Tv Promotion At Big C Chiang Mai

[KevinHunt]

My small 21" TV, that I only really use as a monitor, has been on the blink for a week or so. Sometimes, when you switch it on, it is stuck in stand-by mode. The remote won't open it, even though I know that it is okay because it works on another TV, and manually changing the channel will work but only with some secret combination that I couldn't figure out. Banging it on either side or thumping it on the top was similarly useless. I finally got tired of it, and decided that I would buy a new one - they're only about 3000 baht. I could maybe get the old one fixed and give it to the kids for their bedroom. So off I went to Big C to check what they have. 

They had loads of different models, all much of a muchness, and all similarly priced at about 3000 baht. Then I saw a quite nice 21" Sony on the promotion table. It was reduced from 3990B to something like 2414B. "That'll do", I thought. Then I began to wonder, "why is it so cheap?" - last one in stock?, display model?, no remote? (that doesn't matter) something trivial, I suppose. I called one of the 90 or so young assistants that hang around that section, and told him I was interested in the Sony, and asked it him, out of curiosity, why it was so cheap. Guess why? Because it is broken. He plugged in but when he pressed the power button - nothing!! No sign of life at all. No indication as to how broken it might be. That was why it was so cheap. I told him that I had a broken TV already, and that was why I wanted to buy a new one. He explained that although this one was broken, I could always get it fixed!!!

No sign of sarcasm, or piss-taking - he was serious.

You've got to laugh!!!

Edited October 6, 2009 by KevinHunt

[gotlost]

You have to love Thai logic at times!

[amexpat]

That tops my experience with Carrefour. They had the speakers I wanted but the demo was the only pair left.

Slight blemishes, no box, no warranty, no remote, no discount.

[jasreeve17]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

[KevinHunt]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

At least it came with a warranty, maybe? Guaranteed not to work for one year. They also have a ten day return policy, so if it started to work within that period, you could have taken it back.

[jasreeve17]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

At least it came with a warranty, maybe? Guaranteed not to work for one year. They also have a ten day return policy, so if it started to work within that period, you could have taken it back.

Makro have a no returns policy...

... but, I asked them if they could change it; they said no, then they gave me my money back before I could ask them to. They were nice about it. Bet the cashier still tells her mates how stupid foreigners are.

[KevinHunt]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

At least it came with a warranty, maybe? Guaranteed not to work for one year. They also have a ten day return policy, so if it started to work within that period, you could have taken it back.

Makro have a no returns policy...

... but, I asked them if they could change it; they said no, then they gave me my money back before I could ask them to. They were nice about it. Bet the cashier still tells her mates how stupid foreigners are.

Makro has a returns policy - ten days, I believe. Maybe they didn't have one in stock. Generally, their system is to refund your money, then it's up to you to re-purchase the same item or not. Big C and Tesco do the same, I think.

Edited October 6, 2009 by KevinHunt

[sassienie]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

At least it came with a warranty, maybe? Guaranteed not to work for one year. They also have a ten day return policy, so if it started to work within that period, you could have taken it back.

Makro have a no returns policy...

... but, I asked them if they could change it; they said no, then they gave me my money back before I could ask them to. They were nice about it. Bet the cashier still tells her mates how stupid foreigners are.

Makro has a returns policy - ten days, I believe. Maybe they didn't have one in stock. Generally, their system is to refund your money, then it's up to you to re-purchase the same item or not. Big C and Tesco do the same, I think.

Makro does have a 10 day return policy.

A year ago I purchased a pond pump that burnt out after a few days. Took it back to Makros on the 11th day. The lady informed me that they could only change it within 10 days, but because of my good looks and charm, she took pity on me and refunded my money.

[KevinHunt]

Makro does have a 10 day return policy.

A year ago I purchased a pond pump that burnt out after a few days. Took it back to Makros on the 11th day. The lady informed me that they could only change it within 10 days, but because of my good looks and charm, she took pity on me and refunded my money.

Lucky you. Blind and daft!!

[H2oDunc]

You have to love Thai logic at times!

Its not just the Thai;s though! There is a farang in the Pataya section of Thai Visa trying to sell a broken TV for 2000 baht

The other day I bought a re chargable torch when I got it home and took it out of the box it was broken and the charger rattled like a babies toy when you shook it.I took it back to Tesco and after 10 minutes of various Thais coming to look at it they finally gave me a new one. 4 days later I had a look at the torches and guess what. The one I took back was again sat on the shelf.

It pays to check everything is in the box as well whenever you buy something. A friend bought an all in one scanner / printer only to find when he got home they had nicked the ink out of it

Oh the joys of living in paradise

[womblejamie]

This nothing I went to Carrefour in Hang dong for a French stick looked in the rack and there were none there, all that was there was the wrappers with the price. To my right I could see a whole basket load and asked the girl if I could have one of them and she just replied NO! So I thought stuff you and when her back was turned got one out of the basket put it in the wrapper and paid for it. Got home and it was one of the plastic display French sticks, not very edible.

STUPID FARANG!!!

[rohitsuk]

My small 21" TV, that I only really use as a monitor, has been on the blink for a week or so. Sometimes, when you switch it on, it is stuck in stand-by mode. The remote won't open it, even though I know that it is okay because it works on another TV, and manually changing the channel will work but only with some secret combination that I couldn't figure out. Banging it on either side or thumping it on the top was similarly useless. I finally got tired of it, and decided that I would buy a new one - they're only about 3000 baht. I could maybe get the old one fixed and give it to the kids for their bedroom. So off I went to Big C to check what they have. 

They had loads of different models, all much of a muchness, and all similarly priced at about 3000 baht. Then I saw a quite nice 21" Sony on the promotion table. It was reduced from 3990B to something like 2414B. "That'll do", I thought. Then I began to wonder, "why is it so cheap?" - last one in stock?, display model?, no remote? (that doesn't matter) something trivial, I suppose. I called one of the 90 or so young assistants that hang around that section, and told him I was interested in the Sony, and asked it him, out of curiosity, why it was so cheap. Guess why? Because it is broken. He plugged in but when he pressed the power button - nothing!! No sign of life at all. No indication as to how broken it might be. That was why it was so cheap. I told him that I had a broken TV already, and that was why I wanted to buy a new one. He explained that although this one was broken, I could always get it fixed!!!

No sign of sarcasm, or piss-taking - he was serious.

You've got to laugh!!!

Yes, indeed.  The Thai definition of a special offer: TWO for the price of TWO or better yet, TWO for the price of THREE !

[KevinHunt]

My small 21" TV, that I only really use as a monitor, has been on the blink for a week or so. Sometimes, when you switch it on, it is stuck in stand-by mode. The remote won't open it, even though I know that it is okay because it works on another TV, and manually changing the channel will work but only with some secret combination that I couldn't figure out. Banging it on either side or thumping it on the top was similarly useless. I finally got tired of it, and decided that I would buy a new one - they're only about 3000 baht. I could maybe get the old one fixed and give it to the kids for their bedroom. So off I went to Big C to check what they have. 

They had loads of different models, all much of a muchness, and all similarly priced at about 3000 baht. Then I saw a quite nice 21" Sony on the promotion table. It was reduced from 3990B to something like 2414B. "That'll do", I thought. Then I began to wonder, "why is it so cheap?" - last one in stock?, display model?, no remote? (that doesn't matter) something trivial, I suppose. I called one of the 90 or so young assistants that hang around that section, and told him I was interested in the Sony, and asked it him, out of curiosity, why it was so cheap. Guess why? Because it is broken. He plugged in but when he pressed the power button - nothing!! No sign of life at all. No indication as to how broken it might be. That was why it was so cheap. I told him that I had a broken TV already, and that was why I wanted to buy a new one. He explained that although this one was broken, I could always get it fixed!!!

No sign of sarcasm, or piss-taking - he was serious.

You've got to laugh!!!

Yes, indeed.  The Thai definition of a special offer: TWO for the price of TWO or better yet, TWO for the price of THREE !

Just to clarify, I was referring to an individual, not all Thais.

Edited October 7, 2009 by KevinHunt

[surangw]

I bought a sandwich toaster from Makro - last one on the shelf, had some Thai writing scrawled on top, but I was in a hurry and didn't worry. The cashier smiled as she took my money. (I know, you've guessed already)

When I got home the missus read the scrawl: 'Broken. This item doesn't work.' They charged me full price too.

At least it came with a warranty, maybe? Guaranteed not to work for one year. They also have a ten day return policy, so if it started to work within that period, you could have taken it back.

now thats really funny stuff thanks, made my day

[safe66]

I bought a pizza yesterday took twice as long to cook ....they forgot to put cheese on it

[Donnyboy]

This nothing I went to Carrefour in Hang dong for a French stick looked in the rack and there were none there, all that was there was the wrappers with the price. To my right I could see a whole basket load and asked the girl if I could have one of them and she just replied NO! So I thought stuff you and when her back was turned got one out of the basket put it in the wrapper and paid for it. Got home and it was one of the plastic display French sticks, not very edible.

STUPID FARANG!!!

[KevinHunt]

This nothing I went to Carrefour in Hang dong for a French stick looked in the rack and there were none there, all that was there was the wrappers with the price. To my right I could see a whole basket load and asked the girl if I could have one of them and she just replied NO! So I thought stuff you and when her back was turned got one out of the basket put it in the wrapper and paid for it. Got home and it was one of the plastic display French sticks, not very edible.

STUPID FARANG!!!

Did you take it back?

A few years ago, I bought a fake watch in the night bazaar. When I got home I checked it out and realised something wasn't quite right. I showed it to a friend and he confirmed my suspiscions - it wasn't a fake, it was an original!! I went straight back to the stall I bought it from and told him if he didn't exchange it I would call the tourist police. He must have known I meant business because he gave me a funny look and changed it straight away. I'm not stupid.

[bluweyze]

Every time I have bought something electrical in Thailand, Big C, Carrefour or Makro they have unpackaged it, made sure it worked and demonstrated it to me. Criticize Thai retailing if you must but that is better service than I would have got back home.

[ovenman]

Every time I have bought something electrical in Thailand, Big C, Carrefour or Makro they have unpackaged it, made sure it worked and demonstrated it to me. Criticize Thai retailing if you must but that is better service than I would have got back home.

That depends on how you view better service. My experience "back home" is that should I buy an electrical product that turns out to be defective, I can take it back to the store for an exchange with no hassles whatsoever. The only reason why the staff demonstrates that a product works in a Thai store is because you have no such recourse should said product turn out to be defective. Thai retailers generally won't stand behind what they sell. You bought it, you own it.

[ChouDoufu]

Bought a DVD player at C4 last week. Was in a hurry so didn't have them open the box and test first.

Once home, found the remote was defective. Half the buttons worked.

Returned to C4 yesterday with no problems whatsoever. No explanation needed.

The only question they asked was "exchange or refund."

Replacement DVD player opened and tested. In and out in about 10 minutes.

[Donnyboy]

i think if you bought well known brands and from a large retailer, i would expect that you would get warrantee of some sort. When we bought TVs, Fridge, computer etc they had 12 months on them.

Not sure on small electrical appliances thou ie fans, toasters

[bluweyze]

Every time I have bought something electrical in Thailand, Big C, Carrefour or Makro they have unpackaged it, made sure it worked and demonstrated it to me. Criticize Thai retailing if you must but that is better service than I would have got back home.

That depends on how you view better service. My experience "back home" is that should I buy an electrical product that turns out to be defective, I can take it back to the store for an exchange with no hassles whatsoever. The only reason why the staff demonstrates that a product works in a Thai store is because you have no such recourse should said product turn out to be defective. Thai retailers generally won't stand behind what they sell. You bought it, you own it.

I have had no difficulty at all taking anything back and either getting a refund or repair, global even took back a water heater more than one year old without the receipt and had it repaired under a 5 year warranty telling me they remembered that I bought it there. If I bought Chinese cheap products I would not expect any warranty but with branded goods everybody has been fine. I don't know about others experiences but mine have been fine

[slapout]

I happened to see some flashlights/tourch for sale by a street vendor one day and figured one would be nice to carry in vehicle. As 7-11 was right there I bought batteries to put in, sure enough no workie, tried the others (only had 3). Little fellow was quite polite as he refunded the money but I noticed he kept them on the rack as he continued on his rounds. That may be why they seldom sell batteries in places where they sell battery powered devices.

[KevinHunt]

Every time I have bought something electrical in Thailand, Big C, Carrefour or Makro they have unpackaged it, made sure it worked and demonstrated it to me. Criticize Thai retailing if you must but that is better service than I would have got back home.

That depends on how you view better service. My experience "back home" is that should I buy an electrical product that turns out to be defective, I can take it back to the store for an exchange with no hassles whatsoever. The only reason why the staff demonstrates that a product works in a Thai store is because you have no such recourse should said product turn out to be defective. Thai retailers generally won't stand behind what they sell. You bought it, you own it.

Rubbish. Tesco, Big C , Carrefour, Makro all replace or refund anything defective within 10 days of purchase. 

[Sansai Sam]

I bought a car buffer at Carrefour. It didn't work at all so I took it back. They gave me another one and it didn't work either. I got suspicious so I went to the shelf and marked the remaining three units. I kept returning them as none of them worked and they kept putting them back on the shelf for resale. I finally asked for my money back.

[KevinHunt]

I bought a car buffer at Carrefour. It didn't work at all so I took it back. They gave me another one and it didn't work either. I got suspicious so I went to the shelf and marked the remaining three units. I kept returning them as none of them worked and they kept putting them back on the shelf for resale. I finally asked for my money back.

You're obviously a slow learner, but you got there in the end, that's the main thing.

[Donnyboy]

KH, so did you manage to buy yourself a TV that works?

[KevinHunt]

KH, so did you manage to buy yourself a TV that works?

Yes I did. I was going to get the old one fixed but now that I've seen you're video...... I need to start a 'Where can I buy a baseball bat' post. That look like fun.

[daisychains]

Siam tv have some great offers on sometimes.

[wolf5370]

KH, so did you manage to buy yourself a TV that works?

Crikey what an idiot - poor kid in the background!

I bought a Sat Nav from Lotus Tesco and as always the box was opened (seal broken). Mrs asks why, and they say so they can check the contents. We asked for a sealed box and every one was opened (about a dozen of them!). Anyway, got home and there was no charging cable. We took it back and the guy said - "I think you have to buy that separately". Lying B*rd, we point out the contents leaflet - and included the charger (of course!). He had to go through half the boxes until he found one, I wouldn't let him swap them, as odds on something different would be missing from that one too, so just took the charger. Took about ten minutes to convince the guy that its pretty useless without power as its rechargeable and has no place for batteries. Mrs was less than complimentary of his intelligence!