Apologies to OTY
(Note: this is an update from previous post)
First off, I apologise to the Ong family and OTY Jewellery coz it turns out that yeah, I was just the victim of poor judgement on the part of certain employees, as well as unfortunate circumstances (craftsman falling ill, engraving machine breaking down). Illness and equipment failure are both beyond their control, so they shouldn't be blamed for that. And as for wrong information/advice from the employees -- I guess those employees will know better in future.
So, here's what happened...
Due to a miscommunication, I went to Mid Valley Megamall while Mrs Ong was in 1Utama. So Mr Ong escorted me to their company offices while Mrs Ong made her way over.
Mr Ong told me he wanted to bring in lawyers, which pissed me off anew coz I'd already taken down the post in question as a sign of good faith. He said anyone with common sense would have known the ring's band was too narrow to be engraved. As an ordinary person with no expert knowledge of jewellery, how do you expect me to know what would be too narrow? That's why I specifically asked the employee at the particular outlet whether the engraving could be done!
Anyway, I was sitting in the company offices waiting for Mrs Ong and had plenty of time to ruminate on the situation. I wasn't worried, because I know justification (truth) is a complete defence to an action for defamation, and I'd only been citing my own experience, not spreading malicious lies (phew, I actually still remember some of the law stuff I studied in university -- what a surprise! :D). But, it did occur to me that the Ong family might know people on my company's board of directors and might be able to get me sacked if they were feeling vindictive. I mean, I didn't know whether they would want to do that, but I thought, what if? Gosh. So I prayed for wisdom and asked that we would be able to solve things amicably.
When Mrs Ong arrived, I saw that she was visibly distressed and agitated over the whole incident. This moved me. I saw that, far from being a cold, corporate entity, OTY Jewellery is obviously still very much a family business. The Ongs pride themselves on their high quality jewellery & designs, and had clearly taken this matter very personally. They felt that it was a stain not just on the company's reputation, but on their personal integrity as well.
According to Mrs Ong, her husband had been (understandably) very angry over the post and had wanted to bring in the lawyers, but she had managed to persuade him not to do so. For this, I'm extremely grateful to her. I think she's a very wise woman. I only hope I'll one day be half as wise :)
She attested that every explanation her employees had given me for the delay had been true, and therefore the company was not at fault. Something with which I agree. I'd been infuriated by the delay, but in life, shit does happen; you can't control every circumstance.
If I had written the post after that 10 days were up, she said, she could have accepted it. But I'd not even waited for that, not waited to see if the employee would keep his promise to get the ring ready within 10 days. I agree with this, in a way. It wasn't fair to lash out and make judgements at that point. So, once again, I apologise to the Ong family for my reaction. (Yes, I know some of you will say it's my right to relate my experiences on my personal website, which I pay for with my own money, yadda yadda yadda. But, remember the Golden Rule: Do as you would be done by...)
Mrs Ong also told me that the employee who had sold me the ring in the first place had made a mistake, that the band was actually too narrow to be engraved. It might either break, or the engraving might not be clear. That had been a mistake on their part.
She asked me what I want now, and I said I just want to get the ring engraved. That's all I ever wanted! But, since the particular ring is, err, not conducive to engraving, the conclusion is: I'm to meet her at their 1Utama outlet again on Saturday. According to my understanding, the company will refund me the money, plus allow me to purchase a replacement at a discount. Although, now I think of it, if that's the case I'll just take the refund. My budget's very tight at the moment because I'll be going out of the country on a week-long holiday in July (more on that later!). Rings can wait :P
Thank God this has been solved, and many thanks to Mrs Ong for taking the time & trouble to meet with me personally and trying to sort things out. I really appreciate that and will not forget it in a hurry. She demonstrated kindness and grace to me today :)