I Got Free Jollibee Chickenjoy Thanks to My BPI Credit Card

I have a BPI Mastercard credit card. I don't use it much but since mid-2013 I've been paying my dentist P2000 every 4-6 weeks for my braces. I use my credit card for that and have received free food in return. Last November, I was able to claim 3 orders of Chowking Halo-Halo. Last week, I got 2 orders of 1pc Jollibee Chickenboy meal (drinks not included).

katas ng BPI credit card

Not All ATMs are Created Equal: Two Things About BPI ATMs that I Find Annoying

I've had a BPI ATM account since 2009. I'm satisfied with the service of BPI overall. The only things that annoy me are both related to their automated teller machines.

1. BPI ATMs are not as ubiquitous as BDO ATMs. Whenever I need to get money from an ATM, I usually end up using a machine from another bank. I then get charged withdrawal fees.
2. BPI machines are very sensitive/not sensitive enough. I could not get BPI ATMs to recognize my Globe G-Cash card. BDO ATMs have no problem with the card, though. Worse, the BPI machines accessible to me these days reject my BPI ATM card, stating that the data stripe is invalid. Pfft! The same card works on various BDO and Security Bank ATMs (and even on rare BPI machines, such as the one inside ABS-CBN). This pisses me off because even though there is a BPI ATM available, BPI still finds a way to poke me in the ass with withdrawal fees. By this time, I guess I have no choice but to have my card replaced (also with a fee) or continue paying ATM fees every time I withdraw cash.

Sample Affidavit: My Cleverbuy Affidavit

Click here for updates about Cleverbuy or CleverTravel.
Click here to see all posts related to Cleverbuy or CleverTravel.

Several commenters have asked about the format of an affidavit or a sample affidavit so I decided to post mine. I haven't submitted this to the NBI or even notarized. I drafted this affidavit then had it looked over by a lawyer friend.

This is just a sample. You can add more info, especially if you've attempted to contact Cleverbuy or the merchant before writing your affidavit.

Some notes:

• According to my lawyer friend, the rows should be 1.5-spaced (you know, that thing between being single-spaced and doubled-spaced). I'm not sure how strict the NBI or our local courts are about the format of the affidavit since I saw other notarized affidavits last Friday which looked simpler (no numbers, not much legalese terms, etc).
• You have to present a valid ID when having the affidavit notarized. A community tax certificate (cedula) is not enough anymore.

*****

Republic of the Philippines}  s.s

City of Manila

AFFIDAVIT

I,  (my name), Filipino citizen, of legal age, single, and a resident of (complete address), after having been duly sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and say:

Latest Updates About Cleverbuy / CleverTravel

Just to recap the events since May:

1. J2 Discount Travel and Tours closed down. Cleverbuy said they would take care of the refunds. Some complainants were able to get post-dated checks.
2. May 29 - Cleverbuy stopped issuing post-dated checks and only issued promissory notes. A meeting with Cleverbuy was scheduled at NBI on June 1, 2012.
3. May 30 - Cleverbuy suddenly closed their office as well due to threats, verbal abuse, and a few cases of vandalism and theft received from their angry clients. The closure would be temporary according to them. Communication with them was soon cut off however (no response on their Facebook page, invalid contact numbers, etc).
4. Anonymous tips and various information from former Cleverbuy employees began surfacing.
5. June 1 - The meeting at NBI's Anti-Fraud Division was reset to June 8, 2012.
6. June 5 - The bank account used by Cleverbuy to issue their checks was closed. DTI encouraged complainants to go direct to NBI since this matter had become a criminal case.

A few days ago, I heard from an ex-Cleverbuy employee that the company's CEO Christian Bayer denied being the owner of Cleverbuy. That was certainly odd -- Cleverbuy's SEC registration could disprove his denial. Even in the official statement Cleverbuy issued last May 3, 2012, Bayer was named as the CEO. This denial sent my mind whirring and I began to consider the possibility that Cleverbuy was a scam from the beginning (unknown to their Filipino staff) and Garcia was being used as a fall guy by Bayer (just in case someone needs to go to jail to pacify the angry mob) while Bayer runs away.

What happened during the NBI meeting on June 8, 2012...

Unhelpful, Argumentative Guard at BDO SM Megamall

We were at SM Megamall near closing time last Saturday night and decided to withdraw some funds from the ATMs near National Bookstore.

They were both vacant that time so I used the right one while bf used the left one. I encountered no problem and finished my transaction. The left ATM, however, was taking a long time to cough up bf's money and was beeping continuously. As bf continued to wait for the money, I snuck a quick peek inside the BDO branch a meter or two away from the machines since the door was closed but the blinders were up. I'd seen bank branches that still had employees inside even past banking hours; I was sort of hoping that perhaps someone from BDO could help us.

Apparently, the bank guard heard the machine's continuous beeping and opened the door. We told him that the machine did not eject money but according to the ATM's receipt, the money was deducted from bf's account. Instead of helping us in any way, the guard lectured us that the machine's beeping meant that the money was already in the slot. He said that if the money was not taken from the slot immediately, it would be swallowed up by the ATM again. He then went back inside the bank.

If You Still Have an Unclaimed Cleverbuy Voucher, Read This!

This post's contents and comments have become so long and hard to read. I'm closing off comments for this post. You can find the newer updates about Cleverbuy (esp about the NBI meeting last June 8) here:

Latest Updates About Cleverbuy / CleverTravel

*****

I am pissed off right now. If you have an unclaimed voucher from Cleverbuy or CleverTravel, then you should be too. Why?

Cleverbuy is now closed!

I received a comment at my previous Cleverbuy post last May 18, detailing the company's very poor customer service. I got worried because I also have an unclaimed travel voucher that I bought from Cleverbuy, but I didn't panic since I had encountered problems with vouchers bought from other sites before (so I was sort of a veteran) and I was planning to use my voucher at the latter half of this year (I thought the problem would go away once the busy summer season ended).

A few days afterwards, I got links from Promoblogger and Everything in Budget and learned that after lying to several customers about booking their flights and accommodations, J2 Discount Travel and Tours had shut down and that Cleverbuy would be handling the refunds for the botched travel deals. J2 Travel and Cleverbuy occupied the same building and many people believed that they were sister companies.

• Cleverbuy's office: Unit B 4F Marvin Plaza Bldg. 2153 Don Chino Roces Ave., Brgy. Pio Del Pilar, Makati City 1230

• J2 Travel's office: 7F Marvin Plaza Bldg. 2153 Chino Roces Avenue, Brgy. Pio Del Pilar, Makati City

Cleverbuy apparently issued an official statement and denied any ties with J2, but that link (as well as the whole Cleverbuy blogspot blog) has been deleted. I hope someone was able to screen capture that statement. It might prove valuable in court.