Thai Logic (buying a mattress)

[Oxx]

On Saturday I went hunting for a new mattress.  The department store offered multiple discounts on discounts and the price came down substantially (well over half).  However, I wanted to check with another department store.

 

On Monday I went to the second department store, and the couldn't match the first's price, so it was back to the first.  When I went to place an order, the price had increased.  Apparently one of the discounts at 12% was only available at weekends, and as it was Monday, the discount was 10%.  I asked them to honour the original quote, and after the assistant checked with someone higher up, the answer was "no".

 

After much humming and hawing, the higher up came up with a solution:  I should order the mattress at the higher price, then come back on Saturday to cancel the order and reorder at the lower price originally quoted.  (Because of the original order, the manufacturer would start making the mattress, so there'd be no additional delay for delivery.)

 

Wouldn't it just have been simpler for all concerned to let me buy at the originally quoted price?

 

And is "variable discounts" according to day of the week a common practice in Thailand? I've not encountered it before.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Wouldn't it just have been simpler for all concerned to let me buy at the originally quoted price?

Not if the 12% price break is only allowed by the mattress manufacturer/supplier to be applied at weekends. These sales guys work on commission and pretty sure if he let this particular mattress company's "weekend specials" walk out the door Mon-Fri, he won't be flogging their stuff for much longer.

 

I think it's a good deal though, especially securing your order and holding the mattress for you. You know how fickle and fey farangs can get when they feel their superior bargaining power, logic and reasoning has been dissed by a lowly sales oik. Then they walk away and end up buying something around the corned that's more expensive just because, "It's the principle."

[BEVUP]

Your lucky they knew about the special

I went into Home Pro with wife & thought I would buy 1 LED Light to check it out for the house

Looked at there magazine in front of store whilst waiting for wife, AH good there's 1 for 209 bht

Went in started looking then asked about the 209 bht one

Oh no, this one 289 bht - But your book says 209 & I was about to walk out ( had wife translating )

After a few minutes it clicked to her & she said specials at end of isle 

[simon43]

...& she said specials at end of isle 

 

Samui or Phuket? ?

[userabcd]

Or just wait until the next weekend to get discount upon discount which they offer for the mattress or accept what the manager of the store branch reasonably offered to deal with the discount offer.

 

Discounts are changing everyday, even between different store branches of the same store brand.

[KittenKong]

My mattress came from IKEA. Fixed price for all. No discussion possible. No strange price variations. Good quality. Suits me fine.

If I could live out my life without ever having to talk to a Thai shopkeeper (or any other nationality for that matter) ever again, I would be delighted. They are a waste of space.