Warning: ***** Electronics

[neverdie]

Now go back to your chang.

He would probably be better with two bottles of chang, one in each hand, as opposed to where one of thems presently placed

[mrtoad]

Now go back to your chang.

He would probably be better with two bottles of chang, one in each hand, as opposed to where one of thems presently placed

I actually thought his head was placed there at the moment, so that could be a bit problematic.

[givenall]

Contact Samsung

That might be a good idea,however they will probably do the same as when the policeman came on the spot and remove the labels within a second.Other thing I consider is that someone with samsung might be involved as they have several tv's from the same type number and they could even order them.So they must have a good source.

Just like you a smart shopper will do the homework before purchasing especially expensive items like these. But if not then they have to blame themselves since no one including the manufacturer and the police really cares about this store practices

[Mobi]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion on this subject, but take it from me that farangs ranting and raving in Thai stores is going to get them nowhere, which proved to be the case for the OP. It can only get them into trouble.

The Thais will just laugh at you. They couldn't give a fig how much you scream and lose your cool - you are simply demonstrating your bad, western behavioral tendencies.

This isn't a civilized, law abiding society - especially in Pattaya, it is more like Deadwood

But If someone feels public spirited, then by all means bring it to our attention in these forums, nothing wrong with that.

Personally I know Amorn in Pattaya very well, and it is the last place I would go to buy a TV. It is clearly a place to be very wary in.

Pattaya is blessed with literally dozens of major stores which specialise in electrical products, and most have a very wide range of good deals available at the moment, partly due to the recession and also due to the glut of new HD models in the market which makes the older stuff very cheap.

Amorn is great for small things, cheap Chinese imports etc. I bought a large, very powerful blower to clean my PC with the other day for 500 Baht. Works a treat - a bargain. I also bought a neat little desk lamp for 150 Baht. But TV's? No way.

Homeworks has a much better range at very competitive prices, and they have occasionally been known to honour warranties.

[basjke]

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion on this subject, but take it from me that farangs ranting and raving in Thai stores is going to get them nowhere, which proved to be the case for the OP. It can only get them into trouble.

The Thais will just laugh at you. They couldn't give a fig how much you scream and lose your cool - you are simply demonstrating your bad, western behavioral tendencies.

This isn't a civilized, law abiding society - especially in Pattaya, it is more like Deadwood

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is excactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

[Mobi]

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is exactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

Believe it or not, no this kind of thing doesn't make my blood boil. It may have done once upon a time in the dim and distant past, but these days I just take such behaviour in my stride; I just take it as par for the course, and if anything, I laugh at their brazenness. Every time I see something outrageous occur, be it on the road, in a shop, bar or just about anywhere, I invariably laugh - it's the only way to deal with it and remain sane.

It does me personally no good to get angry, and if I do the only person I am hurting is myself, because they certainly couldn't give two figs what I think or do.

In fact Thailand is a very good place to practice anger management, for if you can stay calm and serene here, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation, you can do so so anywhere.

BTW, even stores in the west are not averse to passing off returned goods as new - it has happened to me on several occasions, but at least they will not argue when you catch them out and demand a replacement. But there again, the consumer protection laws are much stronger. I wonder if they would behave much differently to Thais if they could get away with it?

[surayu]

Great Post & thank you for sharing !!!

[basjke]

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is exactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

Believe it or not, no this kind of thing doesn't make my blood boil. It may have done once upon a time in the dim and distant past, but these days I just take such behaviour in my stride; I just take it as par for the course, and if anything, I laugh at their brazenness. Every time I see something outrageous occur, be it on the road, in a shop, bar or just about anywhere, I invariably laugh - it's the only way to deal with it and remain sane.

It does me personally no good to get angry, and if I do the only person I am hurting is myself, because they certainly couldn't give two figs what I think or do.

In fact Thailand is a very good place to practice anger management, for if you can stay calm and serene here, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation, you can do so so anywhere.

BTW, even stores in the west are not averse to passing off returned goods as new - it has happened to me on several occasions, but at least they will not argue when you catch them out and demand a replacement. But there again, the consumer protection laws are much stronger. I wonder if they would behave much differently to Thais if they could get away with it?

Again I understand your point,but it is actually not what I got so outrageous about.I know it happens in certain places that returned goods ar sold again after they have been completely checked out.And if this happens in the western world you can be sure that the item sold looks as new,functions as new and will carry the warrantee as new.

But what these guys do is outright stealing and not by mistake either.

They publish a lower spec plasma as a higher spec with a higher price label.Something which is only detectable if you should open up the panel or in some cases if you have very good knowledge of the items so you can detect the minor visible differences between the models.

Once again I prefer to use the example of the car dealer.Can you imagine walking into a Bmw dealership where they have a 320d in the showroom which they advertise and price as a 325d?Im not sure if you would be able to detect the cosmetic differences between the cars,if there even are any,and if you still would stay calm if you found out after you bought the car.

[tony03]

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is exactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

Believe it or not, no this kind of thing doesn't make my blood boil. It may have done once upon a time in the dim and distant past, but these days I just take such behaviour in my stride; I just take it as par for the course, and if anything, I laugh at their brazenness. Every time I see something outrageous occur, be it on the road, in a shop, bar or just about anywhere, I invariably laugh - it's the only way to deal with it and remain sane.

It does me personally no good to get angry, and if I do the only person I am hurting is myself, because they certainly couldn't give two figs what I think or do.

In fact Thailand is a very good place to practice anger management, for if you can stay calm and serene here, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation, you can do so so anywhere.

Very wise words. Hopefully the OP can begin to see things here in the very astute light you turned on for him.

[basjke]

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is exactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

Believe it or not, no this kind of thing doesn't make my blood boil. It may have done once upon a time in the dim and distant past, but these days I just take such behaviour in my stride; I just take it as par for the course, and if anything, I laugh at their brazenness. Every time I see something outrageous occur, be it on the road, in a shop, bar or just about anywhere, I invariably laugh - it's the only way to deal with it and remain sane.

It does me personally no good to get angry, and if I do the only person I am hurting is myself, because they certainly couldn't give two figs what I think or do.

In fact Thailand is a very good place to practice anger management, for if you can stay calm and serene here, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation, you can do so so anywhere.

Very wise words. Hopefully the OP can begin to see things here in the very astute light you turned on for him.

Really?I want to challenge you and sell you any expensive item,we talking here about plasma's in the 75.000 baht range,which turns out to be something that doesn't have the specs you expected and were advertised and actually is worth 10.000 Baht less.

Are you still gonna classify this as a lesson learned and walk away from it without any objections?I don't believe so.

[tony03]

I understand your point but doesn't it make your blood boil if if you see something like this happen and you can not do anything about?

It is exactly this behavior in this country that makes me hate it.

Oh and by the way I wasn't at any given time in trouble,I walked away on my own decision as I saw I was wasting my time on expletive deleted.

Believe it or not, no this kind of thing doesn't make my blood boil. It may have done once upon a time in the dim and distant past, but these days I just take such behaviour in my stride; I just take it as par for the course, and if anything, I laugh at their brazenness. Every time I see something outrageous occur, be it on the road, in a shop, bar or just about anywhere, I invariably laugh - it's the only way to deal with it and remain sane.

It does me personally no good to get angry, and if I do the only person I am hurting is myself, because they certainly couldn't give two figs what I think or do.

In fact Thailand is a very good place to practice anger management, for if you can stay calm and serene here, sometimes in the face of extreme provocation, you can do so so anywhere.

Very wise words. Hopefully the OP can begin to see things here in the very astute light you turned on for him.

Really?I want to challenge you and sell you any expensive item,we talking here about plasma's in the 75.000 baht range,which turns out to be something that doesn't have the specs you expected and were advertised and actually is worth 10.000 Baht less.

Are you still gonna classify this as a lesson learned and walk away from it without any objections?I don't believe so.

Yes, I absolutely would walk out and shop at one of the hundreds of other stores that sell plasma TV's and not give it a second thought.

That would also save me from the cost of high blood pressure medications.

[basjke]

Excuse me but you didn't read my reply to you properly.I said IF I SOLD YOU SOMETHING that turned out to be lower spec and worth 10.000 baht less then expected.Not if I would try to sell to you.

As I already stated severeal times in the OP and over the lenght of the topic,it is almost impossible to notice the difference between the item they sell to you and the item as which they advertise and price it from the outside.

If you also read the OP carefully again you will notice that they didn't got me,but they almost succeeded,and I put WARNING in the topic title as to warn other members to be cautious when they buy anything at this particular shop.

Edited November 13, 2009 by basjke

[thaihome]

Just another case of somebody from a western nanny country making the adjustment (or not) to living in a developing country where the rules and business practices are different. In fact, the rules and practices are probably the same here as they were in his country maybe 30 or 40 years ago before the nannies took over.

TH

[basjke]

Just another case of somebody from a western nanny country making the adjustment (or not) to living in a developing country where the rules and business practices are different. In fact, the rules and practices are probably the same here as they were in his country maybe 30 or 40 years ago before the nannies took over.

TH

Really?So you justify these practices only on the basis that this is a developing country and we westerns should adjust ourself to be happy when taken up the a_ss.Please forwqard me your email address as I have many things for sale,which of course are not what I'm selling them for,but I finally found someone who is happy with it.

I recall from previous posts of you,without going into detail,that there are more things that happened in my country 50 years ago and that occure here now which you don't approve.Why is that?Maybe using double standards?

[p_brownstone]

The way to have handled this was:

1) To point out to the staff that you had spotted their attempt to delude you, figuratively laughed in their faces and walked out of the shop.

2) Report the incident to Samsung Head Office in Bangkok.

3) Report the incident on Thai Weboards as a warning to others.

You discovered their trick and did not buy anything or lose any money at all.

Why get so angry and cause such a commotion that a passing Policeman was alerted?

I am sure the staff all had a good laugh at your behaviour immediately after you left and the incident will live in their memories and provide additional amusement for many days to come.

Patrick

[longball53098]

I would add a number 4 to the last post of where tot take the info.

Arm yourself with as much proof of the issue as possible and perhaps someone that speaks Thai also and then head off to the Pattaya City Hall and visit the Consumer Protection offices. They would be willing to help and I think be interested in this.

They are helping us in another situation so I would think they can look in to an issue such as this.

[Beacher]

Contact your local Pattaya Today reporter mate, get them chasing the story.

It's a job for Howard Miller and his boys, or maybe Pattaya SWAT may get called in.

LOL!!! This is certainly too meaty for Howard M. His style is more about getting a least 6 (very poor quality) photos of people who have stolen petty items, were caught smoking a J, or other such heinous crimes.

Besides, he only goes where he's told to go by the police.

[basjke]

The way to have handled this was:

1) To point out to the staff that you had spotted their attempt to delude you, figuratively laughed in their faces and walked out of the shop.

2) Report the incident to Samsung Head Office in Bangkok.

3) Report the incident on Thai Weboards as a warning to others.

You discovered their trick and did not buy anything or lose any money at all.

Why get so angry and cause such a commotion that a passing Policeman was alerted?

I am sure the staff all had a good laugh at your behaviour immediately after you left and the incident will live in their memories and provide additional amusement for many days to come.

Patrick

1) Actually I did at first what you are saying but they kept denying it and that is what made me so angry.Also the fact that I had travelled to that shop specially on the advice of my local Amorn branch.At that point I hadn't discoverd yet that they had setup a system to steal from their customers.So in fact I had been losing time and money on that.

2) I already said earlier in this thread that I didn't want to waste my time on that as they I was confident that they would be able to talk them out of this problem after I noticed what happened when the policeman walked in.By the way it wasn't just a local traffic cop it was one with some stars on his shoulder pads.

3) That is excactly what I am doing right now,but still I get the hump from many readers on this forum who don't appreciate to be warned so maybe actually they deserve to be cheated.

And yes knowing the education standard and morals in this 6th world country they probably had a good laugh but that only proves how many braincells they have upstairs.

[colinscarr]

The advice often given to British civil servants who have been shafted is:-

Don't get mad, get even.

Getting mad merely raises your blood pressure and lowers your quality of life. By contrast, the satisfaction of getting even is wonderful.

While agreeing that the morality of offering goods for sale masquerading as higher spec goods is disgraceful, losing your temper in Thailand is universally seen as stupid and causes you to lose face. It has no bad effect at all on the object(s) of your rage. It is therefore totally counter productive. That's why so many here are saying it was foolish to have gone ballistic. Nil carborundum illigitimatii!

I don't mean this unkindly, but if you can't control your anger at the multitude of scams in this country, perhaps it is time you seriously considered returning to your home country where there are no culture shock issues to deal with. But remember, there ARE lots of unethical business practices there too!

If Samsung are serious about protecting their reputation, they aren't going to announce their arrival in the shop. They are going to unobtrusively collect evidence before (politely and calmly) confronting Amorn's management and taking whatever action they see fit. So IMHO it IS worth alerting Samsung

Telling people about this scam on the internet is a public service. You have warned us of a scam, and undoubtably have reduced Amorn's income slightly. That comes under the heading of getting even. Enjoy the well earned warm feeling inside.

[Heng]

This is the reason why I always build my own televisions myself by hand.

[ballpoint]

...They publish a lower spec plasma as a higher spec with a higher price label.Something which is only detectable if you should open up the panel or in some cases if you have very good knowledge of the items so you can detect the minor visible differences between the models.

Once again I prefer to use the example of the car dealer.Can you imagine walking into a Bmw dealership where they have a 320d in the showroom which they advertise and price as a 325d?Im not sure if you would be able to detect the cosmetic differences between the cars,if there even are any,and if you still would stay calm if you found out after you bought the car.

First, let me say I agree with you, and thank you for bringing it to our attention, but what did you really hope to achieve by confronting them and getting so worked up about it? I doubt they would have admitted their practice, and were just forewarned when the policeman chose to come into the shop. Much better to walk out and take it up with Samsung.

The bit quoted is an interesting point. You really think that there are people out there who would happily pay more for a better spec model when they have no way of gauging the effects of the better specs? Why, that would be snobbery. Paying for a label. "I have a 325d, much better than the common old 320d, not that I can tell the difference". (Note, this is a rhetorical bit of sarcasm, I'm not that silly, well, almost not).

Finally, I see this shop simply carrying on the traditional Pattaya sales method. Such as when the advertised 20 year old "sexy girl" you bought turns out to be a 30 year old unsexy man when you get it home. Sometimes with the tag removed making it harder to spot.

[johng]

basjke,

thanks for the warning about the dodgy practices of this shop..I have bought lots of things from the Pattaya branch in Tukcom ( nothing over 500 baht though ) and will still buy stuff there because its convenient.

They do have some interesting things on sale there on occasion.

[Spoonman]

"stealing with the intention to" What did the shop steal ??

Edited November 13, 2009 by Spoonman

[Mobi]

Really?I want to challenge you and sell you any expensive item,we talking here about plasma's in the 75.000 baht range,which turns out to be something that doesn't have the specs you expected and were advertised and actually is worth 10.000 Baht less.

Are you still gonna classify this as a lesson learned and walk away from it without any objections?I don't believe so.

You may or may not believe this, but every time I buy something in this country, and that would include my BMW, I know I am taking a chance that it may not be what I think it is, and that it may be defective, and if so, that I may not be able to get satisfaction from the dealer who sold it to me.

Life is a lottery, and I know that in Thailand the odds are a little higher than in the west that I may be ripped off, and if I am, then I am unlikely to obtain a satisfactory remedy.

It is a risk I take, and by large, I am well ahead of the game. I do this by checking very thoroughly before buying anything.

If I am spending a couple of thousand Baht or less, I don't worry too much, and if the products breaks down within the first week, I just accept it as part of life here.

The more I spend, the more I will check things out before buying. Certainly before buying an expensive TV, I would ascertain the correct price by visiting a number of showrooms, and also checking the internet. Then before commitment, I would check the goods thoroughly to ensure they are what they are purported to be, and will NEVER by a model on display, unless it is massively discounted, which it rarely is. If it is the only model in the store, then I will go elsewhere, as they often put defective or returned models on display.

And obviously, before spending a three million Baht on a BMW, I will check things very thoroughly indeed. But a new car is a new car, and If I buy from an authorised BMW dealer then even the risk of being passed off with a cheaper or wrong model, even in Thailand, is virtually non existent.

And in any event the BMW comes with a 3 year warranty that covers everything - parts and labour, and I will be rescued anywhere in Thailand, in the event of a breakdown or accident, free of charge. I have had the car for 15 months and the service has been exemplary. I have also had extremely good experiences from Toyota and Honda main dealers. So not everything is third world in Thailand

But there was the case of the Thai Lady who was so fed up with her new Toyota (or was it a Honda?) continually breaking down and the dealer refusing to replace it, that she parked outside the dealer in Bangkok and smashed the car up with an axe. It was headlines all over the country, and the head office in Japan, quickly took charge, made amends to the lady and issued an apology.

After that there was a rash of people smashing up cars outside the showrooms, but most, if not all were given short shrift, and the practice soon ceased.

It's all part and parcel of living in this country, learning how to survive with your sanity intact, and knowing how to minimize the risks of being ripped off or 'taken for a ride'.

(BTW it is not unknown in the west for Car manufacturers to refuse to replace new defective cars, and there have been a number of court cases on this issue.)

[sonicdragon]

I've come accross this kind of thing many times, and not just in Thailand. Luckily my wife always does the buying in Thailand, and she's ultra-careful about these things, as are most Thais in my experience. Not only does she shop around endlessly to get the cheapest price, but before making the actual purchase I've known her go as far as calling the manufacturer, distributor or agent to check the serial numbers and/or warranty. Even when she buys a light bulb she makes the shop check that it works first (saw her do this in HomePro more than once) !! Shopping with her is not much fun ! Anyway, if you are careful enough and you know what you want (this latter point is important too), you should be OK. Not much point getting mad though.

I once got ripped off by a camera shop in HK, but I just had to admire their technique. It wasn't the same kind of rip-off though - I went in wanting to buy a particualar model for which I knew the right price, and came out with a completely different brand and several accessories all of which turned out to have cost significatly more than the right price for those items. I had to be careful to make sure the wife didn't find out about that one !

[IanForbes]

Surprisingly enough I read all three pages on this topic. I have to commend Basjke for letting the readers of thaivisa to be aware of scammers in supposedly reputable shops. It doesn't hurt to know that this is a common practise and to be aware of it. We don't REALLY need to know the name of the shop because it could happen anywhere. There is no need for thaivisa to get involved in a possible lawsuit.

It's no different than any other topic on the forum where people can be taken by clever scammers. Being forewarned is being forearmed. After that you are on your own. It DOES pay to do due diligence when spending large amounts of cash. That goes for marrying some pretty Thai gal and buying her a big home, or buying some second hand motorcycle that may or may not be a stolen item.

[basjke]

"stealing with the intention to" What did the shop steal ??

They steal every time when they sell a plasma as a different model number as what it is in reality and at a price which is significant higher as the OFFICIAL list price for the model they are actually selling.Got it?

[basjke]

First, let me say I agree with you, and thank you for bringing it to our attention, but what did you really hope to achieve by confronting them and getting so worked up about it?

Well actually that way I tried to achieve was to get the attention of the customers in the shop at that moment who were all possible victims of this scam sooner or later.And if I was just so lucky that only 1 person inside has understand what the commotion was all about then I have succeeded in my effort.

Oh and to those people who are talking about me losing face because I got angry.I even don't know the meaning of losing face.

[joncl]

Amorn is great for small things, cheap Chinese imports etc.

Very well said ... and known for cheap and cheerful products across the nation.

[wintermute]

First, let me say I agree with you, and thank you for bringing it to our attention, but what did you really hope to achieve by confronting them and getting so worked up about it?

Well actually that way I tried to achieve was to get the attention of the customers in the shop at that moment who were all possible victims of this scam sooner or later.And if I was just so lucky that only 1 person inside has understand what the commotion was all about then I have succeeded in my effort.

Oh and to those people who are talking about me losing face because I got angry.I even don't know the meaning of losing face.

What you perceived: Taking a noble crusade against a crooked electronics merchant while onlookers and admirers congratulate you on your cause.

What thais perceived: whining possibly drunk farang causing a scene rambling about some numbers that no one understands.