Supermarket Checkout Pattaya.

[undercover]

No matter what supermarket you go to now in Pattaya the wait at the checkout has become unbearable, it is clear to see the problem is simply that out of maybe 30 + checkout's only 4/5 will be open.

It has become so bad now that I have noticed people abandoning their full trollys at the checkout and walking out the shop.

[bkkjames]

No matter what supermarket you go to now in Pattaya the wait at the checkout has become unbearable, it is clear to see the problem is simply that out of maybe 30 + checkout's only 4/5 will be open.

It has become so bad now that I have noticed people abandoning their full trollys at the checkout and walking out the shop.

Not as bad in Bangkok yet mate, but perhaps posting this in the Pattaya forum might be more rewarding in terms of comments.

[goonerthegooner]

It's all a clever ploy really,making you queue,for a long time,getting you pissed off,walk out the shop,leaving your trolley still full,hence then you think sod it,never going back there again,so low and behold the staff win,no customers they do not have too work.

Then they can do what they do best,chatting on the fone,and eating Som tam,then maybe in a year or so when the shop closes due too lack of support,they might think why is it shutting???/

[Guderian]

I did my monthly shop in Tesco Lotus South Pattaya yesterday afternoon - never checked out so quickly! No queues at all.

The taxi touts outside tried to rip me off 200 Baht to go back to Jomtien, though. Must be high season again, just without all the tourists!

[stupidfalang]

It’s a part of Thai logic.

- Sales go down: increase the price...

- Customers down: decrease the check outs and it looks busy again...

- 20 THB for ½ liter and 50 THB for 1 liter: Most cannot figure the calculation and buys 1 liter assuming that it’s cheaper.

Doesn’t matter overstaffing the place at the electric appliance section nor will they get any message from the abandon trolleys. Nothing wrong with the management OK, that’s final.

Maybe high employee turnover makes it difficult to get decent staff to handle the money...

Don’t try to suggest a solution, it is a part of Patters.

[doctormann]

Back in UK, Tesco have a 'One in Front' policy, meaning that if there is more than one person in front of you in the checkout queue, they will open another checkout till and they will continue to do this until there are no tills left unopened. For some reason, this policy doesn't seem to have been adopted in Pattaya! It is frustrating as all of the supermarkets seem to be overwhelmed with staff - Big C Sukhumvit is worst - that just want to stand around yakking but don't want to do anything that's remotely useful.

DM

[Rimmer]

Foodland is not a long wait, I have never known it to be so unless it changed this week.

Having stood for what seems hours in the Lotus ques and watched the girls at work I believe Lotus use an omi directional laser bar code reader, if you watch the girls on the checkouts they have to twist and turn each object to get the reader to register, this takes a lot of time. Foodland seems to have a a multi directional scanner which can read things upside down.

Lotus girls also seem unable to calculate 10 tins of cat food at 32 baht a tin and each one has to be logged seperately. Foodland is able to count up the tins and make one entry.

All this coupled to not enough check outs open and the air con up around outside temeperature makes for a most unpleasant visit.

[Kerryd]

The horror, the Horror !

I went to Friendship yesterday afternoon. Had a basket overflowing with goodies. Went to checkout and had to chose between TWO empty (no line up) checkout counters.

I could have stood in line at one of the other 3 checkouts, each with 1-2 people in them, but one of the girls at one of those TWO empty checkout counters nodded at me, so I went to her till.

As fast as I could pull stuff from the basket she scanned it through, and the young lad that was doing the bagging even sorted the (5) bags into two groups so I would have a balanced load.

I suppose I could have stamped my foot and demanded poorer service. Perhaps dawdled over each item as I pulled it from the basket, checked each item on the bill against each item in the bags to make sure I hadn't been accidentally undercharged, and spent some minutes trying to come up with the exact change to pay the bill, but I was more concerned with getting home and diving into some of those scrumptious yummies I'd just bought !

Maybe I'll be luckier next time.

[monsieurhappy]

Foodland is not a long wait, I have never known it to be so unless it changed this week.

I have also found this but to be honest it's probably due to the fact that most people shopping in Foodland only use a basket and don't buy so many items at a time. In the bigger supermarkets most customers fill at least one trolley so the poor checkout operator has many more items to check.

The best thing to do when encountering busy checkouts is to make a note of the time and then next time you shop go at a different time. Certain days of the week and month have more or less customers so try to shop to avoid the crowds. A lot of Thais get paid at the end of the month so avoid the next few days. The ATM's are usually empty at the same time.

[lawling]

And what about the express check-outs - supposedly for 10 items max ?

I normally find, especially at Big C, that there is someone ahead of me with a loaded trolley. Naturally the staff never seem to draw their attention to the sign - which would happen at the supermarkets I frequent back in the UK. Sometimes I wonder if the offenders can't read.

[foxxx]

if supermarket waiting times are your biggest issues to cry about i envy you.

[undercover]

Am I right that the owner's of Lotus Tesco are European ? if they are then the man at the top here that has the final say will be European, he's certainly not doing his job properly.

[Soutpeel]

if supermarket waiting times are your biggest issues to cry about i envy you.

My exact thought as well....

[soundman]

if supermarket waiting times are your biggest issues to cry about i envy you.

My exact thought as well....

We could add the re-emergance of erratic supermarket trollies into the thread.

[syd barrett]

It’s a part of Thai logic.

- Sales go down: increase the price...

- Customers down: decrease the check outs and it looks busy again...

- 20 THB for ½ liter and 50 THB for 1 liter: Most cannot figure the calculation and buys 1 liter assuming that it’s cheaper.

Doesn’t matter overstaffing the place at the electric appliance section nor will they get any message from the abandon trolleys. Nothing wrong with the management OK, that’s final.

Maybe high employee turnover makes it difficult to get decent staff to handle the money...

Don’t try to suggest a solution, it is a part of Patters.

Yes, In Friendship 400 ml of Head & Shoulders shampoo is 158 Baht. A larger 1200 ml bottle costs 495 Baht. So buying in bulk costs 21 baht more. But sometimes it works the other way. I once got cans of cider (export) for 30 baht per tin instead of much more. It just depends on who is pricing the stuff up. Beware of rotten beef at Friendship by the way.

[eljeque]

(Lotus, Carefour, Big C) Although there are far larger things to complain about, I have also noticed that lines are getting longer as well. I do wonder why there may be two or three people running around telling the shoppers where the lines are shorter, at one end of th store, rather than them opening a new counter. I am sure that they could be trained to scan if they have already been trained to look for shorter lines.

[dingdongrb]

And what about the express check-outs - supposedly for 10 items max ?

I normally find, especially at Big C, that there is someone ahead of me with a loaded trolley. Naturally the staff never seem to draw their attention to the sign - which would happen at the supermarkets I frequent back in the UK. Sometimes I wonder if the offenders can't read.

If that happened in the USA we would start by heckling them. Next we would pull out our 6" blade and slice them up a few times. After they started to bleed while lying on the floor we would probably whip out our Uzi and unload a clip or two into them. Then at last we would kick a few times while wearing our biker boots while they were down.......

......same as what we do when they cut in front of us on the freeway.

[Heng]

Shop on weekdays before noon (the earlier the better... before the rest of Pattaya wakes up). Also, before the end of the month and before the middle of the month (again, on weekdays if possible) when 80% of the pikers have empty wallets.

[Shotime]

And what about the express check-outs - supposedly for 10 items max ?

I normally find, especially at Big C, that there is someone ahead of me with a loaded trolley. Naturally the staff never seem to draw their attention to the sign - which would happen at the supermarkets I frequent back in the UK. Sometimes I wonder if the offenders can't read.

If that happened in the USA we would start by heckling them. Next we would pull out our 6" blade and slice them up a few times. After they started to bleed while lying on the floor we would probably whip out our Uzi and unload a clip or two into them. Then at last we would kick a few times while wearing our biker boots while they were down.......

......same as what we do when they cut in front of us on the freeway.

You just have to make sure you shoot them before they shoot you. In the supermarkets and the freeway.

[hullmonkey1]

And what about the express check-outs - supposedly for 10 items max ?

I normally find, especially at Big C, that there is someone ahead of me with a loaded trolley. Naturally the staff never seem to draw their attention to the sign - which would happen at the supermarkets I frequent back in the UK. Sometimes I wonder if the offenders can't read.

If that happened in the USA we would start by heckling them. Next we would pull out our 6" blade and slice them up a few times. After they started to bleed while lying on the floor we would probably whip out our Uzi and unload a clip or two into them. Then at last we would kick a few times while wearing our biker boots while they were down.......

......same as what we do when they cut in front of us on the freeway.

You just have to make sure you shoot them before they shoot you. In the supermarkets and the freeway.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

[moo9]

You got problems....

Sometimes the cashiers are a bit slow, but who cares, we are in Thailand, enjoy the life beyond shopping and not cry.

[Mighty Mouse]

You got problems....

Sometimes the cashiers are a bit slow, but who cares, we are in Thailand, enjoy the life beyond shopping and not cry.

Yeah, I agree.

Maybe they're in a hurry to get outside to the heat.

[JSixpack]

Lotus, Carrefour, and Big C have become intolerable for slow checkouts. When possible I only shop at Friendship, Foodland, and Best--much, much faster.

[barryofthailand]

As business decreases, they naturally have to decrease the labor. That's just smart business, so get used to it as we are going into hard times and people are saving their money.

Barry

[tropo]

Foodland is not a long wait, I have never known it to be so unless it changed this week.

I have also found this but to be honest it's probably due to the fact that most people shopping in Foodland only use a basket and don't buy so many items at a time. In the bigger supermarkets most customers fill at least one trolley so the poor checkout operator has many more items to check.

The best thing to do when encountering busy checkouts is to make a note of the time and then next time you shop go at a different time. Certain days of the week and month have more or less customers so try to shop to avoid the crowds. A lot of Thais get paid at the end of the month so avoid the next few days. The ATM's are usually empty at the same time.

You're wrong about that. The reason Foodland is fast is because the staff there are extremely well trained and efficient. Sometimes we should give credit where credit is due.

I have never had to wait for more than one person in front of me in nearly 3 years of shopping at Foodland. They actually open new checkouts when people are waiting. It's the fastest checkout I have ever encountered in a supermarket anywhere in the world. Even the manager gets in there to pack when it gets busy. They can scan my items almost as fast as I can get them out of my trolley.

It's a pleasure to shop at Foodland.

[Cuban]

I believe Lotus use an omi directional laser bar code reader, if you watch the girls on the checkouts they have to twist and turn each object to get the reader to register....

I think that Tesco use the newer camera 'scanners' that take an image of the bar code and then process it digitally rather than the old days of using a scanning beam that needed to be moved at a particular rate across the barcode.

Lotus girls also seem unable to calculate 10 tins of cat food at 32 baht a tin and each one has to be logged seperately. Foodland is able to count up the tins and make one entry.

IME seems to vary with staff member, some are aware of the keyboard short codes that allow '10x item scanned' feature.

And what about the express check-outs - supposedly for 10 items max ?

If the queue is empty makes sense to use that till, but it should be managed, likewise the bank of three 'express' tills (Tesco on the Suk') than service a single queue, breaks down when queue jumpers take a gamble on who will be paying in 25 Satang coins or really does have just one item that is correctly priced and is holding the exact money in their hand....

Managing shoppers in queues is like herding cats.

In Friendship 400 ml of Head & Shoulders shampoo is 158 Baht. A larger 1200 ml bottle costs 495 Baht.

Yes, this is so common. I think it is a prime example of Thai "Do what the boss says even if I'm aware of a problem that might cause me more work should I make any comment on it." I am aware that many Thais simply don't have mental arithmetic skills at all, I am surprised when till staff give me a puzzled look when I apparently overpay at the supermarket, they take the money and tap in the 1,001 Baht - it appears as magic that the till tells them to give me a 10 Baht coin as change rather than filling my pocket with 9 Baht.

As for the queues themselves, great for people watching or just go during the day, 5-6pm is best avoided.

[pattaya_girl]

I do my shopping at Foodland, 3 times a week for the last 7 years and i love it. The staff are efficient and very polite, never had to wait long at the checkouts... its Foodland for me every time.

[track61]

I agree that Foodland has a very well trained staff that is most helpful at all times. In addition, it is well planned and laid out in a mostly logical and efficient scheme. It also helps, I found, to go pretty early in the morning, say 6:30ish.

[bottleymike]

We could add the re-emergance of erratic supermarket trollies into the thread.

Good idea. It could be expanded upon to give an added tourist attraction, by having a wobbly wheeled trolly dash down the beach road promanade.The winner being the one who survived the distractions of the offers from the ladies of the coconut bar, and made it first through the arch of walking street.

[bkkjames]

if supermarket waiting times are your biggest issues to cry about i envy you.

My exact thought as well....

We could add the re-emergance of erratic supermarket trollies into the thread.

Soundman, have you always been a Mod?