Revenged of a Scorned Pop Corn Eater

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Let’s compare the services rendered by these corporations to us and see who among them give the best worth of our money.

Two weeks ago, when the flick Star Wars ’ Episode 7: the Force Awakens had been showed in our place, Robinsons Mall in Calasiao, Pangasinan and CSI Plaza in Dagupan City hosted it.

At the first day of the show, my wife and daughter told me they watched the futuristic film in 3Ds for P170 per ticket.

For those street vendors who sell isaw (grilled chicken intestine) and poso negro (septic tank) “engineers” who also read this column, 3D means a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension to what one has been watching.

On the third day of the film showing, I and my son Nico, 20, and a Star Wars fan since he was three years old, watched the 3D versions of the latest Star Wars' movie at Robinsons for P250 per ticket.

Watching with my son the celluloid screen produced by Disney after it bought it for $4 billion from Lucas Films was sentimental because Nico since he was three years old had been collecting all the CDs of the series of these futuristic films, shown every several years, where I too learned who were Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Maul, C3P0 and BB8, Chewbacca and Jar Jar Binks, and Yoda and Anakin Sky Walker.

Opps did I digress to my ticket’s topic? 
I said earlier each tickets cost each of us P250.

Yes Virginia, P250 and not P170 per ticket as what CSI billed my wife and daughter!

“Why the 3Ds here are expensive than the P170 at CSI?” I posed to my son as David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage and Adam Smith’s “the inefficient perished,” flashed out in my memory after a decade stint of teaching economics in a university in Manila and in Dagupan City.

“Masisira itong Robinsons pag ganito ang presyo nila versus CSI (Robinsons undermined itself with this pricing),” I murmured as we entered the dark hallway for the silver screen.

“Kaya pala P250 kasi may pop corn at soft drink sa paper cup (Geez, now I know why it was P250 because of pop corn and soda),” my son blurted after we retired on our respective seats and after he browsed on the ticket using the light of his cellphone.

It says there P180 for the flick and the P70 for the food.

Was that price justification deceptive on the part of the corporation owned by the Gokongweis?

Caveat emptor (buyer beware!) as economics Latin maxim says.

I don’t agree, as this is a sleigh of hand bordering on swindling at the expense of the movie's customers.

But Robinsons should remember that there is a Latin maxim on “Seller Beware!” that I saw on my dream a month ago that says “!@#$%^&&* ninyo lipat na kami sa CSI or whatever movie that doesn't screw its customer!”

If this practice has been being tolerated by Robinsons, then the Gokongweis family who owned this movie world corporation shot themselves on the foot because another movie house in Dagupan City bills P170 a ticket only without a duress tops by a pop corn and a softdrink being thrust on the customer’s throat.

Remember, aside from other 3Ds, Disney has been preparing for the next Star Wars' Episodes 8 and 9 on years 2017 and 2019.

***

Here’s another services rendered  by the banks to their customers.

A friend told me that he opened an automated transfer machine (ATM) card account at SM Groups of Companies BDO or Banco de Oro.

Since corporate hackers can just plant gadget in or out of the ATM, many accounts with tens of thousands of pesos have been illegally withdrawn by those smart aleck scoundrels.

Although my friend has only a pittance at BDO, he detested the day where his account could be cleaned out by thieves.

He said he has been mulling to change his passwords once in a while but it flashed on him why not put all the bulk of his deposit at Bank X since every time he withdraws at the ATM anywhere in the country the bank alerted him immediately through a text message at his cell phone that an x sum has been withdrawn in his account.

“So if somebody illegally withdraws my money there, the bank could alert him so he could make an action to prevent another withdrawal from the bank,” he said.

That seems not a practice at BDO and other banks, he observed.

 (You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)