No Fish For You! Simons Fish & Chips Jomtien

[Jingthing]

OK, this might be entertaining for you. So here goes the story. I suggest you read it through, because as it starts boring, it gets really saucy near the end, and I don't mean tartar sauce, mate.

I fancied a visit to the local chippy today, Simons Fish and Chips, and I happened to have a COUPON from a local magazine PROMISING a FREE BEER if you order a fish and chips. The coupon was from a magazine that was no older than 6 months old and there was NO expiry date on it. Even so, I figured, this being Thailand, I best present said coupon and verify it is still good, just in case.

So in I walks and first thing I do is present the coupon for inspection to the waitress and ask her if this is good for a free beer. She said, in ENGLISH, and quite clearly, YES. So I thought (naively) that would be the end of it, ordered my fish and chips and FREE BEER, and off the waitress went (SHE KEPT THE COUPON).

BTW, not to be too greedy, I made it clear a CHANG beer was going to be OK, because I didn't want to take advantage of their generosity. Normally, I prefer pricier brands but considering this was going to be FREE I thought I would show some consideration

Now as a little background, this isn't my first visit to this chippy, nor am I a regular customer, nor have I always arrived solo. There are three choices for fish and chips there, Icelandic cod (small), Icelandic cod (large), and local non-cod fish. Their prices aren't cheap but on previous visits I have remarked this was the best fried Cod (the Icelandic) I have ever had (not saying much as I am a damnn Yank). Also, I really love(d) the fries, they are of the soft British style. I say love(d) because i am now BANNED FOR LIFE.

Anyways, the Chang arrives and also the fish and chips plate. Now, I must say the fish looked well OFF PAR. There was a large gap where batter should have been and it was also DRIPPING GREASE, which was a condition I never noticed before at this fishy establishment. I ate away anyway, thinking appearances aren't always the important thing, and you know what?, I strongly suspect they had given me LOCAL FISH, not Icelandic (much more expensive) COD as I had ordered. The taste was really that different. Now I couldn't prove in a million years that was really the case, but I still think it might have been. I remember thinking, oh geez. its because of the FREE BEER coupon they decided to get "paid" anyway by giving me the lower grade fish, and also thinking, you really can't get anything free in Thailand!

I ate it all up and must say the fries were lovely as usual. The bill is presented. Can't say I was very SHOCKED that the beer was on the bill. Of course, I immediately say mai chai and off the waitress goes. Then I meet the proprioter of the fried food joint, and I must say, he is not a very DIPLOMATIC fellow. Not diplomatic in the least. In a very direct unfriendly tone he announces that he will not honor his coupon, and when I object, he doesn't miss a beat and threatens to CALL THE POLICE. He then tells me "THIS IS NOT AMERICA, THIS IS THAILAND" ... meaning what? That businesses can publish documents in the media and legally not honor them here? Then he explains that his waitresses DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH and although I can't argue that, I can argue the coupon was clearly ACCEPTED by one of his employees, who had clearly agreed a FREE BEER was in order.

Now as you might have guessed, this is about more than a free beer. This man offended my sensibilities. What good is his word if he pays for an ad for a coupon he doesn't honor, and then doesn't back up his own employee's communications to customers? And what kind of business owner calls the POLICE over a dispute about a VALID coupon (with no expiry date)? Someone who also passes on lower grade fish? Who knows. I can't prove it. After all, this is Thailand, apparantly it is OK even for westerners to lie to other westerners.

In this "argument" I lost. I must have used swear words almost 10 times. The owner didn't once. And he did ban me for life from Simon's Fish and Chips. And, by the way, ultimately he did not call the police, although I was ready to pay up, he announced he would not take my money (and also of course NO FISH FOR YOU!). I say I lost because I really, really LOST MY TEMPER, and I know full well you are not supposed to do that in Thailand. However, I do wonder in the case of a farang behaving badly to another farang, in Thailand, whether that rule really applies.

BTW, near the end of this pleasant meal, the lovely waitress approached my table, and instead of the charming YES lady of before, she pointed at my coupon and incredibly rudely pointing to the English text which she said said MONDAYS ONLY! She then proceeded to THROW the coupon in my face. Now thats customer service for you! This is really the funniest part because there was NOTHING on the coupon about Mondays or any other day of the week.

I'll beat you to it. Yes, I should have asked the manager first before assuming the coupon would be honored. Didn't seem necessary based on the reaction of the waitress, but now I know better.

Edited April 29, 2007 by Jingthing

[Wellyoudidask]

OK, this might be entertaining for you. So here goes the story. I suggest you read it through, because as it starts boring, it gets really saucy near the end, and I don't mean tartar sauce, mate.

I fancied a visit to the local chippy today, Simons Fish and Chips, and I happened to have a COUPON from a local magazine PROMISING a FREE BEER if you order a fish and chips. The coupon was from a magazine that was no older than 6 months old and there was NO expiry date on it. Even so, I figured, this being Thailand, I best present said coupon and verify it is still good, just in case.

So in I walks and first thing I do is present the coupon for inspection to the waitress and ask her if this is good for a free beer. She said, in ENGLISH, and quite clearly, YES. So I thought (naively) that would be the end of it, ordered my fish and chips and FREE BEER, and off the waitress went (SHE KEPT THE COUPON).

BTW, not to be too greedy, I made it clear a CHANG beer was going to be OK, because I didn't want to take advantage of their generosity. Normally, I prefer pricier brands but considering this was going to be FREE I thought I would show some consideration

Now as a little background, this isn't my first visit to this chippy, nor am I a regular customer, nor have I always arrived solo. There are three choices for fish and chips there, Icelandic cod (small), Icelandic cod (large), and local non-cod fish. Their prices aren't cheap but on previous visits I have remarked this was the best fried Cod (the Icelandic) I have ever had (not saying much as I am a damnn Yank). Also, I really love(d) the fries, they are of the soft British style. I say love(d) because i am now BANNED FOR LIFE.

Anyways, the Chang arrives and also the fish and chips plate. Now, I must say the fish looked well OFF PAR. There was a large gap where batter should have been and it was also DRIPPING GREASE, which was a condition I never noticed before at this fishy establishment. I ate away anyway, thinking appearances aren't always the important thing, and you know what?, I strongly suspect they had given me LOCAL FISH, not Icelandic (much more expensive) COD as I had ordered. The taste was really that different. Now I couldn't prove in a million years that was really the case, but I still think it might have been. I remember thinking, oh geez. its because of the FREE BEER coupon they decided to get "paid" anyway by giving me the lower grade fish, and also thinking, you really can't get anything free in Thailand!

I ate it all up and must say the fries were lovely as usual. The bill is presented. Can't say I was very SHOCKED that the beer was on the bill. Of course, I immediately say mai chai and off the waitress goes. Then I meet the proprioter of the fried food joint, and I must say, he is not a very DIPLOMATIC fellow. Not diplomatic in the least. In a very direct unfriendly tone he announces that he will not honor his coupon, and when I object, he doesn't miss a beat and threatens to CALL THE POLICE. He then tells me "THIS IS NOT AMERICA, THIS IS THAILAND" ... meaning what? That businesses can publish documents in the media and legally not honor them here? Then he explains that his waitresses DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH and although I can't argue that, I can argue the coupon was clearly ACCEPTED by one of his employees, who had clearly agreed a FREE BEER was in order.

Now as you might have guessed, this is about more than a free beer. This man offended my sensibilities. What good is his word if he pays for an ad for a coupon he doesn't honor, and then doesn't back up his own employee's communications to customers? And what kind of business owner calls this POLICE over a dispute about a VALID coupon (with no expiry date)? Someone who also passes on lower grade fish? Who knows. I can't prove it. After all, this is Thailand, apparantly it is OK even for other westerners to lie to other westerners.

In this "argument" I lost. I must have used swear words almost 10 times. The owner didn't once. And he did ban me for life from Simon's Fish and Chips. And, by the way, ultimately he did not call the police, although I was ready to pay up, he announced he would not take my money (and also of course NO FISH FOR YOU!). I say I lost because I really, really LOST MY TEMPER, and I know full well you are not supposed to do that in Thailand. However, I do wonder in the case of a farang behaving badly to another farang, in Thailand, whether that rule really applies

BTW, near the end of this pleasant meal, the lovely waitress approached my table, and instead of the charming YES lady of before, she pointed at my coupon and incredibly rudely pointing to the English text which she said said MONDAYS ONLY! She then proceeded to THROW the coupon in my face. Now thats customer service for you! This is really the funniest part because there was NOTHING on the coupon about Mondays or any other day of the week.

I'll beat you to it. Yes, I should have asked the manager first before assuming the coupon would be honored. Didn't seem necessary based on the reaction of the waitress, but now I know better.

]

I have eaten there also with my family, im english and they are thai, my wife had thai ( well overpriced as usual ) i had fish and chips, small and expensive id agree, yes the chips were fine .we left and said we wouldnt go back, by the way we went there because of the pattaya mail saying how marvelous it was, no doubt to get a years advertising contract,. im afraid we will add it to all the other businesses that seem to be run and owned by ex builders labourers from the uk that sold their semi in manchester or similar and came over here to make a fortune, so... its back to the pig and whistle !

[Pattaya_Fox]

Not a good idea to put photographs on the net under these circumstances for legal reasons ( so removed).

If you had sworn 10 times whilst inside my premises I would have banned you as well.

Looks as though you`ve had yer chips.

[Jingthing]

Not a good idea to put photographs on the net under these circumstances for legal reasons ( so removed).

If you had sworn 10 times whilst inside my premises I would have banned you as well.

Looks as though you`ve had yer chips.

Understood, I was bannable, but definitely provoked, but why did you remove the Soup Nazi, No Soup For You photo? Guess I'll have to ask friends to get me takeout chips just like a bad tv sitcom.

[Wellyoudidask]

Not a good idea to put photographs on the net under these circumstances for legal reasons ( so removed).

If you had sworn 10 times whilst inside my premises I would have banned you as well.

Looks as though you`ve had yer chips.

Can i try your fish/n chips ? promise not to swear !

[lamphun]

Hilarious, "The Fish Nazi".

Edited April 29, 2007 by lamphun

[Pattaya_Fox]

Not a good idea to put photographs on the net under these circumstances for legal reasons ( so removed).

If you had sworn 10 times whilst inside my premises I would have banned you as well.

Looks as though you`ve had yer chips.

Can i try your fish/n chips ? promise not to swear !

I don`t sell fish and chips......but I am in the Holiday business.....anything from 3 days to life

[elsie]

Wait a minute, a valid coupon was presented and accepted, the restaurant didn't deliver what it was stated on the coupon, a wait staff threw the coupon in the OP's face......

While it's never cool to lose temper in a situation like this, I can understand why the OP did.

Last time a wait staff was rude to my friends, the manager got an earful and the said staff has been pleasant since.

[cdnvic]

So this guy lost a customer and the price of the meal over one beer just because he can't print an expiry date?

Lame

[Jingthing]

So this guy lost a customer and the price of the meal over one beer just because he can't print an expiry date?

Lame

Not just a beer.

A small CHANG beer.

[Digger]

I ordered from this place via door to door last weekend and found it very good. Even allowing for the 30 min journey out to Maprachan, the fish was moist and the chips just what I was hoping for. By the way I went for the local fish as I have never yet had a decent piece of cod in Thailand, presumably as it loses a lot of flavour, texture when its frozen.

Having said that, it seems a typical farang approach to blame the customer when the ad was misleading - lets face it, the beer had a 20b value if that - personally if that happened in a business I owned, the whole meal would have been complimentary. But then I am not involved in this kind of business, but I realise the danger of having negative feedback going without remedy - something that not many business owners seem to understand in Thailand.

[icecubes]

name='Wellyoudidask' date='2007-04-29 19:31:02' post='1276806']I have eaten there also with my family, im english and they are thai, my wife had thai ( well overpriced as usual ) i had fish and chips, small and expensive id agree, yes the chips were fine .we left and said we wouldnt go back, by the way we went there because of the pattaya mail saying how marvelous it was, no doubt to get a years advertising contract,. im afraid we will add it to all the other businesses that seem to be run and owned by ex builders labourers from the uk that sold their semi in manchester or similar and came over here to make a fortune, so... its back to the pig and whistle !

[CHdiver]

There are just to many stupid "Business Owners"out here. I am not surprised that so many not suvive more than a season or two.

[Toptrainer]

I hope for the OP there were other customers in this place. If I had witnessed what happened to you I would have told the guy he not only lost you as a cutomer but myself as well.

I am in the service business and NO the cutomer is not ALWAYS right but you have to have some level of diplomacy. What is one beer for repeat business? Why cause a scene in your own place of business?

Like others said he probley is a first timer and has no real clue how to treat people.

I don't go to Pattaya much nor do I eat Fish and Chips but my GF does and if she were to suggest that place I would have to say no.

keep fighting the good fight even if you did drop a few F bombs!

[Jingthing]

I hope for the OP there were other customers in this place. If I had witnessed what happened to you I would have told the guy he not only lost you as a cutomer but myself as well.

keep fighting the good fight even if you did drop a few F bombs!

Actually, there were some direct witnesses. I did look around for support, but they didn't really know the story behind it, but they did hear the cursing, so they probably were not on my side. Like I said, I lost the argument because I lost my cool. The guy just pushed the wrong button at the wrong time, mainly the rush to call the police put me over into irrationality. Imagine what would have happened if he had called the police. Another lurid news clipping in Pattaya People.

Edited April 29, 2007 by Jingthing

[Phil Conners]

There is always two sides to every story, would be interesting to hear the side of the owner before taking side.

[Jingthing]

There is always two sides to every story, would be interesting to hear the side of the owner before taking side.

He told me his side:

The coupon had expired (in his mind) even though there was no expiry date

He felt I was wrong in assuming a yes from a Thai waitresses constituted acceptance of the coupon, the reason being the waitress didn't speak English. He was right about the English part.

For why he jumped first thing to threaten to call the police, you will have to ask him.

The fish monger is welcome to post here and explain his business practices. Maybe he just doesn't like serving British food to Yanks?

Edited April 29, 2007 by Jingthing

[Phil Conners]

Well I'd like to hear (read) it in his words before making up my mind, if that's ok with you.

Regarding calling the cops, nobody in their right mind calls the cops in Thailand if it can be avoided. Calling the cops is a lose/lose situation. You should know that, you've been her long enough.

[Jingthing]

Well I'd like to hear (read) it in his words before making up my mind, if that's ok with you.

Regarding calling the cops, nobody in their right mind calls the cops in Thailand if it can be avoided. Calling the cops is a lose/lose situation. You should know that, you've been her long enough.

I sure know that! I wasn't the one who threatened to do that after speaking to me for about five seconds. There was no cursing before that ...

Edited April 29, 2007 by Jingthing

[philliphn]

I don't blame you for being angry. Any one who experienced that kind of customer service would be angry.

[Rinrada]

All sounds a bit fishy...

[toklong]

Your coupon smelt of a red herring.What particular local magazine did you obtain this coupon?

[WISteve]

Your coupon smelt of a red herring.What particular local magazine did you obtain this coupon?

Makes you want to dash right out and find an old issue and run it by the guy one more time, doesn't it?

Three good places for fish and chips on Soi Chaiyapoon: Canterbury Tales, Neeroys and Seaside all under 100 baht.

But then I like living out in the "ghetto"............................

~WISteve

[Jingthing]

Your coupon smelt of a red herring.What particular local magazine did you obtain this coupon?

Makes you want to dash right out and find an old issue and run it by the guy one more time, doesn't it?

Now that would be hilarious.

Don't even know the exact name of the rag. Its one of the hard cover, small format, Pattaya tourist booklets. It is currently published, and it has the word Pattaya on the cover. Nothing fishy about the coupon, except the nonexistent nature of its value. It was actually a full page coupon ad (like I said, its a small format booklet).

Funny to pay for an ad like that and not honor it, huh?

Edited April 29, 2007 by Jingthing

[the scouser]

Another time, another plaice.

Scouse.

[gharknes]

my experience.....................the service is sshite, the food is <deleted>........................never be back even if it was free

pay me 100baht i still wouldn't eat it

[CHdiver]

Now that would be hilarious.

Don't even know the exact name of the rag. Its one of the hard cover, small format, Pattaya tourist booklets. It is currently published, and it has the word Pattaya on the cover. Nothing fishy about the coupon, except the nonexistent nature of its value. It was actually a full page coupon ad (like I said, its a small format booklet).

Funny to pay for an ad like that and not honor it, huh?

You are probably talking about "The Pattaya Guide". A monthly booklet. There are allways Discount Coupons inside, but now all have a Closing Date (End of the publishing Month)

[cdnvic]

Am I the only one noticing a pattern where people post in the Chiang Mai forum to rave about eating establishments and people posting in the Pattaya forums to complain about them?

[Jai Dee]

Am I the only one noticing a pattern where people post in the Chiang Mai forum to rave about eating establishments and people posting in the Pattaya forums to complain about them?

You're not the only one Vic...

[FATNAPPY]

Am I the only one noticing a pattern where people post in the Chiang Mai forum to rave about eating establishments and people posting in the Pattaya forums to complain about them?

You're not the only one Vic...

been there once....the fish had more personality than the guy that runs it !!!!!