Is METRODEAL A Good Deal? | REVIEW

Most of my working years were spent in the Customer Service industry. I would reiterate on this over and over again if I need to. Why do I have to? That is to justify why I am very particular with the services I am getting from various companies. Also, I know (and very certain) that I had given so much of my ability to render excellent customer service when I was in their position in exchange of humiliation, stress and exhaustion.

Since I practice frugality, I became a sucker for coupons and discounts, LOL! But of course, I still gauge if it's practical to avail discounts in different aspects and that is what I am going to share with you now. Let's get started.

Deals

• Food/Restaurant - Whenever I give presents to my dear friends, I always think about the benefits they're going to get from it, will they enjoy it or if it will be worth it. I already purchased several food/restaurant coupons from Metrodeal and so far so good. I received positive feedback from them and that is enough for me to hear. (Positive)

• Electronic Gadgets / Shopping - In July, I purchased an electronic learning toy for my god son in time for his birthday but to my dismay, it didn't get delivered on time to think that the recipient's area is just within Metro Manila premises. I did multiple follow ups from Metrodeal to no success. I will elaborate more on the "follow ups" as I go along with this post. Guess when the package finally arrived...after almost a month of waiting from the time I placed the order online and got it paid for. No exaggeration. Almost a month. (Negative)

• Travel / Tour Packages - This is something I have yet to find out because my friend and I have been eyeing on Puerto Galera deal and hoping that it would turn out fine and a hassle-free kind of a deal. The only thing I can say about their Tour Packages is that most of the deals are kind of deceiving. Deceiving in a way that, you will immediately fall for how cheap the deal is if you are a lazy reader. Bear in mind that the prices you see along with the deal have lots of BUT's. For example: "3D/2N in Boracay for only P4500 inclusive of air fare" That's a great deal, isn't it? Even I fell for it at first since the last time I went to that island was in 2003 and thinking of coming back, but immediately backed out after reading the fine print. It's stated there that minimum of 4 pax for you to book this deal. See? What if you are a solo traveler? What if you just want to go there alone to unwind and do some soul-searching kyeme? Hadn't I read the fine print, I could've paid for something I didn't quite need or expect. (Neutral)

TIP: Read further. Understand the highlights and fine print of each deal. If you are fine with their terms, then give it a go, otherwise, don't. You wouldn't want to waste your hard earned money for something worthless.

  
Customer Service

• Reliability - Seeing so many social media platforms Metrodeal is linked to on their website makes you think that it is impossible for you not to reach them. Okay, let me explain further. Don't even make an attempt to call them because you will be put on queue #forever. Although, they have a disclaimer about that so you would want to try shooting them an email which I tried several times to no avail. When I was in a customer support/helpdesk department, my team and I made sure to empty our inbox before the end of the game. Why couldn't they do that? Are they short-handed with employees? Oh well, that is something they have to deal with especially if they see influx of complaints multiplying. I tried a different method like messaging them on their Facebook page, but nothing also happened. (Negative)

• Efficiency - As mentioned earlier, the delivery issue that I had with them was just taken care of after a month. They just realized their accountability of the matter after a long month. It is totally frustrating. (Negative)

Mobile App

I think their mobile application is still full of bugs and glitches. I tried downloading it and it was a success. I get to see the same deals I see when I browse their site. When you are already salivating and drooling and so eager to pay for the deal, the payment portal just don't accept the payment and never confirms. Dang! To my frustration, I tried giving the app a rating on Google Playstore and even I already touched a sensitive issue about how bad the app was and not to mention, customer service, no one has bothered to contact me to rectify all the issues. (Negative)

Verdict: 

To conclude everything, the department that they need to make improvements on is their customer service, I reckon. Bad is an understatement after all I have gone through. The management must conduct series of training or crash courses on how to render excellent customer service. After all, it is us (the customers) that make a company successful. It is easy to attract new customers but the biggest challenge is how to RETAIN them. They MUST remember that.

Now, my dear RaveViewers, please help me change my impression to this company by commenting your positive experience with them below. Have you bought something from them yet? How was your shopping experience with them so far?