Shoppers Have No Consumer Protection In Thailand!

[arkom]

Went to Villa Market to buy some chips, price on shelf was clearly marked 115 THB. At checkout it came up at 155 THB, told the manager about the error and I went with him to show him the marked price. He simply said they forgot to change the label and I wanted to buy it I would have to pay the 155 THB. I even pointed out the sign they had that said they will give the product for free it is priced wrong, he simply refused to honor it. I was pissed at his reply I ended up calling the HQ to complain, they apologized and told me that I should have gotten them for free and asked to speak with the manger. In the end got it for free.

Edited February 19, 2013 by arkom

[Sandman77]

I think everywhere same in the world!

I saw a report on tv that us supermarket chains make millions of money , show the wrong price!

In the eu you must check your supermarket bill imidiatly then you got the money back!

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[Sandman77]

http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/ConsumerProtecting-law.html

So the law still here somewhere!

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[lemoncake]

http://www.thailawfo...ecting-law.html

So the law still here somewhere!

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there may well be a great law, HOWEVER, are you willing to waste money on lawyer to go to court over few hundred baht?

Even for larger sums of money, you will spend half of what you will get back, IF you ever will

[Phronesis]

CAVEAT EMPTOR

I have NEVER had a bad shopping experience.

Because I always inspect the goods very very closely before purchasing...

They must be firm but subtle to touch, pleasant to smell, and absolutely, unequivocally, free from hail damage...

[bonobo]

I bought a liter of Pepsi Max on Sunday at a small shop to have with my meal. I took one taste and almost spit it out. It was pretty bad. I looked at the cap and on it was printed an expiration date of October.

I figured nothing would happen, but as I still needed a drink, and there was a 7-11 next to the shop, I showed the girl at the counter the cap. To my surprise, she immediately took the 25 baht out of the drawer and gave it to me.

I ended up buying two cans of Coke Zero for 28 baht from her.

[barky]

Oftentimes wondered if its really the sales policies, or the lack of well spoken Thai language, that cause many of these problems.

In a small part yes. But, by in large, most are just dumb as*es. And, you cant fix dumb.

[KKvampire]

Today I took a rice cooker back to Big C Rajadamri Bkk.It “packed up “ after 2 months.I had no manufacturer guarantee with the item just the receipt fromBig C .

Customer service had no interest whatsoever in this faulty item,

informing me I had a 10 day warranty on any electrical goods bought there.They sold an item without a manufacturer warranty surely if thats the case the retailer must accept responsibilty for goods failing after 2 months?

When are Thais going to stand up and say “No More“? or is the subservient attitude going to continue to be taken advantage of by major retailers such as the likes of Big C.

Edited February 19, 2013 by KKvampire

[petedk]

Went to Villa Market to buy some chips, price on shelf was clearly marked 115 THB. At checkout it came up at 155 THB, told the manager about the error and I went with him to show him the marked price. He simply said they forgot to change the label and I wanted to buy it I would have to pay the 155 THB. I even pointed out the sign they had that said they will give the product for free it is priced wrong, he simply refused to honor it. I was pissed at his reply I ended up calling the HQ to complain, they apologized and told me that I should have gotten them for free and asked to speak with the manger. In the end got it for free.

This often happens at Villa. I sometimes think they put a wrong price tag on the goods hoping that the customer will never notice.

Sometimes they put the wrong price tags on and we (my girlfriend mainly) have complained like hell. Usually she keeps on at them until we get the refund. We have never received the goods for free.

Sometimes where there has been a big difference between advertised price and check out price (say more than 50 baht) they will only allow us to buy one piece at the advertised price. Apparently the staff have to pay the difference out of their own pocket.

[phuturatica]

I don't think it's a scam at all. If the bar code says a certain price then you are eligible to pay that price by rights. In the UK they may give you the item at the lower price but it's only to keep the customer happy. I don't think it's actually the law.

[dave111223]

When are Thais going to stand up and say “No More“? or is the subservient attitude going to continue to be taken advantage of by major retailers such as the likes of Big C.

When they are ready to pay the extra XX% to cover the extra cost of better warranty and after sales service. You get what you pay for.

[klubex99]

I don't recall being wrongly charged for anything. But I have had a few run ins with buying in Thailand and coming up against resistance when complaining.

I bought a 52 inch Samsung TV from HomePro 2 years ago. I specifically chose it for the USB socket to watch AVIs straight from flash drive. I checked it out the next day and the USB wasn't reading. So we called up HomePro and they fobbed us off saying we had to return it to the manufacturer, which I knew was BS because they have a clear 7 day return to store policy. I got my wife to call them back and tell them that I would be down there in an hour with the TV and if they did not swap it or refund us, I would smash it up outside the store in protest while my wife records it on the camcorder and then post it all over the internet and email the links to their bosses and the HP head offices. (I actually read about someone doing this). The girl on the phone said there were no others so we couldn't swap and instead they would send it down to BKK to be repaired, may take 2 weeks. So we took it to the shop to have it out with them there, and my wife walked over to where we got the TV and noticed half a dozen sat there all boxed and new, my wife made a right scene and we were eventually given a replacement (which works).

Next, I bought a brand new Ford Focus, and before we left the showroom, the wife asked what octane fuel to put in it, the ford staff member said 91, I filled her up at the PTT and set of for a drive, within 15 minutes the engine started 'hunting' whenever we pulled up to traffic lights or the car was not in motion. It would pulse up and down between about 700 and 1400 rpm every 2 seconds or so.

My wife called Ford and the assistant told us "It is supposed to do that"... Erm... <deleted>? Of course it isn't, its a brand new car and it is under warranty and is coming straight back. We took it straight back and they got a mechanic to look at it. He said to my wife that they all do that when new and will stop doing it after about 500 KM... <deleted>?... I refused to accept that of course and I asked what fuel should be in it and he said 95. We said we were told to use 91, it all became obvious, but it just showed how they tried to fob us off with BS thinking we were stupid.

They drained it out and purged the engine with 95 and put in 500 baht worth in the tank and had the cheek to charge us for the fuel, even though we lost 1500 baht worth due to their incompetence. Car was all fine again..... 15 minutes later, engine starts hunting again. Calls Ford, same girl... It is suppose to do that.... No it's not... yes it is.... no its not. This time I am ready to explode and the girl can clearly hear me ranting in the background. So the wife took me home and went to drive the car back to Ford (again). Then I set about emailing Ford in BKK, Phillipines where it was made and the USA, as well as the actual dealership in Korat to complain about the dreadful experience, service and customer support on a car literally hours old. I threatened to smash it up outside the dealership and get it on camera and post it all over facebook, Pantip.com, sanook all the big web boards and get it viral if they didn't sort out the BS. Then phoned the wife to tell her what was happening and she knows I mean it.

Anyway, wife relays the message to Ford staff.... Everything changes, they will not repair it, but return it to Phils.. We can have a brand new replacement in 2 days. Wife tells me the news, I tell her that I am not sure I want a Ford any more. Wife tells staff, and dealership owner personally apologizes to me, and explains that the factory only quality inspects 1 in every 25 cars. Can you believe that? Its an 800K car not a 500 baht toaster.

Well we got the new car as promised and the dealership owner handed me the QI sheet and said we made sure they gave you one of the inspected ones..... We got a few goody bags.

Next but a lot less serious, I bought a CP hotdog in a bun from 7/11 last week, and when opened up, it looked like it had done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, compared to the beautiful plump and perfect picture on the wrapper, so I laid it next to the picture and took a photo and posted it on CPs facebook page and the wife tagged a lot of friends in the picture and it started to go a bit viral with lots of likes and comments. We did it more out of mischief rather than protest... just a bit of a laugh. But CP mailed the wife through facebook apologizing and asked her for our address so they can send us some vouchers. My wife thanked them.

Moral of the story....

The big companies in Thailand and the same with any country are very sensitive about PR and they don't like their bad practices or their innocent flaws even, being exposed on the internet. They also don't like emails flying over their heads to the higher echelons in their company.

Something to bear in mind if a big company ever pisses you off.

Sorry about the long post.

[joepattaya1961]

The funniest thing ever occurred was a case with "2 cheaper than one".

Bought a 2-pack of orange juice; the two packs of orange juice were packed in a transparent plastic carry bag @ THB 121

Passing the shelf where 2 single packs were displayed, I noticed a price of THB 56.

I called over a staff member and asked "Why?"

Of course, there was the famous: "Mai roo!", so I put back the 2-pack and took 2 single packs. The staff member stayed behind with a puzzled look on her face.

Thailand has Consumer Protection Laws, but most important: Thai also hate to loose face. As soon as you complain about something, they will do everything possible to keep their face, even if it is going to cost clientele.

[KKvampire]

The funniest thing ever occurred was a case with "2 cheaper than one".

Bought a 2-pack of orange juice; the two packs of orange juice were packed in a transparent plastic carry bag @ THB 121

Passing the shelf where 2 single packs were displayed, I noticed a price of THB 56.

I called over a staff member and asked "Why?"

Of course, there was the famous: "Mai roo!", so I put back the 2-pack and took 2 single packs. The staff member stayed behind with a puzzled look on her face.

Thailand has Consumer Protection Laws, but most important: Thai also hate to loose face. As soon as you complain about something, they will do everything possible to keep their face, even if it is going to cost clientele.

Many Thais actually believe the company/corporation is more important than the service/product it is selling.To the extent that a customer is really pretty insignificant after they have paid and "we have your money" The same attitude as street sellers but in a nicely decorated building.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Tops and Big C have a policy of giving you the item free if you catch them charging more at the till than the display price. However it takes a bit of doing to get them to abide by it. We have had quite a lot of free stuff, including beer. Tops often has stuff cheaper on the till than on the shelves. All the big shops seem to find updating prices a challenge.

Villa Markets have the same policy (free item if the customer is mischarged). And I've have the same result at Tops markets too.

The key is...you really have to pay attention to recognizing the sticker price on the shelf or item compared to the charge at the register or on your receipt.

I regularly find pricing mistakes on items purchased.... and strangely, it usually seems to be the store overcharging compared to the item/shelf price. Amazing!!!

Usually, I end up going back to the shelf and pulling off the pricing sticker and taking it back to the register, and/or the store sending a clerk to the shelf to check the price.

FWIW, though, I've never yet found a store that refused to honor the actual price listed on the item or the shelf, after having called an error to their attention.

Edited February 20, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK