Bad Service

[sukanyacondo]

oh dear....here we go again!!!

Yep Im not sure either , fine if you are happy to accept bad service, I never understand the people here who keep going on about Thai bashing. Crap service is crap service but many here will post a whole load of reasons giving excuses for crap service. Im telling what I have had happen and what a Thai customer of mine has said about Thailand, a customer who has travelled extensively outside of Thailand who is not hi so whos job is to organise everything required for the oil drilling business and he often has many problems in Thailand with bad service something he does not see so much of outside of Thailand.

[sukanyacondo]

oh dear....here we go again!!!

Not sure what you mean, but I assume that it's okay to accept crap service then?

I think the point that burnsie was making is that complaining on Thaivisa won't improve the service in Tesco.

Mmmm, I would never have guessed that.

I'm pretty certain that it doesn't, but that surely doesn't mean that we can't complain does it?

In fact, I have found some of the service in Thailand to be excellent. As long as people are balanced on it, then I see no reason why people can't share their experiences of bad service. I am sure there are some quite amusing stories to be heard. I for one have no desire to see this thread to turn into a Thai bashing one.

Complaining to whoever seems to make little difference here and believe me my wife complains like hel_l.

Tried to open a joint bank account at SCB was told "cannot", rules of bank they said I needed a work permit. I told them I did not how about if I was retired and not working???? Bafffled looks all round repeats rules line to us. Walk into Kasikorn bank 2oo metres away and open account. We then walk back to SCB ask again if we can open an account, they say cannot we then show them bank book from Kasikorn , more baffled looks form them. We then withdraw all our money from SCB and close the account with no comment from them at all.

To explain further I had 1 million baht in cash to open this account which Im sure is no small sum here and we were dealing with the assistant manager in this particular SCB branch.

After all of this we w ent home my wife called the call centre of SCb to continue her complaint ( good on her) where she was told that she could open an account by SCB call centre staff. We then said we had ben told at leats 3 times we could not and we f inally got the full story.

Apparently each branch can make up its own rules and thus the mangaer there had decided in his ultimate wisdom/ stupidity/ or ignorance that Farangs could not open and account without a work permit.

I am sure if we went back today it would be the same story at this particular branch.

All this took about 4 hours of negotiations.

My point is that if I walked into my bank in the Uk with what here is the equivalent of £250000 or $500000 ( 1000000 baht being about 10 years "average" income for Thailand ) I am sure the bank would be only too willing to accomodate me or at the very least be aware of the rules or if not aware to find out pretty ###### quickly so that if they had any chance of getting my business they could.

I have found it realtively easy for my wife to run our business here as we fall over backwards to help our customers in fact Ill go as far to say business here is extremely good and very simple to get. I love doing business here with our business and its easy to see why many Thais are not getting a huge volume more of this business which is due to their porr customer care.

yes I have had good service but sadly their is much more bad than good and its great when we find a company who are good, show an interest and genuinely want to help even when they dont know the answers.

Zyxel wi fi routers we bought recently is one such good company, the shop we bought them off is a bad one offering no service at all.

[sukanyacondo]

I get so much bad service here its unreal sometimes, I will call a shop ask if they have something , they will say yes and when i go they dont have it. I ring the massage place and ask for my favourite woman and say will she be there today? they say yes, when I arrive she isnt its her day off???????

Happens many times with many different scenarios. Maybe they think if they just say yes Ill come and buy something anyway but what it does for me is make sure I dont go there again.

Oh its the wife who asks not me just incase you think they dont understand me.

Today has been a day like this driven me nuts especially after wife called and asked have you got enough plates in stock to replace the ones you told us were ok which you gave us yesterday but when we opened them many were not ok even thought we asked them to check each one. Yes they said. Wife asked again are you sure, yes they said. we go down after sitting in traffic for 40 minutes and surpise surprise theyve only got about 30% of them. Oh and we must go back again sometime??????

One of my Thai customers who works in the oil business often tells me many Thais are lazy and stupid and Im sorry if it offends you here but I am starting to agree with him, from the taxi drivers who wont go the way you want, drive with just a stop and go pedal cannot hold a steady speed so you are either lurched forwards or hurled backwards etc to the above shops.

Are you having a frustrating day then?

As I hope you know many Thais hate to have say "No". It's part of the "Face" thing. They don't want to be embaressed by having to admit that they dont know/don't have/can't do what you are asking them to do. So the the standard answer when asked Can You do something is Yes, I can do that when No I can't is the true response. It's frustrating to many non-Thais.

You'll just have to learn to live with it. Learn how to frame your requests or questions so that a direct answer is not required, but a more round about approach is possible. Not "Will you be able to locate the parts?" but "Will I be able to get the part?".

Yes it's difficult but learning to do it correctly will get better results, and it will keep your blood level and anger level down. In the long run that's good for your health.

And yes, it will work better if your Thai wife asks. Sometimes that doesn't even work.

It's just one of the frustrations of living in Thailand. In Thailand a "type A" personality" doesn't work.

Learn to relax and live more slowly. Otherwise you'll just be spinning your wheels (no traction there).

Its always my wife who deals with all of these matters as my Thai is not fluent yet.

[sukanyacondo]

on the whole customer service is good in Thailand, most of the time you get serviced with a smile and respectful manner. In my experience most Thai are keen to secure the sale and will do or say almost anything to get it. On the hand the after sales service is poor, definitely not to western standard. But you lot should count your blessings to live there and not in Australia, here they have refined horrid customer service to higher level.

Correct they will spend all day literally trying to get you to buy.

Am on page 2 of this thread I started and glad to see it has not deteriorated into a "go home then" or "stop moaning type respone" as my wife really does not understand a lot of it herself when the service is so bad and boy does she get angry with them.

Best one we had recently was walking into Home Pro and asking 3 people ( staff) where are the mirrors? Two people didnt know the third pointed in a direction at which point my wife asked him if he was sure and he said he didnt know!!!!!!!!!!!!! She too finds it baffling but then she said she doesnt care for face so maybe thats why and maybe thats why I married her.

[sukanyacondo]

mee mia thai has said it so clearly.

if you go to get service in a "cheap" low cost place you can expect to get bad service. if you go to a very expensive place you will get excelent service.

service like any other comodity is cost oriented. the more you pay the better the quality.

this is not typical to thailand but all over the world.

in Thailand many forigners go shopping or dining in "bargin places" and are surprised that the smiling staff dont understand them or give "good" service.

I can discount 50% of this argument as my wife asks she is Thai. SCB bank not understanding the rules and the assistant manager??? Small business? are there staff underpaid?? I dont know?

[sukanyacondo]

You pay 1 baht you get 1 baht service. You pay 2 baht you get 2 baht service.

Not true, its down to the individuals concerned ,you can get 100 baht service sometimes from a 1 baht shop and 0 baht service from a 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 baht shop.

[sukanyacondo]

oh dear....here we go again!!!

Not sure what you mean, but I assume that it's okay to accept crap service then?

I think the point that burnsie was making is that complaining on Thaivisa won't improve the service in Tesco.

Mmmm, I would never have guessed that.

I'm pretty certain that it doesn't, but that surely doesn't mean that we can't complain does it?

In fact, I have found some of the service in Thailand to be excellent. As long as people are balanced on it, then I see no reason why people can't share their experiences of bad service. I am sure there are some quite amusing stories to be heard. I for one have no desire to see this thread to turn into a Thai bashing one.

Agreed and it helps to share your experiences

and relieves the frustration

[canadiangirl]

Yep -- I remember being quite frustrated by some aspects of customer service in Thailand: stores that wouldn't let you try things on, having to specify "no sugar, no sweet milk, no condensed milk" when I wanted unsweetened coffee, and probably getting sweet coffee anyways -- but if it's any comfort to long-term expats, now in Canada we rarely have the priviledge of receiving bad customer service from humans, it's all computers screwing up your order and not understanding what you're saying. Right now I feel like I'd put up with a hundred confused waiters to never have to talk to a computerized phone system ever again!

[dominique355]

Just to counter-balance a bit, I would like to tell a story where I got excellent service here in Thailand, like I would never get in any European or US American shop:

I was browsing around Central World in Bangkok and ended up in a watch shop. They had some fancy and exotic watches on display, including the brand I am wearing. Just curious, I asked if they would have a new leather strap, since mine was a bit worn out.

The salesman immediately made a phone call and then said, he doesn't have one, but he could order one. It would take about a week. I answered that it was not necessary and switched my focus on a new model. He let me examine it and then came up with the idea of swapping my leather strap with the one of a new watch in the display. Like that I would not have to come back. It would take only 5 min.

I agreed and he started to remove the leather strap from the new watch in the display box. A few minutes later, my watch had a new leather strap and the salesman (a Thai) informed me that I would be entitled to a free service for my watch. I should just come when I wanted and leave the watch with him. He would send it to Switzerland for service. All free of charge to me.

Now isn't that great service?

By the way, it's NOT a Rolex watch.

[RueFang]

IMO I think it's just Tesco with bad service...it's to the point of being amusing now because something happens every time I go there. Why oh why do they have things on display that are no longer available for sale. The first thing was a television I wanted. I point to the one I want - "Oh we don't have any in stock"..."Can I buy the display one?"..."No, that's for display"..."Will you be getting any more in"..."No" or "Not sure". Then I wanted a printer - exact same story...none in stock, display only, can't buy display, not sure of when new stock will come in. Then I find a printer that's in stock and I want to buy an extra ink cartridge to save me a trip next time....they don't stock the ink for that printer (and many others that they sell!!) Same story for a lamp (display only, none in stock). I find it phenominal...defies logic!!

Aside from Tescos though, I always find the service here amazing. People are always going out of their way to help you...I've learned to completely ignore the stalkers, they're just doing what they've been told to do. When I first came here I was amazed at how many people are employed in supermarkets,minimarts, petrol stations,etc..they crowd the aisles every 2 metres or so and appear to just stand around talking... but now I see it's a great thing that so many people have employment, helping provide for their families and not sitting around getting wasted or whatever.

[ThaiPauly]

My worst experience was when I ordered some tiles from Bangkok for my house up in the north. Our builder received them, opened a box and saw they were what we had told him to expect, so he signed for them. A few days later he opened the other boxes to find that they were a different colour, albeit the same design. He called us. We went to the store we'd ordered from, where the sales assistant explained that they hadn't had enough brown tiles, so she had taken it upon herself to fill the order with black. Well, the company ended up sending a truck to pick them all up. We got our money back after complaining in front of other customers in their showroom and refusing to be shunted into a quiet office. So it cost them my custom and a truck and a driver for two days. I still don't know why the lady didn't call us in the first place!

The thing is that Thais don't worry about such things.

Mt Wife's Brother had a new bathroom built, and fully tiled in white...except they ended up one tile short, so rather than buy another box he just found a brown one somewhere and plonked it on the end of the top row

It sure looks stupid ..but to them its just Mai Bpen Rai

[Prakanong]

Yeah - crap service in many places.

Singapore has crap service in restaurants except in very high end places.

Taxi's can be crap as well due to the pricing structure making lazy gits out of the stupid ones.

[retiredusn]

Funny that ...I have always had good service whenever and wherever I have been in LOS.......well most of time... mpr

I agree. Where else does the entire staff of the 7-11 stop what their doing to welcome you.

When in most restaurants I have exemplary service, I can't take a sip of beer without being topped off immediately.

When shopping I'm usually followed by one or two sales girls eager to help.

Even "Big C" has a helpful staff....though you may have to get someone's attention occasionally.

I believe Thailand is one of the most service oriented countries in the world.

Perhaps it's Tesco that needs help........Could it be it's British management's faulty training?

As someone mentioned all this yelling does no good "go to the Source" Tesco/mako and the rest all have web sites that have been very helpful to me. Try It

[ashacat]

I believe Thailand is one of the most service oriented countries in the world. When shopping I'm usually followed by one or two sales girls eager to help.

I can't stand it when they do that.

[November Rain]

Has anyone else had this experience?

If I am a regular in a smallish restaurant, then I actually get worse service than people who come in for the first time. I'm not talking about friendliness, the staff are always very friendly - but I've been moved to small out of the way tables, to accommodate others. I've been made to wait ages for service, because a group of tourists have come in - after me, but they get fussed over hugely & served before me. Basically, because the staff know me & feel comfortable with me, they seem to think I won't mind being inconvenienced for others.

This has happened to me many times, in different restaurants. I don't make a fuss, I just don't go back. But why does it happen in the first place? This has never happened to me in another country, only in Thailand.

[Ulysses G.]

Has anyone else had this experience?

If I am a regular in a smallish restaurant, then I actually get worse service than people who come in for the first time. I'm not talking about friendliness, the staff are always very friendly - but I've been moved to small out of the way tables, to accommodate others. I've been made to wait ages for service, because a group of tourists have come in - after me, but they get fussed over hugely & served before me. Basically, because the staff know me & feel comfortable with me, they seem to think I won't mind being inconvenienced for others.

This has happened to me many times, in different restaurants. I don't make a fuss, I just don't go back. But why does it happen in the first place? This has never happened to me in another country, only in Thailand.

Yes.

The staff run over to help some tourist and completely ignore me until I get up and go get them.

I tip well, eat there every day and they seem to like me. Just figure that they are being Thai.

Edited July 9, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[hUsh]

I believe Thailand is one of the most service oriented countries in the world. When shopping I'm usually followed by one or two sales girls eager to help.

I can't stand it when they do that.

Neither can I, it's just sooo annoying!

So I make it clear to them that I will call them if they are needed...

Another thing, calling a customer service for inquiries or complaints and being passed on to different people and have to explain yourself all over again, yet still have no clue on what you're talking about! grrr this just get into my nerves... i just demand to speak to the manager, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesnt!

chill!!

[canuckamuck]

There’s a Robinson near my place, they have the shoe department near a main entrance. They have some nice shoes so I stopped once to look more closely. Immediately five people swarmed in and started grabbing random shoes and showing them to me with no consideration whatsoever of what I actually wanted. My Thai at the time was not good enough for me to say I just wanted to look. The ordeal lasted until I lost my patience, I walked right though the hoard as I walked away. I have never considered looking at their shoe selection again.

Since then I do my best to shop in places with bad service. I prefer to be left alone. I find Lotus fits that description quite well. They show up fast enough when you start loading a display item into your cart. They quickly run and get you what you want.

[meemiathai]

Has anyone else had this experience?

If I am a regular in a smallish restaurant, then I actually get worse service than people who come in for the first time. I'm not talking about friendliness, the staff are always very friendly - but I've been moved to small out of the way tables, to accommodate others. I've been made to wait ages for service, because a group of tourists have come in - after me, but they get fussed over hugely & served before me. Basically, because the staff know me & feel comfortable with me, they seem to think I won't mind being inconvenienced for others.

This has happened to me many times, in different restaurants. I don't make a fuss, I just don't go back. But why does it happen in the first place? This has never happened to me in another country, only in Thailand.

This happens all the time. It is a very natural thing. And you have answered it yourself already. They think because you know each other well, you won't mind that much. Also, a group of tourists = lots of money, you = little little money. Isn't that simple? I think it happens all over the world to all services? It didn't happen to you even when you were in HK? That is strange then.

[kat]

Yeah, service in Thailand is a funny thing. When I first got back to the states, I remember walking through stores with a smile, because no one was following me around anymore; I NEVER grew accustomed to that in LOS. Now, I don't even think about browsing and looking with no problem for hours on end, but I could never forget about it in LOS - there was always some kind of sales pressure.

I have to tell you, good service is a PROFESSION, and it is a pleasure to be waited on by professionals.

That said, when the service was good in LOS, it was more like friends or family. I still miss the little crew that worked my regular Starbucks - they were so incredibly sweet! I missed them for weeks after returning. Let me tell you, the Starbucks staff here doesn't even come close.

[Sir Burr]

Frankly, the bad service doesn't bother me as I have low expectations to start with. What does wind me up is when you have called a contractor to come around the house to fix something, you settle on the day and a rough time and they don't show up and they can't even be bothered to telephone you to say they can't come. This is after they have requested your phone number. A complete waste of an afternoon, or a morning.

Edited July 9, 2007 by Sir Burr

[richard_smith237]

Ah, its good to see a thread like this were people seem to be voicing / noting their opinions without getting slammed by the ‘Rose tinted glasses’ or the ‘take it or leave it’ bunch for being honest and having a good old fashioned vent….

I just cannot put my finger on the reasons for good or bad service.

I’ve tried to work it out and place it on location, quality of establishment, my approach, my appearance, my partners appearance etc etc….

One day I get excellent service at a high end restaurant, the next day a different high end restaurant fails miserably at decent service, another day I am irritated by service that it so over the top the waiter or waitress may as well sit down next to me and eat for me…

I can turn up in a good car or a taxi, dressed well or in scruffy jeans, be very polite or demanding… but one thing is for sure, in a new place the level of service cannot be guaranteed.

I have bought televisions and asked if it is in stock for me to take today, the answer is always yes only to find out 30 mins later that none are available, I’ve many similar stories.

I have gone to purchase a new sim card and found out that I can combine sims with old and new number to great convenience with excellent, informative and polite service.

I have walked out of hotel lobbies when trying to check in, because the staff were just that little bit too surly for my liking (high end hotels).

And the pointing in any direction to avoid saying ‘I don’t know’ is a real winner on the lazy / bad service 1-10 list.

Mostly I am disappointed by high end services because in the lower end of the spectrum I have no expectations.

Also – mostly it’s not blatant bad manners or bad service that I observe… its just the absence of reasonable or good service that can be a little grinding, some days are just better than others and I can only put it down to luck !

Sometimes, poor service is easy to spot in advance. There is a certain blankness that can be recognized in those who would otherwise be providing a service. In these cases it might be easier to just walk away or switch off.

Time for service Pet Hates !

Being served, and someone else walks into a shop etc.. and the person serving me switches their attention ! In this case, I normally complain to both parties telling them how impolite they are before I walk away.

Mai-Pen Rai… this phrase is usually a little annoying. Because if its needs to be said, then there already is a ‘pen-rai’ !!!! the person saying it really means… I can’t be bothered to deal with the problem !

There,… I feel better now !

[Heng]

Has anyone else had this experience?

If I am a regular in a smallish restaurant, then I actually get worse service than people who come in for the first time. I'm not talking about friendliness, the staff are always very friendly - but I've been moved to small out of the way tables, to accommodate others. I've been made to wait ages for service, because a group of tourists have come in - after me, but they get fussed over hugely & served before me. Basically, because the staff know me & feel comfortable with me, they seem to think I won't mind being inconvenienced for others.

This has happened to me many times, in different restaurants. I don't make a fuss, I just don't go back. But why does it happen in the first place? This has never happened to me in another country, only in Thailand.

This happens all the time. It is a very natural thing. And you have answered it yourself already. They think because you know each other well, you won't mind that much. Also, a group of tourists = lots of money, you = little little money. Isn't that simple? I think it happens all over the world to all services? It didn't happen to you even when you were in HK? That is strange then.

Sounds more like a tourist trap issue. Myself I find that in the places where I am a regular, the trend is towards increased groveling.

[girlx]

most of the time the service is ok, outside the touristy areas where the salesclerks obviously don't give a f***. however my two pet peeves are when you ask if they have something specific, and without even thinking about it or looking for it they blurt out "no have". 9 times out of 10 i find it a few minutes later on the shelf. the other thing is this:

There's also an unfortunate middle-zone where the employees are all trained to do their best to annoy the customers, by pushy sales, standing over their shoulder when browsing, "helping" when it has been made clear that no help is required, etc....

i almost lose it when they do this. i HATE having someone following me around when i shop. i either give up and leave the store or i say "is there some reason you need to follow me?"... they never seem to get the hint though.

[hUsh]

Yeah, service in Thailand is a funny thing. When I first got back to the states, I remember walking through stores with a smile, because no one was following me around anymore; I NEVER grew accustomed to that in LOS. Now, I don't even think about browsing and looking with no problem for hours on end, but I could never forget about it in LOS - there was always some kind of sales pressure.

I have to tell you, good service is a PROFESSION, and it is a pleasure to be waited on by professionals.

That said, when the service was good in LOS, it was more like friends or family. I still miss the little crew that worked my regular Starbucks - they were so incredibly sweet! I missed them for weeks after returning. Let me tell you, the Starbucks staff here doesn't even come close.

Hey kat! how are you sweetie?

This I would have to agree.. as I usually go to the same 2 Starbucks branches within Thonglor- I get excellent service, sometimes I don't even have to say anything and they know exactly what I want! I get surprise when in some days I see the same staff down at silom and ofcourse get the same excellent treatment-- two thumbs up!

so kat-- when are you coming down to LOS for a coffee with us again!? miss you

[kat]

I miss you too! I miss my girls .... sniff, sniff. That's about it for the few things that I miss. Oh, and I miss how great and how cheap waxing services were compared to here - whew - through the roof!

When are you coming here, hUsh, so that we can have another fabulous girls' night out? I have plenty of room, and I live in a great neighborhood in D.C. - you guys have to come!

[mrtoad]

Frankly, the bad service doesn't bother me as I have low expectations to start with. What does wind me up is when you have called a contractor to come around the house to fix something, you settle on the day and a rough time and they don't show up and they can't even be bothered to telephone you to say they can't come. This is after they have requested your phone number. A complete waste of an afternoon, or a morning.

Sir Burr, what you have mentioned there is something that happens often back in my homeland of the UK as well. I think a lot of these contractors just think that because you need their service then you will still continue to use them. For me, I just won't use them again and I mae sure that I tell them the reason and that I will also tell friends and colleagues. Afterall a lot of the best contractors don't need to advertise, they just get their work on referal.

Deliveries are anothe problem when you sit and wait home all day, and then they don't show up. I will say that on the whole I have good service from Central and Index when I have ordered items that have required delivery. As always, it is still often the individuals that make the difference so I don't buy into the belief that you get better service in high end establishments, in fact at imes I have found service in some of those joints just as bad. If a person has self respect and pride in their job then they will certainly provide a better service, It just winds me up when you can clearly tell that they just can't be bothered. Tesco, must spend a lot of time recruiting to find such a high proportion of incompetents.

[meemiathai]

Yeah, service in Thailand is a funny thing. When I first got back to the states, I remember walking through stores with a smile, because no one was following me around anymore; I NEVER grew accustomed to that in LOS. Now, I don't even think about browsing and looking with no problem for hours on end, but I could never forget about it in LOS - there was always some kind of sales pressure.

I have to tell you, good service is a PROFESSION, and it is a pleasure to be waited on by professionals.

That said, when the service was good in LOS, it was more like friends or family. I still miss the little crew that worked my regular Starbucks - they were so incredibly sweet! I missed them for weeks after returning. Let me tell you, the Starbucks staff here doesn't even come close.

And who the f is this?

[Losangels]

Has anyone else had this experience?

If I am a regular in a smallish restaurant, then I actually get worse service than people who come in for the first time. I'm not talking about friendliness, the staff are always very friendly - but I've been moved to small out of the way tables, to accommodate others. I've been made to wait ages for service, because a group of tourists have come in - after me, but they get fussed over hugely & served before me. Basically, because the staff know me & feel comfortable with me, they seem to think I won't mind being inconvenienced for others.

This has happened to me many times, in different restaurants. I don't make a fuss, I just don't go back. But why does it happen in the first place? This has never happened to me in another country, only in Thailand.

This happens all the time. It is a very natural thing. And you have answered it yourself already. They think because you know each other well, you won't mind that much. Also, a group of tourists = lots of money, you = little little money. Isn't that simple? I think it happens all over the world to all services? It didn't happen to you even when you were in HK? That is strange then.

Sounds more like a tourist trap issue. Myself I find that in the places where I am a regular, the trend is towards increased groveling.

I think the important concept of repeat business is lacking here in los. It seems many businesses here prefer to get new customers instead of keeping existing customers, besides its easier to keep satisfied customers and can become your mouthpiece than to have a disgruntle (sp?) customer who will bad mouth your business.

As far as poor service at Thai banks, unless BOT allows foreign banks to compete freely here, the serice will not improve I don't see it any time soon due to objection from you know who

[kat]

he he - meemia - who?