How to spot various scams in Greenhills and a cautionary tale directly from Vince himself about being scammed
Scams are commonplace wherever you are on the planet, and it only takes a self-aware person to spot the red flagship sadly, scams are also evolving and you can’t be always updated about the newest schemes these shady people are cooking up these days. But first — let’s know the common scams usually observed inside Greenhills.
Buy low, sell high
Technically, this isn’t a pure scam in a sense but picture this: you have this phone here you’re looking to sell and after a while, you managed to secure a deal, selling it for an x amount of money. Then days later, you go back and noticed that your phone is a sought-after model, and thus– you’ve got finessed.
In order not to be lowballed for your stuff, make sure to research what you have and what’s the current market value so you have a rough idea of how much you want to sell your item. Also, take note of the condition of your smartphone: the more damaged it is, the lower it can be sold.
Katay-piyesa
Katay-piyesa, or “parts butchering” is also a common scam in Greenhills and the setup is this: you have a broken or faulty device that needs repair and you brought it to a repairman. They said it has something to do with this and that, and it costs an x amount of money for the service. You paid the cost because you want it repaired. Days later, you’ve got your device, and on the way home, the gadget starts malfunctioning again. You brought it back and shelled again some money, then the problem persists, and you leave with a choice to buy a brand new one instead.
Little did you know, the repairman swapped all of your device’s good parts for faulty ones, hence the continuous problems. To avoid this, it is better to take your device to a well-accredited repair shop than to risk it to the repairmen of Greenhills.
Counterfeits
Dubbed one of the ‘counterfeit hubs’ in the country, Greenhills isn’t always limited to smartphones only, there are clothing, other electronics, toys, and more. But our focus here is the phones themselves. Sure, vendors are always insisting that what they’re selling is authentic, but sometimes the bad apples are there and they manage to slip a few counterfeits, especially the Android ones since its software can be broken easily and easy to manufacture as well.
As usual, do your research and even bring sample pics or videos of what you’re looking for a comparison.
Placement fee scam
Ever tried to bring your faulty device to Greenhills in order to be fixed but instead, you are asked for a placement fee of some kind and after many days or months, the store will say that your phone is unfixable, but wait for a tick: there’s also a processing fee on top of that, basically, you were just robbed of your cash with your phone still broken.
That’s exactly what happened to Vince himself, in this short interview, he will reveal on how he was scammed:
UD: “Tell us about how you got scammed in the first place…”
Vince: “Yes, it happened many, many years ago. That was before my YouTube career here. At that time, I recently got my 13th month’s pay, and I am excited to buy a new device, and I ended up with an LG G4, which was a top flagship Android device back then. The LG G4’s heating and boot looping issues due to the poor heat dissipation of its Snapdragon 808 chipset, and I had to send it for repairs to Greenhills.”
UD: “How’s the repairing process?”
Vince: “It was pretty smooth at first. They said that the motherboard needs replacement and the parts needed for that had to be ordered overseas so it will take a while to be repaired, but once the parts arrived according to them, it’s just a matter of swap and fixes. Then they asked for around ₱6,000 to ₱8,000 downpayment, which I gave them.”
UD: “At what moment did you realize that you were being scammed?”
Vince: “Weeks passed, Christmas too. Months at least. No phone, no updates. I tried asking them and going on-site, unaware of the system that they shift stalls every two weeks or so, and they said that my phone cannot be fixed and I rather buy a new phone instead. I asked for my money back since they didn’t do anything about it and in the end, I barely got all my money back because of their so-called ‘placement fee’.”
UD: “What can you advice to people out there so they can’t be scammed in Greenhills?”
Vince: “If you aren’t knowledgeable of smartphones in general, bring someone like a friend or relative that is well-versed in tech. Also, ask questions and don’t be afraid to clear things up with the seller or repairmen, ask for a receipt and written agreement that details the time and date of purchase, warranty, and/or estimated time allotment for the device to be repaired. There are many great deals and people who sell real, authentic phones there and you shouldn’t be afraid of shopping in Greenhills, but please, consider what I just said for a better, safer experience mga ka-hoohoo!“
