More great shopping experiences in Surin

[dingdongrb]

Went to Big C.  Other then the typical unattended shopping carts in the aisles and folks standing smack dab in the middle of the doorway on their phones I encountered the woman in front of me in the fast checkout lane (10 items or less) unloading her 23 items on the conveyor. 

 

After Big C was Makro. Having only 6 of the 14 checkouts open (3 were 20 items or less and I had about 30) I waited patiently behind 2 customers who had the large carts totally packed down. Ten minuites later the customer in front of me was up. Again waiting 10 minutes or more to scan all her items the clerk totaled the tab. The customer then scurried off to the ATM to get money! Must of been at least 5 more minutes  because she had 2 others in front of her.  She returned and paid the cashier. 

 

Finally my turn. Speaking in Thai I joked with the cashier about the previous customer's stupidity. He must of sided with me as he let out a pretty loud laugh while shaking his head in agreement with me.

 

When he presented me my total I opened my wallet and again speaking in Thai I jokingly told him to wait while I go to the ATM. I paid, we both laughed, and I went on my way to drive back home avoiding all the stupid drivers the best I could.

 

Gotta love Thailand!

[toofarnorth]

I like the way at Makro ( unless it is just my cart ) the cashier manages to scan 30 items without taking any out of the cart.  Oh I do know a way to get a free cart load but best not tell.

[dingdongrb]

28 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I like the way at Makro ( unless it is just my cart ) the cashier manages to scan 30 items without taking any out of the cart.  Oh I do know a way to get a free cart load but best not tell.

What would help Makro would be to get some new LaserJet printers.

[worgeordie]

In Makro I always seem to get the trader who wants

to pay the bill with wads of 20 's and 50 's , in front of me.

Regards Worgeordie

[dingdongrb]

18 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

In Makro I always seem to get the trader who wants

to pay the bill with wads of 20 's and 50 's , in front of me.

Regards Worgeordie

That's understandable and not an issue for me as the cashier can generally count any amount of bills as the slow a$$ printer is spitting out the receipt.

 

The reason for those small bills is that many patrons buying in bulk are buying to resell in their smaller mooban stores so they are using the bills they receive from their business.

 

We use small bills a lot as we have a small convenience store as well as a couple phone top-up machines, a beauty salon, and 2 laundromat locations. 

 

The real bummer is with all the coins we get (washing and phone machines). The bank will only take so much at a time and the coins have to be placed in small individual plastic bags with 100 THB in each. For whatever reason Thailand does seem to want to use coin counters like the US banks use.

[youreavinalaff]

9 hours ago, dingdongrb said:

That's understandable and not an issue for me as the cashier can generally count any amount of bills as the slow a$$ printer is spitting out the receipt.

 

The reason for those small bills is that many patrons buying in bulk are buying to resell in their smaller mooban stores so they are using the bills they receive from their business.

 

We use small bills a lot as we have a small convenience store as well as a couple phone top-up machines, a beauty salon, and 2 laundromat locations. 

 

The real bummer is with all the coins we get (washing and phone machines). The bank will only take so much at a time and the coins have to be placed in small individual plastic bags with 100 THB in each. For whatever reason Thailand does seem to want to use coin counters like the US banks use.

Makro will accept your coins. No need to bag them up either.

 

Drop them off at the counter where the free items are picked up, usually the same place where the cashiers go to get cigarettes, before you start shopping. By the time you have finished shopping they should have been counted. The staff will give you a credit note you can then use when paying the bill.

[dingdongrb]

7 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Makro will accept your coins. No need to bag them up either.

 

Drop them off at the counter where the free items are picked up, usually the same place where the cashiers go to get cigarettes, before you start shopping. By the time you have finished shopping they should have been counted. The staff will give you a credit note you can then use when paying the bill.

Thanksfor letting me know, we didn't know that. Have you ever tested their counting as many Thais are not good with math.

[youreavinalaff]

7 hours ago, dingdongrb said:

Thanksfor letting me know, we didn't know that. Have you ever tested their counting as many Thais are not good with math.

We've never had a problem. 

 

Only count the money ourselves once. Any errors could be from either side.????????

[robblok]

not sure if your Makro has it but the one where i am just lets me use my phone to pay. Easy and fast no more counting. Does need a bankingapp from a Thai bank and a bit of forethought.  If you have your phone ready to scan you can pay really fast. Works for me. 

[dingdongrb]

3 hours ago, robblok said:

not sure if your Makro has it but the one where i am just lets me use my phone to pay. Easy and fast no more counting. Does need a bankingapp from a Thai bank and a bit of forethought.  If you have your phone ready to scan you can pay really fast. Works for me. 

I'm fully aware of that but I chose not to do any online transfers to avoid being hacked. Strictly cash based with one exception, I use True Wallet to make online purchases with Lazada. I keep a minimal amount in TW so if hacked they won't get much. I know I could open up a separate bank account and do perhaps the same but choose not to.

 

Do note, I have seen the QR scan and payment occurring in front of me at Makro multiple times and to be honest, sometimes it wasn't so quick. Mainly due to the customer's slowness.

[big dendrobenaes]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

not sure if your Makro has it but the one where i am just lets me use my phone to pay. Easy and fast no more counting. Does need a bankingapp from a Thai bank and a bit of forethought.  If you have your phone ready to scan you can pay really fast. Works for me. 

mackro is supposed to be CASH ONLY.....THATS why it is called cash and carry !!!

[The Hammer2021]

Ah..How those long summer nights must fly by!

[dingdongrb]

27 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Ah..How those long summer nights must fly by!

Is it Summer already?

[robblok]

2 hours ago, dingdongrb said:

I'm fully aware of that but I chose not to do any online transfers to avoid being hacked. Strictly cash based with one exception, I use True Wallet to make online purchases with Lazada. I keep a minimal amount in TW so if hacked they won't get much. I know I could open up a separate bank account and do perhaps the same but choose not to.

 

Do note, I have seen the QR scan and payment occurring in front of me at Makro multiple times and to be honest, sometimes it wasn't so quick. Mainly due to the customer's slowness.

Like i said it depends on the customer too. If you login the phone while they are scanning the order then you can pay right away. But yes like wish cash some people are slow. Unlike you I don't worry getting hacked, we all got different risk assessments.