Lessons from my first Globe GCash Amex purchase
December 05, 2012No, this is not another attempt to purchase makeup from Sephora. This post will be updated with the progress report.
CURRENT STATUS: Packages Delivered [12/20/2012]
Last Saturday, a friend begged asked me to buy stuff from Amazon. I obliged with the promise that I can also buy what I want, without having to share the shipping fees. Win-win!
 |
| Okay, I didn't say they're not makeup-related; |
December 2
- I placed an order using the Gcash Amex debit card.
- A few minutes later, I received a text saying I successfully paid Php 42.12. (This must be for the $1 card verification charge equivalent to $1. I read that this was refundable but as of this date, no refund yet.)
- I received a text saying I successfully paid Php 2519.19, a lot less than my purchase total.
- I found out that one item out of the five ordered was shipped separately. I think it was because it came from a seller that's nowhere near the other four.
- I received another text saying I successfully paid Php 42.12.
- I received another text saying I successfully paid Php 84.24.
- At this point, I already started to wonder what these charge were for. Apparently, Globe Gcash Amex doesn't have ONLINE billing statements for the ONLINE purchases it was solely created for. How ironic.
- I called.the Globe Gcash hotline at 2882 to verify if the information as to which merchant I paid is obtainable for its customers-- I WAS TOLD IT WAS, BUT ONLY IF YOU CALL 2882. Then, I had to be on hold for a good 10 minutes before my questions were answered. Both Php 42.12 and 84.24 were for Amazon and Paypal verification, respectively. Amazon charged twice, one was for the initial use of the card, the other one was for the Amazon Prime trial (opting in the free trial allowed me to get the products shipped in just two days for free to Burbank, California where the My Shopping Box, US cargo forwarder associated with Globe GCash Amex, is located.)
- Later that night, I received a text saying I successfully paid Php 1216.84. This was the payment for the 5th item that was separated on shipment #2.
- By 11:23 PM, Manila time, both packages have been delivered to My Shopping Box.
December 6
- At 8 AM, Manila time, My Shopping Box still hasn't updated the package tracking site. Maybe my packages still hasn't been keyed in?
- As of writing, no refunds has been issued for all the verification done.
- I called the MSB hotline and was told that it will take 2-3 days of inspections and weight checks before the package is uploaded in my MSB profile. Good thing, I opted to use the Amazon Prime 2-day shipping.
- At around 5 PM, I received the shipping invoice from MSB and woaaah, this sucks.
- Freakin' USD 83.86 for things that are super light but bulky in nature. Almost twice the price of the items I ordered.
- I checked with Johnny Air and apparently, they have the same computation, which is to use the volumetric size of the package for the nature of the items being shipped, instead of the weight. So whether MSB or Johnny air, the shipping cost would be the same as they also use the same rates.
- Tonix, are we really gonna push through with having them shipped via Air travel? Should I try to shamelessly beg for a discount first?
- Tonix responded with a 'go'.
- LOL haven't updated for more than a week. Been really busy. As of today, the status is still "ORDER DEPARTED US"
- The packages are expected to arrive this week according to their customer service representative.
- Tonix share: Php 6088.4432 (breakdown to be posted later; converted based from 42.12 exchange rate)
- I woke up with this text message.
- I woke up around 5PM. The first thing that came out from my mouth was "FRAAAK!" Haha I remembered that the packaged was supposed to be delivered.
- I called MSB hotline, got transferred from one line to another until I got a representative who gave me the exact progress. "The package is already on the way to you."
- But after I hung up the phone, a few minutes later, I was called by said customer service representative and told me that the delivery will have to be rescheduled the next day. The delivery vehicle broke down and will not be able to reach me.
- I was promised that my package will be prioritize on Thursday. Sad, but I can live with it.
- I called MSB at 10AM to follow up. In verbatim, in a very jolly voice I was told, "Miss Jennever? Ako po yung nakausap niyo kahapon! On the way na po dyan yung packages niyo. Hintayin niyo na lang po."
- Now, I haven't even told her my tracking numbers nor my name. It's not everyday that I receive that kind of personal customer service so I was really thankful. I wasn't able to understand her name because it was kind of inaudible, but whoever you are, I shall be calling back and give you a commendation.
- An hour after, here they are! The lightest boxes I've ever carried. Such as waste of volumetric weight space, if you ask me.
 |
| These two boxes only contain FIVE items. Placed the 1L water bottle for size reference. |
 |
| Both boxes came sealed so you know your packages haven't been snooped in. |
Lesson 2: Even if they are sent to the cargo forwarder on the same time and date, using the same Amazon sales order number, if the items are arrived in two separate boxes, they will be tagged by MSB as two separate packages, no excuses. It's so they can be tracked separately. In our case, the 5th item came from Kentucky, which is roughly 2795 kilometers away from Nevada, so Amazon really had to separate this shipment. If you want to avoid this from happening, you can send them to relative/friend first so they can reorganize stuff.
Order Details
(Edit as of April 16, 2014: I converted the dollar values so it would be easier to understand. Please only consider those in red font.)
Shipment #1
Php 2519.19 deducted by Globe for Amazon box #1
Php 42.12 deducted by Globe for Amazon card verification; equivalent to $1
Php 2270.69 MSB shipping to Philippines charge of box #1
Shipment #2
Php 1216.84 deducted by Globe for Amazon box #2
Php 42.12 deducted by Globe for Amazon Prime verification; equivalent to $1
Php 1261.45 MSB shipping to Philippines charge of box #2
--------------
Subtotal paid to Amazon for both boxes: Php 3736.03
Subtotal paid for MSB shipping to the Philippines: Php 3532.14Total Amount Paid via GCash Amex: Php 7268.17
(excl. verification charges)
Tonix share: Php 6088.4432 (His 3-pc purchase + total shipping fee)
My share: Php 1179.7268 (2-pc purchase)
Subtotal paid for MSB shipping to the Philippines: Php 3532.14Total Amount Paid via GCash Amex: Php 7268.17
(excl. verification charges)
Tonix share: Php 6088.4432 (His 3-pc purchase + total shipping fee)
My share: Php 1179.7268 (2-pc purchase)
Edit:
Edit: The total amount I crossed off on the first edit was the amount I paid to Amazon for all our purchases, not my share. Thanks to the commenters for pointing this out to be sorted
To read the GCash Amex FAQs, click here.
26 comments
The discrepancy is more on the FX Rate at the time the item was purchased. This is a good read though as I am considering having a GCASH Amex. Thanks for sharing the info.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh. Thanks for enlightening me. The package is rescheduled to arrive later today. Even with the delay, that's still 3 business days ahead of the schedule they quoted me when I inquired before authorizing the shipment. Kaya, go! :)
ReplyDeleteSo everything is converted to peso-dollar value? :)
ReplyDeletejust placed an order for an ipad mini case, still haven't gotten any deductions from gcash amex :( got an email that my gcash/amex got declined, tried it again, hope it goes through this time.
ReplyDeleteOh. Have you already gotten KYC'd? I also encountered this issue before. As it turns out, my funds were insufficient. Make sure your Gcash fund is a bit higher than the conversion rates. I usually overfund it by 500 pesos just to make sure the transaction would go through.
ReplyDeletei have been KYC'd, and the funds are sufficient.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: I was charged last night by gcash the amount of what i ordered, but since i didn't receive any email from amazon about my order, i checked the site, and saw that there is still an issue, i contacted them and they told me that the issuing bank is declining their transaction, but gcash support says that the transaction was successful, which is why i was debited. haay :(
waiting for gcash support to call me back within 24 hours :(
Wow, that sucks! One con I see from Gcash AMEX is that there is no transparency with the debit activity. It's always a guesswork on the charges. They really should implement an online billing statement.
ReplyDeleteAdd the screenshot or the official email from Amazon that there were problems with the transaction and the payment did not push through for the order. I hope they can credit your funds back.
hi! i had the same problem at amazon. just double check your address should be exact like in your digital handbook no shortcuts. hope this helps.
ReplyDeletemy only problem now is my login at my-shopingbox coz my password is invalid and it's been 2weeks and they haven't fixed the problem. im worried about my package from amazon coz it's been almost 3-4days that amazon declared my package has been delivered and i havent received an email from my-shoppingbox that they already received it. and now im also worried about the shipping charge to my PH address. =(
ReplyDeleteHi jp i have the same exact problem. Can you give me an e-mail about your experience? If you have accomplished it yet? knoofed@yahoo.com if your problem has not yet been solved maybe we can work together
Deletebe wary about gcash amex, had a transaction with www.dogfunk.com, I successfully paid my order but the vendor suddenly decided to cancel the transaction because they feel that the credit card was suspicious. The website claims that they did not accept my payment, and the deductions should be consulted with the financial institution(Globe). Now my problem is that Gcash Amex does not have a policy yet regarding chargeback.. They cannot give me a guarantee that I can still get my money back.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if the second box has the amazon logo or if it has the sticker waybill from amazon? There are instances when MSB repackages your items into a bigger box which would be unfair for us since if our package came in a small box and they repackaged it in a bigger box, it means they're trying to squeeze us for more shipping fees.
ReplyDeleteOh and they actually open our boxes when it reach their warehouse in california since how else will they be able to put the description and quantity of the items on our dashboard. I only tried them once and my package came in the original box but I'm wary of trying them again because of the repackaging issue. Since your purchase was fairly recent I was just wondering if the second box did have the Amazon logo since they might have stopped that practice of repackaging to a bigger box.
hi may i know your contact details? we the have exact same problem. the my-shoppingbox.com account that globe provided to me doesn't work. i contacted my-shoppingbox.com about my issue and they said that globe hasn't forwarded yet to them my account information, hence i still don't have an account in my-shoppingbox. i have a package coming in a week time but couldn't track it because i don't have any my-shoppingbox account. i'm truly disappointed talga sa service na to' all i heard in blogs are good feedbacks but for normal people it doesn't work the same way, i think this gcash amex thing is jus really a scam. will never use it again
ReplyDeleteWe have to report this issue to Imbestigador(GMA 7) or T3(TV5),so this kind-of-a-scam service of myshoppingbox will stop. This will not just end here. It will or may victimize another online shoppers. Let's unite and make our voice heard!
ReplyDeleteNote: Pls.provide your contact details ,so we can reach each other. In unity, there is strength!
Hi. Sorry for the late reply. Are you still having the same problem? Have you already received your package? I was able to receive all 5 1USD charges for the verification charges I was debited with. They still don't have a billing statement that we can use to keep track of these charges.
ReplyDeleteNo, I was able to sign in nah.
ReplyDeleteDoes that include the shipping fee (Air - $53.91 and $29.95) ? also automatically debited? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDamn. I should have luckily read your blog first before I ended up hitting the order button 2 days ago. Thanks for the info. This is very appreciated.
ReplyDeleteAww that's too bad. How much could you have saved?
ReplyDeleteHi. Sorry for the late reply. Yes, inclusive of shipping na. Yeah, that's the catch. For bulky items, you can opt for the sea cargo option. That would make the rate far lower but it would take maybe a month to get here. Mahal kasi talaga yung custom/import fees so mas okay kung bumawi sa shipping.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, GCASH AMEX also enables postpaid users to puchase up to P500 worth of iOS/Android/BB apps to be put on top of their monthly bill (source: https://mygcash.globe.com.ph/gcashamex/). Galing no?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, ordered a Kinivo BTH220 Bluetooth headphone recently, yun lang kasi afford ko now. Just waiting for it to arrive. :)
Updating my comment! It would be interesting to learn that you can now use GCash AMEX to book seats online at the Philippine Airlines website (http://www1.philippineairlines.com). This would be very advantageous to folks without credit cards, as you can already reserve a seat on the spot on your computer. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I've been thinking of placing an order and avail their free shipping. All the items I want to purchase are fulfilled by Amazon, so I'm crossing my fingers that they have stocks of it in Amazon warehouse!! Or else it will all come in different boxes. And additional shipping cost from MSB!
ReplyDeletePS: I planning to order a few Dove and Nivea creams in little tiny tin can. I'm pretty sure it will be charge by volumetric size. Ugh.
hi thank you for the post, i am just wondering you said that tonix share is Php 6088.4432 pero you only paid php 3820.27 all in all.......can you also tell me how much is the actual price of the items per piece? para mas madali magkano lahat yung items + magkano yung binayaran nyo sa service(shipment and taxes) and yes i agree the figures above were really confusing
ReplyDeleteHi Elvin.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out. I have converted the dollar values and sorted the breakdown above.
Total Amount Paid via GCash Amex: Php 7268.17 (excl. verification charges)
Tonix share: Php 6088.4432 (His 3-pc purchase + total shipping fee)
My share: Php 1179.7268 (2-pc purchase)
For the shipping taxes, inclusive na siya dun sa shipping fee ng MSB.
To summarize, Php 3736.03 yung total ng mga nabiling items sa Amazon tapos yung shipping nilang lahat inabot ng Php 3532.14.
Try to look at S&R or in Duty Free shops. Baka maka-save ka on shipping kung meron sa mga yun. Sayang din yun. :)
ReplyDelete