oh dear, things are so bad in the land of smiles.....never mind my friends, I have a little story for you

I went to the baker shop for my husband, and asked if they have any rolls. The girl did not know, so got the supervisor. "what rolls you want, hard or soft?" she demanded.

Oh, soft is fine, I said. "dont have" she replied.

oh, alright, I will have the hard. "dont have" she replied

good eh?

Went to the local night market for dinner the other night to by my weekly fix of fried chicken and sticky rice. The pretty young girl gave me the usual "ao arai cah", and in my poor Thai I asked for two pieces of chicken with rice cup.

As I was asking for my food the now not so lovely Thai girl proceeded to pick her nose right up to the third knuckle for a while, then without hesitation, washing her hands or using any tongs, she picked up the chicken, put it in a plastic bag and handed it over the counter.

"Kor tote cup, pom mai hue!", I follwed.

Shopping at Pantip for a USB TV Tuner last week. I knew that they wouldn't accept returns (TIT), so I brought my laptop to test out the unit and make sure it works.

(my laptop only has USB 1.1; all the boxes are marked USB 2.0)

Had a thai girl with me, and she conducted most of the conversation.

At one shop, the interchange went as follows:

Can I test it out before buying? "No."

Can I return it if it doesn't work? "Sure, you can return it for a replacement."

Ahh, but what if it doesn't work with my computer - I need to test it. "Ok, ok, but you have to agree to purchase it if it works." (they didn't have a demo unit running, as with some other stores)

I wouldn't agree to a definite purchase, as it may not be be of sufficient quality even if it "works." So they refused to let me test it. And I thus refused to buy it.

I later purchased a unit at a different store; the staff readily agreed to test it on my laptop, with (apparently) no conditions: P Care Computer - 4th floor of Pantip. Baht 1690.

Unit worked great in the store, and works great now.

even though there is many (too many) occasions where thai customer service does not exist (nobody ever heard of that.....blabla) I got good experience too: forgot my electric shaver cable back homeand had to wait way too long for postal delivery. No chance to buy an extra cable somewhere Bkk but - after intensified research and the thankful help of some small thai shop owners - I got the european wholesale dealers address - and - surprisingly - the thai staff was more than happy to help me out with ...."free recharging service any time I wish to come....".

No question whatever if I was ready to buy any other product from them.

Got my shaver recharged 4 times until my cable finally arrived.

When I tried to tip the staff they denied.

Perfect service indeed!

eeerm...maybe I also have to mention that the company runs under european managment which could be the reason why customer service has got a different meaning

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!!!!!!

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.....and then ask you to come back tomorrow