It's Not Right!

I have a story or rather a thought, which I have summed up since yesterday. But couldn't find time to rant due to work overload.

Something stupid happened while I was busy and tense yesterday morning. It brought me to angry, sad and dumbfounded emotions but also, an awakening. Remember I told you about my housewarming cum birthday party to be held soon. Yes dear, very soon, next week. Saturday to be exact.(Again, I am terribly sorry for not being able to make an open invitation to all of you, lovely readers). So I ordered two birthday cakes(well, we are going to celebrate my eldest sis, sis in law and lil nephew as well as mine) from a baker in Bangi. I hate to name her. I am still pissed. And I am not a heartless moron who loves to downgrade people and crush someone else's business, especially when she is from my own native. But then, girl, if you read this, please upgrade your customer service and revoke your unfair "akad"/rules.

I am a very "vocal" person when I am upset. Well, only in writing. In person, I tend to hold my tongue unvoluntarily. Its really hard to translate my negative emotions verbally there and then.

I made a deposit which was 1/3 from the whole amount about a month before. So I thought, that should be enough and I will pay the rest COD or just before fetching it from her home.Last week she emailed a reminder. So I said of course I will pay before the day. You see, I didn't realize there was  an "akad jual beli" / terms in her email before as I didn't read properly. It says I have to pay full by 20/5/2010, which was more than one month away from the event date! My excitement clouded my judgement. Classic case, huh? Okay, that could be my fault for overlooking but unfortunately, aggreeing with whatever it was, when I paid the deposit.

Rationally thinking, I wouldn't even agree to such condition imposed by her OR anyone else, selling food/service like this. Do you agree with this?;-
The product she is selling is in food category. Usually when it comes to food/service industry, its normal that the vendors ask us to pay a certain percentage of the amount and pay the rest only AFTER you experience the service or see/check the food. Think when you hire a caterer for your wedding/events, would you pay the whole amount before the event? When you eat at McDonalds, don't you check your order before you pay? And at spa or hotels, would you pay before you are being lavished with their skills and hospitality? Would you? And my argument is, why would you pay the whole amount of a cake when you can't even see your can't-wait-to-click-your-camera-and-eat-all you-want-but-sayang-coz-it's-very-enxpensive cake yet??

I became much more pissed with her when she said this to me:

"i taknak cakap byk sebab u tak faham apa itu akad jual beli"
"I don't want to say more because you don't understand what is T&C"

Shits, what more worse can I get kan? I am the customer and she could say something downgrading like that to me???!! So I did some research. I wonder whether I am what she said. And whether she really is "celik ilmu" more than me. This is what I got;

"Dalam Islam, sesuatu yang ingin dijual itu perlu wujud dan ada dalam pemilikan penjual ketika akad dilakukan.
Jika barang yang diakad tidak wujud ketika akad, ia boleh mewujudkan unsur ketidaktentuan mengenai kemampuan penjual menyerahkan aset itu kepada pembeli.
Dalam perundangan Islam, kontrak jual beli boleh menjadi akad fasid jika penjual gagal menyerahkan barang yang diakad ketika akad dibuat."-Muhammad Hisyam Mohamad, Felo Pusat Ekonomi dan Kajian Sosial, Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia. the link is here
(For non-muslim readers, FYI, "akad jual beli" is a T&C of purchase between vendor and buyer. This quote explains that in Islamic law, the product must be available when you do the agreement. If not, it will bring uncertainty element fo the vendor to deliver the products to buyer. In the Islamic law/Syariah, it can be anuled if the vendor could not hand it to buyer when the agreement was made. However in the service/food agreement, the vendor should not impose full payment before the product being delivered. Don't you think so??)

So, am I still  tak faham by now? Please....

I am not trying to prove whether I am better than her, but I really hate it when someone can blatantly downgrade me. Watch your mouth sister!Tak sayang business ke?Word of mouth is much more powerful than you can imagine you, know!.But nah...I'd rather focus on more positive and rewarding things than continue with this bad feelings. Now that I said it out loud, peace yo!


Note: Do we have to agree with unfair T&C imposed by sellers? The ball is in your court. I am no supporter, that's for sure.