Service Levels Going To The Dogs

[patrickinpattaya]

Never really experienced bad service anywhere in Pattaya. Got scammed in Bangkok on my first visit to Thailand but I suppose thats expected.

Peace

[lonewolf99]

Just to add my 2 sattangs worth....Service is appalling. Unless you go to the likes of Maggs or Shennanigans.

Black Canyon has gone down the pan. I walked out after 25 mins last week waiting for a small order of snack food both Thai meals for me and the GF. 2 tables down a young western lad got completeley the wrong meal he had asked for. Other people seemed to be in confused and debates took place about what they were served.

The GF has a friend that used to work for BC and she said that most of it is deep frozen ready meals that they have to defrost in the micro wave and then reheat / cook up.

This might explain why a bowl of Soup Fak Thong (Pumpkin) is about as hot as molten magma.

They also serve every thing ass backwards, A bowl of french fries, then the soup then the main course.

[rmicheald]

Service in Western restaurants has been like this in Thailand forever. If one wants to eat out at different restaurants, you just have to put up with it.

BULLSHIT. If the food isn't good... complain and DON'T PAY. If the service isn't good DON'T TIP. Maybe then they will get their heads out of their yabba pipes and do it right.

[pattayadingo]

Service in Western restaurants has been like this in Thailand forever. If one wants to eat out at different restaurants, you just have to put up with it.

BULLSHIT. If the food isn't good... complain and DON'T PAY. If the service isn't good DON'T TIP. Maybe then they will get their heads out of their yabba pipes and do it right.

+1

[Tolley]

I didn't mention the other two places In my first post but both of them were in central and while the staff weren't rude on both occasions someone's food was completely forgotten it surely can't be that hard to get it right

[Hooters]

I never have any problems because you have to expect warm beer or mismatched food orders.

You are very forgiving. I expect to get what I pay for.

7/11 can produce properly chilled beer for 30B so a bar should be able to do the same for 50 or 75 or 100 or whatever it is they charge.

And whilst I dont expect my local noodle stall to produce 10 dishes at exactly the same time for 30B each, I do expect places that charge 100 or 200 or 300 or more to pull their collective fingers out and get it right. That's why you pay more.

Many prices here are as high or higher than they would be in Europe, so there's no excuse.

nah was talking mom n pop thai places and the odd warm beer.

Avoid eating at farang style Irish and British pubs , there is something really wrong about paying $10 for a half chook n chips in Thailand unless you wanna play tourist.

[Jingthing]

I never have any problems because you have to expect warm beer or mismatched food orders.

You are very forgiving. I expect to get what I pay for.

7/11 can produce properly chilled beer for 30B so a bar should be able to do the same for 50 or 75 or 100 or whatever it is they charge.

And whilst I dont expect my local noodle stall to produce 10 dishes at exactly the same time for 30B each, I do expect places that charge 100 or 200 or 300 or more to pull their collective fingers out and get it right. That's why you pay more.

Many prices here are as high or higher than they would be in Europe, so there's no excuse.

nah was talking mom n pop thai places and the odd warm beer.

Avoid eating at farang style Irish and British pubs , there is something really wrong about paying $10 for a half chook n chips in Thailand unless you wanna play tourist.

Unless you want to eat a half chook or even two chooks, whatever a chook is. If I order a chook, what will they bring me?

[Hooters]

I never have any problems because you have to expect warm beer or mismatched food orders.

You are very forgiving. I expect to get what I pay for.

7/11 can produce properly chilled beer for 30B so a bar should be able to do the same for 50 or 75 or 100 or whatever it is they charge.

And whilst I dont expect my local noodle stall to produce 10 dishes at exactly the same time for 30B each, I do expect places that charge 100 or 200 or 300 or more to pull their collective fingers out and get it right. That's why you pay more.

Many prices here are as high or higher than they would be in Europe, so there's no excuse.

nah was talking mom n pop thai places and the odd warm beer.

Avoid eating at farang style Irish and British pubs , there is something really wrong about paying $10 for a half chook n chips in Thailand unless you wanna play tourist.

Unless you want to eat a half chook or even two chooks, whatever a chook is. If I order a chook, what will they bring me?

half a murdered bird

[Jingthing]

half a murdered bird

Please don't disrespect my supper. I like to think of it as suicide.

[lonewolf99]

Avoid eating at farang style Irish and British pubs , there is something really wrong about paying $10 for a half chook n chips in Thailand unless you wanna play tourist

For me playing the Tourist is not about food ??? Dragging a different "bird" out of a bar every night for your 14 days is.

Every one is entitled to eat a balanced diet and be given decent polite service. Sadly as the OP and others have found recently these attributes have gone down hill. When I came to Thailand 6 years ago I might have had "Rose tinted specs" but strangely service with a smile was always on the cards wherever I ate. Recently this is not the case. But as others have stated already "vote with your feet and wallet".

Thirty minutes is my max and I just walk. My Thai GF is of the same frame of mind. She did not adopt this from me but she knows what being polite is all about It is part of Thai culture and to be denied a meal and treated with contempt does not go down well.

[facey]

Sizzler never gets it wrong. Great salad bar. Give it a try.

[Jingthing]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Jingthing

[terrychris]

Some people seem to attract trouble where ever they go. A mate who recently returned to the UK because Thailand is crap has managed to get barred from, Gullivers ,soi8 bar and the little bar next to it.

All were due to walking out regularly because of warm beer or to much froth and what he considered bill padding (after 15 beers)

I never have any problems because you have to expect warm beer or mismatched food orders. Those that fight to the death over such matters really need to leave Thailand before stress related health issues arise,

Really............. I dont.......I expect better service..... there's too much competition

Edited January 3, 2012 by terrychris

[Darrel]

Yeah, Thailand really isn't cheap anymore, that's for sure. Even street food isn't really that cheap as the portion they give you is 1/3 of a western portion.

This is very true. These days you have to hunt for a place that gives a decent sized portion for a reasonable price and does it with something approaching a smile. They do still exist, and they are usually full of farangs like the no-name "tin cups" place on Soi Buakow.

[Darrel]

Sizzler never gets it wrong. Great salad bar. Give it a try.

Sizzler does have a good salad bar, and the price for salad is reasonable (though water is over the top, as usual). I always enjoy a meal there. Dont think I would ever bother with the main dishes though.

Of course one of the big attractions of a buffet is that you serve yourself, so you dont have to wait for slow service, or argue about whether they can alter a dish slightly. You just take what you want and if you dont like what you get you only have yourself to blame.

[doggie888888]

Service in Western restaurants has been like this in Thailand forever. If one wants to eat out at different restaurants, you just have to put up with it.

BULLSHIT. If the food isn't good... complain and DON'T PAY. If the service isn't good DON'T TIP. Maybe then they will get their heads out of their yabba pipes and do it right.

I agree completely. However, sometimes the problem is when the complainant has completely devoured the meal then decided to complain it was crap and consequently not pay. This happens more frequently than one might think. I think these sort of people expect restaurants to apply the mantra "the customer is always right" even to manipulative (cheap?) patrons.

[Rimmer]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

[highchol]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

always really thought deep down that you were polite

[highchol]

service related, hygiene issue. Last night went into a well known klang eatery / 24 hour western supermarket for a late night snack. Its completely open so you can observe the preperation and cooking process. Watched in dismay the food preperation, same knife, same plastic chopping board, chicken, followed by fish, then vegetables without so much as a wipe of the knife or board.

didnt have to wait long though

[Darrel]

The time to really worry is when they slice the bread on the same board.

[tropo]

Bit harsh - there is a good place at the top of soi 6/1 that does excellent breakfasts plus lunch / dinner etc - Tropical Berts - never had trouble with the service or quality of food there.

No, not really. I did not say you cannot find good food and service there, but I would suspect it could be difficult. It's not a place one would go to expecting a fine dining experience.

Soi 6 is the short time center of Pattaya.. There's probably a chance of picking up nasty microbes on the plates and cutlery too.

Edited January 4, 2012 by tropo

[tropo]

Service in Western restaurants has been like this in Thailand forever. If one wants to eat out at different restaurants, you just have to put up with it.

BULLSHIT. If the food isn't good... complain and DON'T PAY. If the service isn't good DON'T TIP. Maybe then they will get their heads out of their yabba pipes and do it right.

There's nothing you can do to improve food or service in a restaurant which caters primarily to a transient (tourist) crowd. You're wasting your time complaining and half the customers don't tip anyway.

[TheWalkingMan]

The timing of food deliveries is an issue at many places.

I was in a cafe and there was a couple already seated. I ordered scrambled eggs and toast and relaxed. The couple's order came in like this... The woman received her coffee item (not sure what it was as the staff used the machine to make). A minute or so later the man got his tea. A several minutes later the woman got her pasta dish and about 10 minutes later the man received his breakfast plate of toast, sunny side up eggs and bacon. These are easy dishes and I was surprised at how far off the timings were. It should have been an easy order to make and have delivered at the same time. It took about 30 minutes for me to receive my order which is really too long considering that there were only 2 orders in front of mine. It was tasty, but the delivery was slow.

[wpcoe]

"This morning went down to have breakfast in soi 7 and asked for srcrambled eggs with bacon and toast. Service lady says only cannot. Ask again then she says extra that is the all. Okay i say then meal comes out with scrambled eggs and two fried eggs <deleted>."

Come on you gotta admit this is funny.

You're right. It is.

I admit I got a chuckle out of it, too, but -- not trying to justify, but explain -- what *probably* happened was: the restaurant may have a "no substitution" policy for set menus like a breakfast and having little ability to explain that in English = "Cannot!" Then, not able to explain that you can add a side order of scrambled = "Extra." And, voila! the result is double eggs.

Could be, no?

[bergen]

"This morning went down to have breakfast in soi 7 and asked for srcrambled eggs with bacon and toast. Service lady says only cannot. Ask again then she says extra that is the all. Okay i say then meal comes out with scrambled eggs and two fried eggs <deleted>."

Come on you gotta admit this is funny.

You're right. It is.

I admit I got a chuckle out of it, too, but -- not trying to justify, but explain -- what *probably* happened was: the restaurant may have a "no substitution" policy for set menus like a breakfast and having little ability to explain that in English = "Cannot!" Then, not able to explain that you can add a side order of scrambled = "Extra." And, voila! the result is double eggs.

Could be, no?

Yes absolutely!

[londoedan]

Bit harsh - there is a good place at the top of soi 6/1 that does excellent breakfasts plus lunch / dinner etc - Tropical Berts - never had trouble with the service or quality of food there.

No, not really. I did not say you cannot find good food and service there, but I would suspect it could be difficult. It's not a place one would go to expecting a fine dining experience.

Soi 6 is the short time center of Pattaya.. There's probably a chance of picking up nasty microbes on the plates and cutlery too.

Well you might be right - but I for one will carry-on with my kipper breakfasts at T-Berts and then walk down Soi 6, on the way to the beach and a nice swim in the sea.

And on a minor technical point, there are not that many 'nasty' microbes that can survive too long away from the body.

Peace

[tropo]

Soi 6 is the short time center of Pattaya.. There's probably a chance of picking up nasty microbes on the plates and cutlery too.

Let's hope you're right. I think about it often, especially when eating at a food court. It's one of the main reasons I don't risk eating at roadside diners.

Surely there must be some reasons behind the restaurant dishwashing requirements in developed countries. Why can't restaurants wash dishes in buckets full of cold water back at home?

[Darrel]

.... I for one will carry-on with my kipper breakfasts at T-Berts .....

Mmm kippers. Please elaborate.

I dont mind waiting a while for good kippers.

[RabC]

.... I for one will carry-on with my kipper breakfasts at T-Berts .....

Mmm kippers. Please elaborate.

I dont mind waiting a while for good kippers.

I think its more than 99 baht so will be way out of your league.

[LennyW]

Soi 6 is the short time center of Pattaya.. There's probably a chance of picking up nasty microbes on the plates and cutlery too.

Let's hope you're right. I think about it often, especially when eating at a food court. It's one of the main reasons I don't risk eating at roadside diners.

Surely there must be some reasons behind the restaurant dishwashing requirements in developed countries. Why can't restaurants wash dishes in buckets full of cold water back at home?

Are you arguing with yourself Tropo??