All right, I'm not addressing this to Customer Service. I'm addressing this to some PR agencies that have contacted me regarding their products or their client's products.
This PR agency PerCX-Perfectly Creatve X-tras Advertising Services sent me Fashion 21 products for a sponsored post. They said they will be sending products that are perfect for Summer. Beyond that, there really isn't much info. No campaign whatsoever. Since I wanted to feature local brands here on my blog, I agreed.
Things started to get nasty though when the products were delivered to my shipping address. They were expecting to see the write up the following week (during Holy Week)! Apparently, they had a timeline on their mind but only informed me after receiving the products. They were also telling me to inform them once the post is up so they can SEND the payment. Take note of the word SEND.
After sending them the link, they replied almost two weeks after telling me to get the payment at their office in Quezon City! I thought they were going to send it to me? I mean, wasn't that the point of reminding to send them the link of the blog post so they could immediately send the payment? Now, you want me to personally get it from your office that is at least an hour away (without traffic) from me?! I asked them if they could just deliver it to my shipping address because their office is too far. I made a follow up one week later because I never heard from them again. They replied 2 days later telling me to still get the payment in their office because the couriers did not accept it as it may get lost in transit. While that may be true, seriously though, who the heck are you kidding? I have received products, GCs, payments etc that were delivered to my shipping address. Whether the other PR agencies used a courier service or not, the point is, they were able to deliver. Why? Simple. Ethics. It was what was agreed upon.
So, I told them that the payment won't be of any value if I go all the way to Quezon City. My gas and time wasted on traffic won't be enough for that payment. I told them to be more transparent with their terms and conditions moving forward because they clearly belittle bloggers. I also told them that I will be blogging about this incident instead. So, they replied saying that they will ask their driver to send the payment to my shipping address just to prove that they acted on good faith and that they are being transparent. Excuse me but the moment you told me you'd send the payment and retracted it insisting I should claim it in your office is a clear sign of not acting in good faith. And how ridiculous is it that they only thought of using the company car after I have complained?
So, they sent the payment a week later but I told our helper not to accept it. Sa inyo na yan. Hiyang hiya ako sa abala. When they said they were going to send it thru their company driver, I never replied to them again aka-seenzoned. Hindi lang kayo any may karapatang mang-deadma.
Why am I posting this? It really ticked me off how this agency treated me as a blogger. So, I posted a product review for you. You were supposed to work with me equally not boss me around. I deal with PR agencies on a daily basis and majority of them are professionals. They reply fast on emails. At times, I end up apologising for a late reply because of intermittent internet access. Heck, I can even honestly say that they love their jobs. This whole blogging thing is very simple - PR agencies reach out to you to pitch their product to be featured on your blog. They usually ask for your term and conditions and once you both agree on it, they send the product and the payment once everything has been completed. Honestly, I've never encountered a PR agency insisting that I get the payment in their office just because. Actually it's the PR agency that goes out of their way to send the products and payments.
Another PR agency that as ticked me off is this PR agency that handles NYX. First, she cancelled our meeting 2-3 hours before the agreed upon time. She said she had a Skpye meeting that was moved to a our meeting time. Then I never heard from her again. I told her to just send the products since she cancelled on me. Nada. Now, that's just plain out rude. Patricia could have at least e-mailed me saying that they have changed their mind collaborating with me.
I get that Digital Marketing is a whole lot cheaper than the traditional advertising but please treat bloggers with equal respect. If you don't want to be treated rudely, then don't be rude to bloggers. If you can't do that, then you're probably in the wrong industry.
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