Is there a law in Thailand about such behaviour?

[Confuscious]

Today, I went to a Boots shop to buy a pack of "101 Daily Vitamins".
The boxes are sold normally at 100 tablets per box.
But mostly, they can be purchased in "100 + 30 + 30 boxes" or "2 boxes of 100 tablets".

Today, I found a box of 100 tablets at a discounted price, - 60%.
I took the box and went to the counter.
But the girl at the counter replied that these tablets were not for sale and the correct price needed to be updated by the staff.
The discounted price was expired according to the girl at the counter (although I could nowhere see a date).
The girl wanted to sell me the box at the normal price, which I declined.
As I didn't want to make a scene over "a few baht", I left the shop.

That was not the first time that staff at the counter refused to sell an item at the discounted/marked price and certainly not the last.
 

I know, this is Thailand and not some Western country.
In my country, if the seller publish a price for a particular item he/she is bound to sell that item at the marked price.
I wonder if such a law to protect the consumer exists in Thailand.

[Wang Lalker]

yes you are indeed correct; this is not your country

[Jingthing]

Similar has happened to me a number of times.

I don't stress. Just decline to buy at full price when I had picked up the items based on the promotion price.

But what I find hilarious is the SHOCKED look on the clerk's faces when I decline to pay for the items I brought up.

Culture shock -- THEM! 

[AlexRich]

The retailer in the UK is not bound to sell at the marked price, and for very good reasons And I do not believe that the US is any different. If a car in the showroom that costs £10,000 is showing as £1,000 because the zero at the end blew away, the car retailer does not have to honour the price. I guess the Thai offer had expired but the shop was too lazy to change the signs ... even though they have misled you they are not legally obliged to sell at the offer price, as the offer is now expired.

[cyberfarang]

17 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

The retailer in the UK is not bound to sell at the marked price, and for very good reasons And I do not believe that the US is any different. If a car in the showroom that costs £10,000 is showing as £1,000 because the zero at the end blew away, the car retailer does not have to honour the price. I guess the Thai offer had expired but the shop was too lazy to change the signs ... even though they have misled you they are not legally obliged to sell at the offer price, as the offer is now expired.

Absolutely correct. In the UK a retailer is not obliged by law to sell an item at it`s marked price. It`s been that way for as far back as I can remember. Not sure about Thailand, but I guess the same rules apply.

 

But what is annoying, that usually these price errors rarely work in favour of the customers.

 

 

[seajae]

same in Australia, they have to sell at the  price listed on the item, here they do as they please. I saw a package of ram for my computer with the price on it so I bought it along with a few other items. As I was walking out of the shop I checked the docket and the ram price charged  was 500 baht more than the price listed on the box so I went back into the shop and queried it, they told me that the special price had finished,  may well be just a marketing ploy to get you to buy the items or they are pocketing the extra money themselves

 

[Wang Lalker]

not always not in your favour. sometimes they take the promotion price off the shelf but when you go to checkout you still get the discount. 7/11

but yes happens the other way round too

Edited June 14, 2018 by Wang Lalker

[Confuscious]

5 hours ago, seajae said:

same in Australia, they have to sell at the  price listed on the item, here they do as they please. I saw a package of ram for my computer with the price on it so I bought it along with a few other items. As I was walking out of the shop I checked the docket and the ram price charged  was 500 baht more than the price listed on the box so I went back into the shop and queried it, they told me that the special price had finished,  may well be just a marketing ploy to get you to buy the items or they are pocketing the extra money themselves

 

My guess is that they are trying to pocket the money themselves.

A few months ago, I was buying stuff at Big-C and I saw a lot of Corn Flakes at the -50% stand.
I took 4 boxes and went to the counter.
The "Ladyboy" at the counter wanted to charge me the full 100% for the boxes cornflakes.
I called the manager and showed him the bill.
The "Ladyboy" was immediately removed from the counter and the manager apoligized for the encounter.

[catman20]

i recon she was trying it on, sell it to you at the correct price and she pockets the discount. 

[catman20]

1 minute ago, Confuscious said:

My guess is that they are trying to pocket the money themselves.

A few months ago, I was buying stuff at Big-C and I saw a lot of Corn Flakes at the -50% stand.
I took 4 boxes and went to the counter.
The "Ladyboy" at the counter wanted to charge me the full 100% for the boxes cornflakes.
I called the manager and showed him the bill.
The "Ladyboy" was immediately removed from the counter and the manager apoligized for the encounter.

thats my point ! ?

[animalmagic]

But to add a little balance here, the Fresh Food Super Market on Siam Country Club Road had a special two for one offer on some imported ice cream.  My waistline will testify that I took full advantage of the offer; and I was very happy the following week to see the offer still plastered to the fridge.  At check out I was told the offer had expired and politely told them that the fridge still displayed the offer and took them to see, only to find it had been removed just after I had loaded up with ice cream.  Cashier was polite, explained that the offer had expired the day before but someone forgot to remove the sign, and then she charged me the discounted two for one price and apologised.

Happy customer, but now on a diet!

[AlQaholic]

Another one that makes me laugh, it happens a lot in Korea, but I have seen one or two occasions here as well. A shop will have signs all over saying "Last day today, all items 50% off, shop closing". and then when you come back a few days later to the same shop, the same sign is still up:)

Edited June 15, 2018 by AlQaholic

[sirineou]

4 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Another one that makes me laugh, it happens a lot in Korea, but I have seen one or two occasions here as well. A shop will have signs all over saying "Last day today, all items 50% off, shop closing". and then when you come back a few days later to the same shop, the same sign is still up:)

 Not exclusive to Korea or Thailand.

I like the signs at walmart in the US who advertise Four for a dollar  and if you look closer at the sign you will see that they are 25 cents each.  

[duanebigsby]

7 hours ago, seajae said:

same in Australia, they have to sell at the  price listed on the item, here they do as they please. I saw a package of ram for my computer with the price on it so I bought it along with a few other items. As I was walking out of the shop I checked the docket and the ram price charged  was 500 baht more than the price listed on the box so I went back into the shop and queried it, they told me that the special price had finished,  may well be just a marketing ploy to get you to buy the items or they are pocketing the extra money themselves

 

Not true for Australia, UK, and most Western countries. It's up to the retailer when a mistake is made to honour the lower price.

https://legalvision.com.au/when-do-retailers-have-to-honour-incorrectly-priced-items/

[Rimmer]

A post trying to impersonate moderation has been removed

[geriatrickid]

A note of caution; products like vitamins and OTC medications are marked  down to get them to move. Usually this is because they are close to the  expiry date indicated on the package. Always, always, always check the expiry date.  Drugs and vitamins' efficacy declines over time because the  active ingredients deteriorate. Typically the products have a buffer period so the expiry date isn't as critical in countries where the products are properly stored. However, in Thailand where drug storage isn't necessarily the best, deterioration and degradation is more of an issue. (If you think a pharmacy leaves its AC on overnight, you are incorrect, because the ambient temperature can easily hit 30C+.) Be prudent, and if you don't see an expiry date next to the Lot number, discard the product.

[csabo]

I read your post to my Thai wife for the official answer to your question and upon completing it this was her exact response. 

"No. Staff retard. Them lazy. <deleted> around eat somtum poo plarah all day and not check when stock promotion end. That not the shop for you." 

So there you have it. 

[Confuscious]

1 hour ago, AlQaholic said:

Another one that makes me laugh, it happens a lot in Korea, but I have seen one or two occasions here as well. A shop will have signs all over saying "Last day today, all items 50% off, shop closing". and then when you come back a few days later to the same shop, the same sign is still up:)

Yeah, been there and seen it.

In my country, when the sales period is arriving, they use to put new, higher prices on all items and then mark them as discounted.

Happens everywhere.
That's called "doing business".

[ballpoint]

I was in a large supermarket yesterday and they had a sign saying two items for B100.  I picked up two and asked the sales girl "how much if I only want this one?"  She told me it was B55, so I took the other, expecting it to be B45.  Imagine my surprise when they charged me B55 for it.  What a rip off!

[Different]

10 hours ago, Confuscious said:

But mostly, they can be purchased in "100 + 30 + 30 boxes" or "2 boxes of 100 tablets".

opening

 

10 hours ago, Confuscious said:

But the girl at the counter replied that these tablets were not for sale and the correct price needed to be updated by the staff.

problem

 

 

10 hours ago, Confuscious said:

That was not the first time that staff at the counter refused to sell an item at the discounted/marked price and certainly not the last.

supporting evidance

 

Diagnosis;

Shocked by reaction of local employee, she is right as long as new discount or new price must be repriced again so, cashier registrar can accept new price.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, Confuscious said:

My guess is that they are trying to pocket the money themselves.

A few months ago, I was buying stuff at Big-C and I saw a lot of Corn Flakes at the -50% stand.
I took 4 boxes and went to the counter.
The "Ladyboy" at the counter wanted to charge me the full 100% for the boxes cornflakes.
I called the manager and showed him the bill.
The "Ladyboy" was immediately removed from the counter and the manager apoligized for the encounter.

Either the price was in the computer at the correct, discounted rate, or at the standard 100% rate. In either case the ladyboy (why mention that BTW) made no mistake, she was just ranging up the items bought.

[HHTel]

9 hours ago, seajae said:

same in Australia, they have to sell at the  price listed on the item, here they do as they please. I saw a package of ram for my computer with the price on it so I bought it along with a few other items. As I was walking out of the shop I checked the docket and the ram price charged  was 500 baht more than the price listed on the box so I went back into the shop and queried it, they told me that the special price had finished,  may well be just a marketing ploy to get you to buy the items or they are pocketing the extra money themselves

 

Sorry but the law in Oz is pretty much the same as the UK.  The seller does not have to sell at the displayed price.

[toofarnorth]

48 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

A note of caution; products like vitamins and OTC medications are marked  down to get them to move. Usually this is because they are close to the  expiry date indicated on the package. Always, always, always check the expiry date.  Drugs and vitamins' efficacy declines over time because the  active ingredients deteriorate. Typically the products have a buffer period so the expiry date isn't as critical in countries where the products are properly stored. However, in Thailand where drug storage isn't necessarily the best, deterioration and degradation is more of an issue. (If you think a pharmacy leaves its AC on overnight, you are incorrect, because the ambient temperature can easily hit 30C+.) Be prudent, and if you don't see an expiry date next to the Lot number, discard the product.

I wonder how critical the temp. on the box is. Just yeserday at the Chinese Pharmacy near here I bought a box of Enaril , and it says on the side 'Store at room temp. not exceeding 30c ' I bet is was hotter than 30c yesterday in the shop and I would think most items there had the same ' Store below .......' written on. In the shop's favour nothing there I have bought is even close to the expiry date.

[KhunFred]

10 hours ago, Wang Lalker said:

yes you are indeed correct; this is not your country

Not THIS year, anyway. The USA is always looking for new places to invade, though.  ?

[Justfine]

Good luck suing a company over mispriced vitamins.

 

 

[scorecard]

18 minutes ago, HHTel said:

Sorry but the law in Oz is pretty much the same as the UK.  The seller does not have to sell at the displayed price.

 

My old business law professor explained it like this:

 

Imagine a shop with several Rolls Royce cars on display, and all with a not that big price sign on the windscreen with a little piece of sticky tape to hold it there. The price on the sign might be say 25,000,000Baht.

 

A customer walks in, checks that nobody is watching and quickly quietly removes the price on the windscreen, screws it up and puts it deep in his pocket and at the same time replaces the price sign with one which says 1,000Baht. 

 

Same customer now calls the salesman over and says i'll buy it, here's the 1,000BAht cash, a receipt and ownership documents now please.

 

Here's the question: would it be fair that the law indicated the car showroom owner absolutely must sell the RR at 1,000Baht?

 

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

It might be against the law, but since when does that make any difference in Thailand?

Quote

 

 

[upu2]

10 hours ago, AlexRich said:

The retailer in the UK is not bound to sell at the marked price, and for very good reasons And I do not believe that the US is any different. If a car in the showroom that costs £10,000 is showing as £1,000 because the zero at the end blew away, the car retailer does not have to honour the price. I guess the Thai offer had expired but the shop was too lazy to change the signs ... even though they have misled you they are not legally obliged to sell at the offer price, as the offer is now expired.

You are right. The shop has to sell it at the advertised price but only if the advertised price would appear to be a reasonable price. As you state in your example this price could not be considered as a reasonable price for the car

[IFinish]

2 hours ago, AlQaholic said:

Another one that makes me laugh, it happens a lot in Korea, but I have seen one or two occasions here as well. A shop will have signs all over saying "Last day today, all items 50% off, shop closing". and then when you come back a few days later to the same shop, the same sign is still up:)

Yea, been to a few bars around here that advertise on a big sign "Free Beer Tomorrow". Havn't ever once see them s#%heads honor that either.

[stevenl]

10 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

My old business law professor explained it like this:

 

Imagine a shop with several Rolls Royce cars on display, and all with a not that big price sign on the windscreen with a little piece of sticky tape to hold it there. The price on the sign might be say 25,000,000Baht.

 

A customer walks in, checks that nobody is watching and quickly quietly removes the price on the windscreen, screws it up and puts it deep in his pocket and at the same time replaces the price sign with one which says 1,000Baht. 

 

Same customer now calls the salesman over and says i'll buy it, here's the 1,000BAht cash, a receipt and ownership documents now please.

 

Here's the question: would it be fair that the law indicated the car showroom owner absolutely must sell the RR at 1,000Baht?

 

 

 

Totally not applicable in this case, where it concerns a difference between cash computer and special offer price, not an obvious mistake.