Angelwitch A No No

[MisterFingers]

I assume I can talk about this since it is an entertainment venue and I am not discussing bar girls.

When I have friends in town I usually take them to angelwitch to see the show. Mamasan knows me there, she usually comes up for an uninvited chat hoping for a drink. One of my friends very clearly ordered rum and coke, the only thing he drinks. they brought a tall glass which he took a sip of. He told me there was no rum in it. i called the waitress over and she said, Oh, he wanted rum and coke and not just coke. she then rushed off, grabbing the bin, without taking the coke and brought back a rum and coke and the bin. we looked at the bin and saw two drinks, a rum and coke and a coke. I nicely told the girl that she made the mistake and to take off the coke. she said no, he drank some of it. I explained that would be the only way he would know there was no rum in it. she said sorry but he took a drink of it and cannot take off the bill. Now there we 3 waitress discussing it. Knowing mamasan I called her over to fix this. She said she cant take off the coke since he already drank some [maybe 5% of it, one sip]. I told her it was not our mistake and how are we to know there was no rum in it unless we tasted it. she said no. I told her, no problem, I will put it on the internet and let everyone else know. She shrugged and walked away. Stupid people, they have lost a lot of money since I go often and I bring friends, and now, hopefully others will know what a bad policy they have. An expensive coke for them since I wont be back........

and yes, I did post this on another forum since I feel this is a public service

Well, I'd never go back there if this happened to me.

But since it happened to you and not me, I don't really care and probably will go back there at some point.

[bkkjames]

If you don't care then why reply to the topic? When it does happen to you, will you keep it to yourself?

I for one thank the OP for exposing this kind of poor service.

[foxxx]

same old shit everyone has a bitch about, thais dont know squat about customer service.

the waitress should have taken it up direct with the manager, not left it to themselves to try and work out and the customer.

end of the day, it's either 2baht worth of postmix generic cola, or 5b of a bottle of coke. hardly worth taking the customer to point with.

[Pattaya46]

how are we to know there was no rum in it unless we tasted it.

How was he supposed to know it wasn't the drink he ordered unless he consumed the 5 piffing % of it in the first place?

Hi,

I am sorry guys but you do not need to taste/drink it to know that there is rum inside !

I had recently my Coca Cola polluted with rum

The bad rum smelling was so strong that I didn't need to taste it

I mention rum to the waitress and she changed my drink with no problem...

but it was not in this GoGo...

PS: Coke is usually served in a big glass and Coke-Rum in a lower but larger glass

PS: Coke and soft drinks are usually served with a straw...

Pattaya46

[Jingthing]

Sometimes they give you a really weak pour so then it would be harder to smell. Also, some of us have allergies and can't smell much of anything ...

Thanks to the OP for pointing out this scam. It is probably quite common.

I wonder if you sniffed your drink and you complained, they would have said can not refund, you TOUCHED the glass.

[MisterFingers]

If you don't care then why reply to the topic? I don't know

When it does happen to you, will you keep it to yourself? Probably

[nudnik]

I take pleasure nowadays in telling them to shove their bills up their <deleted>, then advising as many people as I can not to go there.

from what I am told from my male friends here, that is usually not done or requires an extra charge. Which venues provide this service?

[Jingthing]

I take pleasure nowadays in telling them to shove their bills up their <deleted>, then advising as many people as I can not to go there.

from what I am told from my male friends here, that is usually not done or requires an extra charge. Which venues provide this service?

Sounds like a new novelty show idea for Sunnee Plaza.

[cali4995]

In many places if the service girl makes a mistake, they do have to pay for it out of

their own pocket. I guess that's why they try and charge you for the 2nd drink but

I'm always left a little less than confident at their English abilites and not really sure

what they will actually return with probably better to write it down.

[surayu]

Bacardi Breezer - can't really mess that up.

yes they did with a friend of mine, i can't remember what else they gave him but they had no problem in replacing the drink, however, i don't think it got solved so quickly because of their genuine will to repair what was wrong,it was more about how this particular customer might be the last person someone wants to make upset when he start loosing it...

[lor]

AW is also on my "Avoid" List!

I have been there a few times and found it entertaining. I have even taken friends there. One day Me, My Girlfriend and another Lady Friend went to watch the show. Bought the drinks and settled down to watch. I opened a bag of peanuts and my girlfriend opened a bag of Thai sweets. I like to nibble while I drink.

Next thing we knew three members of staff, one of them male were telling us we were not allowed to consume food in the gogo! I could understand it if they sold snacks there but they did not sell food so why not let us eat our own snacks? No amount of talking would get them to change their minds. It was either put the bag of nuts away or get out. So we Got Out and I have never been back since! Once again, Thai attitude, they couldn't care less about the business they are loosing.

Now I hear AW Pattaya is up for sale. Could be because it is loosing all of it's customers because of bad management.

Luckily I know the person thinking of buying it. He assures me if he does buy it then I can eat me peanuts there!!

Chris

[bulmercke]

same old shit everyone has a bitch about, thais dont know squat about customer service.

the waitress should have taken it up direct with the manager, not left it to themselves to try and work out and the customer.

end of the day, it's either 2baht worth of postmix generic cola, or 5b of a bottle of coke. hardly worth taking the customer to point with.

This isn't goin' to happen - particularly if a bar is working ten - fifteen - or more - scams a night - on it's customers -

Edited December 25, 2008 by bulmercke

[tartempion]

AW puts on a great show!! Always packed, so I quite imagine they are getting a bit arsey, that sort of treatment will make them empty if they aren't careful.

We definitely don't have the same taste, I found AW to be one of the most boring Pattaya places. They saw me just once, no need to tamper with the bill to put me off

[gk10002000]

same old shit everyone has a bitch about, thais dont know squat about customer service.

the waitress should have taken it up direct with the manager, not left it to themselves to try and work out and the customer.

end of the day, it's either 2baht worth of postmix generic cola, or 5b of a bottle of coke. hardly worth taking the customer to point with.

Yep. I really do see more and more of stuff like this. Just bad business. I stuck my head into super Dolls for 4 seconds. I forget which one of the two Super Dolls or Super Baby it was, but one has a seating layout I like better. I looked in the wrong one, never even stepped inside and saw it was not the one I wanted. I turned around and walked the ten yards to the other one and went in. Had one beer, sat for a bit and then left that. I decided to go back into the other one anyway and headed in. One of the young kids outside got in my face and said "one drink". I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he wanted me to buy him a drink? This was during the airport shutdown and the place was dead. Then he grabbed his eyes and made what I thought was a "ppuppy dog" sad eye look. I just ignored him and headed inside. Then he blocked my way again and said "You look before. Now one drink". Oh, ok. I guess he thought I wasted their time before when I stuck my head in the door, looked for 4 seconds and then went into its sister gogo! Now, he is going to tell me what I should do! Sorry, but even if I went inside for 20 seconds, looked around and thought the sights were not that great and did not even sit down, I would not feel obligated to stay and buy a drink. If I sat for a few minutes and got a "free" look , that might be different.

Sorry. They don't sell draught beer and they charge pretty high for bottled beer, so they should be happy I even think of stepping inside. I simply smiled and went down the way.

I had a much better and more relaxed time and a cheaper time at The Sea, and then at Peppermints. In nine trips to Pattaya I had never been up to Peppermints, and for the price it was great. Lots to look at and they were rocking well past 0230. Sorry Super something, (the one on the same side as the Sea), Plenty of other places for me to wander into.

My Grandfather always said: "never give the customer a reason to go somewhere else. They may not come back." It is ok to let them look at other places and enjoy other places, but don't give them a reason to not like your place.

[Lost in LOS]

owning bars and restaurants in the states here is one of my favorite quotes to add to your grandfathers good advice

" its hard to get a customer and easy to loose one"

[JSixpack]

I found AW to be one of the most boring Pattaya places.

Me, too. And I hate that silly portentous music between shows. (Assuming they still have it--I haven't been in a year or so.)

[britmaveric]

AW- good for a look every 2-3mo, see diff show. However not sort of place you'd go in nightly now is it? (get bored real quick)

[zzdocxx]

What are these shows that you keep talking about?

Are they really that good? Please describe.

[britmaveric]

Floor Show, choreographed and bit of production value. My favourite is the Issan Coconut dance - always gives me a chuckle.

[patklang]

went in a bar at the bottom of soi diana,heading to second rd on the left.lady drink is 100 baht and lady cocktail is 150 baht.<snip>

Edited December 27, 2008 by soundman
Removed deragotory comments towards women. No more please.

[Furbie]

You think you're here long enough and go out enough and you can know you are being scammed, but the just keep getting more inventive. Something very similar thing happened to my friend in AW Pattaya almost 9 months ago. Ordered a jack coke, got a coke with no jack (same type of glass, no straw). He told the waitress and was given "another" jack coke, with some actual jack in it. The slip comes and he was charged for the first jack coke, and a double jack coke (the second one) – logic being the first was not strong enough so they made a double – though he never got to drink the first one. After much complaining, we got the first drink knocked off the bill, but still had to pay for a "double" – which did not amount to much after two waitress, me, another buddy and the mamasan sipped from it arguing over the fact it was not a double.

This was the last time I have ever stepped into AW, Pattaya or BK. Since they seem to be doing this to others, I am glad someone reported it as a scam. I prefer to go to places that have some customer management. I had a drink issue in Dollhouse BKK once, and the mamasan took care of it immediately. This is the way is should be.

[Jingthing]

That double scam is a classic. Why scam once when you can scam twice on the same drink order? Shows the level of respect at such places for those that fill the rice bowl. It is also rather clever. I bet you that most people would just pay for the 2 drinks or at least the double they didn't get or ask for. You would have to make a scene to avoid it.

Edited December 30, 2008 by Jingthing

[spiderman2]

I wish to report Gullivers in Pattaya for doing a similar thing.

I ordered what was described as a 310ml glass of Pepsi for 45BHT, i received a glass literally full to the brim of small pieces of ice and only approx 50ml of Pepsi.

Now i know why they tell backpackers not to ask for ice in LOS.

[richardb]

A similar thing happened to me in a beer bar , a month or so back.

I ordered a drink, they brought the wrong one, I didn't touch it, and they admitted their mistake, and then replaced it with the right one.

When I came to pay my bill, both drinks were on the tab. I complained, and after lot of argument they removed it.

It seems to be a regular scam - I guess they get away with it a lot, so they think it's clever.

But of course it is very short sighted. I used to be a regular customer at that bar, but have never been back since.

BTW there was a thread on AW a while back where a guy was ripped off by a girl he bought out, and when he compalined to the management, they told hiim to get lost. Doesn't sound like a very nice place.

Indeed there was Mobi.

I am surprised though that I am often told by those " in the know " that Tom Dick or Harry or whoever runs these places are top men , honest and friendly to a fault. Frankly I see little evidence of this. I have met and corresponded with a few managers of entertainment venues who seemed to know what they were doing and were doing a job working hard at their business. They are part of their communities and settled in for the long run. It appears to me that there are many other managers who back in farrang land could not organize a piss up in a brewery and are doing little better in organizing a piss up in a go go Thailand. My theory falls appart though because these fairly high end establishments with oodles of staff expenses and I guess substantial investment , if not going strong, are still paying the owners/shareholders a living. I wonder if in many businesses the fallang manager has any actual influence or use. Is he just window dressing. Is there a great turnover amongst some of thses mupets?

Richard

[richardb]

ps

I too vote with my feet at AngelWitch; taking my wallet elsewhere. I should add that sadly I recently got clobbered for an insane bill in one of my favorite little bars where I have been hanging out for ten tears or so. The rational seems to be that good old Richard always buys rounds for everyone, with no murmour, and so must do so everytime whether he consents or not. As I cant sit there anymore without a toilet role of chits appearing in my bin and as having a row defeats the purpose of having a pleasurable evening I now go elsewhere.

Richard

[P76]

I also gave Angelwitch the flick after 1 visit. I got the shits with the waitress shaking my beer every 2 mins, even after I told her I dont like it.

I aint a cheap or slow drinker and when I cop this treatment I dont return.

[loong]

I also gave Angelwitch the flick after 1 visit. I got the shits with the waitress shaking my beer every 2 mins, even after I told her I dont like it.

I aint a cheap or slow drinker and when I cop this treatment I dont return.

That's common in sooo many bars - it's because they think Farang are too stupid to know when they want another drink!

I prefer to drink from a glass and when I empty the bottle, they always ask if I want another. I point out that I have a full glass, so why would I want another bottle sitting there getting warm

[Lost in LOS]

I also gave Angelwitch the flick after 1 visit. I got the shits with the waitress shaking my beer every 2 mins, even after I told her I dont like it.

I aint a cheap or slow drinker and when I cop this treatment I dont return.

That's common in sooo many bars - it's because they think Farang are too stupid to know when they want another drink!

I prefer to drink from a glass and when I empty the bottle, they always ask if I want another. I point out that I have a full glass, so why would I want another bottle sitting there getting warm

I hate when they grab the bottle. they always grab them at the top, and they grab everybody's, to make sure to spread the germs throughout. they used to do it when i used to go to coyotees constantly. I complained to the mamsan many times and she would never stop it, I then brought her a drink as an apology, when it came i stuck my finger in it and said same same, that was the last time anyone there checked my drink. dont like to be aggressive but there was no other way to stop it. She didnt drink it, by the way

[lor]

I also hate the "Check the bottle" routine. Especially when they take it out of the condom to look how much is left! But recently I have been visiting many "Thai" bars. Most times I am the only farang there! Every one seems to drink Whisky/Rum and a mixer in a glass. The Thai Girls are very attentive and seem to have an ambition in life never to allow a glass to be less than 2/3 full!

They run around the bar filling up the glass after you take only a couple of sips. This is done to every one in the bar, as I said all Thai men!

So maybe the drink checking thing is just what they think they are supposed to do to take care of the customer, and maybe they get confused when Farangs complain about what they believe, is taking good care of you.

Some one once said that you should never put down to spite, what you can put down to stupidity. So maybe it's best to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Chris

[Lucifer]

Another trick used in some parts of Europe, and, perhaps isn't used in Thailand is: the waiter has a bowl of rum under the counter. When a customer asks for a rum and coke, the waiter dips the glass edge into the bowl and simple pours coke into the glass. The customer tastes the rum, from the rim, and assumes he's drinking rum and coke.