Diana Zubiri | Image: @dianazubirismith
Diana Zubiri is the latest Filipino celebrity to have been given shabby treatment by employees of a luxury store abroad, an incident that left her dismayed.
Her experience at the Louis Vuitton store in Adelaide, Australia earned a vlog entry where she discussed how she and her mother-in-law were snubbed by the store’s staff, who appeared to scoff at her and her companion’s simple outfits.
“Nakapang-workout gear lang ako tapos ‘yung mother-in-law ko rin hindi masiyado, alam mo na, typical na Australian, simple lang ‘yung damit. So pumasok kami sa store na ‘to, nagtanong kami, naginquire kami magkano kasi walang presyo, tapos hindi kami pinapansin,” she recalled.
(I was wearing my workout gear, while my mother-in-law was also wearing a simple outfit. We entered the store, we asked for one of the item’s prices, but they won’t pay us any attention.)
“Tapos ‘yung pangawalang tanong namin, sabi ‘You wait for your turn until may bakante, ganyan.’ Naintindihan naman namin pero parang sana maayos lang ‘yung pagkakasabi kasi it’s not maayos, na parang nagmamadali sila, na parang hindi sila interesado samin kasi ganon lang ‘yung itchura namin. Ganon ‘yung nafeel ko,” added the actress.
(We asked for the second time around, and then they said, ‘You wait for your turn until there’s a vacancy.’ We understand, but we were kind of hoping they said that to us in a nice way, not in a way that they were kind of saying we don’t want to entertain you because of how you look or the way you dress.)
The ‘Encantadia’ actress said that she was expecting a more friendly treatment, and once they did not receive it, they ended up walking away from the store.
“Pwede naman sabihin ‘We’re not available yet,’ kasi kulang talaga sa tao kumbaga parang ang inieexpect ko lang na sabihin, ‘One moment please,’ basta maayos, basta pleasant so nagwalk-out na lang kami,”
However, the next day, the actress decided to return to the luxury store and dressed more nicely than last time. According to her, “the service was much better, they hope next time it will be the same.”
This is not the first time that a Filipino celebrity experienced ill treatment from a luxury store abroad.
In 2019, Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez had the same treatment with the luxury brand after she opened up in one of her vlogs that she was discriminated while trying to shop inside a Louis Vuitton store in New York City.
Last year, megastar Sharon Cuneta also opened up about being ‘turned away’ from another luxury store, Hermes, in South Korea, but got welcomed in a Louis Vuitton store in the area.