The other day i was in Greenhills with two objectives in mind. One is to have my Xbox360 fixed. Its the third time it broke down and the second time in 2 weeks. If i would have known that the xbox has a 30% failing rate I wouldn’t have gotten it and instead went for the PS3 or nintendo Wii.

So I went to the shop that fixed it before and after much scrutiny they told me its a piece of $#% and I should get a new one. I really really felt the wind get knocked out of me. My friggin P20,000 investment is gone! So i left the shop with my xbox on my backpack walking aimlessly along the corridors of greenhills pondering my next move.

When I reached the cellphone stalls, something caught my eye. Its the Nokia E61i. I first encountered this beautiful device when an office mate let me borrow her E61i because my phone went dead.

So I asked the sales lady how much and she replied “12,000 pesos” and after much haggling and us swapping key points like “its second hand” “its in good condition” I got the price down to P11,000 pesos. Thats approximately $270. When i counted my money i didn’t have enough on me. So I asked the lady where the nearest atm machine is and she pointed at the escalator and said “downstairs”. So with back pack in tow I went down and got inline for the atm machine. When my turn came up I suddenly had amnesia! I couldn’t remember any of my pin codes. What the hell is happening to me? Am I really getting old? As these thoughts ran in my mind i felt the pressure because the line behind me was getting longer, so with much hesitation I got my card and politely gave way to the person who has a better memory.

Thats the time I decided to call a friend of mine to ask his opinion and collect my thoughts. I told him what has been transpiring and basically he objected me getting the second hand phone, i told him that in Nokia they are selling it for 16,800 pesos and that would mean 5,800 pesos in savings.  But he still stood by his decision to get a new one and look for a better deal.   So I told him that Ill just go to SM Mega Mall to follow up on a lead that cellphones are cheaper at this place.

Around 530 pm I reached megamall. I immediately walked to the store and to my surprise it is cheaper! Way cheaper! The phone is P13500 pesos BRAND SPANKING NEW! So without hesitation I got the phone and felt as high as I can be. I immediately went to the network carrier Im using and asked them to activate the necessary stuffs for my phone (MMS, GPRS).

My new Phone! (using my phones *grainy* camera:)

At the end of the day I have learned my lesson.  ALWAYS seek for opinions. and that greenhills isn’t as green as it was before. So to all, before buying your phones in greenhils, please double check it first at a local, authorized distributor. At least you’ll have peace of mind that it is a genuine unit and that it is not refurbished as some units in greenhills that they’re trying to pass off as brand new phones.