The "golden" Moment They Lost Your Business

[Jingthing]

When the bill comes I point out that on the menu it says FRESH JUICES. They acknowledge I didn't get a fresh juice (as I am staring at a FRESH whole pineapple sitting in the fruit area) and they say it WOULD HAVE BEEN fresh if I had ordered a smoothie. No apologetic attitude.

<deleted>

these thai people make me laugh sometimes.

actually they are naturals at making bulls**t excuses like that

As some background, I had the same juice there once before, and it was fresh before, and the menu clearly stated in very large type FRESH JUICE, so there was no reasonable reason to ask them if I was going to get fresh juice. Bottom line, it was the "we don't care" bad attitude that did the goodbye trick for me.

Edited February 19, 2009 by Jingthing

[Miserere]

I went to an outside restaurant in Pattaya and had a big meal there sitting out in the sun.

Lots of delicious food and really enjoyed it, then as I was about to leave a fly landed on my plate.

LAST TIME THERE!!!!!

[Gaccha]

A couple of days ago in a Thai restaurant in Central i was charged 5 baht ++ for ice in my water, I never knew there was a charge and they pointed it out in the menu (I never looked at the drinks page as I knew i would have water). I said I wouldn't pay it and the manager said he would have to pay it if I didn't, I said thanks for his offer and I let him pay it

I know its only 5 baht ++ but come on, it's ice <deleted>, the one and only time in 3 years I have seen a charge for ice in a restuarant

I can beat this!! In Central as well, I was charged 50 bahts for not having ice in my Cola...

[BigSnake]

For me I found hair(human hair) in my Cow pot, point it out to staff, offer another plate, free of charge, thanks but no thanks. On another occassion the wife and I were dining at a so call good up to do restaurant when her food was server ants were on the side and under the plate, call the waiter she took the plate to the kitchen brush off the ants and return the plate, we made our exit at that point.

Edited February 19, 2009 by BigSnake

[redscouse]

A couple of days ago in a Thai restaurant in Central i was charged 5 baht ++ for ice in my water, I never knew there was a charge and they pointed it out in the menu (I never looked at the drinks page as I knew i would have water). I said I wouldn't pay it and the manager said he would have to pay it if I didn't, I said thanks for his offer and I let him pay it

I know its only 5 baht ++ but come on, it's ice <deleted>, the one and only time in 3 years I have seen a charge for ice in a restuarant

I can beat this!! In Central as well, I was charged 50 bahts for not having ice in my Cola...

if its not bottled or a can this means they have to give more cola to fill the glass

50 baht for no ice

[Jingthing]

I went to an outside restaurant in Pattaya and had a big meal there sitting out in the sun.

Lots of delicious food and really enjoyed it, then as I was about to leave a fly landed on my plate.

LAST TIME THERE!!!!!

Grade C sarcasm. Well done!

BTW, please name the place. Sounds really good!

Edited February 19, 2009 by Jingthing

[girlx]

there is a lot of bad service in bangkok, i've noticed of late! i normally shrug it off, and just don't return.

but the things that irritate me the most are the "followers". i know they think they are giving good service but i can't stand it. paragon gourmet market's wine cellar is one example. i had a funny little trip in there the other day. as soon as i walk in i can see a girl making a beeline for me, to stand an inch away from my face making suggestions and not allowing me to take my time and look. so i started walking really fast and made it to the other side of the room with several shelves between us. the girl actually ran around the shelves to be next to me, so i ran around to the opposite side again. she ran around again and was there next to me in a matter of seconds. i repeated the circle a couple more times until it became ridiculous. finally i said "please stop following me!" so she stepped back a foot or two, but then every time i would pick up a wine bottle she would say "miss- what you want?" and give me suggestions of other things which i was not interested in. i said "i want to look without you hanging over my shoulder please". it made no difference. i finally just grabbed something and got out of there. i will still of course go back but they just don't get that farangs like to take their time and browse, alone! rrrrg!

the other thing i hate is when you ask a question in a shop and you get an immediate "no have" or just a slack jawed shrug. 9 times out of 10 you end up searching for the item yourself while the clerk flounces back to her soap operas and you find it on some back shelf.

i think bad service is becoming a matter of course in bangkok. but there are some places with amazing service and i always make sure to leave them a big tip.

[Scalawag]

Went into a Thai restaurant where the TV was blaring as in common. We were the only customers. Asked the manager to please turn down the tv so that my wife and I could hear each other talk. That was done but the Mgr. gave me one of the worst looks I've ever had.........Won't go back.............

[shochu]

i regularly go to a vietnamese rest. and pretty much always order the same thing. however , most of the time, the checkbin is different - varies no more than 10 baht. at first i thought - what the @#$%! but since the food is good, always packed and reasonably priced - i never complain. i just make sure i get a good look a the bill so i never underpay and leave a small tip.

another place i always go to because they have this sweet,spicy crunchy fish i love - one time there was a baby cockroach mixed in my food. i pushed it to the edge of the plate and finished eating. WHY - because i have come to the conclusion, there r not many good places to eat anywhere (pick any city) and when i find a place with good food, i add it to my routine and i make do. most of the time it is a small thing every once in a while if at all.

i know some people will have a sissy fit BUT let me explain about bugs in the food. most food products have an acceptable amount of bug and other matter in them and since i used to do a lot of outdoor stuff, sucking in a bug is not such a big deal. and have u guys ever seen how food is processed and made in some places?

and whenever i have some doubt - as with the cockroach thingy - i just eat sprinkle a couple of little chillis on the food and never have any problems

of course there r many places that never get the pass

but if i find a good place - and i don't get sick - it's otay!!

[Yaaklenmai]

Went, with my Thai G/F to a rooftop bar in the hotel where I have lived for the past two years. (before anyone asks my rate makes it a very sensible choice - 3* UK hotel for 400 Baht).

There were 5 staff and we were the only customers.

Ordered a jug of beer and a Bacardi Breezer.

The beer arrived after (about) 15 minutes but 15 minutes later the BB had still not arrived, so I decided we should leave (I refused to drink until both drinks arrived, so had not touched a drop!

Walked back over to the main hotel and was pursued by an angry member of staff insisting that I should pay!

Involved the duty manager and the matter was resolved (I paid nothing) but will never go there again!

[Yaaklenmai]

Mid to low end Thai food place catering to farang tourists mostly. I arrive near their closing time. There are no other customers. I am very hungry. I order TWO dishes of Thai food plus rice. The first dish comes ... I eat it. As is common with Thai food, I figure the second dish is being cooked and will come when it is ready. I finish the first dish. I look over. The entire staff is socializing and drinking by the kitchen. They are fixing to close. They never got the order for the second dish. It was a bad waiter. Now if the place was exceptionally good, I would forgive one time a bad waiter. But they weren't that good in the first place so it didn't take much to kiss 'em bpai bpai. LAST TIME THERE!!!!!

you're an ungrateful, selfish whanker!

you should have thank them that they at least gave you one dish, you obviously have no idea how much extra work you gave to the kitchen as they most likely already cleaned the kitchen!

get over yourself and smile some more ... it's for free!

That reply has to be an attempted wind up!

[sunreader]

I went to an Italian bistro on the seafront in Pattaya, it was a beautiful evening and I initially enjoyed a bottle of Chianti wine, wonderful.

I ordered a spaghetti bolognaise and some garlic bread.

The bread was delicious and the meat so well cooked, but what spoiled my meal was the spaghetti instead of being long straight and crispy was all soft as if it had been left in hot water!

Disgusting.

LAST TIME THERE!!!!

[MyphuketLife]

Mid to low end Thai food place catering to farang tourists mostly. I arrive near their closing time. There are no other customers. I am very hungry. I order TWO dishes of Thai food plus rice. The first dish comes ... I eat it. As is common with Thai food, I figure the second dish is being cooked and will come when it is ready. I finish the first dish. I look over. The entire staff is socializing and drinking by the kitchen. They are fixing to close. They never got the order for the second dish. It was a bad waiter. Now if the place was exceptionally good, I would forgive one time a bad waiter. But they weren't that good in the first place so it didn't take much to kiss 'em bpai bpai. LAST TIME THERE!!!!!

you're an ungrateful, selfish whanker!

you should have thank them that they at least gave you one dish, you obviously have no idea how much extra work you gave to the kitchen as they most likely already cleaned the kitchen!

get over yourself and smile some more ... it's for free!

What thai restuarant do you know that has .... a "clean" kitchen.......... please

Also if they are open for business they should not have done the nightly cleaning yet.... That should be done (if ever here) after the doors close...

Edited February 19, 2009 by MyphuketLife

[basjke]

Here is something that gets me, though I sometimes still come back..

Take the Villa Market restaurant ...they have a "grandma's turkey" with a picture on the

wall showing turkey and COOKED VEGETABLES like brocolli..

When you get it you will get the Turkey but only a small salad with dressing on the side...

In the west we would call that misleading advertising...

Then how you call the pictures at Mcdonalds or burgerking.

[dumball]

Mid to low end Thai food place catering to farang tourists mostly. I arrive near their closing time. There are no other customers. I am very hungry. I order TWO dishes of Thai food plus rice. The first dish comes ... I eat it. As is common with Thai food, I figure the second dish is being cooked and will come when it is ready. I finish the first dish. I look over. The entire staff is socializing and drinking by the kitchen. They are fixing to close. They never got the order for the second dish. It was a bad waiter. Now if the place was exceptionally good, I would forgive one time a bad waiter. But they weren't that good in the first place so it didn't take much to kiss 'em bpai bpai. LAST TIME THERE!!!!!

you're an ungrateful, selfish whanker!

you should have thank them that they at least gave you one dish, you obviously have no idea how much extra work you gave to the kitchen as they most likely already cleaned the kitchen!

get over yourself and smile some more ... it's for free!

This comment is some of the reason poor buisinesses stay in buisiness , better to say "Sorry sir we are closing " than do a half-ass job . It is not the clients option to be concerned how restaraunts operate other than the quality of food and service , a doubtfull 'Duo' in many establishments .

[BugJackBaron]

OK I'm going to mention Villa-in Market again

This time in the Bangkok location nearest to Nana Plaza..

I was there a couple of months ago checking it out, dressed

in typical tourist threads. There were almost no farang - or anyone - there.

But to top it off, as I was browsing the various ailes and came around a corner

I saw a security(in plain clothes) hastily retreat. He had obvioussly and amateurishly

been following me for no good reason..

And they didn't even have Grape Nuts!

LAST TIME THERE

Edited February 19, 2009 by BugJackBaron

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

There used to be a place near On Nut that had this "79 Baht Buffet" kind of thing where you can eat as much as you can and pay 79 Baht. I been to many such places and always happy, so when this one opened me and my BF went there.

We ordered the regular 79 Baht buffet, Pepsi for me and water for him.

And in the end the bill came to slightly over 300 Baht, <deleted>..??

They charged extra for:

- ice

- the bucket for the ice (!!)

- the stove to keep the soup warm (which we didn't order but assumed it was part of the menu)

- the chopsticks (!!!) and

- the car park, or rather the boy with the stupid whistle who "directed" me to an imaginative "dedicated spot" in the huge, empty, yard.

Then they added 10% "service charge" (what service at a buffet?? We got everything ourselves, except for the Pepsi and water bottles!) and 7% tax on top of the whole bill.

LAST TIME THERE.

The place has since shut down.

Best regards......

Thanh

[NaiGreg]

They charged extra for:

- ice

- the bucket for the ice (!!)

- the stove to keep the soup warm (which we didn't order but assumed it was part of the menu)

- the chopsticks (!!!) and

- the car park, or rather the boy with the stupid whistle who "directed" me to an imaginative "dedicated spot" in the huge, empty, yard.

Then they added 10% "service charge" (what service at a buffet?? We got everything ourselves, except for the Pepsi and water bottles!) and 7% tax on top of the whole bill.

I think we have a winner!

[dave9988]

when i go to sunrise tacos i always go "Huh???" when I get the bill cause they tack on other charges (VAT, SERVICE, ETC) it does not stop me from eating there and at other places but i would rather they just put that stuff into the initial price because it always makes you feel like you were deceived.

[Jingthing]

I would like to add a case of a restaurant I am sticking with. I like their food and their prices but more often than I like, they mess up the order. For example, make it spicy, and not spicy. Here is the BIG difference. When I talk to the owner about the problem, three times now he has immediately offered to completely redo the order! This is so incredibly unusual in Thailand that I have been truly moved by the gesture and declined the offers. Now I know if an order comes that is completely unacceptable the offer will be made again, and I will accept it. Just an example of a restaurant that is not perfect (no such thing) but that CARES about their customers satisfaction and CARES that the customers are happy enough to come back. For me anyway, that makes a huge difference.

Edited February 19, 2009 by Jingthing

[yabaaaa]

Most of the time all I want is a decent apology just to change the whole tone of the converstaion. If i see someone apologise to me I am much more amenable and willing to forget it and likely to go back.

[Lost in LOS]

Here is something that gets me, though I sometimes still come back..

Take the Villa Market restaurant ...they have a "grandma's turkey" with a picture on the

wall showing turkey and COOKED VEGETABLES like brocolli..

When you get it you will get the Turkey but only a small salad with dressing on the side...

In the west we would call that misleading advertising...

Come on dude (although i'm not a big fan on Villa since they forgot my turkey one year), if you believed you were getting everything in every advertisement picture you'd be pretty disappointed all the time.

Unless the sign actually said "Comes with cooked vegetables" then assume that you are only getting the product specifically named in the advertisement.

I'm still wondering why my car didn't come with a hot babe inside.

mine did, i would complain if i were you.........

[Lost in LOS]

I used to go to the open bar at the walking street end of soi happy with a friend who always ordered coffee, I had something else. they have an espresso machine to make it and its ok. no problems until the time we both order coffee. mine comes out good with the nice yellow cream that comes out when it is brewed right and his is like dishwater. they put the check in the cup on the table. we call over the waitress and I explain to her that instead of disposing of the coffee from the first cup someone used it a second time and the coffee was really bad. she said she will make a new one. it was delivered by the thai man owner with a bill in his hand, oh oh, i see it coming. said pay now and they had charged for 3 cups [waitress even took the second one back before]. this coffee looked fine but we told him we didnt drink the other cup, they took it back because it was bad and this was the replacement. he insisted we pay. we paid and he now misses his 3x weekly guests including many of my friends that used to go there. That was a year ago so that was an expensive sham he pulled.

[p_brownstone]

Whenever I hear people complain about bad Service in Thai restaurants I am reminded of a (true) incident when I lived in Nigeria several years ago.

There was a Fast Food type place in downtown Lagos; one lunchtime, as usual, the place filled up with local office workers on break – everyone sat down waiting for the waiters to attend to them. None of the Customers knew that there was a labour dispute in progress between the serving staff and the manager ……….. the staff were on strike.

So horrendous was the usual "service" that the customers sat at their tables for over 20 minutes – un-served – before they realised something was wrong.

Patrick

[Jingthing]

That was a year ago so that was an expensive sham he pulled.

This kind of short sighted behavior is sadly common here. One time rip off and lose customers for life. even recognized regulars.

Edited February 20, 2009 by Jingthing

[actiondell4]

Well.....I can name a few,first big disapointment was a fish and chip restaurant I used to frequent nearly everyday on the main road in Jomtiem.

They had employed a very pushy waitress who insisted on telling me her financial problems whilst i was ordering and told me she expected a tip at the end of my meal .

When the checkbin arrived she loudly begged me for a tip and i looked over to see the farang owner from the kitchen stare at me to see how much tip i was going to give her so i only gave her 20 bbaht,only to see him shake his head and walk off.

Here was a business i had gone to everyday for lunch and dinner,LAST TIME !!!!!!!

Another was a now defunct small hotel/guesthouse on the way to jomtiem,it was july 2005 if i remember and i dont know what made me pick this place,but it was 600 baht a night run by a thai lady and her farang european husband.

He seemed very nice and i paid for 3 nights planning to go to Chiang Mai for 3 nights and come back to stay in jomtiem when i get back.

Anyway its 11pm at night when i arrived so went up to have a long awaited shower and no soap,the nearest convenience store was a baht bus ride away so i went down and asked and he the farang owner gave me a bar of soap.

I was quite happy with the place so the day before leaving to go to chiang mai i paid for

a extra week and gave the thai lady cash,i was the only customer they had.,and they booked me a cab to take me to bangkok airport and one to pick me up in a few days to return me to them.

so i partied in pattaya and unfortanetely woke up at 1230pm, the taxi was booked for 11am,so i rushed downstairs to find the taxi not there plus the nasty thai lady telling me that i must pay a extra night because checkout was 12pm.

she then told me the taxi had arrived and left,she told me "this not her job to knock on my door"".

I had already paid a extra week for when i get back from chiang mai so i told her i wanted to cancel that.

She wanted to argue until her nice husband asked her in front of me not to be so spiteful.

He apologised and she then said she would not charge me a extra night but i wanted a refund.

I thought it was nasty of her to try to charge me a extra night because i was 30 mins late ,she missed out on a further 4 nights of my business.

Additionaly she charged me a extra 50 baht for soap plus kept the taxi money.

[toptuan]

When I treat a guest to a meal, it's usually my purpose to converse with them during the meal. Duh. I never go back to a restaurant that plays the music or TV so loud you can't hear the other person talking. You feel so stupid just sitting there silently eating when conversation is impossible, or trying to shout over the noise until you're hoarse.

(Interestingly, Nakon Chai Air buses always turn on the video really loud about the last 30 minutes of a trip--presumably to wake up the passengers--but it makes it impossible to receive or make any phone calls which usually come in abundance near the end of a trip for ongoing transportation or pick-up. Very customer-unfriendly. I think it goes along with the whole "noise" thing in Thailand--which is definitely not most westerners' cup of tea!).

[Lost in LOS]

I will go back but a funny story

yesterday i went to chilies restaurant on pattaya thai, I love their pad thai gai, about 12:30 for lunch. suprisingly, i was the only one there and sat on the patio. the waiter came up, handed me a menu and asked if i wanted to order a drink while i read the menu. i told him i will order everything at once as i know what i wanted. he said i should order a drink first till kitchen opens. i said when does the kitchen open, and he said he didnt know. i asked why not and he said there was no power on pattaya tai and he didnt know when there would be. I smiled and left.

I will go back but strange the thought process as they would have let me order the drink, drink it, then tell me there is not food then want me to pay for the drink.

TIT

[sgunn65]

When I set up my business here I got in touch with a tour company to take our clients out on a sunday excursion. I asked for a private van and guide once a week. They quoted me 3,500 baht.

I thought this reasonable so I said to the owner I will book you for a year and will pay you once a month and if we dont need you one wekk we will pay you anyway. So they were guaranteed 52 weeks work whether they worked or not.

I asked what the price would be thinking that I would get a block booking discount.

They phoned me back the next day to give me the price.

5,000 baht per trip!!!!!! Go figure.

[mangostays]

I never eat at restaurants attached to bungalow resorts on the beach. The food is always rubbish and the service crap.

Golden moment when I blacklist a restaurant is when I suspect I've been overcharged (farang price) or I get an ounce of attitude off any of the staff.

Note, I am an easy client. I eat almost anything and accept that sometimes a place just get's it wrong. Dishonesty, anti-foreign sentiment; whatever - they can stick it up there arse.

Bad service happens all over the place, however it is aggravated in Thailand because:

1. Many business owners see the farang as simply somebody who passes through and thus no serious comback on rip offs is likely.

2. Many business owners think that they will automatically win any legal dispute with a foreigner on account of being Thai.

3. Many business owners have no concept of the 'ongoing business model'.

4. Many business owners think foreigners are stupid and know nothing about Thai food.

They don't really give a toss what we think at the end of the day.