side glass stolen off car oursite PriceSmart POS

[Saxman642]

This will be delivered to PriceSmart via TTPOST courier tomorrow or Thursday. If you have ideas for edits, suggest them now:
Os, should I include before and after camera pics with the letter?

Mr. Dhanraj Mahabir
Country Manager
PriceSmart Trinidad
Invaders Bay,
Port of Spain



CC: Mr. Emile Montoute – Club Manager, PriceSmart Trinidad
CC: Mr. Derek Chin – Director, MovieTowne
CC: Mr. Elson Gonsalves – General Manager, MovieTowne

Dear and Mr. Mahabir,
I write to inform you of an incident which occurred while I did brief shopping at the PriceSmart Port of Spain branch on the 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] February 2015.

I parked my vehicle, a silver Nissan Wingroad, on the southern side of the upstairs car park at around 6:45pm. It so happened I parked directly under a street lamp which also had a security camera attached.
After completing my shopping in PriceSmart I return to my vehicle and drove out of the compound. It was on approaching the traffic lights at Maraval Parkway, I decided to check my side mirrors as per routine and was stunned to see no mirror. It is now 7:15pm.

I immediately returned to Movetowne and parked and spoke to 3 MovieTowne security guards who were socializing at the staircase almost directly under where I originally parked. They informed me that they do not deal with upstairs and I should speak to PriceSmart security. I then went to speak with the security guard stationed just inside the exit door of PriceSmart. He now informs me they do not deal with outside PriceSmart doors. It was a PriceSmart supervisor who eventually advised me to make a police report.
A report was subsequently made at the St. James Police Station, with WPC Jack being the investigating officer.
On the 26[SUP]th[/SUP] February returned to PriceSmart and spoke to a manager named Prakash who took my information and a copy of the police report, but refused to show me any footage.
On the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] March I returned to PriceSmart with officers of the St. James Police Station. They interviewed both PriceSmart and MovieTowne officials concerning the matter. Again PriceSmart staff refused to show footage, citing that I parked in a blind spot.

My take on all this?
I find it appalling that I am paying for the right to even enter PriceSmart to purchase products and been lulled into a completely false sense of security that my vehicle will not be tampered with – or at least footage of such tampering would be captured. It is flabbergasting that this has happened before – yes, one Pricesmart staff did let it slip about a previous similar incident in the same area - and nothing was done to rectify the blind spot. In fact, even a senior MovieTowne official independently made mention some details of that incident.
I find the response by PriceSmart Port of Spain staff to be dismissive at best: “Buy from us, but tough for your vehicle while you shop. No, we don’t provide video footage either.” MovieTowne’s security did much more with less effort and demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt to myself and the police investigators that their cameras do not cover the upstairs car park. And they did not have to. Would you really have me believe that a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party randomly decided to install one camera without the knowledge or permission of PriceSmart or MovieTowne? How stupid do I look? The culprit who stole my mirror could have been long identified and dealt with by now.
But it gets better:

I was amazed to discover recently that the security camera has now vanished from its perch! So who took it down: PriceSmart or MovieTowne? Never fear, I made another important discovery as well, but I’ll keep that one close to my chest. This level of tomfoolery I will not tolerate. One company is lying shamelessly, and I’ve figured out which one.
My demand as this point is that I be compensated in the sum of TT$500.00, covering the cost of purchasing and installing the replacement mirror. Alternatively, I will accept a waiver of my membership fees until May 2018, seeing that my I am to renew my membership very soon.
I am giving a deadline of 5pm on Friday 17[SUP]th[/SUP] April 2015 for requested compensation. Failing that, we will at least determine ownership of the camera and who removed it in Petty Civil Court.

Mr. Mahabir, I hope that wisdom and good business sense will prevail in your response to this letter.

:

 

[nirtime]

Seems to cover the major areas. Don't think anything is missing.

 

[Saxman642]

Well yes!

I just got a call from the Regional Marketing Manger of PriceSmart! This is THE first time PriceSmart has contacted me since the incident.

Points of the call:

- She was only made aware of the incident last Friday via email as she was leaving work. (SIX WEEKS LATER??)
- ALL of the upstairs car park is owned by PriceSmart. Yes, even the camera!
- She has routinely parks in the same spot where I parked, and was surprised to learn it is a blind spot.
- She was not aware that the camera was since removed, nor was she aware of the previous car tempering incident.
- She apologised for what happened and is willing to compensate me for my loss
- She invited me to meet with her today face to face, anytime after 10am today

This should be interesting. My only regret is I have to taxi it there as my car is currently undergoing repairs.

 

[nirtime]

Looks like you're finally getting somewhere with this! I can't believe it takes a letter to get their attention.I'm happy you were offered some compensation hope it works out after all.
do let us know how it goes after your contact.

 

[Saxman642]

Looks like you're finally getting somewhere with this! I can't believe it takes a letter to get their attention.I'm happy you were offered some compensation hope it works out after all.
do let us know how it goes after your contact.

The letter has NOT been delivered yet! Is by sheer chance I get the call this morning!

 

[nirtime]

The letter has NOT been delivered yet! Is by sheer chance I get the call this morning!

Interesting. I wonder how they will respond to the letter when they do get it.

 

[Saxman642]

So I went in to PriceSmart areound 10:30am and met with the following managers in the food court seating area near the exit:

Emile Montoute, Club Manager
Anita Bhola, Regional Membership Marketing Manager

It was a pleasant experience. Points of meeting:

- They were served the pre-action protocol letter, mainly as a formality in light of their full disclosure. They were provided with all relevant pictures I took.
- The missing camera was never working to begin with! Once Mr. Montoute realized this in his investigations, he had it removed for repairs. I will assume it will soon be restored and all blind spots in their camera system will be removed.
- They profusely and repeatedly apologized for the conduct of their staff. they would have contacted me long ago if they were made aware sooner. I hope heads roll for this, honestly.
- They will indeed compensate me in the sum of $500 on Saturday, along with some vouchers for free stuff from their food court. I just have to send them copies of the invoices for accounting purposes
- I made sure to mention how I am to have trust in their subordinates (especially Alana and Prakash) when they passed the buck and lied to me so blatantly, and I was indeed gonna take it to court if they hadn't responded.
- They said I can reach them anytime

I must say I am happy.

I guess this is the end of this matter.

 

[admin]

Sorry i was not able to follow up on this matter my self, I've been quite busy. I'm extremely happy you got some form of redress from this situation, these can of matters must be highlighted so that it must never happen again to any one. The Workers who gave you a run around should be accountable for the crappy customer service they relayed to you.

 

[BrotherHood]

Well done saxman.
Persistence is the word for the rest of this week.

 

[nirtime]

Hats off to Saxman. He's done it again!
We should all follow his example in getting our fair endings.

I gathered from his experience that it is the lower level staff that are problematic and lackadasical.