Is there a law in Thailand about such behaviour?

[timewilltell]

If you are talking about the West where there is some logic and interpretation standards applied to the law then the operative words are intent and reasonableness.  So a shop offering Kit Kats on promotion at 20 pence when they are ordinarily 30 pence and clearly signed then they will have to sell at that price.  If it is a gold pen ordinarily costing 500 quid and priced at 5 quid then it is clearly mistake.  The object of the laws are to stop malpractice where a shop intentionally advertises at a low price to attract customers and then refuses to honour the price - all passed throught the filter of intent and reasonableness.  For the retailer they would rather swallow a mispriced few pence on an item and then hastily correct their error than have a peed off customer and lose the next two years of their business.

 

In Thailand the laws are anything but reasonable, often fail any test of logic in comparing severity of sentence and have no test of reasonableness, fairness and interpretation standards are almost non-existant, each judge deciding on his whim how to interpret, sentence and even prejudging things as is expedient.  Also cases are hugely expensive and there is no proper system of reimbursement of costs.  So no one knows what the laws really mean and no one cares because it is all a toss of the coin on the judge anyway.  It is a lottery unless the case gets international attention that persists so a thorough job needs to be done for show - and even then ......

 

So the result to society is that everyone does what they like which is totally in keeping with the idea of the land of the free (and lawless).

[Sumarianson]

I have bought items marked down by 50% in Max Valu only to find the staff have not discounted on the receipt. A trip back in the heat of day is annoying. I believe as my wife does that it is the staff who want to take the discount for themselves and not normally the store.

If an item has been discounted by the manufacturer and it is labelled so, then it cannot legally be sold at a higher price. I have often found that these laws to protect the public are ignored by the supposed enforcers of the law in Thailand.

I have personally found out of date items on shelves in many major store chains many times. Only yesterday I was in a major local store in the mall and saw a pack of cheddar cheese that was totally green on the shelf. In the UK I had a friend who was a solicitor who's job it was in ASDA to check the shelves for expired items. She had told me that if a customer found such an item and purchased it, it would lead to a major compensation pay out. I would hazard a guess that the law is the same here but not adhered to. As someone has quite rightfully said already " this is Thailand " don't expect the paid for standard of service.

Edited June 15, 2018 by Sumarianson

[stevenl]

4 minutes ago, Sumarianson said:

I have bought items marked down by 50% in Max Valu only to find the staff have not discounted on the receipt. A trip back in the heat of day is annoying. I believe as my wife does the it is the staff who want to take the discount for themselves and not normally the store. If an item has been discounted by the manufacturer and it is labelled so, then it cannot legally be sold at a higher price. I have often found that these laws to protect the public are ignored by the supposed enforcers of law. I have personally found out of date goods on shelves in many major store chains. Only yesterday I was in a major local store in the mall and saw a pack of cheddar cheese that was totally green on the shelf. In the UK I had a friend who was a solicitor who's job it was in ASDA to check the shelves for expired items. She had told me that if a customer found such an item and purchased it it would lead to a major compensation pay out. I would hazard a guess that the law is the same here but not adhered to. As someone has quite rightfully said already " this is Thailand " don't expect the paid for standard of service.

If it has not been discounted on the receipt the staff can not take it. Cash is checked against the register, not against 'what it might have been'.

[worrab]

11 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.

I thought that if the item is shown on the shelf at a reduced price, so £3.99 instead of £4.99, then  the lower price has to be honoured by law. I have found this to be the case when I have been shopping and have noticed the higher price being applied. When I show the lower price marked on the shelf that is the price I have been charged.  

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, worrab said:

I thought that if the item is shown on the shelf at a reduced price, so £3.99 instead of £4.99, then  the lower price has to be honoured by law. I have found this to be the case when I have been shopping and have noticed the higher price being applied. When I show the lower price marked on the shelf that is the price I have been charged.  

From https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/if-something-is-advertised-at-the-wrong-price/.

 

"If you take an item to the till and are told the price on the tag or label is a mistake, you don’t have a right to buy the item at the lower price. You could still try asking the seller to honour the price. "

[KiChakayan]

13 hours ago, Wang Lalker said:

yes you are indeed correct; this is not your country

So what? 

[smotherb]

I like the Old McDonald's ploy; six Chicken McNuggets for $0.99, nine for $1.59. Only the math challenged thought it was a good deal.

[seajae]

4 hours ago, duanebigsby said:

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/

only if its a mistake otherwise they have to charge the lower price, "In general, if a retailer displays multiple prices, they should honour the lower price. Misleading consumers is a serious offence under the Australian Consumer Law. However, if an isolated product is incorrectly priced, a retailer often has the option of following their store policy. Therefore, retailers should clearly display their sales terms and conditions at the register". Some businesses will give the product free if they charge more than advertised at the checkout, they cannot adverise a price/put prices on something then charge more like they do here

 

[seajae]

One of the big problems with many thai stores etc are they do not want to lose any profit, selling out of date products and not honouring pricing is part of it. In Australia out of date items are removed from shelves, selling them is against the law, here they do not want to lose the money so they will simply leave them on the shelves, as far as I know there is nothing stopping them from doing it. Same with restaurants, rather than throw old food out they keep using it, we only go to those that use fresh produce, its easy to tell and when we buy we always look at the use by, the old ones are always at the front with the fresh ones at the back. In Thailand money rules, profits/money in the pocket are number one, farangs just have to accept it and be more watchful when they buy as doing the right thing/the law will not help them

[ballpoint]

3 hours ago, stevenl said:

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.

She probably answered an ad calling for part time female staff.

[Justfine]

31 minutes ago, smotherb said:

I like the Old McDonald's ploy; six Chicken McNuggets for $0.99, nine for $1.59. Only the math challenged thought it was a good deal.

1 litre dishwashing liquid $1.80. 2 litres $4.

 

Some still buy the larger bottle.

[Kieran00001]

I think you have been taken in by an old wives tale, people claim that there is that law in the UK but there isn't, no shop is in anyway obliged to sell you anything, so if they mistakenly put the wrong price on something they can just refuse to sell it to you.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3277262

[Wang Lalker]

usually tesco-lotus give you the receipt with the change without you asking, one time the guy didnt, so asked for the receipt. receipt had a discount coupon for 50% on a highly sought after prized product .
guy look suspect when he was giving it to me.
yeah i bought some with the 50% discount voucher mostly i dont because i consider them over priced, wasnt anything so special as i then still dont buy them after

[NoshowJones]

Apart from alcohol, drugs, and anything to do with immigration, I would not be too concerned about Thai law, it is hardly ever enforced, except for their 24 hour crackdowns.

[Kieran00001]

2 minutes ago, Wang Lalker said:

usually tesco-lotus give you the receipt with the change without you asking, one time the guy didnt, so asked for the receipt. receipt had a discount coupon for 50% on a highly sought after prized product .
guy look suspect when he was giving it to me.
yeah i bought some with the 50% discount voucher mostly i dont because i consider them over priced, wasnt anything so special as i then still dont buy them after

 

A highly sought after prized product, from Tesco Lotus.  Makes sense, there are loads of products in Tesco that I can't find and when I do it feels like I've won a prize, did the receipt come with a map?

[NoshowJones]

Yes, This is Thailand and people just make up their own rules, not just the bosses, even employees.

[NoshowJones]

12 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.

My local car and motorbike wash put up their price about two years ago, it is still advertised at the original price.

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, animalmagic said:

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!

I love ice cream, but I hardly ever eat it, not because of my wasteline, but to prevent it from getting fat.

If there was a way to stop getting fat, apart from exercising, I would be eating ice cream nearly every day.

[HHTel]

5 hours ago, duanebigsby said:

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/

Quote

Wrong price

Where all units of the same item have been priced incorrectly or are scanning incorrectly at the register, the seller does not have an obligation to honour that price. In these circumstances, the seller is within its rights to correct the error at the register by offering you the item at the correct price (provided this is done before your payment is accepted).

A seller can’t attempt to correct the error or claw back any money after they have processed your sale and accepted payment, as the transaction (and the contract) is deemed complete at this point.

Multiple pricing

Multiple pricing occurs when there are two different prices appearing for one product. This situation can arise where some units of the same item have been marked down and others have not. In this situation, the seller is not able to correct the price at the register and is legally obliged to either:

1. sell the item to you for the lower price; or
2. remove all units of the item from sale until the pricing is corrected.

From another Australian legal site:

https://www.lawanswers.com.au/blog/australian-consumer-law-rights-incorrect-pricing/

 

Seems the lawyers can't even agree on the law!

[spidermike007]

Generally, customer care is taken seriously in the US. So, some accommodation may be made, if it was a genuine mistake. Repeat business is taken very seriously in the US, so most want you to remain happy with the service. 

 

In your case, it sounds like a scam. I doubt if there are any laws here, as the government, especially this current administration, makes very little effort to protect the consumer, or the general (non elite) public. They just do not care one iota. To say they are indifferent to you, I, and the common man, would be the understatement of the year. No effort is being made to protect the consumer, or toward public or traffic safety. You and I and the common man mean nothing to Little P. Nothing. Less than zero. 

[sawadee1947]

There is more than one pharmacy only, isn't it? 

And it is your right to agree with that price or to leave. 

And.....there is no obligation to sell anything for a wrong price! 

Not even in your country I suppose 

[rwill]

you can get vitamins at sites such as iherb much cheaper, even including shipping.  The main downside is you have to keep the order under 1,500 baht and less than 2 kg to avoid paying customs charges.

[Kieran00001]

2 minutes ago, rwill said:

you can get vitamins at sites such as iherb much cheaper, even including shipping.  The main downside is you have to keep the order under 1,500 baht and less than 2 kg to avoid paying customs charges.

 

There are much cheaper Thai online shops.  As an example, on that site, a cheap vitamin C goes for 186 Baht for 50 x 500mg, so 25g.  While on chemipan you can buy 100g for 66 baht. 12 times cheaper.

[GroveHillWanderer]

38 minutes ago, HHTel said:

From another Australian legal site:

https://www.lawanswers.com.au/blog/australian-consumer-law-rights-incorrect-pricing/

 

Seems the lawyers can't even agree on the law!

There's no discrepancy that I can see between the policies described on those two sites. They both say that retailers do not have to honour the marked price in all cases. The article on the link posted by duanedigsby sums it up as follows:

 

Quote

In short, this means that a store may or may not honour the incorrect price depending on their policy. 

 

[watcharacters]

 

I've learned the one and ONLY price that matters is what the cash register rings up.

 

If I have any question about a price I simply ask the cashier how much the item is.

 

Thailand is a little behind when it comes to customer service concerns.

[HHTel]

44 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

There's no discrepancy that I can see between the policies described on those two sites. They both say that retailers do not have to honour the marked price in all cases. The article on the link posted by duanedigsby sums it up as follows:

 

 

My mistake.  I must learn to read before opening my mouth.

[Tacuisse]

7 hours ago, Rimmer said:

A post trying to impersonate moderation has been removed

I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that.

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, timewilltell said:

If you are talking about the West where there is some logic and interpretation standards applied to the law then the operative words are intent and reasonableness.  So a shop offering Kit Kats on promotion at 20 pence when they are ordinarily 30 pence and clearly signed then they will have to sell at that price.  If it is a gold pen ordinarily costing 500 quid and priced at 5 quid then it is clearly mistake.  The object of the laws are to stop malpractice where a shop intentionally advertises at a low price to attract customers and then refuses to honour the price - all passed throught the filter of intent and reasonableness.  For the retailer they would rather swallow a mispriced few pence on an item and then hastily correct their error than have a peed off customer and lose the next two years of their business.

 

In Thailand the laws are anything but reasonable, often fail any test of logic in comparing severity of sentence and have no test of reasonableness, fairness and interpretation standards are almost non-existant, each judge deciding on his whim how to interpret, sentence and even prejudging things as is expedient.  Also cases are hugely expensive and there is no proper system of reimbursement of costs.  So no one knows what the laws really mean and no one cares because it is all a toss of the coin on the judge anyway.  It is a lottery unless the case gets international attention that persists so a thorough job needs to be done for show - and even then ......

 

So the result to society is that everyone does what they like which is totally in keeping with the idea of the land of the free (and lawless).

 

"In Thailand the laws are anything but reasonable,....."

 

Keep in mind that a lot of Thai commercial law is copied from other countries UK being one example.

 

The Thai labor law is heavily influenced by the Australian labor law.

 

 

[Tacuisse]

Commercial law deals with "offer" by the seller, and "acceptance" by the buyer. The price marked on an item is defined as an "invitation to treat", which means the seller is not bound by the marked price.

The Australian situation arises out of consumer law, not commercial law. Most large organizations such as supermarkets comply, although if they went back to commercial law, they would not have to.

IMHO there are not too many people who would pay the recommended retail price on a vehicle, or the asking price of a house or condo.

[AlexRich]

5 hours ago, worrab said:

I thought that if the item is shown on the shelf at a reduced price, so £3.99 instead of £4.99, then  the lower price has to be honoured by law. I have found this to be the case when I have been shopping and have noticed the higher price being applied. When I show the lower price marked on the shelf that is the price I have been charged.  

If the lower price is the correct unexpired price then you are correct. But a retailer can take an item off the shelf if the price is in error, they are not obliged to sell to you at that price if it is not correct. For a small item they might sell to you at the lower price as a gesture of goodwill.