Pattaya Dodo Bird Bad Business Behavior Awards

[Jingthing]

PATTAYA DODO BIRD BAD BUSINESS BEHAVIOR AWARDS

I propose a possibly classic thread.

Describe your most amazing experiences with bad, rude, stupid, outrageous behavior from business owners in Pattaya!

Thai and/or farang owners, all fair game.

Now, is that a rich vein in Pattaya or what?

This is kind of like the Darwin awards, except it is for Pattaya businesses. In case you don't know what the Darwin Awards are, they are awards given to humans who commit stupid acts and die, thus bettering the gene pool. For example, using toxic acid as a body paint decoration. As the Darwin Awards are already being done, I suggest we have our very own special and unique Pattaya Dodo Bird Bad Business Behavior Awards.

Businesses also commit such Dodo Bird Acts everyday ...

Especially in Pattaya.

Let the fun begin!

Edited February 13, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

OK, here is the first nomination.

Denied the use of a Ratty Old Pencil!

I stopped by SUTIN ART today, a copy art shop across from the Royal Garden Mall on 2nd Road.

It just so happens a friend I will be visiting in the US has asked me to bring him some copy art so I am definitely seriously in the market. I would also like a painting or two for my condo, but the canvas for my friend is something I want to buy soon.

I browsed the shop and asked the old man owner about sizes and prices for the two common sizes he was displaying. I also asked him how big the rolled up canvas roll would be of the larger canvas and what its size was, because I want to buy something that will fit in my suitcase.

So far, so good. I found his prices decent and the quality looked OK but I had to check back and measure my suitcase and check with my friend about the size and design he wanted.

I then asked the old man owner to lend me a pencil or pen for a few moments so I could write down the dimensions of the sizes. I was at his desk and I could see one ratty pencil and two ratty pens just sitting there. I intended to write the notes on some scrap paper of my own.

He said NO NO NO NO!

I thought there must be some misunderstanding. I have never in my entire life been denied the use of an old pencil for a few seconds from a business owner who I have expressed strong interest in buying from.

I tried to explain. I am looking for a friend. He says, your friend come in. I say, the friend is in America, he cannot come in and I need to write down the dimensions. He then says just remember in your head.

I ask him again, because I cannot believe this is really happening. The rattty old pencil is sitting right there. How can a business owner be so niggardly as to deny a potential customer this tiny favor. It boggles my mind.

No! No! No! You right down prices. (I think he thought I was shopping other stores and comparing prices, when actually his price sounded fine to me, he was wrong.)

I still can't believe this small man wouldn't let me borrow his pencil. I ask one more time.

No! No! No!

Well, enough is enough.

SUTIN ART

Pattaya Dodo Bird Bad Business Behavior Award Nominee

Edited February 13, 2008 by Jingthing

[sweetchariot]

I have used Sutin's several times, and the owner (Sutin) has always been great. We always have a bit of a laugh and a banter over prices and discounts etc, and he always remembers me by name as well which is nice.

Not sure what this was all about, sounds like some twilight zone misunderstanding to me.

[Jingthing]

I have used Sutin's several times, and the owner (Sutin) has always been great. We always have a bit of a laugh and a banter over prices and discounts etc, and he always remembers me by name as well which is nice.

Not sure what this was all about, sounds like some twilight zone misunderstanding to me.

That's fine. It happened. I couldn't t believe it as it was happening, but it did. Perhaps he didn't like my face, but there is no excuse for it, and the Dodo Bird Award Nomination stands. I didn't ask for a discount as I was just checking for sizes to get back to my friend and the prices he quoted me sounded fine already. Perhaps you can tell the old buzzard he is up for an internationally recognized award!

BTW, there is no mystery. The old buzzard decided I would never buy from him and decided to behave in a very small, stupid, rude way, denying me the use of his old pencil. Even if there was one chance in a million I would buy from him (in reality the chances before this were very high but he obviously judged differently) what does it say about the bad character of an owner to treat a polite potential customer that way? Sadly, this kind of short sighted, mean behavior is all too common in Pattaya.

BTW, I didn't start the thread to only talk about my current nomination. I would love to hear others.

Edited February 13, 2008 by Jingthing

[Tony Clifton]

Maybe the pencil was under the rule of Feng Shui and simply could not be allowed to be moved as it would have brought down pestilence and other deadly curses onto the shop owner.

I sometimes have to deal with this Feng Shui crap at home...

Itchy throat, I hope it's not bubonic plague.

[endure]

PATTAYA DODO BIRD BAD BUSINESS BEHAVIOR AWARDS

I propose a possibly classic thread.

Describe your most amazing experiences with bad, rude, stupid, outrageous behavior from business owners in Pattaya!

Thai and/or farang owners, all fair game.

Now, is that a rich vein in Pattaya or what?

This is kind of like the Darwin awards, except it is for Pattaya businesses. In case you don't know what the Darwin Awards are, they are awards given to humans who commit stupid acts and die, thus bettering the gene pool. For example, using toxic acid as a body paint decoration. As the Darwin Awards are already being done, I suggest we have our very own special and unique Pattaya Dodo Bird Bad Business Behavior Awards.

Businesses also commit such Dodo Bird Acts everyday ...

Especially in Pattaya.

Let the fun begin!

I don't think the Better Business Bureau has a branch in Pattaya. If you want US levels of customer service the best place to get them is in the US. If you decide to live half way round the world from your home country then you really ought to accept the fact that life is different.

[Mobi]

Jingthing,

Maybe you were the umpteenth person that week who had borrowed a pencil and the walked off with it without buying anything.

There's always two sides to a story

[onzestan]

but I had to check back and measure my suitcase and check with my friend about the size and design he wanted.

You wouldn't have needed a pencil if you had done the above BEFORE going to snoop around. Anyway it's his pencil and not yours !!!!

cheers

onzestan

[patsfangr]

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!

This one was dropped on me by an employee, not the owner. However, the "training" is clearly at the root of the problem.

As I was leavind Carrefour by the east end escalator, I had a craving for some ice cream. I stopped at the Dairy Queen at the base of the escalator. I ordered a small cup, as I do not like the cones. The young lady said, "Small finish." I looked at the shelf behind her, and saw that, indeed, there were no more small cups. There were, however, dozens of the medium and large size cups.

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. I won't bore you with the entire remainder of the discussion. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale. No small cups = no small serving of ice cream.

I left, wondering how much more revenue the place might lose in the future because they ran out of the "appropriate size cup" for serving their product.

In general, I have found that the vast majority of Thai workers will do only what they are trained to do; exactly (well ... as close as possible for them) as they are trained to do it. They are either incapable of thinking for themselves, or, in some cases, are directed by their bosses not to do so. Both situations are a sure and certain way to avoiid the "threat" of business growth.

[torrenova]

This has happened a few times in Carrefour of late. Say I go in about 7pm and after startig at the trolley end, its perhaps even an hour later I get to the bread if we are being lazy and slow. No baguettes, no new bread at all. You ask why and all you get is "mott" or finished. You point out that they will be trading perhaps for another 3 or 4 hours if I arrive earlier but they are too dumb or lazy or both. Whatever way, the management stinks as they should do an SQL against their sales database and and ask why no baguettes sold after 7pm but none left to throw away. perhaps the penny would drop but for the Thais, it is way over their heads.

[Chopper]

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. I won't bore you with the entire remainder of the discussion. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale. No small cups = no small serving of ice cream.

I empathise with your predicament. Personally I am a have a predilection for medium to large size cups...

[jonniebkk]

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale.

This always used to confuse me too but I think the answers is as follows...

They (management) actually count the number of containers and the sizes put out at the start and what's left at the end of the day. Therefore, if the employee gives you a small size portion of whatever in a medium sized container for the small sized price, at the end of the day, there will be a shortage of money in the till. (The price difference between the medium and small size portion.) She will then either be charged with giving change incorrectly or of stealing the money. Either way, it may have to be made up out of the employees wages.

The same used to happen to me at 7-11...I would purchase a can of Coke and like to take one of the plastic Slurpee cups with ice to go with it. I offered to pay for the cup/ice (10 baht like) but they would always say no can do. This is for the same reason...they count the number of Slurpee cups so cannot let one go for 10 baht when the price of a Slurpee is much more than that.

[patsfangr]

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. I won't bore you with the entire remainder of the discussion. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale. No small cups = no small serving of ice cream.

I empathise with your predicament. Personally I am a have a predilection for medium to large size cups...

I understand, Chopper. However, it's extremely difficult to find those filled with the "real thing" in Thailand; and I don't like that "immitation" stuff!

[patsfangr]

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale.

This always used to confuse me too but I think the answers is as follows...

They (management) actually count the number of containers and the sizes put out at the start and what's left at the end of the day. Therefore, if the employee gives you a small size portion of whatever in a medium sized container for the small sized price, at the end of the day, there will be a shortage of money in the till. (The price difference between the medium and small size portion.) She will then either be charged with giving change incorrectly or of stealing the money. Either way, it may have to be made up out of the employees wages.

The same used to happen to me at 7-11...I would purchase a can of Coke and like to take one of the plastic Slurpee cups with ice to go with it. I offered to pay for the cup/ice (10 baht like) but they would always say no can do. This is for the same reason...they count the number of Slurpee cups so cannot let one go for 10 baht when the price of a Slurpee is much more than that.

You are very likely correct, Johnnie. But why not inventory the "product", rather than the containers, as they do in bars. Is it impossible to measure the amount of ice cream dispensed in a day? I'm not familiar with the storage and dispensing processes, so I can't say for certain. But it seems that it would be easier to measure volume, at a glance, than to count cups.

In any case, there should certainly be a better way to guard against employee theft than to turn away business.

[Mobi]

patsfangr, this may sound like a stupid solution, but if it was me, I would have bought the medium sized icecream and then thrown away what I didn't want.

I can't believe that the price differential would break the bank

Sometimes , one has to be a litle creative

It eases the stress of life in paradise.

[patsfangr]

patsfangr, this may sound like a stupid solution, but if it was me, I would have bought the medium sized icecream and then thrown away what I didn't want.

I can't believe that the price differential would break the bank

Sometimes , one has to be a litle creative

It eases the stress of life in paradise.

There is no stress in paradise, Mobi. But I live in Pattaya!

If I had wanted the ice cream that badly, I certainly would have paid for (and fully consumed) the medium size. But I confess that I get so frustrated by things that "qualify" for this "award", that I just refuse to encourage such behavior by giving in to it.

[Thaddeus]

so I can't say for certain. But it seems that it would be easier to measure volume, at a glance, than to count cups.

I'll just check with Archimedes.

Nope, it's easier to count cups.

[Hssl]

Carrefour has a farang manager/s, seen one guy a couple of times asked him if the Rats by the meat counter were sold by the kilo !

[Jingthing]

but I had to check back and measure my suitcase and check with my friend about the size and design he wanted.

You wouldn't have needed a pencil if you had done the above BEFORE going to snoop around. Anyway it's his pencil and not yours !!!!

cheers

onzestan

Cheers indeed!

Going into a retail shop, viewing the goods, asking some questions about sizes and prices is SNOOPING AROUND? Funny, I thought that was SHOPPING.

So you are defending the behavior of the owner? I guess you are the kind of person who refuses to give the time of day to a friendly stranger. Business owners take potential customers as they are. Where is the humanity?

Edited February 14, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I don't think the Better Business Bureau has a branch in Pattaya. If you want US levels of customer service the best place to get them is in the US. If you decide to live half way round the world from your home country then you really ought to accept the fact that life is different.

I totally agree and I think you totally miss my intention. I don't expect US style service. But some of the service here is so over the top outrageous that it is world class in a different way, in a DODO BIRD AWARDS kind of way, and I would like people to share these gems, provide entertainment value, and have lots of fun with it!

[Jingthing]

Jingthing,

Maybe you were the umpteenth person that week who had borrowed a pencil and the walked off with it without buying anything.

There's always two sides to a story

I don't doubt that the owner is a stressed, probably insane, human being. I am sure most people who visit his store never buy anything. But in retail, without visits, there are never sales, so treating potential customers like dogs is not advisable. There is still no excuse for his behavior. Sorry.

[Jingthing]

Please open up the Dodo Bird Awards to both staff and owners. Sorry about limiting it to owners before. Share the wealth.

On the cup incident, yes it sounds like a cup counting issue, and I would have been surprised if they had served the small portion in a medium cup. I once got into a conflict at a 7-11 over this kind of issue (and lost). This was when I was new in Thailand and didn't understand their cup charging system. I wanted some ice coffee so I bought a cup of instant coffee and then used an empty large cup to ice it up. Of course, I got charged for two drinks even though I only used one coffee! Now I know better.

Edited February 14, 2008 by Jingthing

[Maigo6]

This has happened a few times in Carrefour of late. Say I go in about 7pm and after startig at the trolley end, its perhaps even an hour later I get to the bread if we are being lazy and slow. No baguettes, no new bread at all. You ask why and all you get is "mott" or finished. You point out that they will be trading perhaps for another 3 or 4 hours if I arrive earlier but they are too dumb or lazy or both. Whatever way, the management stinks as they should do an SQL against their sales database and and ask why no baguettes sold after 7pm but none left to throw away. perhaps the penny would drop but for the Thais, it is way over their heads.

I'm under the impression that the management are Farangs!

[Chang_paarp]

This has happened a few times in Carrefour of late. Say I go in about 7pm and after startig at the trolley end, its perhaps even an hour later I get to the bread if we are being lazy and slow. No baguettes, no new bread at all. You ask why and all you get is "mott" or finished. You point out that they will be trading perhaps for another 3 or 4 hours if I arrive earlier but they are too dumb or lazy or both. Whatever way, the management stinks as they should do an SQL against their sales database and and ask why no baguettes sold after 7pm but none left to throw away. perhaps the penny would drop but for the Thais, it is way over their heads.

I'm under the impression that the management are Farangs!

He is, or speaks French. I was passing the wine section one day and he was getting some advice from an older gent in a singlet, while the manager and the Thais with him all laughed at the right places I could see from the body language there was a message being delivered there. I wish I understood French to have been able to listen in.

[lannarebirth]

This has happened a few times in Carrefour of late. Say I go in about 7pm and after startig at the trolley end, its perhaps even an hour later I get to the bread if we are being lazy and slow. No baguettes, no new bread at all. You ask why and all you get is "mott" or finished. You point out that they will be trading perhaps for another 3 or 4 hours if I arrive earlier but they are too dumb or lazy or both. Whatever way, the management stinks as they should do an SQL against their sales database and and ask why no baguettes sold after 7pm but none left to throw away. perhaps the penny would drop but for the Thais, it is way over their heads.

You know, if this had happened to me more than once, I wouldn't waste an hour getting over to the bread aisle. I think I might start my shopping there. If they still don't have any, I'd ask what time they usually run out and try to get in before then. That's not to say it shouldn't be available into the evening, but I know many people who schedule shopping trips for when "the bread is still warm".

[norrona]

what everyone here is forgetting is pattaya like many other tourist places around the world is full of tyre kickers, liberty takers and many socially inept freaks!

the bloke in the painting shop is probably burnt out of lookers and badly needs a break...

the girl with the ice cream is not allowed to think for herself and any discrepancies she will be docked...

myself I used to work in a real estate office on 2nd road, very busy and many enquiries unlike these days, but I had people come in and say 'can you just take us for a drive around for a bit of a look?' the americans always came in and said they are in real estate back home(if I had 10baht everytime I heard that one) and then I had the millionaires who came in, had no preferred budget, wanted their tirac to make the decision

basically pattaya is full of blaggers, pretenders and people who couldn't lie straight in bed!

cheers

[mikethevigoman]

I said, "OK. Give me small ice cream in medium cup." ... "No have. Small finish", was her answer. I won't bore you with the entire remainder of the discussion. Suffice it to say that I made a few more attempts to convince her that she could serve me a small portion in the medium size cup. She could not be convinced that this would be an acceptable way to make a sale. No small cups = no small serving of ice cream.

I empathise with your predicament. Personally I am a have a predilection for medium to large size cups...

Yes i think id have asked for 2 38dds and a 69 please ! Edited February 14, 2008 by mikethevigoman

[mikethevigoman]

what everyone here is forgetting is pattaya like many other tourist places around the world is full of tyre kickers, liberty takers and many socially inept freaks!

the bloke in the painting shop is probably burnt out of lookers and badly needs a break...

the girl with the ice cream is not allowed to think for herself and any discrepancies she will be docked...

myself I used to work in a real estate office on 2nd road, very busy and many enquiries unlike these days, but I had people come in and say 'can you just take us for a drive around for a bit of a look?' the americans always came in and said they are in real estate back home(if I had 10baht everytime I heard that one) and then I had the millionaires who came in, had no preferred budget, wanted their tirac to make the decision

basically pattaya is full of blaggers, pretenders and people who couldn't lie straight in bed!

cheers

Too true, its a bit like expecting a nun to able to organise a rave !,.

[Jingthing]

I am so very disappointed at the lukewarm response of Dodo Bird Awards nominations. Surely, the best gems are being kept to your selfish selves. Share the wealth!

On that note, allow me to dig up a classic award nomination:

Simon's Fish and Chips

Pattaya Dodo Bird Bad Business Behavior Award Nominee

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=118448

Edited February 14, 2008 by Jingthing

[tropo]

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!

I left, wondering how much more revenue the place might lose in the future because they ran out of the "appropriate size cup" for serving their product.

This reminds me of an ice cream shop in Walking Street. They only served (very) large portions of ice cream, nothing small.

The owner (farang) didn't figure that many people don't want large servings of ice cream and if faced with a choice would pass it up altogether.

Edited February 14, 2008 by tropo