Welcome To The Carrefour Taxi Monoply On Parking

[yabaaaa]

Well the wife wanted to call in to Carrefour at On nut on the way home today so down we go into the underground car park and its full, full except for about 20 spaces with cones in so i drove in and parked there. No sooner had i done it and a woman rushes up and tells me i cant park there its for taxis only???????

A quick call to the manager of Carrefour informs me that nothing is reserved that the taxis using this space pay them nothing etc etc. So the taxis have taken over 20 spaces and any customers wanting them can forget it and shop elsewhere.

They do this because if someone waits out the front for a taxi a man up there calls down to the car park to send a taxi up to them so its all carefully worked out, but the manager of Carrefour says they dont get paid or get anything at all the wife is now calling head office of Carrefour Thailand to see what they say.

[sanook2me]

Seems logical to me for them to do that and even more so if i was a poor person without a car and needed a taxi promptly while waiting with my 6 heavy shopping bags on the pavement.

But OP i have sympathy for you because some things that really peeve me off just seem a little inconsequential when reading about them on the internet.

I even wrote a new posting yesterday which took about 3 / 4 hour to write then when proof reading it...i just thought <deleted> am I doing and deleted the entire thing...

You must have been a happy farang expat yesterday to bother calling the manager

[yabaaaa]

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

[robblok]

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Wow.. they lost 1 customer.. just guess how many they gained who use the taxis.

A car is nice.. but it has its problems.. this is one of them.

[tuky]

If the taxis brought in that many customers that it made a difference rather than people driving in would carrefour have built a taxi rank for that purpose?

[robblok]

If the taxis brought in that many customers that it made a difference rather than people driving in would carrefour have built a taxi rank for that purpose?

Is there anything logical in Thailand ?

[tuky]

You got me on that one.

i was thinking it as I typed...thinking what is the point in typing this

[robblok]

You got me on that one.

i was thinking it as I typed...thinking what is the point in typing this

To be honest id say that the taxis would help a lot.. i mean a few taxis being filled all the time could generate a bigger turnover for less space then normal parking place.

Saves a lot of space too.. but i can understand the OP's frustration. When i go to the carefour i see a lot of cars blocking other cars.. even though there is place somewhere else and there are signs telling them not to do it.

[GuestHouse]

It's very likely that the manager knows nothing about this 'deal', though someone between him and the guys driving the taxis will undoubtedly have a hand in it.

[yabaaaa]

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Wow.. they lost 1 customer.. just guess how many they gained who use the taxis.

A car is nice.. but it has its problems.. this is one of them.

Probably at least 20 other customers who also drove out and into Tesco just opposite who DONT have a taxi mafia stealing car parking spaces.

20 empty spaces no sign of any taxis but "you cant park there" 1 taxi out the front at Carrefour none downstairs.

[yabaaaa]

It's very likely that the manager knows nothing about this 'deal', though someone between him and the guys driving the taxis will undoubtedly have a hand in it.

Wife spoke to manager, he either dint know or gets a kickback and didnt want to know. Wife went on to customer service next to see what they say.

[fletchsmile]

Well the wife wanted to call in to Carrefour at On nut on the way home today so down we go into the underground car park and its full, full except for about 20 spaces with cones in so i drove in and parked there. No sooner had i done it and a woman rushes up and tells me i cant park there its for taxis only???????

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Don't really understand why you left. You had already parked.

Thailand is the perfect country when someone tells you, you can''t do something to just: smile, reply in English by thanking them for their help, say don't worry I don't mind and then do whatever you want, feigning ignorance that you don't really understand what they are on about. If they insist, just carry on smiling and saying it's no inconvenience to you at at all and thank them again for their help. Throw in some comments about how lovely and kind Thai people are if you feel like it too.

Edited April 26, 2010 by fletchsmile

[barky]

Well the wife wanted to call in to Carrefour at On nut on the way home today so down we go into the underground car park and its full, full except for about 20 spaces with cones in so i drove in and parked there. No sooner had i done it and a woman rushes up and tells me i cant park there its for taxis only???????

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Don't really understand why you left. You had already parked.

Thailand is the perfect country when someone tells you, you can''t do something to just: smile, reply in English by thanking them for their help, say don't worry I don't mind and then do whatever you want, feigning ignorance that you don't really understand what they are on about. If they insist, just carry on smiling and saying it's no inconvenience to you at at all and thank them again for their help. Throw in some comments about how lovely and kind Thai people are if you feel like it too.

Exactly Fletch, I do this as much as I can get away with it . If I see the asian getting angry and looking as if he/she is about to get violent, I back off.

[yabaaaa]

Well the wife wanted to call in to Carrefour at On nut on the way home today so down we go into the underground car park and its full, full except for about 20 spaces with cones in so i drove in and parked there. No sooner had i done it and a woman rushes up and tells me i cant park there its for taxis only???????

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Don't really understand why you left. You had already parked.

Thailand is the perfect country when someone tells you, you can''t do something to just: smile, reply in English by thanking them for their help, say don't worry I don't mind and then do whatever you want, feigning ignorance that you don't really understand what they are on about. If they insist, just carry on smiling and saying it's no inconvenience to you at at all and thank them again for their help. Throw in some comments about how lovely and kind Thai people are if you feel like it too.

Because I had parked in an area sectioned off by cones and was told "not to park there" the woman spoke to me first then turned to my wife, there were no other spaces available at that time and many double parked which i dont do as I dont want grubby mits all over my car + the risk of any damage as they shunt them about

Carrefour have just called my wife to say they will be speaking with the taxi mafia about this as we shouldbe able to park there its not for the sole use of taxis, customers first taxis second. Ill have another go in a week and report back.

Edited April 26, 2010 by yabaaaa

[Tanaka]

Well the wife wanted to call in to Carrefour at On nut on the way home today so down we go into the underground car park and its full, full except for about 20 spaces with cones in so i drove in and parked there. No sooner had i done it and a woman rushes up and tells me i cant park there its for taxis only???????

Point is I went elsewhere to shop, they lost a customer it was my wife who did the complaining.

Don't really understand why you left. You had already parked.

Thailand is the perfect country when someone tells you, you can''t do something to just: smile, reply in English by thanking them for their help, say don't worry I don't mind and then do whatever you want, feigning ignorance that you don't really understand what they are on about. If they insist, just carry on smiling and saying it's no inconvenience to you at at all and thank them again for their help. Throw in some comments about how lovely and kind Thai people are if you feel like it too.

Because I had parked in an area sectioned off by cones and was told "not to park there" the woman spoke to me first then turned to my wife, there were no other spaces available at that time and many double parked which i dont do as I dont want grubby mits all over my car + the risk of any damage as they shunt them about

Carrefour have just called my wife to say they will be speaking with the taxi mafia about this as we shouldbe able to park there its not for the sole use of taxis, customers first taxis second. Ill have another go in a week and report back.

I would never have moved my car. Anyone can put up cones and if a non-authorized person tells me I cannot park when there are no other spaces, yeah right. I would not bother to talk to him/her, why should I?

[yabaaaa]

I would never have moved my car. Anyone can put up cones and if a non-authorized person tells me I cannot park when there are no other spaces, yeah right. I would not bother to talk to him/her, why should I?

Thats very big and brave so when you come back and the sides all gouged with a key what yer gonna do???

Anyway a news update to all those (Robblok I know you're lurking) who kind of mocked this, Carrefour called us back and said they would do something about it, yeah yeah thought I but went in today and the 20+ spaces for taxis has now been seriously demoted to 4, so someone somewhere has had a quiet word methinks.

Edited April 30, 2010 by yabaaaa

[YaiJung]

so now you have made life inconvenient for the taxi drivers and you still have nowhere to park. good work

[DP25]

Wow.. they lost 1 customer.. just guess how many they gained who use the taxis.

I doubt they gain any customers. I haven't been to this specific Carrefour, but every Tesco, Carrefour, or Big C in Bangkok I've been to takes about 30 seconds to get a taxi whether it's from the parking garage, the parking lot, or the street.

This is purely for the convenience of taxi drivers who want to park and chill instead of driving around looking for customers, which is far more difficult and unreliable work.

[yabaaaa]

so now you have made life inconvenient for the taxi drivers and you still have nowhere to park. good work

Boy you sure can talk tripe, now there are 16 more spaces available to customers of Carrefour who have cars, and i parked in one of those 16 spaces today, Taxi driver are we????

[robblok]

Thats very big and brave so when you come back and the sides all gouged with a key what yer gonna do???

Anyway a news update to all those (Robblok I know you're lurking) who kind of mocked this, Carrefour called us back and said they would do something about it, yeah yeah thought I but went in today and the 20+ spaces for taxis has now been seriously demoted to 4, so someone somewhere has had a quiet word methinks.

Good result if true (a bit hard to verify not that i want too).

[tw25rw]

so now you have made life inconvenient for the taxi drivers and you still have nowhere to park. good work

The taxis don't need to park there. Honest taxi drivers drive around looking for business, not wait for easy fares. I would never trust the ones that wait for you.

[dominique355]

Maybe totally out of topic, but ... really ... punctuation would make your post so much more readable and understandable. OK, I am not a native English speaker, so I do need punctuation to understand and follow your train of thoughts.

Thanks.

[Slip]

^^Who?