Thai Customer Service

[thaiman]

I never buy any big ticket items here anymore so that I no longer get the shaft when it breaks.

This is good advice!

[plasticpig]

I think most people realise where they are residing.

Yeah, unfortunately some don't realise that doing things here isn't the same as doing them at home.

What do I do now? I'm going to call head office in bangkok in a minute, does anyone have an advice and does anyone know who I should speak to that has some authority?

Probably the best thing to do, people aren't gonna be happy about having to take any kinda responsibility and there's probably gonna be serious loss of face, which might get in the way of anybody taking any type of responsibility/authority on the matter and pass it off anyway they can to get you to stop talking to them, without actually taking responsibility for it.

Probably not much you can do if that's the case.

Load of rubish

Talk to toyota at a higher level.

things will get sorted out.

Face will have no place to hide out side of that dealership.

[onnut]

some places do have really bad service, and it is annoying at the best of times. but I have to say the Honda Garage on Ekhemai is great, I have had my car in 4-5 times for service and 1-2 for scratches and a prang and I am very happy with the results.

[womble]

ok look I have written an email for customer service. I havn't sent yet, here it is, i'm really not the best writer, so if any english teachers want to make corrections it would be appreciated, I'd like to point out that this is 100% factual apart from wanting to buy a new car, that is a slight embelishment, but on the advice of several forum members I think this would make them take the complaint more seriously as they have something to lose. The email is a bit rambling, as I say i'm not the best writer, particulary when i'm pissed off!

Feel free to comment....

I have just had a very unpleasant experiance at Toyota Koh Samui. I purchased the car new in Surrathani, but use the samui branch for all my servicing.

On Tuesday I took my 4wd sport cruiser to the Samui dealer to fix some minor dents (front and rear bumber) and scratches on sides so that I could have the car looking nice in order to sell. My plan was to then sell the car and buy a Fortuna.

The car was first taken in around one week before work started for an inspection. Myself, my girlfriend and one member of staff then looked over the whole car and your staff member marked on the form all the areas that needed attention and also marked which parts needed to be ordered. It was then agreed that we would bring the car back when the parts arrived.

When we brought the car back the second time for the work we again made a full inspection of the car checking that all the correct work had been marked and that we hadn't missed anything. These two inspections surely prove that the scratches were not present before the car was entrusted into the car of Toyota Koh Samui.

On Saturday 6 Oct at 11:30am I went to the dealer to pick up the car. On inspecting the car I noticed numerous new scratches which previously were not there. The old scratches had been fixed, but now there are some new and very deep scratches which I know were not there when I brought it in and also from the two previous inspections of the car your staff must also know they were not present as if they were we would have marked them down to be worked on.

When I pointed the scratches out to the staff member and told him they were not there when the car was brought in he said they were there, but the car was dirty so we couldn't see them. He says after the car was cleaned you could then see the new scratches.

Firstly the car wasn't that dirty, secondly the scratches are serious and deep, no amount of dirt could hide these scratches. If they had been there previously they would have been noted on the form during the two inspections.

I spoke to 4 members of staff and all were totally uninterested in trying to get to the bottom of this and find out how my car was scratched. They just put the blame on me and made no effort to find out the truth and who was responsible for this damage.

On top of all this when I was presented with a bill that was higher than the estimate I needed to go and get more cash from the ATM, they wouldn't let me take my car, refused to give me the keys incase I didn't come back, I found this deeply offensive, it's basically accusing me of being a thief. Or at the least having the intention of running away with my car and not paying.

Imagine how you would feel if you went to pick up your car which you expect to be in nearly new condition and instead you have a car with many new scratches and after you offer to pay the first bill which you have cash for and then return to pay the rest after a visit to the ATM and they refuse to hand over the keys.

Previously I have been impressed with Toyota's customer service but on this occasion I have had such a bad experiance that I will almost certainly not buy Toyota for my new car as I do not think I can return to this garage after the behaviour of the staff. I now have to get the car fixed somewhere again, I would at the very least have expected the garage to fix the scratches for me and offer an apology and admit a member of their staff had damaged it somehow or that somehow it has been damaged whilst in their care.

Please could you let me know the proper channels of complaint and who I need to speak to as I would like to get to the bottom of this. It is also important that this is followed up as I would hate for any other Toyota owner to have to go through the same as I have and be treated so poorly by so called customer service representatives.

yours sincerely,

Mr Womble

Edited October 6, 2007 by womble

[jackspratt]

Womble perhaps a more accurate heading for the thread may have been:

"Toyota Koh Samui Customer Service, non existent"

BTW - your email looks fine to me (except I would add your first name, rather than Mr Womble ), and address it to the Manager.

[tijnebijn]

Womble perhaps a more accurate heading for the thread may have been:

"Toyota Koh Samui Customer Service, non existent"

BTW - your email looks fine to me (except I would add your first name, rather than Mr Womble ), and address it to the Manager.

Would't surprise me if the Toyota Koh samui brach does not care at all .

Once again a neurotic farang complaining , I guess will be there response ,

perhapse ( big chance ) that in the OP'S face they will say sorry , i doubt if anything will get better though .

If they do , they would have done so beforehand .

By the way it probably is a private business just selling the Toyota brand , just arrogant .

Anyway the best of luck anyway to the OP , whatever the outcome .

[think_too_mut]

Womble perhaps a more accurate heading for the thread may have been:

"Toyota Koh Samui Customer Service, non existent"

BTW - your email looks fine to me (except I would add your first name, rather than Mr Womble ), and address it to the Manager.

Is that garage a Toyota shop or an "authorized service provider" or just a general shop that handles anything that's wheeled into it?

How could the car earn more scratches? Has she been taken off-road by someone while waiting on service? Had the odometer been recorded?

The way Japanese work is not on accusations "Customer Service non-existent" or threats that they will lose a customer.

I would remove all references to that and personal opinions.

Japanese are hurt (quite personally) by the facts that show they are not doing their job properly.

Like a watch that is proud to tell correct time whenever you look at it. And gets terribly ashamed if it fails.

Car owner manuals and brochures that came with it should show the exact way to file complaints.

(I had a LandCruiser before, there were instructions how to complain but the car was so great and service spotless that I don't intend to own anything else other than Toyota made vehicle in the future).

[sleepyjohn]

I was surprised at your story as I have found customer service here to be in most cases excellent. (Suzuki CM is truly a pleasure)

Three observations:

1. The only evidence you can present as valid is a vehicle inspection when they accepted the car. They should be bound by this.

2. Halve your complaint and double it's impact.

3. Extensive study shows that even the best and most honest of human beings are very prone to errors of observation, memory and observation. Always bear in mind your version of events may not be 100% correct.

ps: do you really need a Fortuner they're a pain in the arse to park and not sized for Thailand? Not to mention using more than your fair share of gas.

Edited October 7, 2007 by sleepyjohn

[Heng]

Would like to give a shout out to the teams at Honda Bangchan, Toyota Krungthai, and Benz Thonglor... excellent + polite service for nearly a dozen cars over 2 decades now.

[actiondell4]

looking at yur letter from the managers point of view,one thing i didnt like was you asking for them to admit it and apologise?

You have to be both nice and firm in your letter,however being nasty will get you no where.

Explain that you take your car here all the time,and you both ,the mechanic checked over the vehicle before you left it and didnt observe any scratches.

furthermore explain that you feel it is unreasonable to charge you extra because you of course left a contact number and should they find anything else wrong with it,a broken hose etc they could of called you to tell you the original qoute would be higher and to get permission to fix the broken hose etc,of course,you did leave them a contact number didnt you?

Explain that you will continue to take your vehicle there and you are looking for a happy relationship,i was going to say a happy ending but maybe not for this one.

[esbobes]

TiT, you're a Farang. If you don't like it move to another country.

Some will not agree with you, but you truly understand Thailand and I bet you are very happy in Thailand

Thanks again for the out standing advice.

[meemiathai]

Would like to give a shout out to the teams at Honda Bangchan, Toyota Krungthai, and Benz Thonglor... excellent + polite service for nearly a dozen cars over 2 decades now.

Are you proud being Thai then?

[Heng]

Would like to give a shout out to the teams at Honda Bangchan, Toyota Krungthai, and Benz Thonglor... excellent + polite service for nearly a dozen cars over 2 decades now.

Are you proud being Thai then?

Was never much for cheering for a team unless I was actually playing for them. Feels too much like cheering for the careers/lives of others. I'm proud being Heng. I was recommending dealerships at which I've received excellent service from.

[Furbie]

I hope you are not judging customer service in Thailand by this one incident. My experiences with customer service in LOS have generally been positive and certainly better than USA, where customer service is REALLY non-existant.

What the heck are you basing that on? I'll give you that in some places basic sales service can be a bit rude and abrupt, but as a general rule, after sales service in the US is excellent – especially when compared with Thailand. McDonalds staff in particular are much nicer in Thailand, but for real purchases USA wins hands down.

Example, you get served the wrong order in Thailand at a restaurant, they will likely do nothing to fix it. I have had restaurants try to charge me for the wrong dish and the new one, brought back food that has been poorly touched up and had a pizza slized up and re-cooked speratly when I sent it back half burnt because the cheese was not melted when first served. In the US, I have had whole meals free because the service staff made a simple mistake - it usually gets taken care of, no muss, no fuss.

Try returning something in Thailand, even when they have a stated return policy, example:

HomePro Thailand, 7 day return policy, but took almost an hour and three conversations for an 800 baht item.

Home Depot in the US, I want to return this – and here's your money – no issue whatsoever.

Bought an electronic device in Thailand, it failed the third day, store will not accept it back and exchange it – it has to go and be repaired, six days later I get it back only to have it fail again – it took two months of frustration to get a working device <deleted>. USA, they would swap it and apologize before you finish explaining the problem.

Get your credit card, mobile phone, ATM card cloned in the US, dealt with no problem – Thailand, forget it, burden is on you.

So I ask you, what are you talking about? Even in the area of sales service, I find Thai staff nearly useless. They may be rude at times in the USA, but there is usually someone there who knows what they're talking about.

[OlRedEyes]

If true as reported, it sounds like that particular workshop is being dishonest. Not much to do with Thailand , and even less with Japan.

[Losangels]

What the heck are you basing that on? I'll give you that in some places basic sales service can be a bit rude and abrupt, but as a general rule, after sales service in the US is excellent – especially when compared with Thailand. McDonalds staff in particular are much nicer in Thailand, but for real purchases USA wins hands down.

Example, you get served the wrong order in Thailand at a restaurant, they will likely do nothing to fix it. I have had restaurants try to charge me for the wrong dish and the new one, brought back food that has been poorly touched up and had a pizza slized up and re-cooked speratly when I sent it back half burnt because the cheese was not melted when first served. In the US, I have had whole meals free because the service staff made a simple mistake - it usually gets taken care of, no muss, no fuss.

Try returning something in Thailand, even when they have a stated return policy, example:

HomePro Thailand, 7 day return policy, but took almost an hour and three conversations for an 800 baht item.

Home Depot in the US, I want to return this – and here's your money – no issue whatsoever.

Bought an electronic device in Thailand, it failed the third day, store will not accept it back and exchange it – it has to go and be repaired, six days later I get it back only to have it fail again – it took two months of frustration to get a working device <deleted>. USA, they would swap it and apologize before you finish explaining the problem.

Get your credit card, mobile phone, ATM card cloned in the US, dealt with no problem – Thailand, forget it, burden is on you.

So I ask you, what are you talking about? Even in the area of sales service, I find Thai staff nearly useless. They may be rude at times in the USA, but there is usually someone there who knows what they're talking about.

Couldn't agree with you more, good post

[a2396]

I hope you are not judging customer service in Thailand by this one incident. My experiences with customer service in LOS have generally been positive and certainly better than USA, where customer service is REALLY non-existant.

What the heck are you basing that on? I'll give you that in some places basic sales service can be a bit rude and abrupt, but as a general rule, after sales service in the US is excellent – especially when compared with Thailand. McDonalds staff in particular are much nicer in Thailand, but for real purchases USA wins hands down.

Example, you get served the wrong order in Thailand at a restaurant, they will likely do nothing to fix it. I have had restaurants try to charge me for the wrong dish and the new one, brought back food that has been poorly touched up and had a pizza slized up and re-cooked speratly when I sent it back half burnt because the cheese was not melted when first served. In the US, I have had whole meals free because the service staff made a simple mistake - it usually gets taken care of, no muss, no fuss.

Try returning something in Thailand, even when they have a stated return policy, example:

HomePro Thailand, 7 day return policy, but took almost an hour and three conversations for an 800 baht item.

Home Depot in the US, I want to return this – and here's your money – no issue whatsoever.

Bought an electronic device in Thailand, it failed the third day, store will not accept it back and exchange it – it has to go and be repaired, six days later I get it back only to have it fail again – it took two months of frustration to get a working device <deleted>. USA, they would swap it and apologize before you finish explaining the problem.

Get your credit card, mobile phone, ATM card cloned in the US, dealt with no problem – Thailand, forget it, burden is on you.

So I ask you, what are you talking about? Even in the area of sales service, I find Thai staff nearly useless. They may be rude at times in the USA, but there is usually someone there who knows what they're talking about.

During my last 4 years in SE USA, I found many so-called customer service staff telling me all the reasons why they could not do something. 1. If I wanted to have furniture or other household items delivered, I usually had to schedule a delivery & wait at least two weeks. In Thailand, items are usually delivered the same day & often they will set up the item & make sure it is working, such as a TV or DVD player. In USA, forget it. 2. Most appointments to see medical specialists in USA take weeks, if not months. Emergency room visits take hours. In Thailand, I have been in and out of doctor visits in 30-60 minutes. Nurses and staff are courteous, and accommodating. 3. My bank in USA, where I have a property rental deposited by my agent, has refused to take the deposit on a few occasions, because the agent did not have a pre-printed deposit slip with my name and address on it.. Such was not required by the bank rules, but was apparently invented by teller. This necessated a call to the bank manager to straighten it out. Another USA bank refused to put deposit slips out on the public counter, requiring you to obtain it from the teller and wasting time at the window to then fill it out. 4. Calls to computer help desks and assistance via telephone usually involved long waits on hold and often ended with being cut off or talking to some incompetent or poorly trained technician who could not resolve the problem or "passed the buck" to another department or person. 5. Any involvement with the U.S. Immigration service in another experience of waiting eons to get resolution to an issue, often dealing with arrogant, surly and over worked staff, who often give conflicting and/or inaccurate information. Anyone who is seeking some sort of residence visa is going to have a long and arduous wait. My dealings with Thai immigration have been positive and issues handled with lightning speed compared to what I would receive back home.

Auto service in USA is an area where I did not generally have problems, however the cost of repairs and maintence at a dealership often ran into hundreds of dollars and required scheduling a service appointment in advance and then waiting at least half a day to retrieve the car. The bill was only topped by the cost of medical services. I get my motorcycle serviced in Thailand for a few hundred BHT or less and am in & out in 30 to 60 minutes.

[think_too_mut]

If you have not lived in Japan, you don't know what customer service is. Really.

From Japanese point of view, American ways can only be called "maniana" service.

Then, set aside and compare Thai customer service to that. What a disaster.

[Furbie]

I hope you are not judging customer service in Thailand by this one incident. My experiences with customer service in LOS have generally been positive and certainly better than USA, where customer service is REALLY non-existant.

What the heck are you basing that on? I'll give you that in some places basic sales service can be a bit rude and abrupt, but as a general rule, after sales service in the US is excellent – especially when compared with Thailand. McDonalds staff in particular are much nicer in Thailand, but for real purchases USA wins hands down.

Example, you get served the wrong order in Thailand at a restaurant, they will likely do nothing to fix it. I have had restaurants try to charge me for the wrong dish and the new one, brought back food that has been poorly touched up and had a pizza slized up and re-cooked speratly when I sent it back half burnt because the cheese was not melted when first served. In the US, I have had whole meals free because the service staff made a simple mistake - it usually gets taken care of, no muss, no fuss.

Try returning something in Thailand, even when they have a stated return policy, example:

HomePro Thailand, 7 day return policy, but took almost an hour and three conversations for an 800 baht item.

Home Depot in the US, I want to return this – and here's your money – no issue whatsoever.

Bought an electronic device in Thailand, it failed the third day, store will not accept it back and exchange it – it has to go and be repaired, six days later I get it back only to have it fail again – it took two months of frustration to get a working device <deleted>. USA, they would swap it and apologize before you finish explaining the problem.

Get your credit card, mobile phone, ATM card cloned in the US, dealt with no problem – Thailand, forget it, burden is on you.

So I ask you, what are you talking about? Even in the area of sales service, I find Thai staff nearly useless. They may be rude at times in the USA, but there is usually someone there who knows what they're talking about.

During my last 4 years in SE USA, I found many so-called customer service staff telling me all the reasons why they could not do something. 1. If I wanted to have furniture or other household items delivered, I usually had to schedule a delivery & wait at least two weeks. In Thailand, items are usually delivered the same day & often they will set up the item & make sure it is working, such as a TV or DVD player. In USA, forget it. 2. Most appointments to see medical specialists in USA take weeks, if not months. Emergency room visits take hours. In Thailand, I have been in and out of doctor visits in 30-60 minutes. Nurses and staff are courteous, and accommodating. 3. My bank in USA, where I have a property rental deposited by my agent, has refused to take the deposit on a few occasions, because the agent did not have a pre-printed deposit slip with my name and address on it.. Such was not required by the bank rules, but was apparently invented by teller. This necessated a call to the bank manager to straighten it out. Another USA bank refused to put deposit slips out on the public counter, requiring you to obtain it from the teller and wasting time at the window to then fill it out. 4. Calls to computer help desks and assistance via telephone usually involved long waits on hold and often ended with being cut off or talking to some incompetent or poorly trained technician who could not resolve the problem or "passed the buck" to another department or person. 5. Any involvement with the U.S. Immigration service in another experience of waiting eons to get resolution to an issue, often dealing with arrogant, surly and over worked staff, who often give conflicting and/or inaccurate information. Anyone who is seeking some sort of residence visa is going to have a long and arduous wait. My dealings with Thai immigration have been positive and issues handled with lightning speed compared to what I would receive back home.

Auto service in USA is an area where I did not generally have problems, however the cost of repairs and maintence at a dealership often ran into hundreds of dollars and required scheduling a service appointment in advance and then waiting at least half a day to retrieve the car. The bill was only topped by the cost of medical services. I get my motorcycle serviced in Thailand for a few hundred BHT or less and am in & out in 30 to 60 minutes.

OK, let's take these one at a time:

1. If I wanted to have furniture or other household items delivered, I usually had to schedule a delivery & wait at least two weeks. In Thailand, items are usually delivered the same day & often they will set up the item & make sure it is working, such as a TV or DVD player. In USA, forget it.

Answer: That's a delivery schedule. At least they don't lie and say tomorrow and never show up. When I bought my big screen in the US and the surround sound they set it all up. In Thailand, they set it all up – and as a soon as they left I promptly re-did it because they have no idea what they are doing, delays in the surround sounds speakers all wrong and color saturation levels that looked like a kid with a box of crayons went to town. I would also point out that electronics are far more expensive in Thailand than the US – if you say here's 100 USD, get it to me tomorrow and set it up, it would happen. In Thailand, it's part of the outrageous price already.

2. Most appointments to see medical specialists in USA take weeks, if not months. Emergency room visits take hours. In Thailand, I have been in and out of doctor visits in 30-60 minutes. Nurses and staff are courteous, and accommodating.

Answer: When I first came to Thailand, I was very impressed with the efficiency of the medical system. They move. In fact, I have come to realize that I have never spent more than seven minutes with a doctor, and trying to get a doctor to explain the drugs he prescribed and why is an uphill battle. Every doctor I ever had in Thailand (BNH, Bumrungrad, Bangkok Christian, etc) has also given unnecessary medication (they do make commission on it so I will forgive them). My advice, try to base a medical decision on the competency of the doctors, not how fast they rush their patients through service. I am underwhelmed by the medical care in Thailand and would be on the next flight to the US for any real problem. Ask yourself why the wealthy in Thailand go to the US for complicated treatments. Sure, some people come to Thailand to save money on medical procedures, but they certainly don't do it for the better medical professionals.

3. My bank in USA, where I have a property rental deposited by my agent, has refused to take the deposit on a few occasions, because the agent did not have a pre-printed deposit slip with my name and address on it.. Such was not required by the bank rules, but was apparently invented by teller. This necessated a call to the bank manager to straighten it out. Another USA bank refused to put deposit slips out on the public counter, requiring you to obtain it from the teller and wasting time at the window to then fill it out.

Answer: Banking in Thailand is a complete joke – for God's sake, you still need a passbook most of the time. Savings rates are low, loan rates are high, and this board is full of stories of useless bank tellers and managers making up rules as they go along, denying service requesting unneeded documents, etc. They don't even mail you a statement – and how many news reports have we had now of dormant account being whipped out by bank employees but the bank won't make good on them? I wish I could still bank in the US. Take a look at how complicated the checking system is in Thailand and it will give you some idea. I am impressed with the number of transactions you can do on an ATM, but US on-line banking services are far superior.

4. Calls to computer help desks and assistance via telephone usually involved long waits on hold and often ended with being cut off or talking to some incompetent or poorly trained technician who could not resolve the problem or "passed the buck" to another department or person.

Answer: Agreed, bad in the US, but bad in Thailand as well. Even taking a computer to the service center was a nightmare. I give you a draw on this one. I am still waiting for Acer Thailand to call me back – come on guys, you said you would call Monday.

5. Any involvement with the U.S. Immigration service in another experience of waiting eons to get resolution to an issue, often dealing with arrogant, surly and over worked staff, who often give conflicting and/or inaccurate information. Anyone who is seeking some sort of residence visa is going to have a long and arduous wait. My dealings with Thai immigration have been positive and issues handled with lightning speed compared to what I would receive back home.

Answer: Immigration sucks the world over. I am from the US, so never had to deal with them. I have had several problems with Thai immigration, and had a friend wrongly arrested. At least in the US there is a system in place you can deal with and it does not come down to kicking in a bribe. Even when I wanted a letter of residency from them they wanted two thousand baht to speed up the process otherwise "it take too long time".

6. Auto service in USA is an area where I did not generally have problems, however the cost of repairs and maintence at a dealership often ran into hundreds of dollars and required scheduling a service appointment in advance and then waiting at least half a day to retrieve the car. The bill was only topped by the cost of medical services. I get my motorcycle serviced in Thailand for a few hundred BHT or less and am in & out in 30 to 60 minutes.

Answer: USA is an expensive society when it comes to services. However, a 20,000 USD Toyota will cost almost double in Thailand – I doubt if five years of car repairs and maintenance doubled the price of your car.

[LinkPopularity]

so, as many talk BS like: this is Thailand, take it or leave it, well ... be a Thai and shoot the <deleted>, that's how it's done here !

[lazeeboy]

TiT, you're a Farang. If you don't like it move to another country.

not the type of answer womble was looking for ,same thing happened to me in the car wash ,they dragged the hose over the front and scratched both wings ,called the police ,they did nothing ,went to my lawyer who came with me to the car wash and they fixwd it ,only needed t cutting though ,they get scared when they know you are not going to lay down ,good luck .

[a2396]

I hope you are not judging customer service in Thailand by this one incident. My experiences with customer service in LOS have generally been positive and certainly better than USA, where customer service is REALLY non-existant.

What the heck are you basing that on? I'll give you that in some places basic sales service can be a bit rude and abrupt, but as a general rule, after sales service in the US is excellent – especially when compared with Thailand. McDonalds staff in particular are much nicer in Thailand, but for real purchases USA wins hands down.

Example, you get served the wrong order in Thailand at a restaurant, they will likely do nothing to fix it. I have had restaurants try to charge me for the wrong dish and the new one, brought back food that has been poorly touched up and had a pizza slized up and re-cooked speratly when I sent it back half burnt because the cheese was not melted when first served. In the US, I have had whole meals free because the service staff made a simple mistake - it usually gets taken care of, no muss, no fuss.

Try returning something in Thailand, even when they have a stated return policy, example:

HomePro Thailand, 7 day return policy, but took almost an hour and three conversations for an 800 baht item.

Home Depot in the US, I want to return this – and here's your money – no issue whatsoever.

Bought an electronic device in Thailand, it failed the third day, store will not accept it back and exchange it – it has to go and be repaired, six days later I get it back only to have it fail again – it took two months of frustration to get a working device <deleted>. USA, they would swap it and apologize before you finish explaining the problem.

Get your credit card, mobile phone, ATM card cloned in the US, dealt with no problem – Thailand, forget it, burden is on you.

So I ask you, what are you talking about? Even in the area of sales service, I find Thai staff nearly useless. They may be rude at times in the USA, but there is usually someone there who knows what they're talking about.

During my last 4 years in SE USA, I found many so-called customer service staff telling me all the reasons why they could not do something. 1. If I wanted to have furniture or other household items delivered, I usually had to schedule a delivery & wait at least two weeks. In Thailand, items are usually delivered the same day & often they will set up the item & make sure it is working, such as a TV or DVD player. In USA, forget it. 2. Most appointments to see medical specialists in USA take weeks, if not months. Emergency room visits take hours. In Thailand, I have been in and out of doctor visits in 30-60 minutes. Nurses and staff are courteous, and accommodating. 3. My bank in USA, where I have a property rental deposited by my agent, has refused to take the deposit on a few occasions, because the agent did not have a pre-printed deposit slip with my name and address on it.. Such was not required by the bank rules, but was apparently invented by teller. This necessated a call to the bank manager to straighten it out. Another USA bank refused to put deposit slips out on the public counter, requiring you to obtain it from the teller and wasting time at the window to then fill it out. 4. Calls to computer help desks and assistance via telephone usually involved long waits on hold and often ended with being cut off or talking to some incompetent or poorly trained technician who could not resolve the problem or "passed the buck" to another department or person. 5. Any involvement with the U.S. Immigration service in another experience of waiting eons to get resolution to an issue, often dealing with arrogant, surly and over worked staff, who often give conflicting and/or inaccurate information. Anyone who is seeking some sort of residence visa is going to have a long and arduous wait. My dealings with Thai immigration have been positive and issues handled with lightning speed compared to what I would receive back home.

Auto service in USA is an area where I did not generally have problems, however the cost of repairs and maintence at a dealership often ran into hundreds of dollars and required scheduling a service appointment in advance and then waiting at least half a day to retrieve the car. The bill was only topped by the cost of medical services. I get my motorcycle serviced in Thailand for a few hundred BHT or less and am in & out in 30 to 60 minutes.

OK, let's take these one at a time:

1. If I wanted to have furniture or other household items delivered, I usually had to schedule a delivery & wait at least two weeks. In Thailand, items are usually delivered the same day & often they will set up the item & make sure it is working, such as a TV or DVD player. In USA, forget it.

Answer: That's a delivery schedule. At least they don't lie and say tomorrow and never show up. When I bought my big screen in the US and the surround sound they set it all up. In Thailand, they set it all up – and as a soon as they left I promptly re-did it because they have no idea what they are doing, delays in the surround sounds speakers all wrong and color saturation levels that looked like a kid with a box of crayons went to town. I would also point out that electronics are far more expensive in Thailand than the US – if you say here's 100 USD, get it to me tomorrow and set it up, it would happen. In Thailand, it's part of the outrageous price already.

2. Most appointments to see medical specialists in USA take weeks, if not months. Emergency room visits take hours. In Thailand, I have been in and out of doctor visits in 30-60 minutes. Nurses and staff are courteous, and accommodating.

Answer: When I first came to Thailand, I was very impressed with the efficiency of the medical system. They move. In fact, I have come to realize that I have never spent more than seven minutes with a doctor, and trying to get a doctor to explain the drugs he prescribed and why is an uphill battle. Every doctor I ever had in Thailand (BNH, Bumrungrad, Bangkok Christian, etc) has also given unnecessary medication (they do make commission on it so I will forgive them). My advice, try to base a medical decision on the competency of the doctors, not how fast they rush their patients through service. I am underwhelmed by the medical care in Thailand and would be on the next flight to the US for any real problem. Ask yourself why the wealthy in Thailand go to the US for complicated treatments. Sure, some people come to Thailand to save money on medical procedures, but they certainly don't do it for the better medical professionals.

3. My bank in USA, where I have a property rental deposited by my agent, has refused to take the deposit on a few occasions, because the agent did not have a pre-printed deposit slip with my name and address on it.. Such was not required by the bank rules, but was apparently invented by teller. This necessated a call to the bank manager to straighten it out. Another USA bank refused to put deposit slips out on the public counter, requiring you to obtain it from the teller and wasting time at the window to then fill it out.

Answer: Banking in Thailand is a complete joke – for God's sake, you still need a passbook most of the time. Savings rates are low, loan rates are high, and this board is full of stories of useless bank tellers and managers making up rules as they go along, denying service requesting unneeded documents, etc. They don't even mail you a statement – and how many news reports have we had now of dormant account being whipped out by bank employees but the bank won't make good on them? I wish I could still bank in the US. Take a look at how complicated the checking system is in Thailand and it will give you some idea. I am impressed with the number of transactions you can do on an ATM, but US on-line banking services are far superior.

4. Calls to computer help desks and assistance via telephone usually involved long waits on hold and often ended with being cut off or talking to some incompetent or poorly trained technician who could not resolve the problem or "passed the buck" to another department or person.

Answer: Agreed, bad in the US, but bad in Thailand as well. Even taking a computer to the service center was a nightmare. I give you a draw on this one. I am still waiting for Acer Thailand to call me back – come on guys, you said you would call Monday.

5. Any involvement with the U.S. Immigration service in another experience of waiting eons to get resolution to an issue, often dealing with arrogant, surly and over worked staff, who often give conflicting and/or inaccurate information. Anyone who is seeking some sort of residence visa is going to have a long and arduous wait. My dealings with Thai immigration have been positive and issues handled with lightning speed compared to what I would receive back home.

Answer: Immigration sucks the world over. I am from the US, so never had to deal with them. I have had several problems with Thai immigration, and had a friend wrongly arrested. At least in the US there is a system in place you can deal with and it does not come down to kicking in a bribe. Even when I wanted a letter of residency from them they wanted two thousand baht to speed up the process otherwise "it take too long time".

6. Auto service in USA is an area where I did not generally have problems, however the cost of repairs and maintence at a dealership often ran into hundreds of dollars and required scheduling a service appointment in advance and then waiting at least half a day to retrieve the car. The bill was only topped by the cost of medical services. I get my motorcycle serviced in Thailand for a few hundred BHT or less and am in & out in 30 to 60 minutes.

Answer: USA is an expensive society when it comes to services. However, a 20,000 USD Toyota will cost almost double in Thailand – I doubt if five years of car repairs and maintenance doubled the price of your car.

Well, you've got your opinions and I have mine. Living in Thailand is considerably less hassle and mush less expensive than USA. There is plenty of incompetents to go around in both countries. In Thailand, I don't need a car, yet. In USA a car is a necessity. Average medical care in Thailand is much more accessable and a fraction of the cost of USA. U.S. doctors can also be accused of prescribing unnecessary medication. If, I need some sophisticated cutting-edge medical treatment, I might choose USA, but the state of nursing care & related services is a detiorating situation there and another negative in the health care equation. If you find the USA so superior, I hope you have the opportunity to return soon & enjoy your future.

[Furbie]

Well, you've got your opinions and I have mine. Living in Thailand is considerably less hassle and mush less expensive than USA. There is plenty of incompetents to go around in both countries. In Thailand, I don't need a car, yet. In USA a car is a necessity. Average medical care in Thailand is much more accessable and a fraction of the cost of USA. U.S. doctors can also be accused of prescribing unnecessary medication. If, I need some sophisticated cutting-edge medical treatment, I might choose USA, but the state of nursing care & related services is a detiorating situation there and another negative in the health care equation. If you find the USA so superior, I hope you have the opportunity to return soon & enjoy your future.

Yawn....Love it or leave it, my favorite response to any question. You make blanket statement about service in the US being terrible, I respond with specifics, you respond with sepecifics. I counter, then you go cry baby with the old favorite, "If you don't like it, go home." I guess the intellectual part of the conversation is over.

[toptuan]

After 2 years of buying big ticket items in Thailand, I came up with a solution to Thai quality; I never buy any big ticket items here anymore so that I no longer get the shaft when it breaks.

So what do you do when you need a motorbike, refrigerator, car? Import it? Go without?

[a2396]

Well, you've got your opinions and I have mine. Living in Thailand is considerably less hassle and mush less expensive than USA. There is plenty of incompetents to go around in both countries. In Thailand, I don't need a car, yet. In USA a car is a necessity. Average medical care in Thailand is much more accessable and a fraction of the cost of USA. U.S. doctors can also be accused of prescribing unnecessary medication. If, I need some sophisticated cutting-edge medical treatment, I might choose USA, but the state of nursing care & related services is a detiorating situation there and another negative in the health care equation. If you find the USA so superior, I hope you have the opportunity to return soon & enjoy your future.

Yawn....Love it or leave it, my favorite response to any question. You make blanket statement about service in the US being terrible, I respond with specifics, you respond with sepecifics. I counter, then you go cry baby with the old favorite, "If you don't like it, go home." I guess the intellectual part of the conversation is over.

I countered with more specifics, but this is not a subject that is worth trying to prove some statistical points. Much of one's perceptions about customer service and many other aspects of life are based on personal experience, which are obviously not the same from one individual to another. Unless you are in Thailand not by your own choice, I just suggested that you should be happier residing somewhere more to your liking. Cry baby? You want to incite an argument over this issue, I am not the one to waste any further time on it. There a number of things I don't like about Thailand, but over-all it is where I prefer to live at this time.

[Pepe']

I hope you are not judging customer service in Thailand by this one incident. My experiences with customer service in LOS have generally been positive and certainly better than USA, where customer service is REALLY non-existant.

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Mercedes and BMW service have been excellent for over twenty years for me in San Diego.

Nissan service sucked from day one and continues to do so...

[PadThaiGuy]

Recently I was shopping for some new HiFi equipment. Looking to invest some serious money on the high end.

The shops I visited carry some very expensive items...some speakers going for 2 or 3 million a set.

Amps and CD players, selling for similar prices.

I got a list of a dozen outlets and spent a day visiting, hoping to listen to some incredible sounds.

Amazing , every store was quiet. Not one place had customers or their equipment running and nobody interested in helping me. I walk in and then walk out, nobody willing to get off their chair and help.

The Mcintosh shop in Paragon had a radio running some cheap plastic wall mounted speakers.

What's wrong with these people?

[mikethevigoman]

After 2 years of buying big ticket items in Thailand, I came up with a solution to Thai quality; I never buy any big ticket items here anymore so that I no longer get the shaft when it breaks.

So what do you do when you need a motorbike, refrigerator, car? Import it? Go without?

Rent ?

[mikethevigoman]

Just spent over 40 minutes trying to get someone at TOT's callcenter 1100 to answer the phone.

Needless to say the problem I have has not been resolved and the buck was passed by the Thai person on the other end of the line.

Poor customer service is par for the course in this country.

I have to agree, some of these "think positive ' posters on here arent in the same thailand as me i feel,. i went into the mitsubishi dealer yesterday and 3 of the 5 girls in the showroom were asleep on the desks and the other 2 were much more interested in my 5 year old than serving me,.and how many people do you know have had a deposit back for any reason, we waited 3 months for one, ! no im afraid customer service and service in general in thailand are awful,.seems like all the businesses are run by non business people,.i bought some nissan parts and the saleman went off to get them elsewhere and was doing the deal direct with me and his boss knew ! when the parts didnt arrive in nissan boxes i asked for a refund and waited 2 weeks, no, i have to say in most cases its the shits,.

[thomo]

What's wrong with these people?