Carrefour Pattaya: You Let Me Down Tonight...

[Weho]

I made my way to Carrefour tonight, around 9 pm. My plan was to go to Home Pro to get a light bulb I need for a halogen desk lamp. It felt a little warm in there, but I didn't think much of it. I got the Sylvania "HI-SPOT ES-50" bulb, with aluminised reflector, without incident. Then I go over to Carrefour, and it hits me: THEY'VE TURNED OFF THE AIR CONDITIONING!!! I guess they do this about 9 pm, to save on electricity... but I was warm...

I felt so dirty... so cheated, so tormented, so VIOLATED. I feel they should disclose with a sigh, something like "air conditioning turned off at 9 pm", so I would know, and have the choice of shopping before that time. I was sweating like a Hawaiian pig in an emu pit. It was like a <deleted>' kilm in there. And I guess it's like that every night. Honestly, I don't know how the employees can survive that... I mean, it's pretty uncomfortable, just standing around all day, doing nothing, but to have to work in those conditions WITHOUT modern air conditioning is just too much.

I'm also not happy about their sale area, near the cheeses, where they put out all the refrigerated foods that are a day or two away from their printed expiration date... and some of that food may be a YEAR OLD, like the refrigerated fresh pasta... I woudln't trust that stuff, unless it had a date of manufacture on it too... if you were considering buying some of that French packaged ham that say, "manufactured in August 2006", then it said "expires December 9, 2007, who the heck would want to take that chance... and is it really worth it to save 20 baht to eat food that's a year old, or more sometimes?

Also, avoid their electronice sale area.... mostly filed with display junk that doesn't work, and comes with no manual, no box, no warranty, and NO RETURN, even if it doesn't work... yes, that's what the manager told me... unfrickin'believable.

They do carry some good stuff there... like the Bleu Elephant frozen dishes: that Tamarind Duck is great stuff... it's on the expensive side, at 149 baht per frozen entree, but I'm telling you it's good...

And it's probably the only place in town that takes American Express, and doesn't tell you, "oh, we charge an extra 8% if you use that card"... actually Foodland accepts it too, with no extra charge.

I noticed they took out the outdoor dining area... I guess it was too hot, and people like the air condititioning, that is before 9 pm.

[pointofview]

They say there are worse things happen in china.

Life can be very unfair at times

[Jingthing]

It's a cryin' shame!

Thanks for tip on the duck.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Jingthing

[JimmyTheMook]

It was like a <deleted>' kilm in there.

Hey Weho , What The Heck is a Kilm ?

Is that like a hot Heidi Kilm or something?

thinking in terracotta..........

Edited December 6, 2007 by JimmyTheMook

[tropo]

Considering the size of the supermarket, there's not much in there really. They don't really cater to foreigners.

[legag]

Weho, I bet you missed your pool(boy) right when you were sweating like a Hawaiian pig in an emu pit Why didn't you just walk out somewhere else to cool off, even go back tomorrow when a/c hours on.

Kilm ??

[Weho]

OK, so I was off one letter... it's kilN. Hot as a kiln.

And the point is not to go back during daytime hours, when the a/c is supposed on, the point is, this was a violation of my trust... they enticed me to go in there, with the prospect of nice cool air conditioning, and they tricked me... I felt really violated. They should have a sign outside, and in all their print ads, like "A/C from 10 AM to 9 PM, no a/c from 9 pm to 11:59 PM".

I'm still upset about this. I may have to contact the Carrefour executives in France, in Levallois-Perret, just outside Paris, across the Seine. I saw on wikipedia that their slogan is "choice and quality for everyone", but I would propose they change that to "choice and quality for everyone, and sometimes even air conditioning, when we feel like it".

[barryofthailand]

Carrefour has cut back on labour, utilities etc. Prices are going up due to high transportation costs. After the first of the year prices will once more increase. The lines at the checkouts are long due to labor cut backs. look for tesco and Big C to follow suit. higher fuel costs are driving these things that only make the consumers uncomfortable and having to wait in long lines at the cash registers. get used to it as it will only get worse as fuel costs continue to increase.

Barry

[PhilHarries]

OK, so I was off one letter... it's kilN. Hot as a kiln.

the point is, this was a violation of my trust... they enticed me to go in there, with the prospect of nice cool air conditioning, and they tricked me... I felt really violated. They should have a sign outside, and in all their print ads, like "A/C from 10 AM to 9 PM, no a/c from 9 pm to 11:59 PM".

I'd report them to the United Nations for such a blatant violation of basic human rights. But no they waste far too much time on petty issues like Myanmar.

Hot as a kiln was it? 9pm on a December day? Exaggerating a bit I'd say. Ever thought that maybe you are a bit too sensitive for life in the tropics?

[naka]

OK, so I was off one letter... it's kilN. Hot as a kiln.

And the point is not to go back during daytime hours, when the a/c is supposed on, the point is, this was a violation of my trust... they enticed me to go in there, with the prospect of nice cool air conditioning, and they tricked me... I felt really violated. They should have a sign outside, and in all their print ads, like "A/C from 10 AM to 9 PM, no a/c from 9 pm to 11:59 PM".

I'm still upset about this. I may have to contact the Carrefour executives in France, in Levallois-Perret, just outside Paris, across the Seine. I saw on wikipedia that their slogan is "choice and quality for everyone", but I would propose they change that to "choice and quality for everyone, and sometimes even air conditioning, when we feel like it".

It's all fixed ... I gave them a call.

They've promised to send a sound truck past your place every couple of hours.

No excuse for forgetting from now on.

Naka.

[legag]

Jai yen yen Weho.

Let us know how's the contact with Carrefour executives in Franceemail go, ok?

[cobra]

yeah, yeah, back to the light bulb,

how'd that Sylvania "ES-50" work out for ya,

[begsaresponse]

"VIOLATED" is a very strong word.

Did you feel this or are you fishing for a particular type of response?

[Jingthing]

Violated, American for annoyed.

[toptuan]

"VIOLATED" is a very strong word.

Did you feel this or are you fishing for a particular type of response?

I feel violated just lookin' at that avatar, Begs...!

[toptuan]

[ It's all fixed ... I gave them a call.

They've promised to send a sound truck past your place every couple of hours.

No excuse for forgetting from now on.

Naka.

[stumonster]

I would suggest you start legal proceedings against them at your earliest possible convenience - let us know how you get on.

[cali4995]

Carrefour has cut back on labour, utilities etc. Prices are going up due to high transportation costs. After the first of the year prices will once more increase. The lines at the checkouts are long due to labor cut backs. look for tesco and Big C to follow suit. higher fuel costs are driving these things that only make the consumers uncomfortable and having to wait in long lines at the cash registers. get used to it as it will only get worse as fuel costs continue to increase.

Barry

You're not kidding about the long lines, what do they have 40 registers and most mornings maybe

3 lanes open? It's insane? I can't think of a faster way to run-off customers than making them wait

20 minutes everytime they want to pay for items. If the local mom & pop stores only tried to offer

a little service they could retain or even recover their customer base. True for most restaurants also.