Lets Talk About Lousy Thai True Customer Service

[Somtamnication]

Still beats living in cold London.

Just part of life in Thailand.

[Heng]

unfortunately I think it's because of a 'public complaining/whinging... often totally justified by the way' trend by a minority of foreigners making it worse for everyone else.

Well there's some crazy contradictions. A minority of foreigners "complaining" "Totally Justified" but "making it worse for everyone else"

I suppose these Falangs who live here getting poor service and complaining justifiably should keep their mouths shut and lose out financially , or maybe we should hire a secretary to speak to the company management.

throwing a wobbly in public and humiliating a mere clerk acheives nothing anywhere and is particularly counter prroductive here.

As for making it worse for others, a peon who has just been ripped a new asshol_e by some indignant farang, is not going to make any attempt tto help the next one along.

heng has merely pointed out an alternative, more effective way to deal with complaints, and all you can focus on is the fact that he has a secretary. poor you.

have to dis-agree i did it in Tesco when new phone would not work and she would not change, the more pressure i gave her in public the more pressure she gave her boss on the phone. after i told a few farangs not to buy goods from them a new phone appeared. i did not like doing it but some times it pushes some over the edge. it saved me 6000 baht. customer service here is bad, worse i have experienced anywhere else in Thailand. waiting for girls to finish private calls, no product, doing make up instead of taking care of customers, watching TV instead of serving etc etc. now i just tell them i am off some where else because the doing their job badly, smiling of course. exception being immigration and driving licience centre. IMHO

Yeah, I wasn't talking about effectiveness (have blown up more than a few times and have gained my desired results, although whatever I gained was probably offset by health negatives from the negative/angry energy required for the effort), I was referring (and generalizing) to the results for folks in general. I know some folks would like to believe that blowing up in public will somehow magically put folks in line for all future customers, but IMO/IME it typically just makes said employees avoid you in the future and leaves people (often foreigners) wondering who's going to help them get this 46" television to the cashier when 6 employees and the manager are all standing around like they don't see you, despite you never having patronized or antagonized anyone at a particular shop before.

Line workers and even managers to a certain extent are living on a borderline between misery, poverty, and just having enough self esteem to get them through their lives which they know will likely never improve beyond a certain extent. It's illogical to believe that public verbal abuse will somehow make them serve you better (and this is from the point of view of my own businesses as well) or work harder/better for you and your clients in general. That's why I tend to choose to create downward pressure on the hierarchy instead of the getting annoyed about anything that someone does whose family line is still barely out of the local slavery days.

Edited February 21, 2010 by Heng

[KKvampire]

unfortunately I think it's because of a 'public complaining/whinging... often totally justified by the way' trend by a minority of foreigners making it worse for everyone else.

Well there's some crazy contradictions. A minority of foreigners "complaining" "Totally Justified" but "making it worse for everyone else"

I suppose these Falangs who live here getting poor service and complaining justifiably should keep their mouths shut and lose out financially , or maybe we should hire a secretary to speak to the company management.

throwing a wobbly in public and humiliating a mere clerk acheives nothing anywhere and is particularly counter prroductive here.

As for making it worse for others, a peon who has just been ripped a new asshol_e by some indignant farang, is not going to make any attempt tto help the next one along.

heng has merely pointed out an alternative, more effective way to deal with complaints, and all you can focus on is the fact that he has a secretary. poor you.

BS.. read what he said And what I quoted from him.In effect what he says and what some of you morons on here are saying is " don't complain at the point of bad service EVER.. An attitude that never changed anything anywhere

Edited February 21, 2010 by KKvampire

[a2396]

Funny that.... My thai gf was over in the UK for 5 months recently and she was shocked at the lack of staff in shops and the poor customer service offered here. She worked as an accountant for a large organisation that owned and run shopping malls in Thailand.

The other thing she noted was "old people" working in Tesco's B&Q etc she said all these kinds of jobs in Thai are all done by young people. Must admit I never took much notice tof this the times I have been to Thailand.

Seems alot of falangs in Thailand have too much time on their hands so have time to moan on here, seems like a school yard here sometimes. Though your case damage could have been handled better but these things happen.

Same in USA. Plenty of old folks working out of necessity, but that's irrelevant to customer service. Some of them are very good. I have found some customer service better than in USA and some not. It is quite a variable thing.

[Heng]

unfortunately I think it's because of a 'public complaining/whinging... often totally justified by the way' trend by a minority of foreigners making it worse for everyone else.

Well there's some crazy contradictions. A minority of foreigners "complaining" "Totally Justified" but "making it worse for everyone else"

I suppose these Falangs who live here getting poor service and complaining justifiably should keep their mouths shut and lose out financially , or maybe we should hire a secretary to speak to the company management.

throwing a wobbly in public and humiliating a mere clerk acheives nothing anywhere and is particularly counter prroductive here.

As for making it worse for others, a peon who has just been ripped a new asshol_e by some indignant farang, is not going to make any attempt tto help the next one along.

heng has merely pointed out an alternative, more effective way to deal with complaints, and all you can focus on is the fact that he has a secretary. poor you.

BS.. read what he said And what I quoted from him.In effect what he says and what some of you morons on here are saying is " don't complain at the point of bad service EVER.. An attitude that never changed anything anywhere

*yawn*

Not at all. There wasn't an imperative of any kind in my post, and certainly not in what you quoted. Ergo an errant assumption on your part.

[p_brownstone]

Line workers and even managers to a certain extent are living on a borderline between misery, poverty, and just having enough self esteem to get them through their lives which they know will likely never improve beyond a certain extent.

This is exactly what I always try to keep in mind when confronted with bad service in almost any situation.

It's not an excuse for the poor staff attitude but it helps explain it - I bought a new 50" HDTV recently and the staff knew virtually nothing about the Product and were not really interested in getting answers to my questions; but I was buying an item - something not essential, a luxury - which cost more than one of the staffs annual salary, in their position I would have felt some mild resentment at least.

Patrick

[t.s]

unfortunately I think it's because of a 'public complaining/whinging... often totally justified by the way' trend by a minority of foreigners making it worse for everyone else.

Well there's some crazy contradictions. A minority of foreigners "complaining" "Totally Justified" but "making it worse for everyone else"

I suppose these Falangs who live here getting poor service and complaining justifiably should keep their mouths shut and lose out financially , or maybe we should hire a secretary to speak to the company management.

throwing a wobbly in public and humiliating a mere clerk acheives nothing anywhere and is particularly counter prroductive here.

As for making it worse for others, a peon who has just been ripped a new asshol_e by some indignant farang, is not going to make any attempt tto help the next one along.

heng has merely pointed out an alternative, more effective way to deal with complaints, and all you can focus on is the fact that he has a secretary. poor you.

BS.. read what he said And what I quoted from him.In effect what he says and what some of you morons on here are saying is " don't complain at the point of bad service EVER.. An attitude that never changed anything anywhere

we will can this further when your reading comprehension improves. until that happens i see no point in continuing.

[phetaroi]

I bought a new 50" HDTV recently and the staff knew virtually nothing about the Product and were not really interested in getting answers to my questions; but I was buying an item - something not essential, a luxury - which cost more than one of the staffs annual salary, in their position I would have felt some mild resentment at least.

Why? It's the job they accepted.

[KKvampire]

My reading comprehension ? From someone who writes "we will can this further when............" Even my former Thai students were never that bad.

[powderpuff]

I really let them have it in the shop I told them what a lousy company True is whether it be there pathetic overpriced TV service or their useless internet.

You aren't wrapped very tightly are you? KKV

So far it's about 50 to 1 saying you are an idiot. No offense of course.

[TheLaughingMan]

I must be living in a different Thailand than some of you. I had to throw out my common sense politeness when I moved here 6 years ago as it got nothing done. I used to watch hiso Thais raise their voice or talk down to poor Thais (when they were giving service... badly) and think they were the most evil people on the planet. But after getting the run around and terrible service over and over by disinterested or more commonly just lazy workers that didn't want to actually do their job I started to try what the hiso's would do....and it worked.

When being sweet and polite is getting you nowhere and you KNOW you are supposed to be getting some sort of service that is missing then your only alternative is to get a bit gruff, has not failed me yet. Being nice works but not all the time, some people in this country ONLY respond to a firm hand. This is just the way the whole country is setup with its stupid class system and I had to learn to adapt to it to survive. No idea how some of you get by without doing this unless you simply take it in the ass like a good person should? No thanks.

[Lammbock]

I Love Thailand and I Love the People here and i hope i never have to go back to my home country! BUUUUUUUUT! When a Thai say "MAI MII" This gets me really cocking! I hate this sooo much that in some cases i have to walk away immediately other wise i would kill the Thai.

"MAI MII" and look down to the ground or walk away is a common excuse for Thais whether for there stupidity or they simply don't understand what i want.

[yabaaaa]

Funny that.... My thai gf was over in the UK for 5 months recently and she was shocked at the lack of staff in shops and the poor customer service offered here. She worked as an accountant for a large organisation that owned and run shopping malls in Thailand.

The other thing she noted was "old people" working in Tesco's B&Q etc she said all these kinds of jobs in Thai are all done by young people. Must admit I never took much notice tof this the times I have been to Thailand.

Seems alot of falangs in Thailand have too much time on their hands so have time to moan on here, seems like a school yard here sometimes. Though your case damage could have been handled better but these things happen.

Ah yes that dopey vacant look I love to see followed by "no have"

[bangon04]

Funny that.... My thai gf was over in the UK for 5 months recently and she was shocked at the lack of staff in shops and the poor customer service offered here. She worked as an accountant for a large organisation that owned and run shopping malls in Thailand.

The other thing she noted was "old people" working in Tesco's B&Q etc she said all these kinds of jobs in Thai are all done by young people. Must admit I never took much notice tof this the times I have been to Thailand.

Ah yes that dopey vacant look I love to see followed by "no have"

Customer service in Thailand usually means having lots and lots of low paid staff waiting to "serve" the customer - ie help them to the cashier's desk and put their purchase in a nice plastic bag

[KKvampire]

A

I really let them have it in the shop I told them what a lousy company True is whether it be there pathetic overpriced TV service or their useless internet.

You aren't wrapped very tightly are you? KKV

So far it's about 50 to 1 saying you are an idiot. No offense of course.

BS , you cant count, and your rude foul mouth says more you than anything on customer service posts, ahhh the anonymity of the internet it does bring out the bile from some.

Edited February 22, 2010 by KKvampire

[KKvampire]

I must be living in a different Thailand than some of you. I had to throw out my common sense politeness when I moved here 6 years ago as it got nothing done. I used to watch hiso Thais raise their voice or talk down to poor Thais (when they were giving service... badly) and think they were the most evil people on the planet. But after getting the run around and terrible service over and over by disinterested or more commonly just lazy workers that didn't want to actually do their job I started to try what the hiso's would do....and it worked.

When being sweet and polite is getting you nowhere and you KNOW you are supposed to be getting some sort of service that is missing then your only alternative is to get a bit gruff, has not failed me yet. Being nice works but not all the time, some people in this country ONLY respond to a firm hand. This is just the way the whole country is setup with its stupid class system and I had to learn to adapt to it to survive. No idea how some of you get by without doing this unless you simply take it in the ass like a good person should? No thanks.

well said mate, you been here 6 years I been here nearly 3 and I for one will not just accept the poor service and infact if you get Thais to talk honestly about it they agree its poor service but their attitude is "what can we do about it" Well they can do a lot if thereally want to

Edited February 22, 2010 by KKvampire

[WeeGB]

I must be living in a different Thailand than some of you. I had to throw out my common sense politeness when I moved here 6 years ago as it got nothing done. I used to watch hiso Thais raise their voice or talk down to poor Thais (when they were giving service... badly) and think they were the most evil people on the planet. But after getting the run around and terrible service over and over by disinterested or more commonly just lazy workers that didn't want to actually do their job I started to try what the hiso's would do....and it worked.

When being sweet and polite is getting you nowhere and you KNOW you are supposed to be getting some sort of service that is missing then your only alternative is to get a bit gruff, has not failed me yet. Being nice works but not all the time, some people in this country ONLY respond to a firm hand. This is just the way the whole country is setup with its stupid class system and I had to learn to adapt to it to survive. No idea how some of you get by without doing this unless you simply take it in the ass like a good person should? No thanks.

The firm attitude does indeed work. My wife bought a battery charger, from an electrical shop in Phetchabun, (the one to the right of Topland), , and when she got home, she found it wasn't the one she'd seen in the shop. This one had been opened, the batteries taken out, and one of the two electrical prongs was bent. I tried it for her (she hates touching anything electrical), and it didn't work. She took it back, and I went in the shop with her, as I thought she may need some support. How wrong I was!

She explained to the assistant what the problem was, calmly and politely,and the assistant gave her a look of utter contempt, and raised her voice saying my wife obviously didn't know how to use it properly, (completely ignoring the fact that the item had been opened previously and was damaged), and that she should have got me to show her how to use it. Typical hi-so attitude (the assistant is apparently the shop owner's daughter). My wife then proceeded, in a shop with several customers, to absolutely rip this girl to shreds, pointing out that she has shopped in various countries all over the world, and she didn't need an attitude problem from some jumped up little hi-so wannabe, who spent her life in a tatty little electrical shop, in the back of beyond, just a refund of her money. She also pointed out to the girl, that the other customers in the shop could plainly see the kind of "service" the shop provided, if an item was faulty. This frankly amazed me, she's not normally like that, the whole shop went so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. Result, the boss came over, apologised and gave my wife a full refund. Attitude obviously works both ways.

They don't like it up 'em, Captain Mannering.

We will of course, never spend any money again in this shop.

[KKvampire]

ppp pppp

I must be living in a different Thailand than some of you. I had to throw out my common sense politeness when I moved here 6 years ago as it got nothing done. I used to watch hiso Thais raise their voice or talk down to poor Thais (when they were giving service... badly) and think they were the most evil people on the planet. But after getting the run around and terrible service over and over by disinterested or more commonly just lazy workers that didn't want to actually do their job I started to try what the hiso's would do....and it worked.

When being sweet and polite is getting you nowhere and you KNOW you are supposed to be getting some sort of service that is missing then your only alternative is to get a bit gruff, has not failed me yet. Being nice works but not all the time, some people in this country ONLY respond to a firm hand. This is just the way the whole country is setup with its stupid class system and I had to learn to adapt to it to survive. No idea how some of you get by without doing this unless you simply take it in the ass like a good person should? No thanks.

The firm attitude does indeed work. My wife bought a battery charger, from an electrical shop in Phetchabun, (the one to the right of Topland), , and when she got home, she found it wasn't the one she'd seen in the shop. This one had been opened, the batteries taken out, and one of the two electrical prongs was bent. I tried it for her (she hates touching anything electrical), and it didn't work. She took it back, and I went in the shop with her, as I thought she may need some support. How wrong I was!

She explained to the assistant what the problem was, calmly and politely,and the assistant gave her a look of utter contempt, and raised her voice saying my wife obviously didn't know how to use it properly, (completely ignoring the fact that the item had been opened previously and was damaged), and that she should have got me to show her how to use it. Typical hi-so attitude (the assistant is apparently the shop owner's daughter). My wife then proceeded, in a shop with several customers, to absolutely rip this girl to shreds, pointing out that she has shopped in various countries all over the world, and she didn't need an attitude problem from some jumped up little hi-so wannabe, who spent her life in a tatty little electrical shop, in the back of beyond, just a refund of her money. She also pointed out to the girl, that the other customers in the shop could plainly see the kind of "service" the shop provided, if an item was faulty. This frankly amazed me, she's not normally like that, the whole shop went so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. Result, the boss came over, apologised and gave my wife a full refund. Attitude obviously works both ways.

They don't like it up 'em, Captain Mannering.

We will of course, never spend any money again in this shop.

Thats the way to do it. Proves that all this bullshit pussyfooting around hardly ever succeedsand especially with the thais that speak English and deal with customers, they somehow think they can scare you off . Tell them straight what you think of their service.

Now I have an event concerning my Notebook that I boought from Pantip (I know how stupid) A shop called Mouse on the 2nd floor, I bought six months ago there and then returned to the UK so I claimed the VAT back at the airport, little did I realise that the VAT reclaim female there was not helpful, she demaded all the paperwork including yellow form of course which left me with no receipt. I could see a photo copier behind her and asked if she would copy so I could have my proof of purchase, she refused and proceeded to say its the Law to give my all the paerwork,. Of course I should have photocopied the papers before but there we are.

I needed the paers to be sure of my international warranty that the shop gave me.

Since then I had a problem with my netbook and returned to this"mouse" shop in Pantip and explained the problem. They canned the barcode on my book and told me they had no record of it on their system. I couldnot believe it!!!! I said it must be I even pointed out the staff that sold me the item. The manage said its impossible and I must have bought it somewhere else. So alot of Lies from this shop. I proceeded to tell them that their records were in error and what would they do to help. "Well buy another net book from us was the reply.

Fortunately there were some Falang customers in the store so I raised my voice and told them what a bunch of cheats they were in this shop and warned all around NEVER buy anything here if you want an international warranty because it doesnot apply. Suffice to say that did not go down well and one member of staff appeared a little threatening to me. I stood my ground and said I am leaving the shop and if they want to take me on come outside. So once again more Thai crap customer service. I am pursuing the Manufacturer Samsung now , this "Mouse" shop is supposed to be an agent of theirs.

Edited February 27, 2010 by KKvampire

[desi]

The reason I'm posting is because I've had to deal with both UBC and CSLox lately.

I've been with UBC for six years, spanning three different residences. And except for a wonky girl two years go and a technician leaving all the settings on Thai (back when I was lost reading Thai script), the service has been great. I mean, when was the last time you watched workman of ANY nationality clean up after themselves? UBC workmen do.

I called their service dept just today and a gal answered the phone, welcoming me by name (why doesn't everyone have our numbers automatically recognised?) She arrangements to get my problem sorted, and that was that.

Yesterday I called CSLox about my internet connection. I wasn't sure if it was my modem or the line. The chap listened to the problem and said he'd look into my connection to see what's up. Today when I talked to him, he mentioned that it was most likely my modem. I had a new modem at the ready, so he talked me through the installation. He was polite, informative, and professional.

CSLox has been fantastic when I've had connection problems before. Obviously, they are limited in what they can do. But when something pressing is on they've jumped through hoops to improve the situation.

Other types of service in Thailand... well... yes... they can be lacking - and sometimes great. But those two companies usually come through for me.

[Gluestick]

Sometimes the situation warrants blowing up at the service rep. I try not to blow up at them because I have worked in the service industry when I was younger. You sometimes get customers that are just complete jerks that think the world owes them something. It's not always the fault of the service rep so maybe give them a break. I can't count how many times I had customers blow up at me when I was working in university. I am sure those that have worked in the service industry know how I feel.