Shabu shop hits back with defamation threat against complaining customer

[Will B Good]

Just now, billd766 said:

Threatening customers is probably not the best way to get repeat customers.

 

If it had bee me I would probably asked for a "doggie bag".

Hahaha......can't imagine that goes down well in an all you can eat buffet......worth a try I guess....555

[david_dyer]

9 hours ago, Will B Good said:

I wonder if they knew......but still tried to get out of the fine by claiming the meat was sub-standard......who would own restaurant?......nothing worse than having to interact with the general public.

its difficult not to know, many places have it plastered every place, and it is a fair routine, if you dont like the food then dont keep ordering it

[Onerak]

9 hours ago, JoePai said:

Sorry I do not understand - did they not pay for the food ?

I think it must be all you can eat shop. 

[billd766]

4 hours ago, SymS said:

They paid 1000 Baht in fine. If true, that means they ordered 2 kilograms of meat they didn't eat and the shop had to throw away.
The customers appear at fault here, unless the meat was really uneatable.

But if the meat was really uneatable yo would know within a couple of mouthfuls. That would be the time to complain and not after 2 or 3 platefuls and another couple uneaten.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Reading many of the threads today, some confusing, I have learnt something - do not go to a Shabu restaurant!

Is this defamatory??????

There is nothing wrong with going to a Shabu restaurant as long as you take a small portion, and if you are still hungry, go back for a small portion again.

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

There is nothing wrong with going to a Shabu restaurant as long as you take a small portion, and if you are still hungry, go back for a small portion again.

Exactly - that’s the same for any buffet anywhere in the world visited by civilized people.
 

The rules are in in place because inconsiderate people abuse the system or try & game the system.  
 

Here, it appears the diners ordered way too much food with out caring if they would waste it or not. 

[LikeItHot]

13 hours ago, JoePai said:

Sorry I do not understand - did they not pay for the food ?

The rule is usually clearly posted. It's "all you can eat" not "all you can take and waste".  They do it to protect their profits but at the same time it prevents food being waisted. 

That being said this nonsense about not being able to post negative reviews online is about as retarded as a nation can be.

[Sig]

I see a lot of comments here about the reason for the policy being to cut down on waste... to limit the wastefulness of food not being eaten and subsequently getting trashed. While that could possibly be something in the back of the mind of the restaurateur, I think most of them wouldn't care at all about uneaten food if that food were paid for. The issue boils down to $฿$฿$฿$฿. At an all-you-can-eat style establishment, how on earth are they supposed to make a profit if people just order tons of food and then dump most of it? Waste has pretty much nothing to do with it. They aren't in business to make food donations to gluttonous porkers. They are there to make money.

[whaleboneman]

15 hours ago, mania said:

The thing I do not understand is,  If they had eaten it all no fine?

So if that is the case who cares that they didn't eat if after piling it on it tasted bad?

 

Either way should end the same,

In the customers stomach or in the trash what is the difference if the price was set at all you can eat

Otherwise they need to weigh every uneaten portion & fine every customer that didn't eat all

You've got it. It's all you can eat, not all you can heap on plates and waste. All the places I've been to clearly showed the fines for wastage and I agree with them.

[Robbie2618]

So is this like a buffet? Pay once then all you can eat? If so then I can see for charging you will have people pile on the food then not eat it. 

[cnx101]

13 hours ago, Denim said:

Thai

Also haha

[mania]

2 hours ago, Robbie2618 said:

So is this like a buffet? Pay once then all you can eat? If so then I can see for charging you will have people pile on the food then not eat it. 

I guess not a buffet ? But like you I thought it was...

 

Seeing pics in photos tho suggest you order plates to cook at your table? maybe type of deal?

 

If so yeah you should not order more than you can cook/sample/try at a time

 

But by the same token the restaurant should not deliver 20 plates for 5 people etc...instead deliver x plates per person at table & if eaten & they order more fine

If not say mai dai ????

Edited March 29, 2022 by mania

[JimTripper]

I went to buffet with chinese and they push and cut in line. They put much shrimp on plate. She fill the table with food for family.

 

Waaa!

Edited March 29, 2022 by JimTripper

[wombat]

21 hours ago, Denim said:

ridiculous amounts of food then walking away with a lot of it uneaten 

Reminds me of a face thing fromTG's many years ago...BF'd and taken to dinner...order many dishes,eating nothing.

[Grumbles]

20 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

No if they did not eat it, it was a waste of food that another customer or customers could have consumed had they not tried to be gluttons, and ordered to much, hence you pay for it.  Wastefulness is how I see it.   

Simple solution: You get fined for raw meat, therefore a). Don't overload your plate. b). Put it in the pot, cook it and then leave the cooked meat on the plate. Too easy!! 

 

[Swampy999]

21 hours ago, Denim said:

Having seen greedy people in these places , piling their plates with ridiculous amounts of food then walking away with a lot of it uneaten , I actually sympathize  with the restaurant. 

Agreed, I have seen that on many occasions, however if some the meat is very fatty or contains a lot of gristle I would not eat it.

Difficult to tell if the customer was being greedy or the restaurant was selling <deleted> meat.

[DUNROAMIN]

Regardless of who is wright or wrong Thailand is only shooting itself in the foot with more BS to deter tourists and expats. I personally dont eat at those places as the food is low grade and over priced.

[papa al]

21 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Fully understand the policy, but a 1,000 baht surcharge indicates a 2 kg unconsumed amount. That seems like a lot.

Yes, almost 2-lbs.!!

[kwak250]

22 hours ago, DezLez said:

Not a "Shabu" restaurant but more like a "Shabby" restaurant!

Careful now .

5555

[robblok]

2 hours ago, mania said:

I guess not a buffet ? But like you I thought it was...

 

Seeing pics in photos tho suggest you order plates to cook at your table? maybe type of deal?

 

If so yeah you should not order more than you can cook/sample/try at a time

 

But by the same token the restaurant should not deliver 20 plates for 5 people etc...instead deliver x plates per person at table & if eaten & they order more fine

If not say mai dai ????

20 plates is actually not much food at all. These are not really plates but 15cm x 15cm plastic stackable containers. Each contains 100 grams or so. Like a couple of thin slices of meat or some prawns or a few fish balls. So ordering 20 plates for 5 is not much at all.

 

But you get a hot pot in front of you on your table you order the raw ingredients, fish, pork,chicken, veggies, eggs ect. You boil them yourself in that pot. So you don't need to order that much in one go at all. The restaurant clearly was not wrong at all. 

[robblok]

23 minutes ago, Swampy999 said:

Agreed, I have seen that on many occasions, however if some the meat is very fatty or contains a lot of gristle I would not eat it.

Difficult to tell if the customer was being greedy or the restaurant was selling <deleted> meat.

Actually not that hard at all as it arrives at 100 gram or less per portion thinly sliced. These are shabu places where you pay 600-900 bt a head and the meat is ok. These are just bad customers nothing more nothing less. 

 

Anyone with half a brain could see that the meat is bad once you order it so no need to order it again then. The meat is has many varieties like wagu rump / wagu loin ect (depending on what price of menu you select). So its varied if you don't like one kind there are plenty of other kinds to order. 

 

I think most people complaining have never been to a shabu restaurant.

[androokery]

15 hours ago, redwood1 said:

I personally HATE HATE these restaurants....The food blows.... Not even if its free, will I eat there.....Look who eats at these places.....Very very few farang EVER.....I think most farang dislike this kind of food.. 

The conveyor belt places are a nice experience for kids, but the food is extremely boring. All buffet places generally serve terrible food, apart from some breakfast buffets. I eat so little at these places I'm their ideal customer. But I only go if someone I'm with insists on it. 

The defamation laws here are interesting. Wouldn't the restaurant need to show intent to harm the business? If the guest argued that the review was made in order to inform potential customers, not to punish or shame the restaurant, wouldn't that make a difference? 

And being threatened with a defamation lawsuit does sound a little bit like defamation in itself. It's an endless loop. 

[ThailandRyan]

10 minutes ago, androokery said:

The conveyor belt places are a nice experience for kids, but the food is extremely boring. All buffet places generally serve terrible food, apart from some breakfast buffets. I eat so little at these places I'm their ideal customer. But I only go if someone I'm with insists on it. 

The defamation laws here are interesting. Wouldn't the restaurant need to show intent to harm the business? If the guest argued that the review was made in order to inform potential customers, not to punish or shame the restaurant, wouldn't that make a difference? 

And being threatened with a defamation lawsuit does sound a little bit like defamation in itself. It's an endless loop. 

However, they are full all of the time, filled by Thai's thinking they are getting a great deal, when in fact you could do the same at home for the family and it would be cheaper.  It is done for the convenience and most folks do not have the space to do it at home unfortunately ergo...why these places are popular.

[LosLobo]

1 hour ago, papa al said:

Yes, almost 2-lbs.!!

Actually to the well-informed it's more, it's 2.20462 lbs.

 

But only in those 3 countries that didn't metricate, the third world countries of Liberia and Myanmar and of course the USA!

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by LosLobo

[redwood1]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

However, they are full all of the time, filled by Thai's thinking they are getting a great deal, when in fact you could do the same at home for the family and it would be cheaper.  It is done for the convenience and most folks do not have the space to do it at home unfortunately ergo...why these places are popular.

The Thai buffets where they have the coal grill on the table I quite like these places,for the food and value.....

 

Its the hot pot places I hate...The food is tasteless and as you say the value sucks too...

The first time  I went to a hot pot restaurant I hated it but I went 2 more times just to be 100% sure I hated it, and I still did...

 

Like I said I see about 95% Thai, Jap, Chinese in these places...  

Edited March 30, 2022 by redwood1

[Stupooey]

1 hour ago, LosLobo said:

Actually to the well-informed it's more, it's 2.20462 lbs.

 

But only in those 3 countries that didn't metricate, the third world countries of Liberia and Myanmar and of course the USA!

 

That's 1 kg, so 2 kgs would be 4.40924 lbs, which is considerably more than 2 lbs!

[Bruno123]

8 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

The Thai buffets where they have the coal grill on the table I quite like these places,for the food and value.....

 

Its the hot pot places I hate...The food is tasteless and as you say the value sucks too...

The first time  I went to a hot pot restaurant I hated it but I went 2 more times just to be 100% sure I hated it, and I still did...

 

Like I said I see about 95% Thai, Jap, Chinese in these places...  

Moo krata has it all. You can have a hotplate with a channel containing a broth and also an open fire barbeque grill at the same time. So you can make a tasty soup and grill meats and seafood at the same time. Like a garden party; it's great and inexpensive.

Don't tell anyone, but I can take my own marinated meat to the cheaper places, as their meat is often fake; making use of their facilities and other ingredients. Enhances the experience considerably for me. 

The cheaper places often have something that looks like meat; but when cooked has a strange spongy quality. Not fit for my consumption.

The added cost to me is negligible and I leave a generous tip regardless. I turn what could be a mediocre experience into a great experience. Even the most notoriously grumpy staff tell me to come again soon ???? 

 

[rott]

1 hour ago, androokery said:

 

The defamation laws here are interesting. Wouldn't the restaurant need to show intent to harm the business? If the guest argued that the review was made in order to inform potential customers, not to punish or shame the restaurant, wouldn't that make a difference? 

And being threatened with a defamation lawsuit does sound a little bit like defamation in itself. It's an endless loop. 

Yes interesting, Thai Criminal Code (Defamation)

Section 326 "You must not impair somebody's reputation".

Section 330 "In a private matter the truth is not a defence".

 

Does nobody remember that not too long ago a Koh Chang hotel had an American arrested for repeated online complaints about them. He was subsequently deported. 

[Ginner]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:46 AM, DezLez said:

Not a "Shabu" restaurant but more like a "Shabby" restaurant!

If its a restaurant which is eat as much as you can for a set amount , then YES they should be billed for what they don't eat as the restaurant can't but it back.

 

[NoshowJones]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:51 AM, tonray said:

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

They will be OK for now as there are no Chinese around. ????