X-Pats are no longer Seniors

A couple of months ago @grandpainak made a post to say:

The thread is not open for replies any more but it really pissed me off that they would do this, so I wrote to Mercury drugs head office to complain. Here is the response I got:

Note that they put the standard disclaimer for me to NOT share this on social media so I put this here with some reservations, but if any of us are getting treated this way at Mercury Drugs or anywhere else I urge to write the same as I did. Sometimes you DO get results. I would be very interested to hear if any other foreign seniors get poor treatment by Mercury Drugs from now on.

 

LJ and I have always received great courtesy from Mercury Drugs and other places where we've been regarded as seniors. For example, at Lee Supermart she (of the same nationality as me) was shepherded over to the senior's line, had her trolley unloaded, and was given a stool to sit on. Unfortunately, however, she still had to use our money to pay for the groceries.

 

I have been to Lee's Plaza grocery store many times ..I sometimes get caught up in the priority lane maybe 4 deep and they always offer me to go up front which I always refuse but always been given the opportunity which I think is pretty dam decent of them..Got to love them for that

 

Last time I went to pay a bill at Noreco the guard gave me a priority ticket. I told him I'm only 63.

 

"Adhesion contracts" like the email clause in thier letter, are not enforceable in the US, but I'm not sure about Philippine law

 

I think it is a letter that they would send to anyone who asked. For that reason I decided to share their reply so everyone else does not have to write and get the same reply. BUT if the practice of treating senior citizens of foreign countries with disrespect continues then I/we should complain further.

My more recent letter to illustrate the lack of respect that foreign seniors get In Some Circumstances, (as in not every time do we get treated badly), was to the Philippine Department of Tourism to point out how many of my friends have left Philippines as they no longer feel welcome here and to ask if foreign seniors are indeed welcome here. Because if they really don't want foreign senior tourists here they have only to say so and I'm outta here. I don't need to stay if I am not welcome. There are too many other places in South East Asia that would love to have the money I spend. But what about the filipina's? Well I'd take one with me, and if it did not work then come back for anudder one LOL.

 

I have often said that I MUST ACCEPT things here I do not like or I leave (i.e. no one forces me to stay) - the corollary of that is that if I am NOT ACCEPTED here then also I should leave. Minimal standards of courtesy from a host country should not be too difficult to extend to its guests. In fact, I find the people very welcoming but I do not think that at higher levels it is the same - however, I am not sure that respect for its own citizens is there at authority level either.

 

In Panama, resident pensionados or retirees (INCLUDING FOREIGNERS) are entitled to:

• 50% off entertainment anywhere in the country (movies, theaters, concerts, sporting events)
• 30% off bus, boat, and train fares
• 25% off airline tickets
• 25% off monthly energy bills
• 30% to 50% off hotel stays
• 15% off hospital bills (Unless insurance applies).

Plus you’ll also be entitled to a one-time exemption of duties on the importation of household goods (up to $10,000) and tax exemptions every two years on the importation of a car (or, better yet, the local purchase of a car).

I was going to do a comparison with The Philippines but there was no point as there is none.

 

Looks like filipinas would have trouble getting a visa to go there. Are there any sweet young thangs looking for fat old farts there?