Large Coke, No Ice Please.

[Birdman]

Since it has been revealed by the OP that he's got a family restaurant, does he enforce strict portion control for all them people who want a little more? As he says, "it all adds up. Nothing out of the ordinary when you ran a business."

I wouldnt mind dining at his restaurant and of course, if things werent up to scratch I could berrate him in front of his staff and see how much he likes what that poor patotoe lady went through. EVIL MAN

seconded, I will be there on the next day.

however the whole thread could be a very clever set up advertisement for that restaurant.

[neverdie]

Well I left a key part of the story out. When I went to have the bags of potato weighed the lady punched in 32 baht per kg which is correct when you buy less then 10kg.

Makro has a dual pricing for bulk buyers. 32 baht = <10kg and 29 baht = >10kg. Good thing I caught the mistake at the parking lot while I was unloading.

I thought to myself, did this lady do this on purpose for some revenge? No it can't be this would be too outrageous.

I went back in for a price adjustment. Manager called the produce section to see what the pricing was and low and behold he said it was 32. I went back to the produce section

to see the chalked up pricing with a smear mark and changed to the higher pricing. Didnt care to take a picture of the pricing before but sensed it was changed while we were away for those 15 min.

Wished I took a picture for evidence but ended up paying the higher price.

Its funny to see every single pricing in chalk to have a clean slate except the potato chalk sign board. Yeah I may have been seeing things but I swear I saw 32 or 29 per kg.

the difference is 3 baht, yeah it only equates to 150 baht and not worth hour of my time which it took.

Its a good thing that people like the ones that were dealing with you, were dealing with you and not somebody like me. I probably would of rammed the potatoes and the 150 baht right up ur.......where the sun don't shine.

One day you will get a nasty customer in your restuarant who will give it to you or your wife or one of your employees and you will think of what a &lt;deleted&gt; you have been. Hopefully the ladies husband isnt a psycho killer and roaming the streets looking for the farang guy who made his wife lose face and cry

[Ulysses G.]

Neverdie, I am in full agreement once again.

[Livinginexile]

What possible digestive complaint could you have where a doctor advises no ice?

The coke from the dispensor is ice cold! added ace only keeps it at the low temperature!

I don't know why but after reading this post Cheap Charlie immediately comes to mind

We are talking 70 bht for Chrisake.

[Heng]

That's like 3 meals!

[Tedhead]

Following up on metisdead's point, do you have portion control in your restaurant? If you do, why do you have it and expect other businesses not to?

[Tedhead]

Incidentally, having had shares in a restaurant here in Ireland, we only used the Asian cash and carries (I believe Makro is a c&c) for stuff like coconut milk, chili flakes etc. All fruit and vegetables were bought from wholesalers; they're cheaper and the stuff is fresher. Why buy potatoes from a c&c?

[ozzieovaseas]

Man, after the coke story i cant believe you even had the nerve to post this potatoe poppycock

And i suppose you pick the bigger ones because you figure the peeling will be easier and less waste from the skins

It really irks me how people like you have to loud it over everyone,always wanting to be the winner and gaining on the losses of others.

And i bet in your restaurant you wouldnt dare let anything go thats more than 10 gram extra on a serving size..what a tightwad!

Oh and on the issue of the potatoes, the macro guy needs to grow some potatoe sized nads to show you the door, and i doubt whether this would be tolerated in any country..if not in a large firm then certainly a smaller business wouldnt stand for it.

AND may i ask how long does it take for you to fidget and fahrt about cherry picking 50KGS of potatoes for goodness sake??

I suppose all the other customers and staff just have to just stand back,wait, or walk around you while these special people hog all the space around the potatoe bins right??

Obviously it would'nt occur to you or you dont give a toss about the mess that poor crying lady was talking about...

Did it occur to you that it may be harder to lift/organise the boxes once the packing strap is removed?..NO NO NO

AND also: Id imagine your wife (who probably has long fingernails) while in the process of rifling through all the boxes looking for the good ones has probably left puncture marks on 70% of the others, which will quickly cause brown marks and possible rotting and more waste for the company..

shame on you..naughty farang

Edited March 23, 2010 by ozzieovaseas

[lazyboys]

Important topic.

Very!! But the story is quite interesting and cognitive

[tangcoral]

Man, after the coke story i cant believe you even had the nerve to post this potatoe poppycock

And i suppose you pick the bigger ones because you figure the peeling will be easier and less waste from the skins

It really irks me how people like you have to loud it over everyone,always wanting to be the winner and gaining on the losses of others.

And i bet in your restaurant you wouldnt dare let anything go thats more than 10 gram extra on a serving size..what a tightwad!

Oh and on the issue of the potatoes, the macro guy needs to grow some potatoe sized nads to show you the door, and i doubt whether this would be tolerated in any country..if not in a large firm then certainly a smaller business wouldnt stand for it.

AND may i ask how long does it take for you to fidget and fahrt about cherry picking 50KGS of potatoes for goodness sake??

I suppose all the other customers and staff just have to just stand back,wait, or walk around you while these special people hog all the space around the potatoe bins right??

Obviously it wouldn't occur to you or you don't give a toss about the mess that poor crying lady was talking about...

Did it occur to you that it may be harder to lift/organise the boxes once the packing strap is removed?..NO NO NO

AND also: Id imagine your wife (who probably has long fingernails) while in the process of rifling through all the boxes looking for the good ones has probably left puncture marks on 70% of the others, which will quickly cause brown marks and possible rotting and more waste for the company..

shame on you..naughty farang

I have an answer to all your questions but before I begin I decided to skip my local Makro and travel 10km further down to another Makro branch today.

White a night and day difference it was to deal with customer service oriented employees in this particular branch.

Probably due to the fact it is further away from the anal arse people closer to in-town.

Upon arriving to the produce section, I politely asked if they have more boxes of potato then the ones on display as I estimated about 20-30kg on display. They gentlemen said yes, its actually right behind the potato section. He walked to me over to show me roughly banded 7 boxes.

I asked politely, I would be needing 50-60kg of potatoes, would it be any trouble if I went through the boxes so that I can pick and choose because I had a slight incident at another branch.

After explaining him the incident, him and 2 other male employees got a good laugh at the story.

To summarize what they said...

Wow the employee actually prevented you from opening new boxes?

"If they did not want customers to rifle through boxes, why the hel_l would boxes be put out in the open and right next to the potato display.

Might as well keep it in the back room."

Hmm that makes sense now doesn't it?

"And your buying in such bulk quantity its kinda obvious you need more to choose from than the what is usually on display."

"probably one of those lazy arse worker"

After the short conversation, the guy grabbed a pair of scissors and proceeded to actually cut the bands on all 7 boxes and said "happy picking!"

In the middle of watching us sift through 7 boxes and retrieving exactly 62kg or about 300 potatoes which took us 15 mins.

Two of the employees came over and said "we would gladly go through and pick the specific size you need and have it ready for you to pick up."

Yeah I had the nerve to ask, "is this kind gesture because you think we will be making a mess or any problems?"

He said "nope, there so many of us we can literally finish it in 5 mins, besides we have nothing to do"

Considering there were 5 employees in just the produce section alone, its Thailand.

"Wow, I'll be here next monday at noon, can you have 50kg packed?"I said.

"Easy, just give us a call in the morning" he said.

On top of that the pricing stands at 27 baht per kg, a savings of 5 baht per kg than my local Makro with price mistake.

I'll be sure to have 200baht tip when I pick up on monday.

Now to answer your questions,

And i suppose you pick the bigger ones because you figure the peeling will be easier and less waste from the skins

I need a specific size if they are too small customers complain why is his potato bigger than mine. Give me a bigger size they say.

Believe it or not I get 2-3 complaints like this a day as I sell from a booth in open view.

I end up throwing the smaller sized potato cause they end up getting cold and soggy.

And if they are too big, I don't charge by the weight so I am at a greater lost.

Thus the reasons why many large establishment actually weigh everything that they put on your plate.

note: the potato isn't cut up to pieces or skinned

AND may i ask how long does it take for you to fidget and fahrt about cherry picking 50KGS of potatoes for goodness sake??

15 minutes. believe me I don't enjoy rummaging through dirty potatoes.

I suppose all the other customers and staff just have to just stand back,wait, or walk around you while these special people hog all the space around the potatoe bins right??

If you been to Makro, its big enough where I wouldn't be causing a tie up, plus I am not around the potato bins as they are boxes lined up on the side.

Obviously it wouldn't occur to you or you don't give a toss about the mess that poor crying lady was talking about..

Yeah it didn't occur to me but probably should of known as they can never take any criticism from the boss.

Did it occur to you that it may be harder to lift/organise the boxes once the packing strap is removed?

Yeah it did occur to me without the straps it would be harder but by how much?

They dont weigh 50kg each, there 10kg. It's literally 2 meters away from the potato bin,

And if thats too troubling, I'm sure they can be reassigned to forklift operator that way nothing is hand carried.

AND also: Id imagine your wife (who probably has long fingernails) while in the process of rifling through all the boxes looking for the good ones has probably left puncture marks on 70% of the others, which will quickly cause brown marks and possible rotting and more waste for the company..

We come prepared with rubber gloves, no punctures made.

No rotting either. They are from china laced with so much antibiotics and other nasty chemicals, they literally survive sitting on a shelf 1 month later

looking exactly the way they first looked when we walk out of Makro. True story, we found some potatoes wedged between the shelf and back wall month later.

I think I'm done here, Mods if you agree, could you be so kind as to lock the thread. thank you.

Edited March 23, 2010 by tangcoral

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm very tempted to shut down this thread on the basis of 'potatoes are off-topic', but I guess it just has a momentum of its own now....

NINE PAGES?!

[phetaroi]

I think I'm done here, Mods if you agree, could you be so kind as to lock the thread. thank you.

How convenient. Now that you've had YOUR say, shut down the topic.

Bottom line -- the level of support in your favor is very close to zero. Do you get that? Does it absorb at all into your mind?

[losworld]

last of the big time spenders lol

[Tedhead]

Call me a dangerous revolutionary if you like, but the Potato King of Siam could always offer something in addition to whole potatoes (the operation sounds like a Thai Spud-Khun-Like), thus utilizing the smaller spuds. Avant garde stuff like wedges and mash.

But maybe...that's what...they want you to do..........

Incidentally, he still hasn't explained why, if he exercises portion control in his own premises, he doesn't expect other businesses to do it in theirs. A regular amount of coke per serving, for example.

[mca]

"If they did not want customers to rifle through boxes, why the hel_l would boxes be put out in the open and right next to the potato display.

Might as well keep it in the back room."

Hmm that makes sense now doesn't it?

"And your buying in such bulk quantity its kinda obvious you need more to choose from than the what is usually on display."

"probably one of those lazy arse worker"

After the short conversation, the guy grabbed a pair of scissors and proceeded to actually cut the bands on all 7 boxes and said "happy picking!"

In the middle of watching us sift through 7 boxes and retrieving exactly 62kg or about 300 potatoes which took us 15 mins.

Two of the employees came over and said "we would gladly go through and pick the specific size you need and have it ready for you to pick up."

Yeah I had the nerve to ask, "is this kind gesture because you think we will be making a mess or any problems?"

He said "nope, there so many of us we can literally finish it in 5 mins, besides we have nothing to do"

Considering there were 5 employees in just the produce section alone, its Thailand.

"Wow, I'll be here next monday at noon, can you have 50kg packed?"I said.

"Easy, just give us a call in the morning" he said.

Tell those lads if there language skills are that great I know somebody who'll give them a job that'll pay them a frigging lot more than sorting through potatoes for you at Macro.

Edited March 24, 2010 by mca

[yabaaaa]

you are right IF you think you deserve more (coke) than others, and when you don't get your own way it's your right to get angry.. PRESTO.. then when you get your way it's okay to smile to rub it in

you are wrong IF you think you deserve the same (amount of coke) as everyone else, and you would be offended if someone prooved you wrong and then smugly smiled to rub it in, and it bothered you

signed: was the better half impressed?

Yeah but do they advertise Coke with ice or just Coke???

[yabaaaa]

That's like 3 meals!

Christ u sure wow u must be eating luxury to get only 3 meals outta 70 baht

[yabaaaa]

I wonder what happens if you go to the counter and say "ice" no coke thanks hahhaahhaha

[neverdie]

I'm very tempted to shut down this thread on the basis of 'potatoes are off-topic', but I guess it just has a momentum of its own now....

NINE PAGES?!

I love it, what a classic, how long can the tight arse thread go on, its got nothing to do with potatoes or coca cola, its just the pressure on the spinchter. Thanks IJWT, this could just turn out to be one of thai visa's trade mark threads.

I think I'm done here, Mods if you agree, could you be so kind as to lock the thread. thank you.

How convenient. Now that you've had YOUR say, shut down the topic.

Bottom line -- the level of support in your favor is very close to zero. Do you get that? Does it absorb at all into your mind?

Tis not even his thread. He wants his patatoe rights extended to the forum, unbelievalbe......perhaps he could now contact the internet gods and have one of them chastise thai visa for not closing the thread

[tangcoral]

Call me a dangerous revolutionary if you like, but the Potato King of Siam could always offer something in addition to whole potatoes (the operation sounds like a Thai Spud-Khun-Like), thus utilizing the smaller spuds. Avant garde stuff like wedges and mash.

But maybe...that's what...they want you to do..........

Incidentally, he still hasn't explained why, if he exercises portion control in his own premises, he doesn't expect other businesses to do it in theirs. A regular amount of coke per serving, for example.

Tell you the truth I dont mind or blame customers asking for larger potatoes. Heck I do it

However, how would you feel if the guy in front of you got nice plump potato the size of a grapefruit while paying the same price you get kiwi sized potato.

When I offer such varying size, I create problems for my customers.

Thus why I choose one size and stick with it. As I have to draw the line somewhere.

Movie theaters should do the same, either fill my cup to the rim or use a cup designated for "no ice requestors"

But then again, how many people request zero ice, guess it's not worth it to stock these type of cups for this reason.

Then its to bad they will encounter customers like me every now and then.

Edited March 24, 2010 by tangcoral

[yabaaaa]

I'm very tempted to shut down this thread on the basis of 'potatoes are off-topic', but I guess it just has a momentum of its own now....

NINE PAGES?!

I love it, what a classic, how long can the tight arse thread go on, its got nothing to do with potatoes or coca cola, its just the pressure on the spinchter. Thanks IJWT, this could just turn out to be one of thai visa's trade mark threads.

I think I'm done here, Mods if you agree, could you be so kind as to lock the thread. thank you.

How convenient. Now that you've had YOUR say, shut down the topic.

Bottom line -- the level of support in your favor is very close to zero. Do you get that? Does it absorb at all into your mind?

Tis not even his thread. He wants his patatoe rights extended to the forum, unbelievalbe......perhaps he could now contact the internet gods and have one of them chastise thai visa for not closing the thread

Go ahead make my day PUNK!!

[neverdie]

Tell you the truth I dont mind or blame customers asking for larger potatoes. Heck I do it

Of course you do

[ozzieovaseas]

AND also: Id imagine your wife (who probably has long fingernails) while in the process of rifling through all the boxes looking for the good ones has probably left puncture marks on 70% of the others, which will quickly cause brown marks and possible rotting and more waste for the company..

We come prepared with rubber gloves, no punctures made.

No rotting either. They are from china laced with so much antibiotics and other nasty chemicals, they literally survive sitting on a shelf 1 month later

looking exactly the way they first looked when we walk out of Makro. True story, we found some potatoes wedged between the shelf and back wall month later.

Well congratulations Mr Potatoe head, you sure do have an answer for everything..you come prepared with your own rubber gloves

Im not suprised the attendants were keen to please and encouraged you to come again, they were probably sh!t-scared of what the scary farang with the gloves might do to them, or was it they just have'nt had such a good laugh in a long time.

But cudos to you for posting a good service experience anyway, you dont see it that often on these pages.

While i dont doubt the gesture made by them, i must also wonder (as another poster mentioned) about the probability of this whole conversation happening in English, but that would just be nitpicking on my part.

Actually, seing how you have obviously sparked some interest (huh? some 10 pages ) maybe you should post some pictures (if you dare) of these finished product anti biotic and nasty spray laced potatoes that you are selling to the poor and unsuspecting public...

Oh and be sure to include prices so us good TV posters can scrutinize your business acumen as you have so deftly done to the business you percieve as ripping you off

[tangcoral]

Sorry, its my translated version of what they pretty much said.

Regarding non organic potatoes:

I dont have hard evidence of this, but this is widely known by the potato suppliers in thailand.

Maybe china bashing , or just pride in thai potatoes.

Why no love for the thai potatoes?

Yes they are cheaper, by about 5-7 baht but they have a very short shelf life of less then a week.

Not sure if it depends on the variety or the genetic makeup of china potatoes but they last 5 times longer.

Maybe a farmer can chime in.

But i'm sure the imported produce here dont exactly have a strict agency like the FDA in the US and (acronym?) of EU.

I'm sure a few baht under the table would let just about anything pass through here. A scary thought.

Sorry no pictures, dont want to cause any problems if any. thanks

Edited March 24, 2010 by tangcoral

[twschw]

I was wondering, if I came to your establishment and wanted to buy your potato product, would I be allowed to pick which potato I would buy? Afterall, shouldn't I be afforded the same consumer rights as you?

[tangcoral]

I was wondering, if I came to your establishment and wanted to buy your potato product, would I be allowed to pick which potato I would buy? Afterall, shouldn't I be afforded the same consumer rights as you?

Sure you can as our kitchen is out in the open, but for you to rummage through our potato bins maybe not.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

I'm sure there are some of you that might think that we took an incident to an unnecessary level, but I cannot let these type of inappropriate behaviour and treatment go on.

No, I'm not an excessive complainer but when there something is to be said as a buying customer it should be said at a cost of losing ones face.

Well done. I wish I had the nerve to do it.

[JetsetBkk]

Well it seems its unanimous that I am making a big deal out of nothing, so I stop here and reflect on my poor judgement.

thank you for your inputs.

I'm with you, tangcoral!

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Tis not even his thread.

<snip>

Eh? He started it.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Not sure if it depends on the variety or the genetic makeup of china potatoes but they last 5 times longer.

Maybe a farmer can chime in.

But i'm sure the imported produce here dont exactly have a strict agency like the FDA in the US and (acronym?) of EU.

I'm sure a few baht under the table would let just about anything pass through here. A scary thought.

Sorry no pictures, dont want to cause any problems if any. thanks

I had some roast potatoes last night - originally bought from Big C and picked for correct size, no bruises, no holes, no cuts and a good shape for peeling.

I just checked the date - 22nd February.

I also noticed I have some others in another bag in the fridge, dated 17th January! Boy, they sure last a long time (although the January ones have started to "sprout" ).

I'm happy to post pictures if you want.