The items in this establishment are without a doubt impressive and top-notch. As a military collector, it's everything you could ask for.
However the service I had in particular was incredibly poor. I visited their Robinson's Manila branch back in 2010, and was confronted by an incredibly rude and stuck-up sales lady who was less than accommodating. The heated point of my visit came after the lady refuse to let me & my mother see one of their German EK1 Iron Cross up close. When my mother asked why she would not let us inspect the medal, she gave us a VERY illogical and down right insulting excuse, sighting and quote "'Muka kang suplada kasi". Flabbergasted by what she said, my mother immediately objected, telling her "Excuse me, that's no excuse to deny us service, Is that how you treat your customers!?" my mother exclaimed in full English, to which the sales lady replied sarcastically "Excuse me, PO! No need to speak all English dito, lahat tayo Pilipino..." That really struck a deeper nerve into us.
The argument ensued further between them, my mother demanding to speak to the owner of the shop, but to no avail. We unfortunately left telling the lady that we would report her to the mall authorities to which she again sarcastically replied "Sige! Go right A-HEAD!".
I believe we reported to the concierges/ information desk at the lobby or to a near by security guard, but the details escape me. However a few months later, we attempted to contact the owners of the shop directly through their contact on Yelp and Yellow-pages, but the contact number provided was either busy or not in service.
So my mother and I simply let the issue go, utterly disappointed at the event & lack of justification. It's a shame that a beautiful shop like that housed such unsavory employees at the time. Whether or not that particular employee is still there, I can't tell. Furthermore, whether or not their service has improved, I can't say either. I haven't been back since the incident, although I wish to do so one day.
And it turned out, I wasn't alone. A friend of mine who lived in the area once stopped by the shop to browse as I did. When he had asked to look at one of the helmets, the same employee simply gave him the price and a "menacing & sour look."
I am telling my story now in hopes that no other customer may experience the same travesty that I and my mother had encountered on that traumatizing day, and to speak out for those who may have encountered a similar experience. And furthermore, as a hope that management of this establishment may look at their employees carefully as to not carry a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing amongst their staff.
So in summation, again, "Yamasawa" has fantastic military items and antiques, but it is my hope that their employees & customer service has since improved since my visit some 8 years ago.
So take that with a grain of salt. read more