Rant - What Is Wrong With The Tent Shop People In Chaweng?

[BigC]

In almost every example, you were the person who was being rude.

I'd just adore an expansion of this.

I go into shop, say I'm only looking and the guy wanders off to watch TV. I ask how much and he says I'll tell you when you're buying. Then verbally abuses me when I tell him the guy next door is able to tell me this.

Another shop and the salesperson won't tell me the price. He has been trained to display this on a calculator and is unable to actually speak about the price.

Another shop and the salesperson states a price that is three times anywhere else, then, rather than discussing this in order to sell his own product, screams at me, follows me out yelling, and wont let me ride away.

Pray, do explain, just, in what aspects of my shopping, was I in any way rude? I am probably the least rude person you, even at your tender age, are ever likely to meet.I was trained at the tit to say please and thank you and open doors in front of Thai people who let them smack back into my face. I nod and bow automatically, even when it is not to my advantage to do so. I will even smile and say "please excuse me" before I hit someone - although I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for this now.

Other than to tell salespersons that there were not doing a very good job? (Without yelling, frothing, slavering, slavering, throwing things about, blocking the salesperson's egress, cursing about his origins, ethnicity, and options in his shopping choices? I call that rude.)

What's your definition?

Please, do tell. Can't wait to hear what you have to say. Though, on reflection, you're never going to find it in you to reply to this.

R

try going to home pro. you see a fridge for example. you see the price you ask a salesman to get you that fridge.

salesman says. you do not want that fridge you want this, 1

i would ask why. so he give me his reason i say fair enough and say ok i shall have this one.

he goes away and tells me that they do not have the fridge that he offered me in stock.

so i ask when are you going to have 1 in stock.

he tell me never they stop making it.

great back to the other fridge. that one is not in stock only show.

patients.

So what fridges are in stock and on show.

all the ones that i do not want. infact not even that many.

televisons don't get me started you walk into that sony samsung shop what ever it is opposit tescos more or less and you can make saleman stand up and sit down by corssing over the boundaries. it is quality i could do it all day.

you walk in all the tv salesman stand up and stalk you then you walk into the washing machine section tv salesman walk away anfd the washing machine salesman stand up then you walk back again and the tv people stand up then back to the washin machine section tv sit down washin machine stand up. stand up sit dow stand up sit down oh yes . the simplel things.

[robsamui]

In almost every example, you were the person who was being rude.

I'd just adore an expansion of this.

I go into shop, say I'm only looking and the guy wanders off to watch TV. I ask how much and he says I'll tell you when you're buying. Then verbally abuses me when I tell him the guy next door is able to tell me this.

Another shop and the salesperson won't tell me the price. He has been trained to display this on a calculator and is unable to actually speak about the price.

Another shop and the salesperson states a price that is three times anywhere else, then, rather than discussing this in order to sell his own product, screams at me, follows me out yelling, and wont let me ride away.

Pray, do explain, just, in what aspects of my shopping, was I in any way rude? I am probably the least rude person you, even at your tender age, are ever likely to meet.I was trained at the tit to say please and thank you and open doors in front of Thai people who let them smack back into my face. I nod and bow automatically, even when it is not to my advantage to do so. I will even smile and say "please excuse me" before I hit someone - although I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for this now.

Other than to tell salespersons that there were not doing a very good job? (Without yelling, frothing, slavering, slavering, throwing things about, blocking the salesperson's egress, cursing about his origins, ethnicity, and options in his shopping choices? I call that rude.)

What's your definition?

Please, do tell. Can't wait to hear what you have to say. Though, on reflection, you're never going to find it in you to reply to this.

R

try going to home pro. you see a fridge for example. you see the price you ask a salesman to get you that fridge.

salesman says. you do not want that fridge you want this, 1

i would ask why. so he give me his reason i say fair enough and say ok i shall have this one.

he goes away and tells me that they do not have the fridge that he offered me in stock.

so i ask when are you going to have 1 in stock.

he tell me never they stop making it.

great back to the other fridge. that one is not in stock only show.

patients.

So what fridges are in stock and on show.

all the ones that i do not want. infact not even that many.

televisons don't get me started you walk into that sony samsung shop what ever it is opposit tescos more or less and you can make saleman stand up and sit down by corssing over the boundaries. it is quality i could do it all day.

you walk in all the tv salesman stand up and stalk you then you walk into the washing machine section tv salesman walk away anfd the washing machine salesman stand up then you walk back again and the tv people stand up then back to the washin machine section tv sit down washin machine stand up. stand up sit dow stand up sit down oh yes . the simplel things.

Big Person, One day I will get to meet you.

But I never, ever want to go shopping with you. OK?

R

Edited May 30, 2012 by robsamui

[BigC]

Hey - Beachyman and Ydraw is the same guy! Check the profiles!

That's why they share the same bad grammar and spelling mistakes. And points of view.

R

wouldn't suprise me when i said one born every minute. that means 1 would be sad enough to make loads of accounts to fake a friend ship of fake ally's

[robsamui]

Hey - Beachyman and Ydraw is the same guy! Check the profiles!

That's why they share the same bad grammar and spelling mistakes. And points of view.

R

wouldn't suprise me when i said one born every minute. that means 1 would be sad enough to make loads of accounts to fake a friend ship of fake ally's

What I said . . . but you couldn't do it.

You have your own special style . . .

R

Edited May 30, 2012 by robsamui

[BigC]

i have been kicked out of shops in Bangkok for asking and looking at too many things without buying but i thought that was what acustomer was supposed to do. look at the product have it explained then the customer can make a disssion. i was told that they shall only explain what the product does and how it works if i buy it.

crazy. so i have to buy something to look at it.

anyway someone else from any branch told me that they have many forangs just look at stuff with no intesion of buying . welll my point is that is the shop keepers job to promote stuff. show people stuff and try to sell the item. the funny thing was that i had every intesion of buying nearly everything i looked at but i wanted to get everything together and round it up into pone price. which i did in another shop.

the joys of dealing with un educated people.

they might awaell just set up a shop say give me your money or piss off.

\

No looking

no buying

cash only

[robsamui]

i have been kicked out of shops in Bangkok for asking and looking at too many things without buying but i thought that was what acustomer was supposed to do. look at the product have it explained then the customer can make a disssion. i was told that they shall only explain what the product does and how it works if i buy it.

crazy. so i have to buy something to look at it.

anyway someone else from any branch told me that they have many forangs just look at stuff with no intesion of buying . welll my point is that is the shop keepers job to promote stuff. show people stuff and try to sell the item. the funny thing was that i had every intesion of buying nearly everything i looked at but i wanted to get everything together and round it up into pone price. which i did in another shop.

the joys of dealing with un educated people.

they might awaell just set up a shop say give me your money or piss off.

\

No looking

no buying

cash only

Not talking about Thai people here.

But you are right. So many people in this country (wherever they come from) seem to think a customer just has to hand over money on the spot, not talk, not compare items. Just pay or you are no use bye bye.

The end of this story isn't that I'll go shopping in Nathon instead. No - I'll go back the the one person out of 6 who was professional enough (!!) to actually talk to me, gave me a price without the calculator, and it was a good price. And I will do this in Chaweng. Might even buy several other things there, too. Maybe spend 8 or 10K on presents. If he's not rude to me, that is . . . or am I being childish and having a tantrum about it?

R

Edited May 30, 2012 by robsamui

[ydraw]

He wrote the price on a calculator but since your a princess you needed him to say it to you. Dude, he deals with people who don't speak english as a primary language every day. DUDE - he speaks with people everyday who's only common language IS English. If we have been chatting in English for 3 or 4 minutes first - why the calculator? The calculator doesn't lie so there is no arguments afterward about "you said 100" not "1000". Utter <deleted>.

Perhaps then you should have conducted the transaction in your fluent Thai? No?

There's nothing more ignorant and rude than people who criticise the 2nd language of others. The reason Thais (and anyone else in Asia) use a calculator to tell you the price is because their English language ability is not strong enough to pronounce large numbers in English on the spot. Do you even know the Thai word for thousand? Million? Now tell me in Thai what 1,350,000 is. No? Now you understand why people use calculators.

In the last example you get mad because some girl high balls you on the price that you have been dying to get. Come again? 2,500 is first price up the road. Means that the bottom line is 1,500 - 1,900 baht. How trained do you need to be to NOT start at 600% profit? Genius, that's parts of negotiation. In this case a very bad part of it.

Regardless of whether or not you think the price is too high, that doesn't mean you had to give a sarcastic response like you did. Thais do not like sarcasm. Again, it was you who was being rude, the shopkeeper was simply opening negotiations.

Excuse me - when did I rant? Did I have a tantrum? All I did was laugh when someone offered me a 1,500 baht bag for 6,000 baht. Wasn't me that ran round on the road yelling and frothing!

Seriously? The title of this thread is "Rant".

Throughout the entire story you treated the shopkeepers like they were your servants and basically carried on like a child. Shopkeepers anywhere in the world aren't going to waste their time with people who outright tell them they aren't going to buy anything and are just there to waste their time.

In conclusion, grow up.

[ydraw]

you sound like the perfect mug that these shop owners are looking for. people like you keep these rude <deleted> in business.

It's entirely possible to decline to buy something without being rude. The original poster couldn't manage it though, he carried on with his passive-aggressive tantrum throughout the entire shopping trip.

Hey - Beachyman and Ydraw is the same guy! Check the profiles!

That's why they share the same bad grammar and spelling mistakes. And points of view.

I invite you to produce a single spelling or grammar mistake in any of my posts in the last 2 years.

[BangrakBob]

haha that was funny, cheers Rob.

Yes Nathon for sure, I know there are lots of bag shops there but there is one particular shop i've used and the quality, price and service was great and the bag has done some serious service on a weekly basis. If you come on to the beach road from Honda heading north towards Nathon Pier, it's on the second street on turning right and it is the first bag shop on the right, run by a nice Thai family. Not sure if it's the second or first street now...erm it's not the one where there is few small massage parlors down it, it is the next street up.

ERM . . . chuckle - what?

Honda, north, pier. Second street turning - hold on, too many Changs happening here . . . Begin outside the Yamaha shop in the Middle Road, as that's where I GLEAN it might be. With my back to the shop I can go left up/down the Middle Road. And then I go . . . .

Do you perchance mean to refer to the "arcade" that's more or less opposite the Government building . . . ? (Buy you a beer if you can direct me . . . )

R

haha yeah just read that again....ok if you are coming from the north and you hit Nathon town, the government building is on your left and the street becomes one-way and there is a right hand turn available, not there. Keep heading along and it is the first street on your right, follow it down to the beachfront and it is the last bag shop on your left.

Bob - just got to have a beer with you one day (but it seems you'll be buying.) You give directions like a girl.

Not possible to follow what you say - will walk around and find a nice-person bag shop!

Ta anyway!

R

this makes perfect sense to me....2 strawberry daiquiris coming up

[robsamui]

He wrote the price on a calculator but since your a princess you needed him to say it to you. Dude, he deals with people who don't speak english as a primary language every day. DUDE - he speaks with people everyday who's only common language IS English. If we have been chatting in English for 3 or 4 minutes first - why the calculator? The calculator doesn't lie so there is no arguments afterward about "you said 100" not "1000". Utter <deleted>.

Perhaps then you should have conducted the transaction in your fluent Thai? No?

There's nothing more ignorant and rude than people who criticise the 2nd language of others. The reason Thais (and anyone else in Asia) use a calculator to tell you the price is because their English language ability is not strong enough to pronounce large numbers in English on the spot. Do you even know the Thai word for thousand? Million? Now tell me in Thai what 1,350,000 is. No? Now you understand why people use calculators.

In the last example you get mad because some girl high balls you on the price that you have been dying to get. Come again? 2,500 is first price up the road. Means that the bottom line is 1,500 - 1,900 baht. How trained do you need to be to NOT start at 600% profit? Genius, that's parts of negotiation. In this case a very bad part of it.

Regardless of whether or not you think the price is too high, that doesn't mean you had to give a sarcastic response like you did. Thais do not like sarcasm. Again, it was you who was being rude, the shopkeeper was simply opening negotiations.

Excuse me - when did I rant? Did I have a tantrum? All I did was laugh when someone offered me a 1,500 baht bag for 6,000 baht. Wasn't me that ran round on the road yelling and frothing!

Seriously? The title of this thread is "Rant".

Throughout the entire story you treated the shopkeepers like they were your servants and basically carried on like a child. Shopkeepers anywhere in the world aren't going to waste their time with people who outright tell them they aren't going to buy anything and are just there to waste their time.

In conclusion, grow up.

You make me smile. What's the Thai language got to do with anything?

It shows that you haven't read what I have written. nor do you understand what a rant is.

None of the people were Thais.

R

[evadgib]

Chaweng: Where Taxis hail the punter & people get thrown in to pubs:)

Edited May 31, 2012 by evadgib

[insertmembernamehere]

There is a luggage shop just past the checkout at Tesco Lamai. I think the prices are not bargain basement but on inspection, the goods seem decent. And the staff are human.

[PoorSucker]

I don't mean to be cheeky , but do they have a McD on Ko Samui ?

Two, or so I hear. This the original.

http://www.geosamui....donalds-map.php

R

Three, two in Chaweng one in Lamai.

[robsamui]

There is a luggage shop just past the checkout at Tesco Lamai. I think the prices are not bargain basement but on inspection, the goods seem decent. And the staff are human.

R

[Rockit]

Living here long, I don't see a reason to buy overprized, crappy copy stuff. I usually try to avoid to walk on Chaweng Beach road. It's just too annoying. I prefer to shop at Tesco or in BKK, where everything got a pricetag.

The clothes in Tesco are not that bad as I would expect and most important: hasslefree shopping.

If you need a bag/trolley, try the shop in Lotus Lamai or the shoe shop in Chaweng (Findig).

[Rooo]

Half the price in KL, the MRS checked them out. On your way off you go.

[robsamui]

Half the price in KL, the MRS checked them out. On your way off you go.

Sound in principle. But wrong direction, wouldn't be stopping long enough to shop anyway and not sure if "but I'm going to buy luggage in KL" would persuade the check-in staff to OK all my stuff in black garbage bags till I get there.

Saga now completed due to trip to Nathon.

Bangrak Bob really gives directions like a girl (you listnin Bob?) as to get to the luggage shop in Nathon read: "enter the Middle Road from the Pier end and its in the 2nd alleyway on the left". (As opposed to If you come on to the beach road from Honda heading north towards Nathon Pier, it's on the second street on turning right and it is the first bag shop on the right.)

And the final countdown?

Delightfully pleasant people in both the luggage shops (there's another one opposite Tesco) - I told them that I just wanted to look and they both heaved cases out regardless and helped me measure and poke them about and waggle handles and zips, extolling the individual virtues of each as we went - just like real salespeople. It might be also worth reflecting that these people were not only located in Nathon but also were both Thai, rather than dusky and rudely mustachioed. Also there was no sign whatsoever of the calculator-in-the-face and sudden loss of speech at price time - most pleasant.

The same Samson-thing bag as sought in Chaweng was the same starting price in one shop (2,500B) and 3,000 in the other. So to compensate both sets of folks I finally got this Samson-thing 4-wheeler for eventually 1,700B in the cheaper of the two shops. Then trotted back to the other shop and spent another 1,200B on matching cabin luggage - dinky, eh? (But KLM has an additional 10 kilos allowance with hand luggage on top of the check-in bag . . .)

Sorted. And, also, it didn't rain.

R

Edited June 3, 2012 by robsamui

[Rooo]

Glad you are not taking the black garbage bags, you can still use them as a rain coat.

[ydraw]

It might be also worth reflecting that these people were not only located in Nathon but also were both Thai, rather than dusky and rudely mustachioed.

Stay Classy, Rob.

[Trapper]

Kwality thread this, haven't laughed so hard in....well prolly since yesterday, no matter.

Pleased you got your bag Rob, eventually.

Say, you are not going out to buy a suit are you?

Would love to here how that goes.

[insertmembernamehere]

Perhaps then you should have conducted the transaction in your fluent Thai? No?

There's nothing more ignorant and rude than people who criticise the 2nd language of others. The reason Thais (and anyone else in Asia) use a calculator to tell you the price is because their English language ability is not strong enough to pronounce large numbers in English on the spot. Do you even know the Thai word for thousand? Million? Now tell me in Thai what 1,350,000 is. No? Now you understand why people use calculators.

First you say it's to avoid confusion between "100 and 1,000 baht." Now it's about the ability to speak English as a second language. . .

You are just being argumentative here. We all know these guys can speak English fairly well, and certainly well enough to do their business. And why would a vendor in Chaweng need to quote a price of 1.35 million baht? Is this the famous Faberge jewel-encrusted hand luggage I have been hearing so much about in the Robb Report?

I do take the point about not looking at the calculator, but to be honest, I have done the same thing. I speak English, they speak English, no need for sign language. Or do you suggest that we should carry a pad and paper and instead of communicating with spoken words, we should take the pad and write, like a mute, "That's too expensive," and then show it to the vendor? Wouldn't want them to be confused with the language now, would we?

Hey - Beachyman and Ydraw is the same guy! Check the profiles!

If true, that's an automatic bounce, isn't it?

By the way, how did you get Rowan Atkinson to hold up your new bag?

[ydraw]

Hey - Beachyman and Ydraw is the same guy! Check the profiles!

If true, that's an automatic bounce, isn't it?

Lots of conspiracy theorists here, typically coming to the defense of a racist.

Edited June 5, 2012 by ydraw

[Tropicalevo]

Kwality thread this, haven't laughed so hard in....well prolly since yesterday, no matter.

Pleased you got your bag Rob, eventually.

Say, you are not going out to buy a suit are you?

Would love to here how that goes.

AND I really do think that you should take Big C with you (in spite of your comment about it).

[insertmembernamehere]

Racist? I don't think belligerent shopkeepers are an ethnic group, are they? Thai, Burmese, Indian, Sri Lankan, whatever. Raving at a customer and following him out of a shop venting condemnations is not about a people; it's about an attitude. Even if the OP was being a pill by insisting that the shopkeepers speak to him regarding price and ignoring the proffered calculator, what he has written regarding his behavior does not even begin to touch the tipping point for a vendor to "lose it."

It would be very difficult in the West to get reactions like these from sales people under almost any circumstances. "The customer is always right," might be cliche, but it is fundamentally correct. Lambasting a customer for basically doing what customers do -- compare prices, quality and shop around -- is irrefragably bad and uncalled for behavior.

And this is not cultural miscommunication, either. These sellers know what the score is; they know what they are doing. Yelling at a customer for no valid reason is not acceptable in any cultural framework.

[ydraw]

Racist? I don't think belligerent shopkeepers are an ethnic group, are they?

No, they aren't. However, Rob made a point of identifying the ethnic group that he had a problem with. Not coincidentally the same ethnic group that you'll hear many British Expats complaining about.

And this is not cultural miscommunication, either. These sellers know what the score is; they know what they are doing. Yelling at a customer for no valid reason is not acceptable in any cultural framework.

I think they had quite valid reasons. He was rude by his own admission, and probably rude in a racist way that he isn't telling us about, given his later remarks.

Edited June 5, 2012 by ydraw

[insertmembernamehere]

If by racist you mean generalizing the behaviors of a particular group in a negative way, then you owe the British an apology for saying, "Rob made a point of identifying the ethnic group that he had a problem with. Not coincidentally the same ethnic group that you'll hear many British Expats complaining about."

So "many British expats (sic)" -- not coincidentally -- complain about a certain ethnic group, do they? Sounds a little racist, doesn't it?

Oh, and sorry but "expat" is never capitalized within a sentence. Your first-ever grammar/spelling/writing mistake ever. Bummer....

[ydraw]

You're really clutching at straws now.

[insertmembernamehere]

You created a straw man position, not me.

I think these fellows get testy when they sense that someone is not going to be a normal "pushover" tourist type. I do think they have a special skill at identifying potential buyers from those who they think might be more window shopping than anything else. I also think they are bored most of the time and sidelined in society (and self isolated as well -- ever seen any of these vendors in a restaurant or pub of any kind?), hence the occasional need to puff out their chest, show someone who is boss and who is in control here, in their mind.

Whatever the psychological underpinnings, the haughty and rude behavior of some vendors is inexcusable.

[ydraw]

In case you forgot, Rob got mad because they showed him the price on a calculator instead of speaking it. Later, he deliberately provoked them. Then he made it clear he didn't like them because of their ethnicity.

Yet you still believe it's the vendors' fault in the absence of any evidence other than Rob's say so.

Nothing I write would convince you, you have already made up your mind.

Edited June 8, 2012 by ydraw

[koheesti]

I HATE LOATH AND DETEST people who speak perfect English and then when you ask the price print it on a giant calculator and wave it in your face. What is wrong with these people? Is it some kind of obscure Asian business principle?

I was told when you do the calculator ritual, that you should also use it. They show you a price, you then take the calculator, start pressing the buttons like mad as if you are doing some complex calculation, then finally just type in the number you want to pay and show it to them.

Also, when they use the calculator, there is no misunderstanding and more importantly, other buyers can't hear the price you are getting. I went to buy sandals at this place on the beach road, where a few months prior I got a decent price (for me anyway). The tiny shop was crowded with tourists and I asked the sales lady how much. She give me a crazy high tourist price of around 1000 baht. I said, "Last time I paid 260" and she immediately said, "OK!". I had never had that happen before and I think it was because she figured out I wasn't a short time tourist who would pay a crazy price and she didn't want to haggle where the tourists could hear. So she was satisfied to take my money, get me out of the shop as fast as possible and be happy with only a 300% profit.

Edited June 8, 2012 by koheesti