Overcharged, Even With A Menu

[unforgiven]

I truly think the concept of the menu price equals an implied contract is not very strong here.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't believe a price on a menu, or even a price tag, advert or display, is any form of contract at all, implied or otherwise. It is merely an invitation to trade and the shop keeper or, in this case restauranteur, is free to ask any price they like for the goods at the point of sale.

Edit: Just struck me that the point of ordering the food could be construed as the point of sale and thus the contract established at the price on display.

a same thing happened to me about 5 years ago.I asked for an empty bowl and simply returned their property and promptly walked out......the place was very busy

[mosquitoman]

Asking the price of everything before ordering works well for me especially in the places that have no menu.

MM

[torrenova]

That exists in Wan Lee in Bangkok. Been going there too many years to fall for that old trick though.

[esbobes]

People have cheated me all over the World. But Thai's are the best because they tell us do not catch us as we do not want to lose face.

This face thing is great for Thai's.

[qwertz]

I can't recall ever being ripped off by a food joint in LOS. Can this be because with food, like everything else there, I agree the price before I order and check for service charges and other "extras"? The Thais are notoriuosly vague when it comes to charging so I take it on myself to do the arithmetic. BTW, I seen many Thai customers do the same as me so they don't target only farangs.

Edited May 6, 2007 by qwertz

[Jingthing]

I think it is reasonable to assume when you order off a menu and also point to the item on the menu, and the menu shows a price, that is what you can assume to pay later. Unless it was a place that had ripped me off before, it would be a bit ridiculous to seek confirmation for all prices on a printed menu. Now, in the case of food by weight, thats a different thing.

Another pet peeve, those wet cooling towels. Some places bring them without asking and then charge for them. On a really hot day, I might really want one, but some places even bring them when it is chilly and raining,

Edited May 6, 2007 by Jingthing

[Rinrada]

Every now and then I suggest (with a slightly shocked/amazed expression) that they should re-check the gep -tang because it seems a bit Mai Peng....you sure ...Chai ..for what i have drunk/eaten... it very cheap....you sure....10 minutes later with the calculators red hot....."chek bin col-lect sir".... sol-lee....

MI P Rai ...khap.... ..pop gun mai....

[farangconnection]

Pardon me for not reading all 988 posts on this thread, but part of the problem is that Thai staff in restaurants and shops understand that we are filthy rich. If we live in tourist areas, dress fancy, drive a big new car, swagger in and order high price items off the menu - we're asking to be overcharged, because we're telling the world that we throw money around.

Like I said yesterday on another thread, try riding in on a motorbike, two people, in the rain, in sandals but wearing decent, simple clothing. Show respect for the wait staff without waiing them, behave yourself, order the regular stuff on the menu, and think of something humble to say, such as "I'm just a simple teacher of English." Show that you notice prices, even making a show of it "kaow phat gai, sow baht, nga?" Then go home and clip your bond coupons.

So what you are saying then, is that you agree to double pricing, one for the rich and one for the poor. I'm sorry, but the way I was bought up, the rich go to rich peoples restaurants and the poor go to poor ones. Er. it's called ' The way of the World'

And also, I was under the impression that rich people are the biggest tight wads in the world. That's HOW they got rich.

No mate, I believe that full respect should be given to all customers, whether they order for 30 baht or 3,000 baht. I don't make any discriminations

Saying that, I can see your remarks are very tongue-in-cheek. Say "I'm just a simple teacher of English", around our way, and there's a chance you won't get served at all.

[PeaceBlondie]

Your point is well made, farangconnection. Now, let me get my tongue out of my cheek as well. Yes, from the point of view of a proper restaurant like the one you run (and I spent a short while as a waiter), all customers should be treated the same.

I do think, however, that several valid comments/complaints on this thread relate to being overcharged by waitstaff who think they can pad the bill because 1) the customer won't notice or 2) the customer won't care or 3) the staff can come up with some excuse. It does happen.

I'm not really too concerned about two tier pricing but I don't think that's what it is. In good establishments with good staff, the mistakes are inadvertent. As you pointed out, the mistakes can go in either direction, and customers tend to conveniently overlook an undercharge.

Another poster and I dined at a very nice farang restaurant last night (The Duke's, in Chiang Mai). When the check came, properly printed in English, we saw the total was only 569 baht, so we each put 300 baht on the table and left without checking the details. Other than leaving a tip of only 31 baht, maybe we should have checked to see if they double-charged or left something off; we didn't. I guess that I was so exhausted from reading ThaiVisa all day, I couldn't be troubled to read the receipt!

Footnote: but we rode in a car, were properly dressed in shoes, and didn't mention about being teachers!