Tesco Lotus fires rude cashier who calls customer ‘sh*tty’ in viral video

[mercman24]

i was buying a scooter yesterday, halfway through the paperwork and 3 tyre kickers came in (thai). girl gets up, from her desk, just leaves me, and starts chatting to the tyre kickers, now once i had calmed down there are two sides to this story, 1, she had my money, i aint going anywhere, and 2, maybe another sale, ha ha.

[jimster]

On 11/17/2017 at 7:56 PM, tropo said:

Maintain "even higher standards"? LOL. I've come across many rude staff at Tesco Lotuses. I don't stand there an complain though... I just leave without a word. I'd say they are worse than 7Eleven staff on average.

Depends on your definition of rude. Indifferent and unlikely to talk to you is more likely, but that's common here. Most Thai checkout clerks aren't your typical cheery American "how's your day been?" types. It's the same at 99.8% of restaurants here - no one will come around asking how you're enjoying your food. The only ones that might are where 98% of diners are farang.

 

For me to consider staff rude, they would have to say something rude directed at me, not merely be unhelpful or quiet, as most of them are. So by that definition I can't remember the last time I encountered any rude staff member at any business here in Thailand. Unhelpful, yes. Useless, yes. Too lazy to even tell me the amount to pay, yes (although sometimes I ask "how much?" if they don't say anything). In some cultures this kind of behavior may be considered rude, especially for customer service based roles. In Thailand and other East Asian countries, it's considered pretty normal behavior.

[jimster]

On 11/25/2017 at 9:03 PM, atyclb said:

 

 

so tryue. quite often staff dont have a clue despite working there for months if not years. extreme apathy, lazyness mai pen rai, poor/non existent critical thinking. a thai friend has commented that a more or less universal job description is "consuming oxygen"

 

usually the customers dont argue as they are part of the system that doesn't question or debate

 

usually it is a waste of time to inject logic and reason with these people because hey dont learn (exceptions noted) 

For something small like the example you have given, I agree there's no point in wasting oxygen for such a trivial manner (which is what most Thais think too). Generally speaking, the only Thais I see questioning things are older, more educated types (and Thais who have been living abroad) but the average person? Nope. They are more likely to vent their frustration on Facebook later, but not directly to the clerk's face.

 

However, I wouldn't expect the staff at Wal Mart in most parts of the states, particularly in a big city to be any more knowledgeable, friendly or courteous either. They are probably on par with Tesco Lotus staff.

 

On the other hand, Tops, Villa Market and Foodland staff are likely to be at least a cut above the riff-raff found at Tesco. Why? Because Tesco is the Wal-Mart of Thailand, it's where the lower middle class goes to shop, you know your motorcycle taxi drivers, taxi drivers, factory workers, KFC employees, lower level hotel staff, public hospital staff, fresh university graduates working their first job, migrant labourers from Myanmar and Cambodia etc. Look at the cars in the Tesco Lotus parking lot. How often do you see Mercedes or BMWs? Almost never - one usually sees your typical run of the mill 10-year old sedan or pickup. Lots of motorcycles and customers coming by bus too.

 

If you go to Tops, Villa, Gourmet Market etc. the staff will be more helpful and motivated because they serve a higher caliber customer, which are mainly upper middle class and even members of the upper class. Hence more luxury cars in the parking lots where these chains are found.

 

Where I think it matters that you can't just be a doormat and go with the flow, never asking questions is when it comes to hospitals and other matters where your health, freedom or liberty are at stake. In these situations you MUST ask questions - however most Thais are sheep and believe whatever the guy with the white coat says without him needing to justify it.

[jimster]

On 11/18/2017 at 10:26 PM, tropo said:

Sure, the old "customer is always right" mantra. We all know that's not true, but that wasn't my point. I'm not viewing it from the company's perspective, but my own. I don't think too many of you would stand there arguing over something so trivial for that long.

 

Tesco has to be seen to do the right thing in order to preserve their good image so that even if the manager thinks the customer was an *ss (which he probably did) and partly responsible for the commotion, the lady gets the boot in the name of business and PR. She was expendable and giving her the boot was an easy way to prop up, or at the very least, save Tesco's image.

 

I don't think the lady will be losing any sleep over it either as she probably hated working there.

I agree. Although others have tried to make a point about Thais not questioning things (which I agree with to some extent), I think in this case it's a bit much when you have a customer lecturing an employee about this and that - there are bigger fish to fry as the saying goes. I wonder if this customer would also question his doctor this way (good if he does, though I doubt it)? In most cases, people go after the easy targets. It's easier screaming at some clueless cashier at Tesco Lotus than someone with "authority" like a doctor, just that personally, nothing a Tesco Lotus cashier does has any influence on my life but if a doctor tries to coerce me or my children to accept a medicine that has known risks without providing informed consent, that's something I need to be very concerned about, because it affects my health. And that's exactly the situation where I will question things. But a Tesco Lotus employee? Come on...I don't expect much from the Wal-Mart of Thailand and I don't think anyone else should either.

[tropo]

On 11/28/2017 at 10:26 PM, jimster said:

Depends on your definition of rude. Indifferent and unlikely to talk to you is more likely, but that's common here. Most Thai checkout clerks aren't your typical cheery American "how's your day been?" types. It's the same at 99.8% of restaurants here - no one will come around asking how you're enjoying your food. The only ones that might are where 98% of diners are farang.

 

For me to consider staff rude, they would have to say something rude directed at me, not merely be unhelpful or quiet, as most of them are. So by that definition I can't remember the last time I encountered any rude staff member at any business here in Thailand. Unhelpful, yes. Useless, yes. Too lazy to even tell me the amount to pay, yes (although sometimes I ask "how much?" if they don't say anything). In some cultures this kind of behavior may be considered rude, especially for customer service based roles. In Thailand and other East Asian countries, it's considered pretty normal behavior.

It's more to do with the training they receive. Ultimately the staff will behave how the management let them behave. Having been shopping here for 12 years, I am able to grade rudeness/courtesy as average, or above and below average. My grading is in the context of all of the stores I have been to in Thailand over the years, not a comparison to stores in another country. And even in that context, if a cashier shoves the receipt in my face without saying thank you, or while loudly chatting with a co-worker and literally ignoring my presence, I would consider that very rude and after 12 years, I still don't appreciate it. At some supermarkets, after being annoyed by the rudeness of certain staff, I avoid their checkouts on subsequent visits. Often it's just the person and not all the staff.

 

On a more humorous note, I was in a particular 7Eleven a few nights ago and noted that all the staff were rude and even aggressive (shouting at customers). A quick look around at the large volume of rude and annoying Indian customers soon made it clear why they behaved that way. The staff AND the customers made this store an unpleasant environment to shop in. Fortunately, with 7Elevens we have options.

[tropo]

On 11/28/2017 at 11:06 PM, jimster said:

  On the other hand, Tops, Villa Market and Foodland staff are likely to be at least a cut above the riff-raff found at Tesco.  

 

Perhaps in Bangkok, but in Pattaya, the 2 best places for good, helpful and courteous staff are Foodland and Tops at Central Mall. Villa Market is way down. Big C Extra is pretty good too.

[bheard]

Lol> Yes! I want my 3 minutes back - that was pushing it. Why would a customer stand there for 6.5 minutes arguing with a cashier? What was the point? From what I saw I'd say the customer was equally at fault here. Why would any cashier be expected to deal with that?

"the customer is always right"

Sent from my F3116 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[tropo]

8 hours ago, bheard said:

"the customer is always right"
 

 

 

Not in Thailand. Here the customer is always wrong. Be patient and courteous with all shop staff lest you incur their wrath.

[jimster]

On 11/30/2017 at 5:03 AM, tropo said:

It's more to do with the training they receive. Ultimately the staff will behave how the management let them behave. Having been shopping here for 12 years, I am able to grade rudeness/courtesy as average, or above and below average. My grading is in the context of all of the stores I have been to in Thailand over the years, not a comparison to stores in another country. And even in that context, if a cashier shoves the receipt in my face without saying thank you, or while loudly chatting with a co-worker and literally ignoring my presence, I would consider that very rude and after 12 years, I still don't appreciate it. At some supermarkets, after being annoyed by the rudeness of certain staff, I avoid their checkouts on subsequent visits. Often it's just the person and not all the staff.

 

On a more humorous note, I was in a particular 7Eleven a few nights ago and noted that all the staff were rude and even aggressive (shouting at customers). A quick look around at the large volume of rude and annoying Indian customers soon made it clear why they behaved that way. The staff AND the customers made this store an unpleasant environment to shop in. Fortunately, with 7Elevens we have options.

Training and culture is the reason for this behavior. Sometimes culture is a stronger factor, sometimes it's got more to do with training. I would again like to point out the differences between Tops and Tesco Lotus. One store is frequented by upper middle class customers, the other by the masses of lower middle class. Staff training is different in these two stores because the clientele is different - lower middle class Tesco Lotus customers have much lower expectations than the more upwardly mobile, moew highly educated, wealthier clientele that shops at Tops. I think this should be common sense.

 

I don't consider whether a cashier says thank you or not alone as an indicator of rudeness - that's a very western-centric viewpoint. Thais don't say "thank you" nearly as much as in the west - I have learned to reciprocate by saying thank you when it's warranted, but otherwise a quick smile is enough. I'm also more likely to say thank you to someone I know than a stranger.

 

A cashier avoiding you because he/she (usually it's a she) is talking to other co-workers and not talking to you I would consider somewhat rude, but it's not only so common in Thailand that it can be considered "normal", it would cause a loss of face if you were to get upset about it with the employee(s) concerned. It's a matter of apathy, lack of motivation and "I'm only doing this for a pay check" attitude amongst staff that results in this kind of behavior. Again, it's the same thing at Wal-Mart in the USA, or other similar stores in western countries, especially in large cities and areas where the staff are mainly non-locals. It's difficult to gauge cultural differences when you don't know what to expect - but, in my experience, shopping at Wal Mart in areas close to the Mexican border with lots of Hispanic staff, I found the staff to be even lazier and less motivated than anywhere I've ever shopped at in Thailand, less knowledgeable and downright rude, very unlike the stereotypical high-quality "customer comes first" American customer service experience I was expecting. This could be a cultural difference - I don't know much about Latino culture.

 

In Thailand, I find 80-90% of my encounters with check-out staff to be pleasant, only 10-20% of the time I would consider the employees to be indifferent or a little rude. Like you, if I encounter a rude staff member and recognise them next time, I would avoid them. However, I don't have a regular habit of only shopping at the same store, I shop at different locations and different supermarkets so I am likely to encounter a wide variety of different employees.

[jimster]

On 11/30/2017 at 5:10 AM, tropo said:

Perhaps in Bangkok, but in Pattaya, the 2 best places for good, helpful and courteous staff are Foodland and Tops at Central Mall. Villa Market is way down. Big C Extra is pretty good too.

I was simply giving some examples - whether it's Foodland, Tops & Central Food Hall, Villa Market or Gourmet Market, they are all a cut above Tesco Lotus. Big C is about the same as Tesco, Big C Extra and Tesco Lotus Extra are only marginally better than their normal counterparts. The Big C Extra store at Mega Bang Na is a cut above all other Big C stores only because it's located inside Mega Bang Na, which is an upper middle class shopping mall, otherwise it'd be about the same as any other Big C.

[tropo]

On 11/28/2017 at 11:06 PM, jimster said:

For something small like the example you have given, I agree there's no point in wasting oxygen for such a trivial manner (which is what most Thais think too). Generally speaking, the only Thais I see questioning things are older, more educated types (and Thais who have been living abroad) but the average person? Nope. They are more likely to vent their frustration on Facebook later, but not directly to the clerk's face.

 

However, I wouldn't expect the staff at Wal Mart in most parts of the states, particularly in a big city to be any more knowledgeable, friendly or courteous either. They are probably on par with Tesco Lotus staff.

 

On the other hand, Tops, Villa Market and Foodland staff are likely to be at least a cut above the riff-raff found at Tesco. Why? Because Tesco is the Wal-Mart of Thailand, it's where the lower middle class goes to shop, you know your motorcycle taxi drivers, taxi drivers, factory workers, KFC employees, lower level hotel staff, public hospital staff, fresh university graduates working their first job, migrant labourers from Myanmar and Cambodia etc. Look at the cars in the Tesco Lotus parking lot. How often do you see Mercedes or BMWs? Almost never - one usually sees your typical run of the mill 10-year old sedan or pickup. Lots of motorcycles and customers coming by bus too.

 

If you go to Tops, Villa, Gourmet Market etc. the staff will be more helpful and motivated because they serve a higher caliber customer, which are mainly upper middle class and even members of the upper class. Hence more luxury cars in the parking lots where these chains are found.

 

Where I think it matters that you can't just be a doormat and go with the flow, never asking questions is when it comes to hospitals and other matters where your health, freedom or liberty are at stake. In these situations you MUST ask questions - however most Thais are sheep and believe whatever the guy with the white coat says without him needing to justify it.

I receive enough courteous service in many stores across the board to realise that even in Thailand, if a cashier doesn't say "thank you" when passing the change and receipt, it's rude... and they are very likely disobeying management directives. You can walk into one 7Eleven and meet courteous staff, and next door find them all rude. 12 years in Thailand hasn't changed me - I still don't like it. I used to always say thank you, instinctively, but now wait until I hear it from the cashier as it's doubly rude if you say thank you and it is not reciprocated.

[kaorop]

On Fri Nov 17 2017 at 7:01 PM, observer90210 said:

In retail customer service, if an employe male or female cannot hold his or her nerves, his/her workplace is definately elsewhere....

 

...customer service? does that not ring a bell to some ? ...

 

Many here would not appreciate getting snubbed or bugged off of in any retail store when shopping for a TV or a pool pump?...so why should it not also apply to grocery retailers ?

 

....well done, Tesco Lotus !...carry on to maintain even higher standards to serve the customers and the other retailers should follow the example....

Not sure if  quotes have been mixed so deleted

Edited December 3, 2017 by kaorop

[denby45]

"According to the customer, who has requested to remain anonymous, he had gone to a Tesco Lotus store in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang area on Tuesday to buy seven bags of sugar and two cases of fish sauce. "

 

Is he perhaps brewing fish flavored beer.

 

Den

[The manic]

On 17/11/2017 at 7:45 PM, Here It Is said:

I hate to complain and very rarely do but I did a few years back about an employee of an international hotel in BKK.  Not sure what her problem was but she sufficiently p***ed me off enough to complain a few days after we departed.  

 

My wife and I treated her with total respect from the outset, as always, but she was intent on making us feel like crap and I was in no mood, particularly after a twelve hour flight from the UK.  We had previously dealt with her on numerous occasions without incident.

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold, so made a detailed complaint directly to the GM and after a few back and forth emails was informed that she'll never be serving us again.  I have a way of making my point in as few words and eloquently as possible.

 

We still patronise the same hotel on arrival to Bangkok and the management were as good as their word - never seen or heard of her since.  Ever since the management personally email us prior to arrival and also greet us at the door which gets a bit much but at least they care.  They're not cheap rooms but it's an international hotel so obviously a high standard of service.

Good work. I and a Thai friend were treated like Rubbish inthe Samsung Service Centre on North Pattaya by a bad tempered Tom. I never got round to complaing to Head office in Tokyo.  I wish I had. 

[Dustdevil]

For once, PUT DOWN THE F****** PHONE!

[phetpeter]

Both are wrong the customer for being a dick, After being told the rules which the till computer would have refused over the limit and would not allow it to be rung in unless the supervisor overrides the system. he could have done two separate purchases Der!

And her for not calling a supervisor to take over with the problem or suggesting to the customer that two purchases would stop the problem. As for having a mobile at the place of work..well!  Ah! staff training ain't what it was, I know that Tesco do train their supervisors to be complete a===s to staff, and customers most of the time! You know the type, 3 tills open 30 customers and two supervisors walking up and down telling you which  till to go to instead of jumping on a spare till and helping out!

[Rhys]

Give her a job as a teacher .....

[Andycoops]

You ride a bicycle.

You can't drive one.