Customer Satisfaction, Thai-style

[Bangkok Barry]

An interesting follow-up to the problems caused by a passenger endangering an AirAsia flight to Phuket by using her mobile during take-off and then assaulting a hostess who challenged her. The return flight to Bangkok was delayed for 3 and a half hours.

This from the Bangkok Post report:

Meanwhile, 200 passengers were waiting to board the plane to return to Bangkok at the scheduled departure time of 5.45pm.

An irate passenger called the Bangkok Post at 8.15pm complaining they had not been informed of the reason for the delay.

"Some of us have overseas connecting flights to make, some have emergencies waiting at home and they told us nothing.

"Instead, they ask for police guards to ensure peace among us,'' said Chanthawipa Apisuk, secretary-general of Empower Foundation, an organisation working to protect the rights of sex workers. "Our request for an explanation met with smiles from the ground crew and nothing else.''

AirAsia airport staff declined to comment.

**************************************************

Isn't this typical of Thai customer service? Instead of trying to be helpful, police are called if anyone complains. I remember a case I've mentioned before on the forum where someone bought a pair of shoes from a top department store and the next day they fell apart. He returned to the store and demanded his money back as he had meanwhile urgently needed to buy a replacement pair elsewhere, and the store refused and threatened to call the police if he didn't leave the store.

AirAsia apparently gave out no information, just the silly Thai smile and offered no help or explanation. They showed no professionalism at all, in fact.

I for one am not surprised. I once called Thai Airlines head office and asked to speak to their public relations department, and was told they didn't have one......

Any other examples of customer service, Thai-style?

[The Skipper]

Yea, I bought a HP Printer at a shop in Pantip, about 4,000bht.

The prints came out OK except the paper was damaged by the machine as it processed , the prints unusable.

Allright, so I have a bad machine and will exchange it. The service tech at the shop said they were having the same problem with that model and offered me a refund, minus the cost of 2 ink cartridges since I made a print!

Offered me about 1,500, take it or leave it!!

It should be legal, to be able to ring someones neck in these situations.

[Tornado]

"Customer Satisfaction, Thai-style"

please move this to the jokes section.

[midas]

I remember this subject came up a few weeks/ months ago.

Apparently in the Thai culture, they are not used to

" complaining " about bad service ?

[Butterfly]

Yea, I bought a HP Printer at a shop in Pantip, about 4,000bht.

The prints came out OK except the paper was damaged by the machine as it processed , the prints unusable.

Allright, so I have a bad machine and will exchange it. The service tech at the shop said they were having the same problem with that model and offered me a refund, minus the cost of 2 ink cartridges since I made a print!

Offered me about 1,500, take it or leave it!!

It should be legal, to be able to ring someones neck in these situations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ink cartridges are expensives. HP ones cost about 1000 each

NEVER BUY AN INK CARTRIDGE PRINTER, it's always a ripp off.

You got served, did you learn anything that day ?

[wilko]

Yea, I bought a HP Printer at a shop in Pantip, about 4,000bht.

The prints came out OK except the paper was damaged by the machine as it processed , the prints unusable.

Allright, so I have a bad machine and will exchange it. The service tech at the shop said they were having the same problem with that model and offered me a refund, minus the cost of 2 ink cartridges since I made a print!

Offered me about 1,500, take it or leave it!!

It should be legal, to be able to ring someones neck in these situations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually had some success a while back with a tonneau cover I bought for my pickup....I got it re-fitted at the factory and a free lunch and complimentary bottle of wine to-boot!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...7573&hl=tonneau

[Maejo Man]

I needed a new PCI card for a second monitor, so went down to a local small computer shop. He had a second hand one for 300 baht which was great, but will it work? I asked. If it doesn't bring it back he said. Wish I had a quid for every time I'd heard that. Anyway to cut a long story short....It only worked with a 16 bit display, so I took it back...Instant refund of the 300 baht and he pointed me to a shop where I could get the one I wanted.

After my initial shock had worn off, I thanked him, and got the one I wanted at the other shop.

Moral....He'll get any business that I can give him in the future!

[terdsak_12]

Thais have no interest in repeat business, it's alien to them I believe. Just get as much money out of you as possible NOW!!!!!!

[meelousee]

Thais have no interest in repeat business, it's alien to them I believe. Just get as much money out of you as possible NOW!!!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thailand and HP internal customer service standards reminded me of the philosophy of the Three Musketeers, 'It's all for one and one for all' the all is HP.

[Bangkok Barry]

I remember this subject came up a few weeks/ months ago.

Apparently in the Thai culture, they are not used to

" complaining " about bad service ?

My wife still hates complaining, but she's coming around slowly. We were at Black Canyon at Silom Complex for a coffee. We waited and waited, and we could see our coffees waiting on the counter getting cold while the staff merrily gossiped away. So eventually my wife went up and told them to forget it, and we left. Not that they cared, of course. They still get paid.

Service is so poor for the very reason that everyone accepts it. But I see signs of change. The educted Thai knows the way things should be done and will no longer accept second best. The reason people started to shop in nice clean supermarkets (and not just the megastores because of their variety) is because they were clean. As a westerner I still find it incredible how dirty Thai people are. They sit around dozing in their stores/cafes all day underneath filthy walls and ceilings instead of spending a few minutes cleaning.

Even in hospitals - I visited a niece in a hospital near Victory Monument recently, and the fans above her bed were caked in dirt. Unbelievable.

[sua yai]

Probably won't do me any good, but I've been having a running battle with TOT for the past year over my internet connection. OK, it's dial up and painfully slow, but I can just about live with that.

What I can't live with are the constant disconnections. Got my bill this morning - 1,600 Baht. After you deduct line rental and tax, it means that I've been connecting 14 times a day this month. Do I ever sleep?

Anyway, the techies have been round countless times. Told me it's my modem- rubbish, I've had it checked. Too many people using the number - OK, makes it slow, but why does it disconnect? On and on and.... The last gem was that the junction box was on the floor and as it's cool season, that was causing the disconnections.

Senior bloke came around last week and offered me some slight glimmer of hope. IE, he'll give me an ADSL modem for 2 weeks free to see how I get along with it.

Having got my bill 15 mins ago, then reading this thread and just telephoning him, I've threatened writing to HO in BKK. As I said at the start of this rant, I doubt anything will do much good.

Yours in exasperation!!

[OlRedEyes]

I  needed a new PCI card for a second monitor, so went down to a local small computer shop. He had a second hand one for 300 baht which was great, but will it work? I asked. If it doesn't bring it back he said. Wish I had a quid for every time I'd heard that. Anyway to cut a long story short....It only worked with a 16 bit display, so  I took it back...Instant refund of the 300 baht and he pointed me to a shop where I could get the one I wanted.

  After my initial shock had worn off, I thanked him, and got the one I wanted at the other shop.

  Moral....He'll get any business that I can give him in the future!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is the little secret most Thai, and so many other businesses around the world seem to miss.

[Tompa]

Not all Thai companies are that bad. I remember last year when AIS turned off my ability to make international calls on my mobile due to unpaid bills. I had in fact paid the bills 2 weeks earlier, but for some reason AIS messed it up.

This was Friday night and I had to make an important phone call to the US. I called their Customer Support staff and initially got the cold hand treatment – ‘Sorry, you have to fax copies of your bill payment before we can open your international roaming’. These were of course in my office which I had no access to until Monday morning, so I got rather pissed off.

After being connected to the supervisor (and some well placed words I might add), AIS kindly re-opened my ability to make international calls.

I’ve also had some good experience with Thai Airways. On a return trip to Sweden a few years back, I missed my connection flight from Stockholm to Gothenburg because our flight was delayed. To top it all off, my bags were nowhere to be seen when I finally made it to Gothenburg as they had mistakenly been sent to London! Being on the eve of Christmas, and all gifts for my family and friends being in the bag, I was not too pleased. The bags showed up 2 days later, but as I checked in for my return flight to Bangkok I was upgraded from economy to business class as a small compensation for the inconvenience caused.

[pnustedt]

I was flying Orient Thai out of DM last night. There were four lanes for the airline at checkout - three had "Tour Groups Only" sign up, the other ordinary passengers (me). As I approached the counter (half hour wait) I saw a cardboard sign saying "tour groups only". Sure enough when it was my turn the girl said that I was in the wrong queue. I replied that I wasn't, but that she was. She then pointed to her sign, I pointed to the airline sign and suggested that she move, take her sign with her, and get someone to serve me who was capable of doing so.

She then checked me in and issued me with my boarding pass

[Insight]

Once I had a problem with my new Nokia phone. Simple really - I installed something I shouldn't of installed on it, and it had crashed the OS. All what was needed was the memory blanked and the new firmware/OS uploaded. Relatively simple job, so I thought.

As the phone was still under warrenty I decided to take it to the local DTAC shop to get it mended, rather than risk voiding the warrenty by giving it to somebody at MBK.

Got to the shop, they said it'd take a week to fix. After asking them why, they said they didn't have the equipment needed to upload the new firmware. Fair enough, I thought, a week without my phone would be difficult, but at least it'd be fixed still under warrenty.

A week went by - I heard nothing. A girl who I worked with kindly called them to ask what was going on. They said they still didn't have the equipment and it'd take another 2 weeks to sort out! &lt;deleted&gt;? She told them I was flying back the UK in the next two days so I'd best take the phone from them and get it fixed myself there.

In the next few hours I arrived at the shop and asked for my phone back. They returned it to me with a new cover over the perspex display. Thinking this was a little strange, I decided to have a go and turn it on.

The phone was working - New OS installed and ready to go!

Now just what was that whole 1 week/2 weeks lark all about??? Of course, nobody in the shop could offer a clear explanation...

[Bangkok Barry]

Another little experience I've had recently. I have a JVC DVD recorder that records videos directly onto DVD in the same unit - easy, and good for transfering the old videos to 'new media'. After a month the video stopped working so I took it in to be fixed. Not only did it still not work when it was returned, but I now received a 'recorder needs cleaning' message. I guess they'd looked at the 'drums' inside that the tape runs over but hadn't bothered to clean their greasy fingermarks.

After I took it back it misbehaved a second time, and on my third visit the engineer spent several minutes looking at the instructions book, random pages, as if he had never seen one before, I had to show him where to plug in the cables, and he spent at least a minute trying to even open up a case holding a DVD he used to test the machine.

After several days they still have the machine. I have zero confidence it will be fixed anytime soon.

[wilko]

I complained to a travel agent in Soi 8 Pattaya about the sub standard hotel he'd booked me in Chiang Mai and he told me it was my fault for going to Chiang Mai!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[h90]

To write something positiv, not all is bad.

I brought broken HD back to Phantip place (shop: hardware house), the last ones after 2 year usage (there is a 3 year warranty): I always get the question whats the problem, I have two answers:

a) lost blocks

not start

they give me something to signature and give me a new HD no questions not troubles.....

[mrbojangles]

Another positive:- The place where i buy my authentic/original DVD's Always replace them if they don't work

Mr BoJ

[Jai Dee]

Another positive:- The place where i buy my authentic/original DVD's  Always replace them if they don't work 

Mr BoJ

You should post that one in the Pattaya Forum Mr BJ...

Another positive...

[mrbojangles]

Another positive:- The place where i buy my authentic/original DVD's  Always replace them if they don't work 

Mr BoJ

You should post that one in the Pattaya Forum Mr BJ...

Another positive...

will do JaiDee

[DJ Pat]

Big C are all right when you wanna change faulty stuff, though they will never refund you any cash differences if you take something cheaper, they will ask you to take the value of whatever the figure is in goods from the store.

Like a smaller scale trolley dash i suppose.

[astral]

Yea, I bought a HP Printer at a shop in Pantip, about 4,000bht.

The prints came out OK except the paper was damaged by the machine as it processed , the prints unusable.

Allright, so I have a bad machine and will exchange it. The service tech at the shop said they were having the same problem with that model and offered me a refund, minus the cost of 2 ink cartridges since I made a print!

Offered me about 1,500, take it or leave it!!

It should be legal, to be able to ring someones neck in these situations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you went to the wrong place.

Always take a product to the brand name service centre.

In your case HP. I am confident you would have got a repair or replacement printer, assuming

the machine is still under the guarantee.

[uncle paul]

cant find the original thread so ill put it here. its a reply from Thai Air

Dear Mr. ???

Thank you for your e-mail on 05th August 2005 regarding domestic ticket

fare.

We very much regret to learn of your dissatisfaction with domestic ticket

fare shown in the Bangkok Post Newspaper that THAI will increase the fare

only for foreigners.

We would like to take this opportunity to explain to you that , THAI no

currently have policy to increase the domestic ticket fare for both Thai or

foreigners. We truly regret for any misunderstanding caused to you in this

respect.

However, additional fuel surcharge will be implemented on all our domestic

flights at 355.- Baht for one-way ticket and 710.-Baht for round-trip

ticket accordingly with the ticket issue

as of 15 August 2005 onwards. We hope to receive your kind understanding

about the World Fuel Increment Crisis, thus affected our flight operation.

We assure that when fuel price situation returns to normal, THAI will

withdraw the fuel surcharge.

Thank you for taking the time to write. We assure you of our warm welcome

whenever you join us on board our Royal Orchid Service. Meanwhile, we send

you our best wishes.

Best Regards,

Thanida Saengsuwan

Customer Relations Service Officer

so i had to reply

"you do offer discounts to Thai people world wide and as you are aware this is illegal and I suggest you take steps to stop this practice before you find yourselves in court and having to deal with the publicity associated with these illegal practices!!!"

[mrbojangles]

so i had to reply

"you do offer discounts to Thai people world wide and as you are aware this is illegal and I suggest you take steps to stop this practice before you find yourselves in court and having to deal with the publicity associated with these illegal practices!!!"  

Any reply yet Uncle

[britmaveric]

Hmmm I'm quite confident - you won't get anywhere with that response!!!

[Pattayatony]

so i had to reply

"you do offer discounts to Thai people world wide and as you are aware this is illegal and I suggest you take steps to stop this practice before you find yourselves in court and having to deal with the publicity associated with these illegal practices!!!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Way to go Uncle! Stick it right up em!!!!!

[OldAsiaHand]

I've always thought that the explanation for the way Thai merchants treat their customers rests more on the Thai obsession with demonstrating relative status than it does on purely commercial explanations.

In the US, for example, the merchant wants the customer to think that he has the higher status ('the customer is always right' et al), even when he doesn't. That makes for a happy customer and a greater likelyhood that more products will be sold.

In Thailand, by contrast, the merchant usually makes it very clear that he has all the status ('Big 5% discount....') and the consumer has none. By definition, the merchant has the goods and the consumer wants them, so it's up to the consumer to bow down to the merchant in order to obtain what he wants.

A bit simplistic, I know, but there's still a good deal of truth in looking at the matter this way.

[worldwalker]

"Customer Satisfaction, Thai-style"

please move this to the jokes section.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yesterday I went to a hardware store, needing a wrench. They merchant didn't have and adjustable one for sale, just lots of wrenches of specific sizes. Not wanting to spend money just to complete a specific task, and muttering to myself how wacked it is for a hardware store not have an adjustable wrench, the guy offered to let me borrow his to get my task done.

Try finding that in the West.

Generally, I agree with the sentiments of other posters though....

[Simbo]

Yea, I bought a HP Printer at a shop in Pantip, about 4,000bht.

The prints came out OK except the paper was damaged by the machine as it processed , the prints unusable.

Allright, so I have a bad machine and will exchange it. The service tech at the shop said they were having the same problem with that model and offered me a refund, minus the cost of 2 ink cartridges since I made a print!

Offered me about 1,500, take it or leave it!!

It should be legal, to be able to ring someones neck in these situations.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have just bought an HP printer, desktop 3920. The paper has jammed on me a few times. Don't tell me I've bought a pig in a poke