Large Department Store Refuses to Give Free Bag

[Golden Triangle]

Simple to solve really, you have 2 hands only buy 2 bottles.

[1FinickyOne]

14 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Simple to solve really, you have 2 hands only buy 2 bottles.

2 hands and an armpit

[Golden Triangle]

4 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

2 hands and an armpit

That did cross my mind actually but for the benefit of the wider readership I applied the KISS principle ????????

[Stocky]

17 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Normally I go out for the day, for a variety of activities, shop after dinner on the way home. I don't want carry around bags for 6 -10 hours.

Diddums - I keep a small reusable fabric bag folded-up in my back pocket, it's not exactly difficult.

[userabcd]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Agree...  do away with all plastic bags, but provide a viable alternate. 

 

Paper bags for most items. And the reusable cloth/fabric bags with a minimum spend of a heavy item like glass bottles.

 

On the plastics issue: There is an overwhelming degree of hypocrisy - There has been no change in the amount of plastic used other than at the consumer end with plastic bags.

There is still so much packaging of ‘most’ items in plastic. 

 

And.... Covid... I’ve never seen so much unnecessary use of plastic since the onset of Covid-19 - everything is wrapped in plastic now (and the risk of fomite transmission is extremely low).

 

 

So... yes we can all do our bit. But these issues amplify the stupidity of it all when a basic level of discretion can’t be applied. 

There is already a viable alternative.

 

The shoppers carry their own shopping bag with them.

[LarrySR]

The solution? 

Get in your car, put on the seatbelt, roll up the windows, step on the gas and drive thru the front window of the store.

[Speedhump]

4 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No, nothing like your pickup analogy, there is a law dealing with that.  There is no law that bans the use, distribution, sale or whatever of plastic bags of the type being discussed here.

I take you at your word. You must be more aware of current legislation. 

[Mavideol]

Thailand is not know for having smart marketing people... it's all over, Makro does that all the time and they tell you if not happy go somewhere else, amazing Thailand that keeps giving and giving 555

Edited April 23, 2022 by Mavideol

[Lemsta69]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

A response such as this is more likely to cement the image of arrogant farangs who think they can override store policy. Every Thai within earshot of the exchange was probably thinking "stupid farang".

 

It's not rocket science. I take a recyclable bag with me, or an Esky with an ice pack if they are items requiring refrigeration.

 

In Thai culture, complaining is the same as insulting the person. You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

 

I don't complain. I say nothing, and make damn sure the business that gave me bad service never gets my custom again.

 

 

every farang in earshot was probably thinking exactly the same. except maybe his fellow nutjobs.

 

I don't know what part of Astraya you're from but where I grew up, southwest Sydney, complaining was taken as a personal insult as well so we did the never go back approach. so no different for me here.

 

but in this case the issue was so trivial it wasn't worth complaining about at the time and certainly not worth denying the enterprise your return custom. for 30 baht maybe but not 4 baht, that's pure pettiness. or a sign of 'mental disintegration' as Steve Waugh was fond of saying.

[Mavideol]

18 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Normally I go out for the day, for a variety of activities, shop after dinner on the way home. I don't want carry around bags for 6 -10 hours. I walk and don't drive a motor vehicle. I don't go out to just shop. Any bag provided is reused. Plastic bags are used as household garbage bags.

me do same same 555  

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

every farang in earshot was probably thinking exactly the same. except maybe his fellow nutjobs.

 

I don't know what part of Astraya you're from but where I grew up, southwest Sydney, complaining was taken as a personal insult as well so we did the never go back approach. so no different for me here.

 

but in this case the issue was so trivial it wasn't worth complaining about at the time and certainly not worth denying the enterprise your return custom. for 30 baht maybe but not 4 baht, that's pure pettiness. or a sign of 'mental disintegration' as Steve Waugh was fond of saying.

I'm a Mexican i.e. south of Sydney. In my neck of the woods, I would complain, and wait for them to do something to fix the problem. If they didn't, I never went back. Complaining just doesn't work here.

 

I sometimes get charged 1 baht for a plastic bag at a 7/11 when I forget to put a recyclable bag under the scooter seat.

 

1 baht or 4 baht, IMO it's ridiculous to be getting one's knickers in a twist over something so petty. Get a life, I say.

[geisha]

This is all,over the world and quite right too.The op says he uses them as bin bags, that’s exactly the reason to stop them. Rare is the shop that has plastic here, they’re a different sort. I often buy one of the bags in centrail if I don’t have my own with me.They’re very good, reusable, and not plastic.

Honestly , 3 bottles of whisky , 4 Baht, should be ashamed to post this. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

22 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

me do same same 555  

me not do same same , me take bag along , not same same but different 

[Mac Mickmanus]

31 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

Thailand is not know for having smart marketing people... it's all over, Makro does that all the time and they tell you if not happy go somewhere else, amazing Thailand that keeps giving and giving 555

?

So you keep going to Makro and complaining about things and they keep telling you to  go away ?

[aussiexpat]

I'm still amazed at the OP arrogance. Why didn't he ask for a free corkscrew to go with his wine...same thing, demanding a saleable item for free and having a hissy fit when he didn't get it

 

Oh yeah, as he then went to his 2nd choice store to buy his drinks, I wonder if the price difference was more than the 4 baht so a complete waste of time

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by aussiexpat

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Mavideol said:

Thailand is not know for having smart marketing people... it's all over, Makro does that all the time and they tell you if not happy go somewhere else, amazing Thailand that keeps giving and giving 555

But Makro will sell you a recyclable bag, as will BigC and they are not expensive.

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

I'm still amazed at the OP arrogance. Why didn't he ask for a free corkscrew to go with his wine...same thing, demanding a saleable item for free and having a hissy fit when he didn't get it

 

Oh yeah, as he then went to his 2nd choice store to buy his drinks, I wonder if the price difference was more than the 4 baht so a complete waste of time

 

I’m still amazed at these ridiculous comments attacking the Op for expressing quite reasonably annoyance at stupidity. 

 

Would you go to a restaurant and order food and then think it ok to have to pay extra for the plate and cutlery ? 

 

Using your ‘wine’ analogy, in a bar would you expect to have to pay extra for a glass? or pay extra to have it opened ?

 

This idea of yours that a bag is a ’saleable item’ is daft...   Go to any other shop, clothes shops, sports shops etc and you are provide means to conveniently carry your purchase without having to pay extra. 

 

If you purchased a car...  Would you be annoyed if it was completely empty and they charged you £10 (or 500 baht of whatever) to put Petrol / Gas in it so you could actually drive it out of the dealership ?

 

This is about principe - The op purchased goods we have ‘always been provide with means to carry those goods home’... this time the Op was charged under the guise of ‘reducing plastic’ with no reasonable alternative offered other than spending more money.

 

The amount is irrelevant, the store can easily swallow the cost of a bag when 1000’s of baht are being spent and the bag offered doesn’t have to be plastic. 

 

 

It is this simplistic level of stupidity that folk like you are normalising....  really, when the Op is spending 1000’s... why should he have to pay a single baht more. 

 

 

 

 

 

[aussiexpat]

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It is this simplistic level of stupidity that folk like you are normalising....  really, when the Op is spending 1000’s... why should he have to pay a single baht more. 

Because the store charges 4 baht for bags. If you don't like it, don't use the store but then don't also come on social media and cry about it like a child

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

29 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It is this simplistic level of stupidity that folk like you are normalising....  really, when the Op is spending 1000’s... why should he have to pay a single baht more. 

Because the store charges 4 baht for bags. If you don't like it, don't use the store but then don't also come on social media and cry about it like a child

The point is not 4 baht - this is what people are struggling with. The point is being charged anything when he has already spent money on items he now has to pay more to be able to carry them - Some of us think it is unreasonable to buy something, then be charged more for the privilege of being able to carry it home !!!!...   

 

The ‘if you don’t like it go elsewhere’ is just a dumb comment - it doesn’t address the problem which ‘some’ people can recognise. 

 

This is a forum designed for discussion where people view points and observations are aired and discussed - I think you have missed the point of such a forum. 

 

Was the op crying? no, he’s just voiced that he didn’t like what happened, he did go elsewhere. 

 

Where do you draw the line on what is acceptable as a topic on this form and what isn’t ?

 

I cancelled my T&G hotel booking because I saw that it was charing more for foreigners than it is for Thai’s - I object to dual pricing.

I didn’t start a thread about it... But had I, would you have written ‘if you don’t like it, go to a different hotels, don’t cry about it on social media’ ??????

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aussiexpat]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The point is not 4 baht - this is what people are struggling with. The point is being charged anything when he has already spent money on items he now has to pay more to be able to carry them - Some of us think it is unreasonable to buy something, then be charged more for the privilege of being able to carry it home !!!

You're the one not getting the point. Charging for plastic carry bags is the new normal all over the World (they're 8-12 baht in Australia). So some stores charging 1-4 baht for plastic bags ahould be accepted as a worldwide normal.

 

Don't want to pay 4 baht for a bag, then bring your own, or shop around until you find a bag price your happy with.

[Leaver]

 

Yes, there are a lot of posts attacking the OP for his stance.

 

I would think some focus needs to be put on the manager.  He / she either lacks the autonomy to offer the bag for free, which then means the store's staff policy is lacking, or, they could be incompetent, or, at worse, they are simply racist. 

 

If I was the manager of the manager, I would be having words with them about why a 9000 baht sale was lost over a 4 baht bag.  That's not the way a business should operate. 

 

Maybe it was "face."  The manager may have said to staff, "No free bags.  Ever. To anyone."  Then, he couldn't back down from his words in front of staff. 

 

Whatever happened, and for whatever reason, and regardless of right and wrong, the fact is, a 9000 baht sale was lost over a 4 baht product.  

 

To those attacking the OP, would you run your own business like that? 

[Leaver]

4 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

You're the one not getting the point. Charging for plastic carry bags is the new normal all over the World (they're 8-12 baht in Australia). So some stores charging 1-4 baht for plastic bags ahould be accepted as a worldwide normal.

 

Don't want to pay 4 baht for a bag, then bring your own, or shop around until you find a bag price your happy with.

 

You are really missing the point.

 

It's not about free bags, or 4 baht bags.  It's about the company, through the manager, not conceding a 4 baht loss, in order to secure a 9000 baht sale. 

 

The bag still gets paid for, either by the customer, or for certain occasions, or large sales, by the company. 

 

Would you run your own business like that?

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

You're the one not getting the point. Charging for plastic carry bags is the new normal all over the World (they're 8-12 baht in Australia). So some stores charging 1-4 baht for plastic bags ahould be accepted as a worldwide normal.

 

Don't want to pay 4 baht for a bag, then bring your own, or shop around until you find a bag price your happy with.

This has become the new-normal because people have not objected, it was carried out under the guise of being environmentally friendly in the west, this of course knee-caps any common sense objections. Object to such policies and you become a social pariah for harming the environment

- the UK has been terrible for it - There too they should offer a free alternative with a minimum spend. 

 

The ‘it happens elsewhere’ argument doesn’t make it right or any more acceptable.

 

Villamarkets in Thailand t have a perfectly reasonable solution: with a  minimum spend you get a cloth bag - most of the time I have my own bag, but when I don’t, I am not left irritated at what I’d perceive to be penny (baht) pinching after spending a few thousand baht. 

 

 

I’ve read the argument ‘carry your own bags’ through this thread - its idiotic. 

People don’t carry their own bag around with them all the time on the off chance we pop into a supermarket. I have reusable bags in my car, motorbike, wife has a couple in her handbag.... But, I don’t carry one in my pocket, just in case !!... 

So, if I’m already out and decide to pop into the supermarket and spend 3000 baht I don’t expect to have to pay any additional money just to ‘carry my purchase’.

 

 

The store had a perfectly reasonable option to behave in a reasonable manner - Give the Op the ’non-plastic’...   the

 

I wrote earlier in this thread: I purchased 12 bottles of wine - Would it have been acceptable for the supermarket to charge me 20 baht for the cardboard box to carry them in ? (had they tired, I’d have walked out !).

 

---------

 

I also want to make it clear - In the ops situation I would have complained, just so they know this is not right and maybe re-think their policy, that may make things better next time. 

I would have still paid the 4 baht and then gone on my way and not thought about it again. 

 

But, as the op has taken the time to mention it I can understand his gripe and his response. 

I would not have responded in the same manner, nevertheless, I completely understand him doing so. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, Leaver said:

 

Yes, there are a lot of posts attacking the OP for his stance.

 

I would think some focus needs to be put on the manager.  He / she either lacks the autonomy to offer the bag for free, which then means the store's staff policy is lacking, or, they could be incompetent, or, at worse, they are simply racist. 

 

If I was the manager of the manager, I would be having words with them about why a 9000 baht sale was lost over a 4 baht bag.  That's not the way a business should operate. 

 

Maybe it was "face."  The manager may have said to staff, "No free bags.  Ever. To anyone."  Then, he couldn't back down from his words in front of staff. 

 

Whatever happened, and for whatever reason, and regardless of right and wrong, the fact is, a 9000 baht sale was lost over a 4 baht product.  

 

To those attacking the OP, would you run your own business like that? 

A lot of those ‘easy come easy go’ characters who are attacking the Op for his stance have the luxury of being 'easy come easy go’ because people like the Op have taken a stance against other issues and things we take for granted - the path has been smoothed. 

 

Some of those issues may seem incredibly minor some may have the potential to grow arms and legs and become greater issues and it becomes too late to do something about it. 

 

One thing is for sure....  the reason consumer protection in many places is strong is because people have stood up for what they disagree with.

 

What we have here is just the thin end of that wedge, it may seem pathetic to some, but they fail to recognise a bigger picture. 

 

I would thank the op for his response rather than attack him for it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[natway09]

When stores stopped giving bags I purchased 4 or 5 from Villa for 5 Baht each, some woven material.

Been using them, still good just chuck them in the washing machine.

Stick a couple under my belt & keep some in the car.

Stop being miserable  

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

People don’t carry their own bag around with them all the time on the off chance we pop into a supermarket. I have reusable bags in my car, motorbike, wife has a couple in her handbag.... But, I don’t carry one in my pocket, just in case !!... 

So, if I’m already out and decide to pop into the supermarket and spend 3000 baht I don’t expect to have to pay any additional money just to ‘carry my purchase’.

I keep a couple of cloth bags on the shelf by my condo door. A few in the underseat on the M/C too. The way I see it when I go to Villa or 7-11 and am charged for bag/s then it's a "fine" for my forgetfulness or not being prepared. A few baht and that's it. 

 

OMG! for 4 Baht this topic has been good value for money ????  

[JimTripper]

One of the worst gimmicks ever, bag charging.

 

I'm not sure why it was implemented. Corporate could just raise prices on a few things, still give the bags for free, and eliminate a daily hassle for everyone at the checkout each time.

 

You would also drop the time for people waiting in line, confusion over the charge, and nickel and dime perception of the brand and store.

Edited April 23, 2022 by JimTripper

[aussiexpat]

15 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

One of the worst gimmicks ever, bag charging.

 

I'm not sure why it was implemented. Corporate could just raise prices on a few things, still give the bags for free, and eliminated a daily hassle for everyone at the checkout each time.

 

You would also drop the time for people waiting in line, confusion over the charge, and nickel and dime perception of the brand and store.

Umm, the idea is that if you charge for plastic bags people will stop using them so less plastic laying around....not really that hard to understand is it?

 

What's worse is places like McDonald's in Aus have banned plastic straws and they give you a cardboard straw. Now I can't drink the coke as unsurprisingly it tastes like cardboard (saw a McDonald's in Pattaya with big sign saying "thank you for not using plastic straw", so it's coming)

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by aussiexpat

[KhaoNiaw]

13 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

Umm, the idea is that if you charge for plastic bags people will stop using them so less plastic laying around....not really that hard to understand is it?

 

What's worse is places like McDonald's in Aus have banned plastic straws and they give you a cardboard straw. Now I can't drink the coke as unsurprisingly it tastes like cardboard (saw a McDonald's in Pattaya with big sign saying "thank you for not using plastic straw", so it's coming)

 

Why do you need the straw? (If you're driving and drinking it OK but otherwise why?)

Edited April 23, 2022 by KhaoNiaw

[proton]

Free boxes are normally available, mrs always takes a few extra to sell at the recycling place when she collects enough!