Foreigeners not allowed to pay at Tesco Lotus

[Assurancetourix]

17 hours ago, Preacher said:

Any body else with this experience? 

 

Do like me ;
everything is in the name of my thai wife.
The pickup, the house, the internet subscription, the phone and smartphone chips for her (she has two, I never understood why) etc ...
It is she who manages with all this;

I don't exist;
which is normal since I'm a farang.
Of course you have to trust her;
Finally, if you are married it is because you trust ...

About yellow tabian ban and pink identity card; I have none of this and I have been doing very well for 14 years.
The funniest, 13 or 14 years ago, I went to the town hall of Sawang Daen Din to ask for a yellow tabian ban;

the girl, straight in her boots, answers me it does not exist ..
I answer her: ah!
and the next day I go back to see her with the yellow tabian ban from a Norwegian friend;
and I said to her: so this does not exist?

Oh the loss of face in front of all her colleagues ...

 

No problem, I ride my MTBike with her chef ..The mayor of Sawang .

Since then, I could have made one and the pink card;
I do without it actually it is useless.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Assurancetourix

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, ukrules said:

Why do they log your private data when paying a simple household bill?

 

I can't think of a single valid reason for this.

I always assumed it's because they're a bit stupid.

That assumption answers nearly every question I ever have in Thailand.

[Assurancetourix]

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I always assumed it's because they're a bit stupid.

Above all, I think it's because they don't want to take any responsibility;
they were never trained for it;
primary school is like that;
you listen and above all you keep silent;
the teacher is god, he knows everything and you don't know anything.

[Templar Knight]

When i was at Tesco the lady informed me it was also Big C and 7.  I have not tried them yet, but my wife was with me so she used her id.  I have not tried my passport yet but maybe next time i will try. I did ask about the passport but no reply or maybe she does not know how to input the numbers.  I will ask for a manager next week and hear what they have to say.  It is not just the foreigners that have to produce ID it is also Thais.  I cant understand why this has to be done. Next month my wife is going away maybe i will get her to leave her id ha ha

Edited January 20, 2020 by Templar Knight

[Benmart]

22 hours 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? 

Getting "very angry" does nothing good, either for you or the situation ypu mentioned. As difficult as it may be, a smile and seeking assistance from elsewhere may work. Asking this forum is nice, but ultimately you have to find your own peaceful solution/options. The Serenity Prayer is a good start. Good luck.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Templar Knight said:

When i was at Tesco the lady informed me it was also Big C and 7.  I have not tried them yet, but my wife was with me so she used her id.  I have not tried my passport yet but maybe next time i will try.  I will ask for a manager next week and hear what they have to say.  It is not just the foreigners that have to produce ID it is also Thais.  I cant understand why this has to be done

Clearly they're concerned you're trying to launder the 20M euros you made selling cannabis in coffee shops, 500bht at a time.

Since getting the Bangkok bank app on my phone, I've not paid at stores, all done using the app now.

Edited January 20, 2020 by BritManToo

[Cereal]

23 hours ago, tonray said:

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

Using this, they should also accept bankbooks, driver's licenses, work contracts among others because you need to show a passport to get any of them.

 

But that would be logical.......

[soalbundy]

19 hours ago, ben2talk said:

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!

 

yeah, easy and secure which is why we don't hear about bank accounts being hacked and other scams, for me cash and a receipt are king.

[Scouse123]

22 hours 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? 

 

 

Your life is not difficult now, just pay it online.

[todlad]

For every transaction, Tesco Lotus will earn a fee: as far as I know, when you pay in this way you should see, eg, 22 Baht as a payment fee on your receipt: for the convenience of not having to go to the bank or PEA office or wherever. 

I doubt very much that it is Tesco Lotus policy not to want to earn these fees, especially as they are considering selling off their SEAsian business.

This will come down to hardware and/or poor training issues. I get miffed when I face unfathomable hurdles at my branch of SCB but have come to realise it is their inadequacy.

I think the Samsung help/technical centre is the winner, however, for complete and utter nonsense.

[norbra]

I came across this maybe 6 months ago at Big C paying water and electric,asked for passport which I did not have but quoted pp number which they accepted,since then I have written the wifes phone number on each invoice which they accept

[Cricky]

Templar Knight

• Newbie

 

 

You're a Newbie here, I reckon we can expect quite a few more posts from you in the LOS

 

Chill man and enjoy.

[Tchooptip]

On Lazada the wallet now is only for Thai people, since a certain time. 

We foreigner cannot use it anymore, I mean cannot put money in it any more like for years before,  it is the law now they said... but if we receive a bonus of five ten fifteen Baht it still goes into the wallet...but the value is only for a short time. They are not ashamed to sometimes take us for donkeys, at least in the case of the Lazada wallet there is no doubt

[Olmate]

I tried to deposit cash into gf account at Yellow Bank yesterday, pp required,never a problem previously. Use the ATM was indignant teller reply!

[Fairynuff]

23 hours ago, Templar Knight said:

paying on line i dont trust.

Why? I pay just a out everything online. Flights, bills, eBay,Amazon, you name it. Thousands of transactions and never an issue. If you’re afraid of making a mistake that’s another story.

[terminatorchiangmai]

had the same problem with my TOT bill at Big-C , no problems whatsoever at 7/11.

TOT is falling behind with online payments , AIS works perfect.

[Preacher]

Yes, you can pay at other shops, banks, online etc. But the issue is that Tesco Lotus refuses to serve foreigners, even if they have a valid Thai ID-card. Hell, you can't even pay your own credit card from Tesco Lotus at Tesco Lotus.

[Gandtee]

Big Brother is watching you.???? 

[spiekerjozef]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:11 AM, Sheryl said:

Next time politely but firmly ask for a supervisor.

If you're english is limited you wouldn't know what a supervisor is.

[hobz]

I wonder if this is related to foreigners being unable to buy some cards in 7/11.. I gave them passport and Thai driving license but they didn't know how to enter them into their system and could not sell me a Sim card... Had to go to the mobile phone shop next door..

[SunsetT]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:11 AM, Sheryl said:

"Cannot" is the default response in Thailand  to anything someone does not know how to do,  or does not feel like doing.

"The computer says no"............555

[SunsetT]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:25 AM, 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? 

Maybe the girl is a wannabee immigration officer.....555.

[yogi100]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:11 AM, Sheryl said:

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.

The other day I was in a Big C supermarket. I twice asked members of staff where the kettle and hotpot (ganamlon) dept was and where the black plastic refuse bags were kept.

 

After I had established that they knew what I was looking for I was told on each occasion "no hab".

 

Knowing that they do sell such items I searched the aisles till I found what I wanted. I just shook my head in wonderment and reminded myself why they call it 'Amazing Thailand'.

 

It was in Pattaya and there were few customers in there and very few staff at 12.30 - 13.30 on the 16th January.

 

Although it was not such a big deal as the one the OP encountered such frustrations are hardly going to endear visitors to the the LOS.

[Skallywag]

On 1/19/2020 at 10:12 AM, Templar Knight said:

My life was not difficult until this happened

 

On 1/19/2020 at 9:49 AM, tonray said:

That was my mistake yesterday not asking for a supervisor as i was very mad.

Your whole life was not difficult until one person at Tesco refused to pay your bill?  A but dramatic 55

 

Anyone who has visited or lived here for more than 6 months know to never get "mad" or angry with a thai, especially in public.  

I've been there, tough to feign kindness and happiness sometimes when dealing with thai customer service workers.  You need to remember they are unskilled, young, and working for a few hundred baht a day.

Peace

[Caldera]

I pay everything with my K-Plus app, quicker than dealing with a cashier and withdrawing extra cash anyway. I also don't need to walk around with my bills and have no chance to misplace them or forget paying - I grab them from the mailbox, pay them and put them in a folder right away, all in one go.

[Just Weird]

On 1/19/2020 at 8:47 AM, Templar Knight said:

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

Maybe you should be asking the phone company.  Paying your phone bill isn't exactly Tesco's problem.

[Don Mega]

So with this requirement of Thai ID.... If it becomes wide spread and all current brick and mortar venues to make payment insists on it, what happens in a rented property if the utilities are the Landlords name.................... The landlord would have to come and pay them ?

[scorecard]

15 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

no need to get mad, it's probably a lack of staff training. if you're going to live here long term you need to get into a midset accepting that these things are going to happen now and again, you could help yourself to resolve problems/issues by learning thai.

 

the best approach is expectation management; staying polite and calm, it will make your life happier.

Staff training; yep typically 10 minutes total, half arrive late whilst 90% of the attendees are checking their facebook, etc., and not listening and there is no Q and A (questioning the supervisor to ensure understanding not allowed, that would be rude). No handout to refer to later. 

 

This and more came to the fore when there were many complaints from customers of a certain budget airline re cabin crew a few years back. The airline insisted 'but it's not possible, we train the staff'. A gov't agency re airlines and safety etc., became involved, their 'investigations' revealed:

 

1. The first paragraph above.

 

2. For some subjects although there was training and a test which most passed (after help from the supervisor at the exam), back on the job they simply did not follow what they were taught in the the training e.g:

 

1. 'Make the customer happy', not necessary, customers should just follow the procedure and asking for special service is rude., and,

 

2. 'yes I don't follow the document check procedure at the boarding gate because I don't think it's necessary'. And it turned out the several staff who commented the above ('I don't think it's necessary ... etc.) strongly believed it was up to them to decide, regardless of the training / company policies. 

 

 

[StevieAus]

21 hours ago, Preacher said:

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? 

 

I think you will find that the pink ID card issued to foreigners is not a National ID card like the ones issued to a Thai citizens perhaps because it is issued by local “ District Offices “ who as we have read on this site many times apply different criteria for its issuance.

When I obtained mine several years ago I was told it was only valid in the local District 

However I have found sometimes it is accepted elsewhere other times not.

To give an example of the inconsistencies that apply last year when I renewed my drivers licence at the local DLT office in Chiang Mai Province they would not accept it as proof of residence

My friend who lives in Chiang Mai City was able to use his to renew his licence a the Head Office.

I gave up trying to work out the logic years ago.

[MikeN]

16 hours ago, Preacher said:

The situation is now this:

 

You have a Tesco Lotus credit card. You go to Tesco Lotus to pay and can't. Tesco will not accept you paying of your debt with them. I guess that makes Tesco at fault; they now can't charge you intrest as they are the ones who refuse the payment while you are willing. 

I was told a while ago that foreigners cannot get a Tesco credit card ? Tesco had a crew at the local shopping center trying to sign people up but when I asked they said “no can do”.

 Perhaps they just did not know anything about the product they were trying to sell ?