Renting A Glass For Your Drink

[surayu]

I had a friend of mine, coming over from the EU, to see how was life here in the jungle.

Knowing how he's accustomised to all the comforts an easy life in EU can offer, to not to create an irreversible shock on him, i suggested him to use one of the more expansive establishment here in the region.

We went to the bar (not lady bar, just the drinks serving area of the place) to have some refreshments, the menu was noticeably expansive, but nowhere in it was mentioned this thing of the glass.

Once the bill came, we realize she "overcharged" roughly by 20%, so we did ask why, the answer was, because of the glass!

I wonder what the alternative would be if someone don't want to be charged for the "rent" of the glasses, will the barmaid pour every drinks directly inside the mouth of every customers? what are your views on this? it never happened to me (or my friend) in any of the countries we have visited.

This big place, it's also selling something, which is not what they advertise it is and after a few searches around, it came out that they build up their fortune doing something that prompted the police to arrest something like 158 people if i remember right, they then changed name and are currently still on business, a very succesfull and famous one that exports all over the world....

[toffo9]

never av i heard anything like that haha

[jackdawson]

this is precisely why i drink beer ; it comes in it's own glass.

[rickthailand]

i was in number 1 bar in chiang m,ai with a friend and he by accident broke a shot glass they tried to charge us

300 baht for the broken glass obviously we refused to pay it and left and never went back

rick

[outofoz]

Sounds like your friend got a perfect example of Thai pricing!

[Travel2003]

What bar is this?

[surayu]

It's the one located inside the hotel's lobby, oh and by the way, the welcome drink was rather disappointing too, they give you something which look like a miniature terracotta flower's pot, filled with some sort of green tea (?).

It was also interesting to see how the same drinks on the menu' we received, were costing more than doubles the price exposed on the small visible printed advertisement on top of the bar's table, also on the downstairs restaurant the prices were very noticeably over inflated, and i had the impression that our drinks were coming from there anyway, as the barmaid had to made a telephone call for them...

[Travel2003]

It's the one located inside the hotel's lobby, oh and by the way, the welcome drink was rather disappointing too, they give you something which look like a miniature terracotta flower's pot, filled with some sort of green tea (?).

It was also interesting to see how the same drinks on the menu' we received, were costing more than doubles the price exposed on the small visible printed advertisement on top of the bar's table, also on the downstairs restaurant the prices were very noticeably over inflated, and i had the impression that our drinks were coming from there anyway, as the barmaid had to made a telephone call for them...

Im sorry for being "slow" now, but again...what bar?

Or, what Hotel, and what city/place?

[GreenSnapper]

It's called 'service + tax', and I hate it everywhere, not only in thailand.

[Boater]

you sure this wasnt just a 20% service chrage? , very common in the more expensive places here

[IMA_FARANG]

In even the most posh establishments you will see a "service charge" on any itemised bill.

The purpose of that service charge is to cover the overhead of operating that establishment.

The customer has to pay for that overhead...there is no "free lunch".

"Charging for the glass" is just a less sophisticated term for that "service charge" that gets added on to your itemised bill in a posh establishment.

If you feel it is not fair I'm sure they would be willing to let you wash out your own glass, and several dozen others also at the same time instead of you paying that service charge.

After all, someone has to do the washup.

Edited July 4, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[thaihome]

Service charge is most often 10%, then 7% VAT is added to that. It comes to about 20% markup. Known as ++ in Asia.

TH

[WebBangkok]

I assume it was a 20% service change and the lady was just trying to explain what the service charge is.

- using the glasses

- service

- whatever else.

[Wallaby]

Service charges are a crock. If they want to put on a charge to cover glasses, washing up, employees wages, flowers, all incidentals, then serve the alcohol and food at cost price.

The price of the food and drinks are supposed to be worked out so that after all of the above the owners can make a profit.

I too drink beer but I suppose the next thing they'll do is want to charge for it to be opened.

Sounds a bit like airlines. Advertise a cheap price for a flight but if you want them to put actual fuel in the plane they hit you with a fuel surchage. It's a bloody joke.

[WebBangkok]

Service charges are a crock. If they want to put on a charge to cover glasses, washing up, employees wages, flowers, all incidentals, then serve the alcohol and food at cost price.

The price of the food and drinks are supposed to be worked out so that after all of the above the owners can make a profit.

I too drink beer but I suppose the next thing they'll do is want to charge for it to be opened.

Sounds a bit like airlines. Advertise a cheap price for a flight but if you want them to put actual fuel in the plane they hit you with a fuel surchage. It's a bloody joke.

Thats how you make money.... Especially at a hotel when a large majority will never go back to the same hotel.

[Ijustwannateach]

As others have mentioned, this is pretty much par for the course in the 'tourist world' here, along with prices for cocktails at 300B which would only be 30-50B based on bottle price in Thai places... clearly you're not paying for the drink, you're paying for the rent- same as the famous 300B cups of coffee in central city areas of Tokyo, Osaka, etc.

[ARISTIDE]

Plus the 7% VAT, I think its the 10% service charge meaning you don't have to leave the tip.

[bermondburi]

i was in number 1 bar in chiang m,ai with a friend and he by accident broke a shot glass they tried to charge us

300 baht for the broken glass obviously we refused to pay it and left and never went back

rick

phew ! I was in Country Road on soi 5 SKMV with my son playing pool and he broke a glass and they charged 40 baht. I though that was a bit steep. Remind me not to go Chiang Mai.

[surayu]

Ok. let's add a few more details, as a veeery suspecting person (you have no other choice given the environment we are in..), i kind of always browse the whole menu, giving more importance to the small prints, the smaller it is the more attention it gets from me, especially if it's on the last pages or somewhere kind of hidden.

There was something about a service & tax with a clear 10% mark, and then just under it but without spacing, i believe the same thing but on a different language, so i thought, in the worse of the cases, we will get a 20% flat rate on top of the listed prices.

I took a watermelon shake, which was 80 Baht, so that would make 96 Baht with another 20%, my friend, after that ridiculous welcome drink, ordered a coconut shake, whoever prepared the drinks probably wasn't impressed with this second choice, so he got served the classical coconut juice instead, directly inside the coconut with no glass.

The bill, consisted in the barmaid using a calculator and handwriting a quick 100 + 18 for each of us in the same piece of paper, ence the question arised....what was that 18 Bahts for? i can understand rounding up 96 to 100, but these people, ohhhhh.....

Prachinburi can hardly being described as a tourist hub, this place is between ricefields and industrial warehouses.

They are even selling a "Parma Ham Pizza" for 139 Bahts, knowing that they would spend at least 200 Bahts just for the topping, i was puzzled and ordered one, results: NO parma ham, complitely fake advertising, as they are using instead, some of the cheapest bacon available.....

[23423981]

It's the one located inside the hotel's lobby, oh and by the way, the welcome drink was rather disappointing too, they give you something which look like a miniature terracotta flower's pot, filled with some sort of green tea (?).

It was also interesting to see how the same drinks on the menu' we received, were costing more than doubles the price exposed on the small visible printed advertisement on top of the bar's table, also on the downstairs restaurant the prices were very noticeably over inflated, and i had the impression that our drinks were coming from there anyway, as the barmaid had to made a telephone call for them...

Im sorry for being "slow" now, but again...what bar?

Or, what Hotel, and what city/place?

I may be even "slower" than you are, but has Surayu answered your question yet?

[StreetCowboy]

It's the one located inside the hotel's lobby, oh and by the way, the welcome drink was rather disappointing too, they give you something which look like a miniature terracotta flower's pot, filled with some sort of green tea (?).

It was also interesting to see how the same drinks on the menu' we received, were costing more than doubles the price exposed on the small visible printed advertisement on top of the bar's table, also on the downstairs restaurant the prices were very noticeably over inflated, and i had the impression that our drinks were coming from there anyway, as the barmaid had to made a telephone call for them...

Im sorry for being "slow" now, but again...what bar?

Or, what Hotel, and what city/place?

I may be even "slower" than you are, but has Surayu answered your question yet?

Its enough to put you off drinking, almost.

I'm surprised at you using your prison number as a User Name. Isn't that bound to arouse the warders' suspicions?

SC