parents: boycott trinoma

i am seething mad at what my law school classmate, japs hatta, and her baby julia went through at trinoma.

please help spread the word.

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bad bad trinoma experience
(originally posted at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=72119849538&ref=nf)

i felt so bad earlier today because of the treatment we received in one of the major malls here in manila, that i had to sit down and write.

while i work in quezon city, i have never set foot inside Trinoma. until today. and i think i regret doing so. there must be a reason why i am not a mall rat. in any case we had to pass by a mall because bebe Julia was going to attend a birthday party and we decided to buy something at the nearest mall. my brother dropped us off and bebe J, her loving PA ate frieda and myself explored Trinoma on our own.

first things first, bebe J had a nappy "accident", and we had to find the nearest restroom to change nappies. so off we went into the sea of people inside Trinoma. we asked the guards, who were friendly, for the restroom. we reached the one just beside Gilligan's Island resto. so far so good.

the baby changing station was just at the entrance of the restroom. nice, easy to find, generally clean - though hardly like the restrooms in the new greenbelt areas or gateway. then the strangest thing happened. the cleaning lady looked at us with some concern. possibly she smelled that familiar scent from a used nappie :) and tried to find the culprits. yep guilty as charged, nappie accident here folks. we cleaned up bebe J with the wet tissues, but her nappie accident is of the kind that needs real washing with water and soap --- otherwise, baka mag rashes or worse magka UTI.

so i approached the worried cleaning lady and asked where could we wash. she told me, "bawal who maghugas ng bata dito". okay so if i cannot wash her here, where can i wash her? "dito na lang ho, she said and she directed us outside of the restroom and brought us to, of all places and to my complete shock and disgust, a MOP ROOM! where they wash and hang dirty mops used to clean the floor of the mall!!

i couldnt believe i was in Trinoma. wow mali kaya ito? baka tine-test lang nila kung magagalit ako on cam? baka may hidden cam inside the mop room? when my officemates describe Trinoma, its as if its a high end, sosy place which can trump SM North anytime. sige, poise muna, baka nga may camera.

so as i held bebe J who at that point was actually half naked(!) as we were supposed to wash her, i tried to clarify with the cleaning lady. Miss, ang dumi dumi nyang lagayan ng mop ninyo. Bakit mo naman ipapalinis ang anak ko jan? to which she replied "o sige ho sa kabila na lang". and so i thought she was bringing us to another bathroom, possibly one for disabled people. usually in restos like Jollibee and McDonalds, they let us use the one for disabled if we need to wash bebe J kase mas maluwag at mas malinis.

she led us farther down back, into a restroom area where i assume staff of the mall stalls use. i started to go towards one of the sinks, and then the cleaning lady calls me "Ma'am hindi ho jan, dito ho" and she was directing me to.. you have to guess.. another MOP room! with newly washed mop heads dripping.

the mother instinct in me suddenly kicked in. and like a mommy dog who has just given birth, and protecting her pups, my voice suddenly transformed. camera or no camera, i had to put my foot down. i will not wash my baby in a mop area. i told the miss, Nobody is using this sink here, baka pwede naman kami dito. wala na siya nagawa after that.

when we were going outside, a security guard who used the area was also walking out. bebe J likes security guard and usually gives them a snappy salute when we enter and exit our condo. she looked up at the man and said in the sweetest voice and with a very nice smile, "Hi :)". the guard couldnt help but smile back, and suddenly wondered why we were coming from that area. he said "Maam, bakit po kayo nag CR pa doon?" i recounted to him what happened and showed him the mop area that we were asked to use. nagulat siya "Maam dapat ho pinapunta niya kayo sa CR for the disabled".

that got me to thinking, if all these malls advertise and enchant families to spend weekend family time in them, being a public place and all, it becomes their responsibility to make provisions for such things as basic as how does a mom (or dad) clean up baby who just had a nappie accident? since malls are used by the public so much, doesn't it transform into a public utility and thus imbued with public trust?

hoist! prrrrt! stop, what the heck was i going to buy in this darn mall? my brother is texting us that he was about to return and pick us up sa drop off area.

after buying the gift, i went to the concierge area and reported it to their CSR Joseph there. i told him, you have incomplete facilities for children, and even before i could proceed to relate what happened, Joseph told me "Dapat sa paid CR kayo pumunta"

haay, tumataas ba ang blood pressure ninyo sa ganitong situwasyon? ano kaya ang ibig sabihin ni Joseph by saying that? tama bang isipin kong nainsulto kami by that remark? o baka dahil sa mababa na ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa Pilipinas at siguro kinulang siya ng bitamina at mineral nang lumalaki siya, si Joseph ay mejo kinulang sa pag abot ng developmental milestones nya.

i replied, it is immaterial whether we went to the paid and non paid CRs. you do not direct your customers to wash in the mop area twice if you do not have facilities for babies/toddlers.

he asked me to fill out a complaint form and i gave my name, number and a two liner, RCPI telegraph description of what happened. WAS ASKED TO LEAVE RESTROOM WASH THE BABY/CHILD IN THE MOP AREA. STOP. TWICE. STOP. END OF MESSAGE

about an hour and a half later, while we were in the kiddie party sa Max, my phone rang. the caller was not identified, but i answered it just the same. it was Joseph from Trinoma. i must admit, it was good for him to call. pero here was he had to say.

Ma'am, i just wanted to tell you that we have acted on your complaint. i already spoke with the SUpervisor of the maintenance unit, and told them about your complaint. the Supervisor has investigated what happened and sabi ng Supervisor, talagang bawal gamitin ang sink para mag-hugas.

whoa. wait a minute. teka, BP check muna ako. parang sumirit ang dugo sa ulo ko.

and Ma'am what the janitress should have done was to direct you to the CR for disabled people, and given you a pail/timba to wash your child.

whoa!! teka, di pwede mag-say ng bad words dito...

dear mommies and daddies, aunties, uncles, lolas and lolos, what would you have done? sabi ko na nga ba kinulang ng bitamina at mineral itong si Joseph. dapat kase, malunggay leaves na lang ang kinain niya.

i told Joseph, the business of a mall is customer service. you entice people to come to you and buy from you and enjoy within its confines. you cannot treat your customers this way. you will ask me to go to the CR with a pail??? to wash my daughter who is probably cleaner than any of you. she bathes 3 times a day, i doubt if your staff bath more than once. gagawin niyo ba yan sa mga mayaman ninyong customer? hindi ako mayaman, pero edukado ako at may pinagaralan. halimbawang si JAZA (zobel de ayala) ang dumating sa Trinoma with his grandchild who needs a nappie change. would you tell JAZA, sir here is a pail, please proceed to the disabled CR and wash your apo there. Joseph said, of course, "No po". well then, if you wont do this to people like JAZA or the owner of Trinoma, why will you do such a thing to your customers??? the reality of life is, a baby eats, it pees and it poops. if you entice customers to spend their family time in your malls, then you have to think about these realities. what happens if the child pees or poops? throw them in the mop room?? what is the reason why we would change a child's nappy if not for it being soiled by pee or poopy. yes you have a diaper changing station there, but you would also need to wash the baby. (as our pediatricians hammer upon as you need to ensure that area is always clean, specially for baby girls because the risk of UTI is high specially for those always wearing nappies. ) your facilities are therefore incomplete. you need to talk about how your provisions are able to accommodate such incidents.

of course, predictably, Joseph replies. "I fully understand what you are saying and how you feel Ma'am, rest assured we will take this up."

sa tingin nyo, totoo kayang he fully understands and feels how i feel? or is this a spiel we always get in response to complaints?

sana makakain pa ng malunggay si Joseph.

sorry for this quite lengthy story. its a load off my chest. thanks for bearing with me.