist told me that they don't accommodate vouchers after 5 p.m. lol! May oras pala pagka voucher ginamit. Anak ng tipaklong o, galing kami ng airport at nag drive pa papuntang Greenhills.
ReplyDeleteThat happened to us as well last year. It wasn't indicated on the voucher or in the terms written on the Web site. It sucks, right? Good thing we were there before 6pm (their cut-off time for voucher holders).
DeleteThis is a sport for people with perfect vision.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I am no target-shooter even up close.
Good for you to have tried... you can charge to experience the bad thing happened regarding a particular voucher.
wow archery range! first time to hear about it from this post and i want to try!!!i do target shooting during shoot fest at shooting ranges but haven't tried archery range but of course didn't want to try ensogo thing hehe. can i just go there and walk in? thanks
ReplyDeleteBetter call up Gandiva before going, esp during weekends, just to be sure there's an open slot. The regular rate is P600 then P50 for the target.
DeleteThis is actually so cool. I never thought there would be shooting ranges also for archers.
ReplyDeleteI just bought 5 vouchers through Metrodeal. Now I'm wondering if I'll pay for it...
ReplyDeleteIf it's any help, I've bought from Metrodeal and haven't had any problems with them so far.
DeleteWow, that kept my hopes up. Many thanks! :D
DeleteAt last a gandiva cafe review that has sense :)) all the blogs i've went through before this one contained nothing but intangible goodie stuff.. saying the food was good, it tasted like the real thing, and great affordable price! without actually mentioning the actual price lol.
ReplyDeletehope new vouchers come out.. I want to try this with my girlfriend :)
about metrodeal, I find their deals kinda "shady" I've already encountered several fake deals from them, one of which was their Casio Watch, when I inquired at TimeDepot, they were selling the very same model at a cheaper price. It really helps if you just do a quick research first before buying MetroDeal vouchers.
Lastly I also wanted to react about the Guy at Gandiva pretending to be a know it all saying the 15 minute late policy was mentioned in the voucher. Haha I feel you, I hate merchants like that. Similar when you go to a resto to use a voucher, but they tell you that they require a reservation, hey look that wasn't mentioned here in the Voucher, so you have to accomodate us. ;)
Hi Blitz, thank you. About that shady deal you mentioned, actually I've seen that all over a lot of group buying sites. I think it's the merchants who misreport the actual worth of their items. Hmm perhaps I should post about that one of these days.
DeleteWhen it comes to vouchers, I only recommend it for restaurants. For spas, salons, and other services, only sometimes. For tangible goods, I don't recommend vouchers at all.