Tesco, Bigc, Carrefour

[Mosha]

Tecos in Ranong, the potatos are 90% green. The till service is crap. The less than 10items is hardly ever manned. Mor often than not it's just 1 till open, despite a massive queue. No other major chain available.

[ExpatJ]

Gourmet Market and Villa- the rest are terrible if you are looking for quality produce or imported stuff.

[mistresserika]

Tesco's for me. We don't have a Carrefour in Samui....yet!!

[CHdiver]

Carrefour has a good selection for us Farang and acceptable Bakery. Lotus ok for Farang Stuff but there Bakery is hmmmmm very british so to speak. BigC the Management should be shot for being French and selling that fluffy shit in there Bakery, rest is very Thai in BigC, I actually never thought they could be owned by somebody else then Thais.

For me its mostly Thai local Markets for fresh products, then Friendship, Foodland and Villa for Farang Food. I am in Pattaya.

[JimShortz]

I agree with the majority who think all 3 are terrible. Personally I think Tesco Lotus should be renamed Lotus Tesco, as it has very little in common with the excellent Tesco stores back in the UK - at least it would indicate a lesser Tesco influence; as seems to be the case.

Here in Chiang Mai we have two Topps supermarkets and 3 Rimpings which all stock much better quality food, but are more expensive of course. The fact that these niche supermarket chains have been able to expand (or even continue to exist) in recent years is to me a clear sign of the failure of the big 3 supermarkets to offer a decent choice and quality...

Tesco's management out here are a joke to be honest. They occasionally try to add "farang" centred items to their product line and then pull them when they don't sell. They seem to completely miss the point that one or two lines will never sell, as the customers that would have bought them are shopping at Topps or Rimping. Unless they introduce lots of new lines at once, advertise the fact to attract the customers, and be prepared to have some stock going out of date for a while, they will never compete with the niche quality supermarkets.

And, yes... PUT SOME PEOPLE ON THE CHECKOUTS. PLEASE...

I get so frustrated seeing staff on the shop floor doing nothing, 50 checkouts available, 2 staffed, and queues of 4 or 5 trolleys... grrr.. On more than one occasion I have just left my trolley and walked out. I've also been to customer service and filled out complaints about checkout service, but think they probably get thrown in the bin. Oh well... TIT

Okay - rant over; I feel so much better now!

Nah, rant over my ar**. Other things that bug me (about Tesco specifically, but most applies to the others too):

Ridiculous merchandising - the most popular baked beans (with farangs that I know), Brooks, get a 2 can facing and are frequently out of stock (I guess they then get low sales figures and so don't need to order more...)

Meat - selection varies massively each time I visit - cannot be relied upon to have what I want

Milk - likewise, the most popular ones often out of stock

Bread - OMG; they call it bread. How come they can't make just one decent loaf. Come on, just one! I just cannot buy bread from there... (Carrefour can, but you pay for it... Rimping makes lovely breads at reasonable prices - steal their staff and recipes!)

Vegetables - poor quality, and incredibly they are frequently out of onions. This is not a farang speciality, this is used in Thai food too; it's a staple, surely - my Mom and Pop shop always has them in stock! Never get any sort of apology when I ask where the onions are - just seems normal to the staff to not have any...

Lots more things, but I'm bored now. I'm sure you are too. Sorry again...

Anyone anything to add?