Daily News Thai Caption: Smashing up a "red plate" (new) car

 

A story from Nakhon Ratchasima about a furious woman smashing up her new car because it has been nothing but a problem since she bought it speaks volumes about defamation laws and consumer protection in Thailand, suggests ASEAN NOW.

 

Neither the lady nor Daily News dared mention the make of car. 

 

Even when customer service has been poor, mentioning the name of the company can land the customer or the media who report it into heaps of trouble. 

 

This has been seen when guests complain about hotels. 

 

Several times in the Daily News article the media said "a certain manufacturer" and put the same term into the mouth of the furious owner. 

 

Runhathai, 42, (surname withheld), a businesswoman was pictured climbing on her black car in the parking lot of the Korat town hall. 

 

She took a crow bar to the front windshield and smashed it up in a sarcastic gesture designed to shame the unnamed company.

 

She bought the car in February for 1,474,000 baht and since then has only done 938 kms.

 

She said there had been problems with a tire pressure gauge, connections to an android phone, rear sensor malfunctions, persistent engine vibrations and reverse gear problems. 

 

She'd been into the service center and they said they had looked at it and said everything was normal after repairs. She begged to differ.

 

She wanted a new one. They refused.

 

She even offered to pay between 300,000 to 400,000 baht to trade it in and get a new one. Again the company refused.

 

She went to the office of the Consumer Protection Board but her case went quiet. 

 

"I can't stand it any more," she told the media.

 

"So I decided to smash it up so that the company will really know how I feel. It was a new car but it has meant nothing but repairs. 

 

"I will let them repair it then I'm going to sell it and get what I can for it. Then I'm going to buy a new one".

 

She gave no indication if she'd be buying one of the same make or another make but her final comment was more grumbling about poor customer service.

 

The media called her "handsome" - this was because she had the appearance of a "tomboy". 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-09-23

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

4 minutes ago, webfact said:

The media called her "handsome" - this was because she had the appearance of a "tomboy".

Beware of tomboys even without crowbars.

I fear them more than heavyweight kathoeys.

 

Don't tell this person on the hood is a female

Edited September 23, 20223 yr by KhunBENQ

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

She took a crow bar to the front windshield and smashed it up in a sarcastic gesture designed to shame the unnamed company.

 

How exactly is that sarcasm?

They pixelate heavily. So crazy:

https://www.matichon.co.th/social/news_3577233

 

But from one of the pictures I have an idea.

Ok, won't name it.

It's another one

Edited September 23, 20223 yr by KhunBENQ

That is one handsomely strong and ferocious TOM.  Mess with her and oh <deleted>....

2 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

They pixelate heavily. So crazy:

https://www.matichon.co.th/social/news_3577233

 

But from one of the pictures I have an idea.

Ok, won't name it.

Can it be the blue oval ?

Need more of this 'direct action'. Great stuff.

4 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Can it be the blue oval ?

I am not sure what it is.

Best picture here (should be easy for experts), but I am lazy to go through all catalogs:

https://www.amarintv.com/news/detail/149137

at times there are certain brands of cars that need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily. common knowledge really. 

 

smash your own car up that will show them good. 

bought in Feb, & still has red plate!

19 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Can it be the blue oval ?

No it's from Abingdon????

1 minute ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

bought in Feb, & still has red plate!

Face.

 

I have seen red plates still on a car after 3 years........people think that the owner has a new car....

Why didn't she sell the car, like duh? instead taking on a large company and the authorities, sell this piece of <deleted> and move on, unless you get kicks out being on social media going nuts  wracking cars... 

She sure is one ugly dude .

"So I decided to smash it up so that the company will really know how I feel. It was a new car but it has meant nothing but repairs.

"I will let them repair it then I'm going to sell it and get what I can for it. Then I'm going to buy a new one".

 

But surely the 'company' is not responsible for the repairs if the damage was intentional.

I'm presuming that the same would go for her insurance company.

 

As far as I can see, the only problems she has caused are for herself.

How will she now get the car home, surely with the broken windscreen, it is not road worthy.

 

about a furious woman smashing up her new car

Not sure about furious but she is as mad as a box of frogs.

 

31 minutes ago, stoner said:

at times there are certain brands of cars that need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily. common knowledge really. 

 

smash your own car up that will show them good. 

A woman did this a few years back in protest against Honda - her CRV had repeated issues that the dealership were failing to deal with professionally. 

 

The action received a great deal of attention and was potentially quite damaging to Honda.

If this gains further publicity I imagine this could cause some damage to Ford...  This is a brand I won’t go near anyway.

 

 

The reality is car dealerships in Thailand are notoriously extremely poor with the quality of service, particularly after sales and especially when something is going wrong. 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, social media is required to ‘kick-start’ them into action sometimes. 

 

I feel sympathetic towards this person for being driven to such action.

 

One of the reasons I’ve never bought a Ford is the poor reputation of the after-sales service, I imagine many others have made the same decision. 

 

That said, its ultimately a s#it show...  We’ve been lucky in the past, Wifey has decent connections or friends married to those in the industry.

On occasion we’ve had to pull strings to receive what I would consider ‘standard service’.

 

 

Edited September 23, 20223 yr by richard_smith237

Majority of Thai media outlets do name the Brand

The dealership /brand has investigated and found

Due to the customer's concern about the display of the tire pressure monitoring alarm system incorrectly. The company did a preliminary investigation and found that the customer had installed an air purifier as an accessory. The operation of some car air purifiers may transmit frequencies that affect the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). The company therefore recommends that customers remove such accessories.

3 hours ago, Bert got kinky said:

Not sure about furious but she is as mad as a box of frogs.

 

It surely is a crazy response - but sometimes people are forced right to the edge of their limits.

 

This car dealership has surely treated this woman very poorly to push her to such a state. 

 

I wonder what the actual back-story is - what went wrong and how poorly was it handled. 

 

------------

 

 

We had a knocking noise on our Mazda... took it in to be checked out.

Fixed (changed suspension boot) we picked it up... still the knocking noise !!! <deleted>

Complained, and escalated to management. Took it back in... Fixed.

This time had them drop it off at our house with a mechanic. 

I took it for a test drive... straight away I heard the noise... 

Told the mechanic - not fixed. 

His response - It was because of my driving !!! ( I wanted to smack him across the head ).

We told them to take the car back - again complained to management (Wife’s contact). 

He got directly involved... fix was found quickly (1x Engine Mount had broken).

 

From what I gather - the mechanics are not that well trained.

They don’t test drive properly - just a quick 1km loop around the back soi’s nearby (scared of an accident I guess).

Once they have changed one thing, they are convinced they have fixed the issue instead of fully investigating (this is perhaps and experience and time thing). 

 

 

 

 

Could it be that the dealer refused to replace it because it would be even worse for them when the customer found that the replacement vehicle had the same or worse problems?

4 minutes ago, AsianAtHeart said:

Could it be that the dealer refused to replace it because it would be even worse for them when the customer found that the replacement vehicle had the same or worse problems?

Or could it be if the customer had followed the recommend action and removed the accessory that was the source of the issue they wouldn't be able to find further problems

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=5816366898382540&id=345163288836289

 

Fxxd Everest

Could she not sue the dealer for selling her a lemon..

"She took a crow bar to the front windshield and smashed it up in a sarcastic gesture designed to shame the unnamed company"

How can you shame an "unnamed company"?

Shaming can only be applied if the name of the company is given.

Not great reporting.

46 minutes ago, Happyman108 said:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=5816366898382540&id=345163288836289

 

Fxxd Everest

2021 model

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

Face.

 

I have seen red plates still on a car after 3 years........people think that the owner has a new car....

Ha! There’s a cop car near me that hasn’t had any plate at all for longer than that.

2 hours ago, stoner said:

at times there are certain brands of cars that need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily. common knowledge really. 

 

smash your own car up that will show them good. 

Well my Fixed Or Repaired Daily Ranger 4 door, 4WD turbo diesel Ranger pickup will be 21 years old in December and has 448,xxx km on the clock. It still rattles on as most Fords do with little C&M and the odd wash and brush up most years.

Sorry, what WAS the car?

4 minutes ago, Thunglom said:

Sorry, what WAS the car?

 

Apparently, a Rolls Canardly.

 

Edited September 23, 20223 yr by Bert got kinky

1 hour ago, Photoguy21 said:

"She took a crow bar to the front windshield and smashed it up in a sarcastic gesture designed to shame the unnamed company"

How can you shame an "unnamed company"?

Shaming can only be applied if the name of the company is given.

Not great reporting.

Dodgy in Thailand. Best bet is to drive it right outside the company forecourt and proceed with the bashing, as did the woman with the Honda many means ago. Believe she got some restitution? 

2 hours ago, stoner said:

 cars that need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily

any of them built on a Monday or a Friday were good to avoid.