My Wallet Stolen During An Event

I recently went to an event. The event was held inside the mall I frequent a lot. Upon arriving at the event, I saw my good friend G who is also covering the event. Of course, since I've been going to many events, I never really imagined that something bad would happen to me while I was there.

As always, I was excited with what they offered. And so I went on and took pictures and participated at the event. I was pretty happy with what I saw that I wanted to purchase an item from them. But as I look in bag to find my wallet, it wasn't there at all! Of course I was in panic and alerted those I knew at the event. Apparently, the event was open to public (to which I didn't know and wasn't informed) and that anyone could come and go as they please. I thought that since big celebrities were arriving, there would have been at least a guard on standby. There wasn't any even before the celebrities started arriving.

I was in panic! I went to check my car if it was there but no avail. It wasn't. So I went back to ask for help. But since everyone was too busy with the event, nobody was able to help me. I was at lost. I called up R to pick me up and help me sort this situation for me. The money I was suppose to use for paying my cellphone bills was there as well as some cash and cards. I felt my knees weakening since I was really trying to save money and couldn't risk losing any much less replacing my credit cards.

I went to ask the attendant at the cashier for the numbers of Metrobank and Citibank since I didn't know their numbers, the attendant gave me a BDO number instead. She told me that I could call BDO to ask for Citibank and Metrobank's number. I was dumbfounded. Since I lost my wallet during their event, shouldn't she ask someone from her fellow employees if they knew those numbers? Didn't she know how important it was for me to have my credit cards blocked and reported? Of course, she didn't.

The event commenced to my surprise with hardly anyone aiding me among their people. Note that the people there are from the store itself and those from the brand that is sponsoring the event. So there was an adequate amount of personnel to spend time in helping me out to report the problem. But no, I had to wait for the event to finish before someone approached me with my insistence.

I was offered Php1500.00 to help me get by for the rest of the day since all my cash was in wallet.. Of course, I appreciated the offer. I even told one of the event organizer however she saw fit to resolve this situation would be most welcome. To no avail. After I was handed the money, I was left alone with only momentary "ok ka lang?". What was I to say, right?

I really wanted to cry then and there and even when the event happening but I fought back my tears. I was worried on how I would replace everything I lost in my wallet. And some of the personnel even commented that my bag isn't the appropriate bag because it didn't zip close. My bag was the Ralph Lauren open tote bag. Like it was my fault for having a bag like that. Mind you, I use that bag in a lot of my events and many bloggers can attest to it but I didn't lose any of my stuff.

When R arrived, I was near breaking down. He approached a guard to help us out in reporting this incident. That was the only time I saw a guard within the vicinity of the event.

At the Customer Relations Office of the mall, a personnel from the store was called. He explained that he wasn't aware of what was happening and to the tone of this speech, the store shouldn't be accountable to what happened to me. I reinterated to them that they lack the security that is required when having an event. I was crying almost the entire time as I voiced on how disappointed I was with how they handled my situation.

They waited for the event to finish before anybody approached me. :(

Of course nothing happened to my complaint. R suggested that we look into the bags of the people of both the store and the event organizers. I was put into a situation of looking into other peoples bags. Do you know how humiliating it was? I didn't want to but R said its the best thing to do at that point. Of course, we didn't see the wallet. As for me, I couldn't help but just weep.

The owner of the store even looked annoyed with us and couldn't even be bothered. What she did was just tell me that she had no problem with us looking into her employees' belongings. It was really really humiliating being amongst these people, helpless, wallet-less and defenseless.

I'm sure they they felt that I was negligent of my stuff but I certainly wasn't. I didn't leave my bag alone and the only time I did was when I was getting fitted for their products and my bag was just literally beside me. Shouldn't they have enough security? Shouldn't they have guards on stand-by knowing that major celebrities and endorsers are arriving at the event. Couldn't they have at least informed me in their e-mail that the event was open to the public?

The bottom line is, my wallet is gone and I would never see it again. But I do sincerely hope that the next event that they have, they will be more diligent of the people they allow in.

As for everyone else, just be more than aware of your belongings. This is a hard lesson learned and I hope that no one will ever experience this again. I just hope that the next time this happens, they won't make me feel like its entirely my fault.

No love left from me,
Shen

You Might Also Like

16 comments

  1. I feel for you Shen. They should have enough security in the first place, knowing that an event will be held there. And they shouldn't blame you, sino bang gustong manakawan ng wallet? And I had the same experience, I was shopping and was about to buy snacks when I realized my wallet was missing. Buti na lang I've already spent 3/4 of my money sa shopping.

    Don't worry you'll receive more in return :)

    - Shane

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dang, was there a video camera? They should be able to let you see the footage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm sorry about your wallet, Shen. :( I hope this won't happen to you again in the future! take care. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kainis naman po yun! They should at least tried to do something to help... ='''(

    Di bale po, people responsible for this will get bad karma...

    Cheer up! Try to smile na po... =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Shen, sorry to hear what happened to you. I know how it feels. My whole bag was stolen at a fast food outlet before and it had everything that was important to me. I felt faint as if a rug was pulled out under me. I hope you can at least recover your IDs. My bag was ransacked and dumped in a bus so I was able to get the IDs back but everything else including my cellphones, iPod Touch, and petty cash from the office was gone.

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh no! I can totally see you in the event..you must be dumbfounded! Good thing R was there to the rescue or else you'll break down na talaga! I know that RL bag of yours, I've seen it! :( :( :( I feel so bad...this post is a huge eye opener for all of us, attending events or not..we just can't leave our bags even for a second! *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  7. that's always the case when you lose something in malls. They always say it's your fault when in fact they could have prevented it by providing more security to their customers. Whenever I lose something I just hope that whoever got it really needs the money and may karma get him/her! Believe in the power of karma. Smile Shen=)

    http://ipaxme.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh no! Shen super hugs from me to you!

    The guards in Unimart Greenhills are so alert. One time, a guard approached me because he caught a girl eyeing my gym bag. He asked politely if I was with her when I told him no. The guard told me to hold on to my bag. The gym bag is big and has no zip too.

    I'm so sorry to hear about this happening to you

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Awww, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I can totally feel you, dear. Being helpless is the worst thing to experience, especially if you're in an event, baka if it was me, I walked out na. =(

    Hugs, Shen, you'll receive more in return. I hope you were able to block all your CC & ATMs. Loveyah!

    ReplyDelete
  10. oh my, how annoying and sad! i really hate it na Filipinos have a tendency to blame the victim when something like that happens! like, kasalalnan mo pa na you borught a bag like that-- hello, it's not your fault there was a thief in the event! >:(

    s/he'll get what's coming to him/ her shen.. chin up. :O

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh wow, that's really terrible, dear. :( I'm so sorry to hear that...

    ReplyDelete
  12. im sorry to hear that Shen! Grabe, if ako nasa situation mo, baka nagpanic na talaga ako! Scary kasi baka gamitin nila yung CC's. I hope you called the banks na.. Thanks for reminding us to be really careful..God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's so sad to hear Shen, after putting you in a very nerve-wracking situation, they just left you still unattended :(

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh no, I feel for you Shen! I hope that thief gets what he (or she!) deserves. Despite your bad experience, thanks for giving us all a heads up. We may feel safe in malls or places we frequent, when in fact no where is completely secure. Don't worry, better thing will come your way!

    ReplyDelete
  15. i'm sorry about your wallet...what about cctv? doesn't the store have one and therefore be able to backtrack what went on during the event? looking at the situation, it seems like there was only little that the store could do, but they could've at least empathized and did something! they invited you in the first place!

    ReplyDelete
  16. OOoooh I know how you feel shen....I lost my money once, RM400+ with IC and cards....it was like...ooooh the whole world turned black! Just let it go, there won't be anything to do left but let the stealers have what they stole, maybe it's not meant for you, to teach you something, and to teach the stealers something. =)

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear from you!