DANNY “Sir John” Isla is about to conclude his first year as a virtual retired private citizen, having relinquished his post as founding president of Lexus Manila end of 2016. When he was about to hand the baton to incoming Lexus President Raymond T. Rodriguez, Sir John said to me: “Seems like it was only yesterday, when I found myself being appointed president of Lexus during its launch in 2009. Now it’s coming to an end. Time flies, indeed.”
A man of few words—but when he opens his mouth, Sir John could easily dish off words of wisdom—he admitted to me in 2009: “I’ll give myself five years at the most to run the show at Lexus.”
However, he ran the show so very well that Lexus Chairman Alfred Ty kept on extending Sir John’s stint year after year, finally ending it only on Danny’s eighth season at the helm. Under his wings, there was not a single year that Lexus did not score big sales wins, consistently establishing volume record growths despite the brand being dubbed as the new kid in town in the high-end segment category.
Now freed from gargantuan responsibilities only a luxury car like Lexus can bedevil someone with a weak of heart, Sir John (still Lexus consultant, though) now finds time—a lot of time, actually—to relax, to smell the flowers and to have all day to sip his favorite wine—if not his single Macallan malt shots.
The following is a bit of a tragic-cum-dramatic account but with a happy ending of Sir John’s wife about their experience on their way to watch the live Paul McCartney concert in Auckland, New Zealand, on December 16.
‘We were victims of a scam’
By Joy Isla
“I have a story to tell and I am sharing it, for you to be aware and to beware.
As a certified Beatles fan, watching Paul McCartney in concert [because he is the only remaining active Beatle] is an ultimate goal for my hubby Danny.
Two years back we secured tickets for a concert in Japan. Unfortunately, the show was canceled because Paul McCartney fell ill and was hospitalized. It was naturally a disappointment even if the ticket prices were reimbursed.
We had no plans to go to New Zealand this Christmas due to more long-term plans in the first quarter of 2018. But we learned that Paul McCartney was scheduled for a one-night concert in Auckland.
We had to go see this one—for all we know, it could be our last chance. Paul McCartney is, after all, 75 years old.
We wanted to surprise the family in Auckland so we planned out our trip by ourselves. We tried to secure concert tickets via Ticketmaster but online purchase was not available in the Philippines.
Trying other web sites, Danny was able to secure tickets through Viagogo. Our order was processed, confirmed and paid for online. We received our e-tickets. Wow, ang ganda ng seats namin based on the seating plan!
Yesterday (December 15), we eagerly awaited entrance to Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland. As our tickets were being scanned, boom! We were told that our tickets could not be recognized by their system. Our tickets turned out to be invalid. Fakes. We were dumbfounded.
Taking pity on us, a lady from Ticketmaster tried to help us—perhaps, seeing our shocked faces. They traced that our tickets were bought for Viagogo by someone named Andrejs Grocevs, whose name appeared in our ticket copies. Eventually, the valid tickets were returned to Ticketmaster as unsold and, thus, appeared in their system as returned and refunded.
Long and short of this, we had to purchase new tickets on site. Buti na lang may available pa.
And it’s not just us. There were others who had the same plight as us. The Ticketmaster representative said that in a previous concert the week before, 46 others were, likewise, scammed—all from the Viagogo web site.
We were told that Viagogo pays Google for them to be the first hit for concert tickets and Ticketmaster can’t do anything to stop this from happening.
It was quite a hefty amount of sum we lost. Hope this serves as a fair warning. This happened because we were very eager to secure tickets. This happened because somewhere out there, are people who are dishonest and unscrupulous.
On a side note, while we were on the concert grounds, Leon [our youngest son] sent us a photo. I thought he Googled it. Turns out he was able to enter the venue with just his dimpled smile. And he was nearer the stage than us! So, ngayon, inisip na lang namin na dahil nakapasok siya nang libre, binayaran namin ang ticket niya sa na-scam naming pera.
Oh, watching Paul’s concert was a great experience. More than three hours of nonstop performance from Paul. Palit lang ng instrument and konting kwento ang pahinga niya.”
Merry Christmas!
PEE STOP Save for the Wheel Gallery bash of Sam Liuson and Johnny Tan on December 19, I missed all the Christmas parties hosted this year by many happy car companies because I was Rulesman from November 29 to December 16 in Baguio during the DOT-Fil Am Golf both backstopped by SMC and Toyota…I was immensely glad to see Johnny recovered fully well from his heart procedure only a while back. He came to the Wheel Gallery party with his ever-supportive wife, our comadre Sahlee…I also attended the Toyota Christmas brunch on December 20 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bonifacio Global City. Was that a Christmas party, too? Sort of. The brunch was highlighted by the launch of the new Yaris, a fave of the longtime Toyota hotshot Sonny Guerrero. Cheers and Merry Christmas again!
2 comments
That ticket reseller is being sued around the world right now:
https://justpaste.it/1e65e
Sorry for your misfortune, but glad you eventually saw the show.
Papuntahin sa Pians para masama sa EJK may ari ng Viagogo.