Foreigeners not allowed to pay at Tesco Lotus

[Templar Knight]

Good morning,

 

Last week i payed my internet payment at Tesco as i have done for many years, and then yesterday problem.  When i went to pay my telephone bill i was told i needed my id, so i produced my Thai id but was told it was no good. OK i gave them my Thai driving licence but once again i was told no good.  My wife gave them her Thai id and they put it in a machine and was accepted. I had my wife question the girl and she related that it was a new rule that just came into effect, and it apply s at all Tesco, Big C and 7 stores. They also dont accept passports.

 

Has anybody heard about this?

[Don Mega]

paid my internet at the 7/11 yesterday, no ID needed.

[Templar Knight]

maybe i need to go there and not Tesco, but this is very strange  I think i need to talk to management at Tesco and hear what their reason is.  It is so very strange

Edited January 19, 2020 by Templar Knight

[tonray]

2 hours ago, Templar Knight said:

They also dont accept passports.

Yes...they do accept passports as that is legal ID for a foreigner

[Sheryl]

Thai ID cards have a machine readable microchip.  The pink ID cards for foreigners do not. 

 

I can't say specific to Tesco, but for most transactions there is a work around for entering a passport number or Foriegner ID card number.

 

However staff sometimes don't know how.

 

"Cannot" is the default response in Thailand  to anything someone does not know how to do,  or does not feel like doing. Next time politely but firmly ask for a supervisor.

[Templar Knight]

That was my mistake yesterday not asking for a supervisor as i was very mad. Yes i know that the Thai id has a microchip, and when they put my wife's in their machine it read it. Yes i know the passport is legal id for a foreigner, but they refused to take it yesterday. And as stated maybe they did not know how to enter the numbers.  But why has this come about it is very strange, and to me it is of no use producing id.  Maybe i am not thinking, but i just cant understand this. Who in all their wisdom decided to do this? 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Templar Knight

[tonray]

22 minutes ago, Templar Knight said:

That was my mistake yesterday not asking for a supervisor as i was very mad. Yes i know that the Thai id has a microchip, and when they put my wife's in their machine it read it. Yes i know the passport is legal id for a foreigner, but they refused to take it yesterday. And as stated maybe they did not know how to enter the numbers.  But why has this come about it is very strange, and to me it is of no use producing id.  Maybe i am not thinking, but i just cant understand this. Who in all their wisdom decided to do this? 

Not sure what company you were paying...but pretty much all bills I pay online. My GF still does the 'pay bills at the bank" routine...but why make your life more difficult. 

[Templar Knight]

My life was not difficult until this happened for i would go to Tesco every week for something and it was easy to pay. Going to the bank i hate long lines and paying on line i dont trust.  I will get someone to pay it for me.  Who thought of this idea of id for paying for bills what is the benefit from this? 

[scorecard]

5 minutes ago, Templar Knight said:

My life was not difficult until this happened for i would go to Tesco every week for something and it was easy to pay. Going to the bank i hate long lines and paying on line i dont trust.  I will get someone to pay it for me.  Who thought of this idea of id for paying for bills what is the benefit from this? 

Have you not noticed the recent massive checks, because of new technology, on foreigner overstay, using fake, stolen / purchased passports, which has revealed several tens of thousands of folks on overstay and or foreign criminals who should never have gained visas to enter / stay in Thailand.

 

Yes annoying but not all that surprising. 

 

As many others do I pay by internet banking transfer. 

 

 

[mogandave]

22 minutes ago, Templar Knight said:

My life was not difficult until this happened for i would go to Tesco every week for something and it was easy to pay. Going to the bank i hate long lines and paying on line i dont trust.  I will get someone to pay it for me.  Who thought of this idea of id for paying for bills what is the benefit from this? 

So this has made life difficult?

 

Get a grip Homer, the world has moved on to other, easier ways of paying bills that don’t back the line up at lotus and seven. 
 

Just kidding, likely just a one-off. They’ll take you passport next time. Keep a copy in your wallet...

[bkk6060]

Why not go to the machines at the front of the suppliers?

True

AIS

Whatever.

In fact most Tescos have these smaller internet/ phone shops attached.

Pay at the supplier machine no ID required just type in your phone number.

Edited January 19, 2020 by bkk6060

[ben2talk]

Best just use the app in your phone to pay.... I use True app. For most other things I use the KBank app... top up easypass, whatever. Why have a phone and not use it for payments? It's one of the few things that help better justify forking out every month for the phone bill...

 

I don't see how it's 'easier' to travel to Tesco, or even schedule adding payments to your grocery shopping. New apps enabling easy secure payments from your bed are the best invention since sliced bread!

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by ben2talk

[poohy]

A friend also member on here was refused paying lecky bill (i think) earlier this week in cash at a Tesco PKK

He had all forms of ID but they would only accept Thai persons ID

[Preacher]

Strange but true. It appears that foreigners are no longer alllowed to pay bills at Tesco Lotus. I tried to pay my electric bill as usual today. But if you want to pay bills at Tesco Lotus you now have to show your Thai ID-Card. Passport or drivers license are not accepted. I have a Thai ID-card for foreigenrs, that was not accpeted. They didn't know how to proces it as the pink ID-card doesn't have a chip like the Blue ones for Thai nationals. So Tescolotus doesn't even accept an official ID-card from the Thai government. They did look in their manual to see what to do with a pink ID-card. But seems there was no mention of it. Wonder what the Thai government thinks of that. An official Thai ID-card is not accpeted as proof of ID....

 

I didn't came as far as paying the Tescolotus credit card. I guess that is now also impossible to do at Tesco Lotus. Do foreigners with a Tesco Lotus credit card now have to pay their credit card at the bank instead of at tesco itself? I wonder.

 

Any body else with this experience? 

 

[Don Mega]

Can the tesco credit card be paid online ?

[steven100]

yes you can

[EricTh]

Why go through all these trouble just to pay your electricity bill? I have my bank autodebit my bank account for only less than 10 baht per month.

 

Save my time and petrol money.

[KhunBENQ]

Another member has just opened a thread in the Thai language forum asking for help:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1144062-help-with-translation-tescolotus

 

I have sent the image through Google translate.

Indeed it seems you need to identify yourself (with Thai ID card) to pay.

No joke: it's about identity theft, money laundering, weapon deals and spreading weapons of mass destruction. Referring to money laundering agency.

PARANOIA to the max.

 

 

[Dumbastheycome]

I have seen many mentions of this sort of thing happening . But to date I have never yet had a problem paying at my local PEA Office even when I have sometimes taken other peoples bills to pay as well.

The only time I have  had an issue is when a Telewhiz shop point blank refused to sell me a sim card and  that was several years back. And that was despite having purchased  one from the same shop before and often topping up AIS prepays. At other outlets I have also purchased  sim cards  with no request for any "registration" details. The only  consistent element seems to be the inconsistency !

[Mister T]

Had the same with water bill and TOT bill at Tesco. Flatly refused pink ID, Thai DL and passport copy. Just kept saying must have chipped ID card. Asked how I can get one as I have lived here over 20 years, the usual mai ru. Government directive came in on the 16th.

[Preacher]

Many services in my own country now require ID. But that they even refuse to accept a Thai ID-card is rediculous. 

[billd766]

I pay all my bills except the electricity bill using online banking through my KBank account using my desktop pc. Why I cannot pay my PEA bill online I have no idea.

 

I just wander up to the PEA office (15 km away) once a month and pay in cash.

[ThaiBunny]

53 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

New apps enabling easy secure payments from your bed are the best invention since sliced bread!

Next, hookers

[Don Mega]

Just now, ThaiBunny said:

Next, hookers

Luckily they have a slot to run the plastic card through.

[KhunBENQ]

15 minutes ago, Preacher said:

But that they even refuse to accept a Thai ID-card is rediculous. 

You refer to the "pink card" for foreigners?

Indeed one more point where it is useless.

 

[Crossy]

9 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I pay all my bills except the electricity bill using online banking through my KBank account using my desktop pc. Why I cannot pay my PEA bill online I have no idea.

 

I just wander up to the PEA office (15 km away) once a month and pay in cash.

 

PEA have an App, online payment no problem (by bank or Thai credit card).

 

[spinner2020]

One thing (of very few) that Thais are good at is mindless bureaucracy that reminds always of Soviet Russia. This instance is neither unusual nor new - OP is paying IN, not borrowing. Why should Tesco or the supplier give a [deleted] who pays it?

Having said that, I find even Thai companies will now let you pay online, and given the state of Tesco these days, that's a bonus. Just wait till Big C takes it over........

 

[KhunBENQ]

Let's hope it's a Tesco complication only.

Nothing found on 7/11 or BigC website.

Fortunately I am not affected (all online/internet banking).

[EVENKEEL]

Paying the bills is the ole lady's job, among others.

[OneMoreFarang]

I pay most of my bills online. It is fast and no hassle.

And in many cases, like internet, electricity, mobile phone, etc. it shows the exact amount which has to be paid.

And just in case I would try to pay a minute later again the system tells me it is paid already.

 

And in case I was late and i.e. my internet was already cut off then that payment is accepted instantly, even in the middle of the night. A few minutes later internet works again.

(In case someone asks: I connect with my mobile if my main internet is down)

 

For offline payments: foreign passports numbers have a different format then Thai ID cards and some contain numbers. It's incompatible so if they don't have an extra field for foreigners then it won't work.