Motorcycle Rental Shop In Kho Chag

[Lancelot]

As you can see Lancelot, public opinion is very much in your favour here and I think your original posting has been answered informatively by several quality postings.

Those that have been here for awhile know how the systems works from time to time when dealing with unscrupulous dealers in Thailand, especially those in the more popular holiday resorts. But please dont let it biase your opinions of what is, after all is said and done, a wonderful country to visit and an even better place to reside for farangs.

Time to put it to rest I think as there is nothing else to be gleaned from your unfortunate experiece, we live and learn and then move on

Chock dee khrap

JAF

Yes, I agree, no point in beating a dead horse. Take care JAF

[Etrigan]

You agreed to the terms of hire, you acknowledged your responsibility for replacing parts broken during your lease of the vehicle, and for whatever reason, the vehicle was damaged whilst in your possession.

YOU PAY.

Posting this has revealed your cheap-skate attitude towards others' belongings.

[JustAnotherFarang]

Oh deary me, I think someone hasn't been following this thread properly..........

Ajarn Russ, he didn't break anything, it was merely 2 scratches, there was no contract regarding this per se and I think your posting reveals more about your flippant authoritarian attitude that it does about the OP's willingnessto part with money. Why dont you go and prepare a lesson for your students because you are teaching nobody,nothing with that unwarranted remark.

Really, some people should engage their brain before their fingers go awry

JAF

[Jareddiving]

You guys are talking about 1100 Baht

I'm sorry but if it happened to me i would pay the guy.

Btw 1100 Baht isnt really overcharged i think.

Yes you can get it cheaper in Bangkok but you can get everything cheaper in Bangkok.

Now for 1100 Baht i don't feel i'm missing the point.

It's peanuts, allmost nothing..

[sbk]

Whether the owner of the bike repairs it now is irrelevant, as he'll lose value on resale if he doesn't eventually fix it. The OP is not happy with the price he paid for the damage he caused, but, perhaps a part of that is due to how the situation was dealt with by the owner? My wife is also involved in motorbike rental and I can honestly say we have only ever had one person complain strongly about the repair charge after he dropped the bike, 300 Baht!!!

It's been mentioned that rental companies just pocket the money after minor accidents etc. In our situation that's not the case. We replace or if possible and cost effective, repair the parts. Nor would we charge a customer for parts then repair with non OE equipment. Though to be honest this is probably the exception to the rule.

Every business involved in bike rentals requires customers to sign a contract stating they are responsible for damage caused and usually listing prices ( our contract does ) Simply put, if you don't agree with the terms of the contract, don't rent.

My wife and I take the view that a satisfied customer creates more customers. Wouldn't be the first time we've had someone crash a bike, pay the bill then rent again from us a couple of days later....

Damage prices weren't listed on the contract. The shop owner behaved poorly, was agressive and not open to discussion. Had he been civil and met me half way (B550) I would have been delighted to pay. FWIW, you sound like a fair minded person and I agree that B300 is VERY reasonable. The guy in Koh Chang could care less about a satisfied customer. To him, farangs are an inexhaustable resource, so why try to be fair or reasonable?

Every motorbike for hire shop on Koh Phangan has the same contract, listing parts and their cost for replacement. The one shop I know quite well, does replace scratched parts as the next person along will not rent a scratched bike. If you signed a contract, then you did agree to pay for damages --not just broken, but scratched as well. If you had hired a car back home and scratched it, the insurance would have paid for it, if you did not have insurance then you would have paid for it yourself. But the rental company would have expected the scratches to be fixed.

As for the owner being aggressive, well perhaps he was an aggressive person, but many is the time I have seen farang come in, lie to the owner about damage and then get aggressive when called on the lie. I am not saying you did this, but perhaps the owner had already dealt with someone who had damaged his bike and refused to pay and was already on a short fuse.

*****As for other posts, lets not flame here, it is against forum rules and it is much easier to have a civil discussion without resulting in nastiness and name-calling. Amazing how quickly it comes isn't it?***

[Jareddiving]

1100 Baht

[percy2]

I think Moonfruits comments are spot on.

The OP is Wingeing.

Cheers

[stingray]

1100 Baht

1'100 Baht only??? It's not even worth to spend the time for posting in this forum

[Jareddiving]

1100 Baht

1'100 Baht only??? It's not even worth to spend the time for posting in this forum

But it sure is funny to read the reactions of some ' cheap Charlie's' here!

[JustAnotherFarang]

Forgive me all, I never realised that scratches actually appear by themselves! Silly me! Oh thank you Mr Justanotherfarang for your insightful reply. Really, I never once imagined that a scratch could spontaneously exist on smooth evenly painted surface. Imagine that!

So why don't YOU go and prepare a life for yourself because with the way you're posting on TV you ain't making any friends, period!

Dear ajarn Russ, and surely this is a misnomer

the OP never denied scratching the motorcycle and was fully prepared to pay for the damages caused. I merely said that 1,100 bht does not equate to 2 scratches and even offered some simple advice regarding the use of brasso to remove such scratches with ease. I also commented on other postings which seemed to berate the OP for being a cheap skate for asking, and I emphasize the word asking, whether it was an exhorbitant amount for what is nothing more than superficial damage.

Then you came along, fingers akimbo and thoughts inflamed with another comment which bordered on insulting to the OP. Reading your next comments quite clearly shows that you have not paid enough attention to the comments made so far and have indeed only reiterated what other posters have said which was neither use nor ornament

As for making friends with people who insult others, I choose my friends wisely and I can live easily with the fact that you and Imay never agree to even differ...... as we say, never the twain shall meet

Chok dee kru

Ajarn JAF, yes I am an english teacher too

[Jareddiving]

The OP is the one with the problem. When you hire a bike you know that you're going to get royaly screwed on any damage. So the bike got damaged and whilst he could have taken it to get fixed, he chose to return it to the hire shop. They have a given right to the bike back in the same condition as it left and if it is not, then why should they have to do all the running around getting it repaired, on their time, for zero profit ?

Zero profit eh? If they were going to repair the bike, they would have charged me B1,100 for parts and another B1,100 for overhead (gas, forfeted rental income, etc...)

Some guys have a lot to learn...

True!! Like parking your motherbike on a place that it doesn't fall over when raining

[Murf]

1100baht... ok its peanuts to some of this forums members, how much money you have is not the issue.

The issue is, that this was a a rip off, a scam, and to quote myself

A scam is a scam no matter how much money is involved

Its got nothing to do with being a cheap charlie... It's got everything to do with NOT BEING RIPPED OFF.

[Jareddiving]

For 1100 Baht you can hardly call it a rip off.

These things happen in Thailand all the time.

If i had to make a topic for everytime they ripped me off for 1100 Baht..

TIT get used to it.

By the way what am i saying.. This happens all over the world.

[englishoak]

Bottom line is the bike was damaged whilst in your care. The responsibility was the renters and got charged 1,100Bht, less than double the cost of parts bought at Yamaha direct. Did we forget transport and labour to fix plus the fact it would be unrentable during the time of fixing ? Oh no of course not we just don't care.

So what if the operator pockets the money, he's still going to have to fix it sometime, probably end of season with all the other scratches & marks. If he makes a bit more cash good on him I say. What is the rental 150Bht per day ? it's cheap as chips already. You damaged it so you pay up.

If you did that to a bike in the UK you would be looking at at least 3,000Bht probably double that. And yes they put a minimum charge on for damage AND charge you the labour costs too + add VAT.

I can't believe you whiners out there think that the owner should not make a bit extra given the nature of his business. Do you have any idea how many bikes are damaged on that island ? I know the shop you are talking about and it's as fair as the next one. Iv'e even damaged a couple of his bikes myself over the years, and paid up, it's a seasonal business and an occupational hazard having his stock damaged, I don't begrudge him making a few extra BHT when I damage one of his bikes i'm responsible for.

If it were me I would put a minimum of 1,000Bht for the slightest damage, may be the Tourist would then take a bit more care rather than as though he could'nt care less what he does with it. Have you seen the way some people treat their rentals ? it's disgusting.

Shame on you who are moaning about 1,100BHT being a rip off scam when there was clearly damage done.

Edited November 20, 2007 by englishoak

[sbk]

Off-topic and inflammatory posts have been deleted.

ENOUGH BICKERING!!!!!

Warnings will be handed out to all concerned if this continues.

[JimsKnight]

Just returned from a week in Kho Chang Island (Nov 14) and had a great time. Not very crowded and reasonable prices for food and lodging.

We rented a Yahama Fino from a shop (Vuu Travel/Tours?) opposite an immitation 7-11, about in the middle of White Sand Beach. We rented the scooter for 6 days for 1,000 baht and enjoyed touring the island. Unfortunately it rained hard on the 13th, the scooter was parked outside our bungalo on hard packed earth, which softened up a bit and the bike fell over...

Took the bike back to the rental shop the next day and long story short, they charged us 1,100 baht for two scratches, one on the front panel (size of my thumb) and one on the front left turn indicator lenz. The owner got on the phone and made a show of calling the Yahama dealer for the price to repace the parts, 925 for the front cover and 175 for the indicator lenz. My gf called a shop in BKK and they priced it at B600. Of course the owner blew that information off and didn't budge on price. I paid up and we caught a songtaew to the ferry.

I fully expected to pay some money to repair the scratches but B1,100 seemd a little excessive. The owner was a nice guy when I rented the bike but a total @ss hole when there was a problem. TIT...

The shtty thing is he'll just pocket the money and not even bother to fix the bike.

Island people who rent bikes charge the earth for repairs, it's in their blood to screw tourists in this way. I've seen it too many times..

[JimsKnight]

Think yourself luky. Here on Koh Tao the big bike hire shop, run by a German guy, think of German shorts charges 1000 baht for a broken clutch or brake lever. The cost to replace 60 baht. Any scratch or mark is charged at ful replacement cost with around a 500% mark up. Thats how they make their money. They love it when farang hire these bikes when they know they cant ride them. ANY mark on the bike should be agreed before you take the bike but tourists very rarely take much notice. It just pees me off when you get a farang blatantly doing it. Its a hard life being a tourist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that the guy on the T junction going into Mae Haad Town? I know him, he's a real dirty snake, watch out for his tricks I could write a book on that island...

[englishoak]

Island people who rent bikes charge the earth for repairs

I'm sure the guy could have gone to a Yamaha shop on the mainland and returned and fixed it himself but I gaurantee you it would have cost more than 600Bht on top. Transport to ferry, ferry, jetty by bus to Trat Yamaha dealer then add the return cost. + one day out of his holiday not including piutting on the spare parts

1,100BHT is hardly the earth JK is it ? so what if he pockets the money the bikes still damaged. The poster said himself his own quote was 600Bht so it's less than double. Or are you saying he should fix it at cost or even take it as wear and tear?

Come on JK no business works like that and you know it.

Rule no 1 is if you bend it you pay to mend it.

[rixalex]

Rule no 1 is if you bend it you pay to mend it.

Spot on the money - you pay to mend it. Why should you pay double? The rental place has already made its profit from you in the rental charges. If you are saying it's ok for them to think of a number off the top of their heads and bill you for that just because they know they have you by the short and curlies, then you and i have a different idea of what it is to get good service.

The rental place i use in Bangkok do know about good service. I often rent a car from them and despite picking up the occassional minor chip or scuff in the course of normal highway motoring, they never bill me for it. That's why i keep going back, because i trust them and appreciate that they don't try to take advantage. Maybe if this rental place in question took a similar policy, they might be getting some more repeat custom. Not saying the rental doesn't have a right to bill for damage, but if they have any integrity they shouldn't use your misfortune (assuming you haven't been reckless) as an oppurtunity to cash in.