Don't Be Deceived By Staff At Department Stores

[rondii]

rondii, on 12 Apr 2013 - 12:09, said:

As usual the Thai Haters come out in force.

I seem to have very little problems, maybe i don't go in with a 'white supremist' attitude.

Don't know why PoodMaiDai, Jackr and the like don't go back to where they came from if they hate Thais and Thailand so much..oh yeh they were losers there too

Hopefully they don't sincerely hate thai's or any people but feel frustrated by the pervasive incompetency in society. The complaints in this thread are echoed by asian friends including some thai's (outside the box), african american, japan, korea and even people from other developing countries.

I have come to grips with the reality and try not to let it get to me, although occasionally it does. I usually walk on the road to avoid people walking into me and/or blocking the sidewalk, or stopping for no reason.

Finding a competent knowledgeable salesperson is an uncommon event and akin to finding treasure. The job description for a high % would seem to be "consuming oxygen", but the blame lies with education and society, not with the individual.

One really needs to assume a high level of personal responsibility in shopping and decision making. Not infrequently staff will tell me they don't carry a certain item or it is out of stock when the opposite is true.

Before I became conversational and learned to read/write thai I thought it was the "language barrier" however it is not, although the barrier may compound the problems and frustrations.

One should learn to let the frustrations enter one ear and exit the other because it CAN really get to you. Just think of it as "amazing cases"

Just one example of an event that made me shake my head in disbelief; true story. All dialoge with salesperson was in thai.

Apple Mac Computer Store, BKK upscale mall

Salespeople are usually uni grads or uni students and should be somewhat competent as they are selling macs. Should be able to connect the dots?

I am standing with my hand on an apple monitor

Me; excuse me, how much is this monitor

Staff; it is "out of stock"

Me; what is the normal price for this monitor?

Staff; out of stock

Me; imagine that it is in stock, then what is the price?

Staff; (appears to have just had a vision of Buddha) Ohhhhhh, 29,000 baht

I see thai customers holding back laughter while listening to this conversation as they have pre-laughter grins of amazement.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another example (and there are loads) is at a computer specialty parts store at Fortune IT mall, BKK. All dialogue in thai language

Me; do you have a pci express firewire card?

Staff; yes, then brings me a notebook power supply complete with transformer, ac cable and plug

Me; (thinking to myself and wondering if I am really awake in store or still asleep in a dream) Is this a pci espress firewire card?

Staff; yes

Me; OK, thank you (because at this point I truly wish I am still asleep, and I realize there is nothing I can possibly say or do to remediate)

Unfortunately the constant need by some posters to find wrong in everything Thai implies they do hate Thais.

Some of your point are true, and I too have Thai friends, and yes they are friends who have also been there when I needed help without any monetary or self gain, who don't like or are frustrated by some facets of society here.

But equally I have friends and family in Australia who love Australia but are frustrated by the incompetency or acts of some people there.

I have found incompetent, indeed lying, shop assistants in many countries including many western countries, but equally I have found may competent and helpful staff in many countries , including Thailand.

If you want to live here then you have to understand there will be cultural differences, many of which will be frustrating, but most of which you can learn to live with, and some you can get used too and even embrace. Certainly in my opinion the good points here outweigh the bad points.

But like many posters have pointed out the onus is on you to be educated about what you are doing, what you want, what you want to buy, etc. and then if you have half a brain you will be able to distinguish the good advice from the bad advice, the cons from the real deal.

But if you are one of the "the language is stupid and i'll never try to learn it", "all Thais are incompetent", etc brigade then you will never fit in and should leave.

On your last example, as you said there were Thai customers who saw the funny side and understood your request. But as you have learnt to speak and read/write Thai you would know how literal many Thais can take a comment or request. If indeed it was out of stock he probably thought he was giving the correct answer, no use in telling you the price if its not available. When you changed the request he answered it.

Edited April 12, 2013 by rondii

[ChoakMyDee]

I am pretty rude to most of them these days and I run them off quickly. I'll ask one question, if they don't know the answer I tell them to leave me alone. 99% of them are a waste of oxygen.

It took me a long time to realize this. You are exactly right. Time after time I would end up very frustrated just trying to get some simple info about a product and then discover they don't know anything about the products in the store they are working! Now I just tell them to leave me alone and I have a very peaceful shopping experience.

[bigbamboo]

It's not a case of product /supplier staff, in most cases it's driven by commission, sales staff are given a list of various products the store wishes to sell aggressively and staff are paid commsssion accordingly, Even in our local Rimping, staff in the wine section are paid a bonus for recommending certain wines and it's become an open joke between the girls who work there and myself.

If it's the one by Airport then I know what you mean! And they aren't chosen for their knowedge of wine!

[atyclb]

rondii, on 12 Apr 2013 - 12:09, said:

As usual the Thai Haters come out in force.

I seem to have very little problems, maybe i don't go in with a 'white supremist' attitude.

Don't know why PoodMaiDai, Jackr and the like don't go back to where they came from if they hate Thais and Thailand so much..oh yeh they were losers there too

Hopefully they don't sincerely hate thai's or any people but feel frustrated by the pervasive incompetency in society. The complaints in this thread are echoed by asian friends including some thai's (outside the box), african american, japan, korea and even people from other developing countries.

I have come to grips with the reality and try not to let it get to me, although occasionally it does. I usually walk on the road to avoid people walking into me and/or blocking the sidewalk, or stopping for no reason.

Finding a competent knowledgeable salesperson is an uncommon event and akin to finding treasure. The job description for a high % would seem to be "consuming oxygen", but the blame lies with education and society, not with the individual.

One really needs to assume a high level of personal responsibility in shopping and decision making. Not infrequently staff will tell me they don't carry a certain item or it is out of stock when the opposite is true.

Before I became conversational and learned to read/write thai I thought it was the "language barrier" however it is not, although the barrier may compound the problems and frustrations.

One should learn to let the frustrations enter one ear and exit the other because it CAN really get to you. Just think of it as "amazing cases"

Just one example of an event that made me shake my head in disbelief; true story. All dialoge with salesperson was in thai.

Apple Mac Computer Store, BKK upscale mall

Salespeople are usually uni grads or uni students and should be somewhat competent as they are selling macs. Should be able to connect the dots?

I am standing with my hand on an apple monitor

Me; excuse me, how much is this monitor

Staff; it is "out of stock"

Me; what is the normal price for this monitor?

Staff; out of stock

Me; imagine that it is in stock, then what is the price?

Staff; (appears to have just had a vision of Buddha) Ohhhhhh, 29,000 baht

I see thai customers holding back laughter while listening to this conversation as they have pre-laughter grins of amazement.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another example (and there are loads) is at a computer specialty parts store at Fortune IT mall, BKK. All dialogue in thai language

Me; do you have a pci express firewire card?

Staff; yes, then brings me a notebook power supply complete with transformer, ac cable and plug

Me; (thinking to myself and wondering if I am really awake in store or still asleep in a dream) Is this a pci espress firewire card?

Staff; yes

Me; OK, thank you (because at this point I truly wish I am still asleep, and I realize there is nothing I can possibly say or do to remediate)

Unfortunately the constant need by some posters to find wrong in everything Thai implies they do hate Thais.

Some of your point are true, and I too have Thai friends, and yes they are friends who have also been there when I needed help without any monetary or self gain, who don't like or are frustrated by some facets of society here.

But equally I have friends and family in Australia who love Australia but are frustrated by the incompetency or acts of some people there.

I have found incompetent, indeed lying, shop assistants in many countries including many western countries, but equally I have found may competent and helpful staff in many countries , including Thailand.

If you want to live here then you have to understand there will be cultural differences, many of which will be frustrating, but most of which you can learn to live with, and some you can get used too and even embrace. Certainly in my opinion the good points here outweigh the bad points.

But like many posters have pointed out the onus is on you to be educated about what you are doing, what you want, what you want to buy, etc. and then if you have half a brain you will be able to distinguish the good advice from the bad advice, the cons from the real deal.

But if you are one of the "the language is stupid and i'll never try to learn it", "all Thais are incompetent", etc brigade then you will never fit in and should leave.

On your last example, as you said there were Thai customers who saw the funny side and understood your request. But as you have learnt to speak and read/write Thai you would know how literal many Thais can take a comment or request. If indeed it was out of stock he probably thought he was giving the correct answer, no use in telling you the price if its not available. When you changed the request he answered it.

"how literal many thais can take a comment or request" is the simplistic approach not saying it is good or bad.

In my opinion and perception based on a few years of living here and understanding the non teaching of critical thinking or independent thinking combined with rote memorization, lack of problem solving skills, planning and/or anticipatory skills, and analytical skills with frequent "no fail" education ladder + cheating and corruption = the current situation. I do not hate thai's but that is the reality. Whats wrong with responding "the monitor costs 29000 baht but is out of stock" ?

There is a uni professor and journalist that writes for a newspaper whose name I cannot mention here. Voranai Vanijaka Has written extremely well thought out pieces on society, highly analytical and highly critical. He coined the expression "the art of missing the point" another article "cheating and corruption at all levels of society, incompetency is the sum of our failures"

An element of the so called "hating brigade" is the belief in freedom of expression/opinion that many societies instill. Although I may not agree with some of their comments I support that concept of freedom of expression.

Seems many expats are retired and here to enjoy life and don't deem it personally high priority to become language proficient. The thai language is certainly not stupid, actually kind of fascinating especially the characters; letters, vowels, tone marks and has way less characters than the number of characters on TV forum LOL.

The language has very little practical application outside of Thailand or Laos.

I agree with you in that expats that stress out so much it may prejudice their physical and emotional well being.

[FolkGuitar]

Panasonic make LOTS of batteries:

http://news.panasonic.net/archives/2010/1201_3027.html

You're right. I stand corrected. And amused.

[FolkGuitar]

It's a great thing to have rich and powerful friends. Having a Tessco (sic) manager friend certainly takes the cake.

He's probably get a kick out of your thinking he's rich. He was introduce to us by our landlord at the time when we were outfitting our rental house. Now THERE is a rich guy! One of the nicest landlords we've ever had!

[MESmith]

When I first came to Thailand, I purchased a Panasonic emergency light... or so I thought. Right up until the second power outage when it wouldn't turn on. Looking closer at the label (which I learned to do the hard way in Thailand,) I discovered the much smaller writing below the HUGE Panasonic name, writing that said "Pansonic battery only." Had I seen that, I wouldn't have bought, as I know that Panasonic doesn't MAKE batteries...

I think I bought the same unit. And then wasted more money on a replacement battery

[johnmcc6]

I often go to home to Home Pro even though it is a bit more expensive than some others but for me it is convenient. I know they all sell on commision and work for various suppliers but I must say every time I have asked about a different brand the sales person has happily gone and fetched the person handling the other brand. They may have a deal between them of sharing but it's of no matter to me as long as I get the service which I must say I have allways recieved at Home Pro.The same has been my experience at Global. I have done extensive home improvements to my home over time and have never been ripped off or screwed around by anyone. My Thai friends have often been with me on purchases but I have had the same service on my own even when using sign language and pictures. Maybe because I treat them with a smile ? I would not ever like to live in a place not trusting anyone.

[nahkit]

A few years ago we went into Tessco to buy an airconditioner. I knew exactly what I wanted and asked for it by name.

I wanted a model made by "Carrier." I was informed by two very aggressive 'staff members' that "Carrier" brand was absolutely no good at all, and that I should purchase a "Genutenflex" or something like that, made right here in Thailand. I thanked them, and asked to see a "Carrier." I was then told that "Carrier" was 'finished' and that they were having a special sale on "Genutenflex" today only. I again asked for a "Carrier." By this time there were four very aggressive 'staff members' all insisting that "Carrier" was terrible, and besides 'finished' and I really should buy the "Genutenflex" without further delay. I smiled, thanked them, got on my phone and called one of the Tessco managers who was a friend of mine. As he was approaching from across the store, a ripple of fast talk spread through the four salesmen, who quickly beat feet out of the area. I asked the manager for the "Carrier" model I wanted, he got on the phone to his backroom staff, then asked me at what time I would like it installed?

You could have saved some time and just called your friend first...

I only play a trump card when I need it, not when I want it.

It's a great thing to have rich and powerful friends. Having a Tessco (sic) manager friend certainly takes the cake.

Oh yeah? Well I used to have a friend who was the manager at a McDonald's.

[Mudcrab]

That's one of things I hate about HomePro. I fend the sales staff off while I look at specifications, I make my choice, and then ask them to get the item from stock. Without fail they immediately recommend something else. I politely decline, yet they still push something else. Really annoys me

Every store and all over the world. News Please!

Yes mate....the clue for the unenlightened is the term "sales people". Their job starts when the customer says no. Another trait imported from the West, rightly or wrongly.

I want a Ford.....no can do....but we have this Toyota........it's their job to sell you something, when you say no. Anyone can sell anything to someone who wants it. Don't get pissed off at them...simply walk away.

[Mudcrab]

As usual the Thai Haters come out in force.

I seem to have very little problems, maybe i don't go in with a 'white supremist' attitude.

Don't know why PoodMaiDai, Jackr and the like don't go back to where they came from if they hate Thais and Thailand so much..oh yeh they were losers there too

I so agree. By the way, whatever you do, don't buy a Mitsubishi air conditioner! Terrible quality. Panasonic much better: includes a free fan and Hello Kitty handlebar covers for your scooter.

When I first came to Thailand, I purchased a Panasonic emergency light... or so I thought. Right up until the second power outage when it wouldn't turn on. Looking closer at the label (which I learned to do the hard way in Thailand,) I discovered the much smaller writing below the HUGE Panasonic name, writing that said "Pansonic battery only." Had I seen that, I wouldn't have bought, as I know that Panasonic doesn't MAKE batteries...

>This is why Nordstroms (in the US) is the best department store in the world, IMHO. Their staff are super trained and sell any brand. Its an amazing experience.

Nordstroms is considered to have the world's best customer service of any large department store. Their prices may be higher than some other stores, but sometimes it's worth it to pay the extra few dollars.

As they say a -sucker born every minute, and that's not a Thai saying

[FolkGuitar]

As they say a -sucker born every minute, and that's not a Thai saying

I'm a bit confused by your post. Are you suggesting that one is a sucker to pay a bit more for better service? If so, then I'm happy to be a sucker. I like the fact that a store will accept returns with absolutely no questions asked, even without a sales receipt. Or make an exchange on the spot if I simply don't like the way something works a few months after I bought it. Or a replacement of an item without saying 'we'll have to send that back to the manufacturer and let them decided how to deal with your problem.' To me, that's worth the extra few dollars. The price differences aren't significantly higher. I suppose that if I could only afford to shop at the Dollar Store, I might feel differently. If watching every penny was important to me, I might feel the need to look for 50 baht beer instead of 55 baht, and be willing to walk the two kilometers to save that 5 baht. Fortunately, I'm not in that situation. I won't throw money away, but I'm willing to pay for better service.

[rebo]

Someone who needs useable advices and competent recommendations from the staff as well as fair prices/discounts regarding hardware should give the "Montri Machine Tools" shop at the inner corner of the inner super highway and Chotana Rd. (N18 48 41.9 E98 59 04.0) a try.

Unfortunately only Thai spoken.

Most of their staff work there since many years, and I'm an always satisfied customer since many years, too.

Edited April 13, 2013 by rebo

[attento]

This thread should be called.....'Don't be deceived by your own stupidity'....

Anyone would have to be pretty daft to assume that any shop assistant in any store has your best interests at heart. They simply want a sale especially when working on a commission basis.

Was this really such serendipitous discovery that THAIJAMES had to make a thread ?.... well, I guess so, but what epiphany garnishes the horizon next ?.... that these shops also profit from us ?....

Well I would agree with you most of the time.

How ever when I bought my TV at Siam I got a Toshiba mostly because the salesman was honest with me. He explained that the cheapest one was the best for sports that was a plasma one. The best for over all was the LED and for practical purposes the LCD was a good bargain. It being the middle price one. I chose the LED as quality was what I was looking for and he did not give me a line of bull.

Not many salesmen recommend the middle price one. And he did not in any way indicate it was not a good set. Or my choice of LED had any draw backs.

Not all products carry the same mark-up for the vendor. The bright salesman will promote the product giving the best profit margin to the store. That may or may not be the product with the highest retail price. Margin is king, not turnover.

[biplanebluey]

The worse are the BigC and Lotus auto section. I have to play musical counters before they get the hint I don't want to see them. I'll be looking for a certain product and they push in my face something completely unrelated. Looking for car wax, here you go sir a nice car vacuum.

The worse are the BigC and Lotus auto section. I have to play musical counters before they get the hint I don't want to see them. I'll be looking for a certain product and they push in my face something completely unrelated. Looking for car wax, here you go sir a nice car vacuum.

I have just bought a new car ---a Yaris---- and while my wife was shopping I told her I'm of over there to buy a good wax polish.Wanted to get it on before the first rains.I was steered to a particular bottle and as it was for a silver car I was taken with it.When I got home I find a Thai sticker covering the directions of use. Difficult to remove without destroying the original underneath but managed to read that it was IMPORTANT---- DO NOT USE ON NEW PAINTWORK !!!!!!!!! How does that grab you???????

[biplanebluey]

As usual the Thai Haters come out in force.

I seem to have very little problems, maybe i don't go in with a 'white supremist' attitude.

Don't know why PoodMaiDai, Jackr and the like don't go back to where they came from if they hate Thais and Thailand so much..oh yeh they were losers there too

I so agree. By the way, whatever you do, don't buy a Mitsubishi air conditioner! Terrible quality. Panasonic much better: includes a free fan and Hello Kitty handlebar covers for your scooter.

When I first came to Thailand, I purchased a Panasonic emergency light... or so I thought. Right up until the second power outage when it wouldn't turn on. Looking closer at the label (which I learned to do the hard way in Thailand,) I discovered the much smaller writing below the HUGE Panasonic name, writing that said "Pansonic battery only." Had I seen that, I wouldn't have bought, as I know that Panasonic doesn't MAKE batteries...

>This is why Nordstroms (in the US) is the best department store in the world, IMHO. Their staff are super trained and sell any brand. Its an amazing experience.

Nordstroms is considered to have the world's best customer service of any large department store. Their prices may be higher than some other stores, but sometimes it's worth it to pay the extra few dollars.

Why do you say You KNOW Panasonic DO NOT MAKE BATTERIES????????????? -------------- I know they do---- YES I KNOW THEY DO !!!!!!!

[FolkGuitar]

Why do you say You KNOW Panasonic DO NOT MAKE BATTERIES????????????? -------------- I know they do---- YES I KNOW THEY DO !!!!!!!

So does virtually everyone else in the world...

Do you always post without reading the rest of the thread, or was this the only time?

I'm in Japan right now. There are basically only two battery brands available here; Panasonic and Maxell. Both of them produce regular, alkaline, and rechargeable batteries.Both make industrial sized, OEM sizes, and home use sizes. It's almost impossible to find any OTHER brands.... As someone else pointed out, sarcasm is often missed.

[hellodolly]

The worse are the BigC and Lotus auto section. I have to play musical counters before they get the hint I don't want to see them. I'll be looking for a certain product and they push in my face something completely unrelated. Looking for car wax, here you go sir a nice car vacuum.

>The worse are the BigC and Lotus auto section. I have to play musical counters before they get the hint I don't want to see them. I'll be looking for a certain product and they push in my face something completely unrelated. Looking for car wax, here you go sir a nice car vacuum.

I have just bought a new car ---a Yaris---- and while my wife was shopping I told her I'm of over there to buy a good wax polish.Wanted to get it on before the first rains.I was steered to a particular bottle and as it was for a silver car I was taken with it.When I got home I find a Thai sticker covering the directions of use. Difficult to remove without destroying the original underneath but managed to read that it was IMPORTANT---- DO NOT USE ON NEW PAINTWORK !!!!!!!!! How does that grab you???????

Kinda like buying a product in a market that has the ingredients in English covered by a Thai sticker.

[youngXpat]

The worse are the BigC and Lotus auto section. I have to play musical counters before they get the hint I don't want to see them. I'll be looking for a certain product and they push in my face something completely unrelated. Looking for car wax, here you go sir a nice car vacuum.

Totally agree. And in Big C or Tesco, they all hang around together, waiting to pounce. Have you seen the way the stare at the women and rate them with their buddies?? My Mrs hates walking through them.

[Gonsalviz]

That's one of things I hate about HomePro. I fend the sales staff off while I look at specifications, I make my choice, and then ask them to get the item from stock. Without fail they immediately recommend something else. I politely decline, yet they still push something else. Really annoys me

I told my wife about this. Now when they try to sell me something I don't want, she informs them to not continue. It works as long as she is with me. Makes it handy for me to have her along. Sometimes.

[naboo]

The autocare sellers at Big C Don Chan have a selection of their own products at the back of the shelves. Tell them what they have is too expensive and they'll get another brand out at a lower price from their own collection. Pay them cash.

[scorecard]

A few years ago we went into Tessco to buy an airconditioner. I knew exactly what I wanted and asked for it by name.

I wanted a model made by "Carrier." I was informed by two very aggressive 'staff members' that "Carrier" brand was absolutely no good at all, and that I should purchase a "Genutenflex" or something like that, made right here in Thailand. I thanked them, and asked to see a "Carrier." I was then told that "Carrier" was 'finished' and that they were having a special sale on "Genutenflex" today only. I again asked for a "Carrier." By this time there were four very aggressive 'staff members' all insisting that "Carrier" was terrible, and besides 'finished' and I really should buy the "Genutenflex" without further delay. I smiled, thanked them, got on my phone and called one of the Tessco managers who was a friend of mine. As he was approaching from across the store, a ripple of fast talk spread through the four salesmen, who quickly beat feet out of the area. I asked the manager for the "Carrier" model I wanted, he got on the phone to his backroom staff, then asked me at what time I would like it installed?

We recently had an 'air-con expert' come to give us a quote for several units.

We indicated that we had a preference for LG Inverter, his response:

- LG technology is very old and LG company will never improve their technology.

- LG is manufactured in several countries without any coordinated planning and the packages often have wrong things fitted together or parts missing and the technician cannot return the faulty new equipment.

- LG in Korea not intestered in quality and not interested in customers.

- LG have no service centre in CM, all faulty equipment has to be sent to Korea for repairs, normally takes 2 months for return. And no quality control over repairs.

Our subsequent research proved all of these points to be basically lies.

He also made it clear that he always recommended Mitsubishi, and regardless of our further requests for an LG quote he just went ahead and gave us a quote for Mitsubishi, which was around 100,000Baht higher than most of the other quotes.

We bought LG.

[Minnehaha]

Stores (big and chain) all over the world work pretty much the same way. There are two systems working at the same time in many stores. Buyers have a territory in the store, determined by what their department or departments are. eg a fashion buyer may run say a department that has womens shoes and also run say the sportwear department. In some stores (not so commonly now) the buyer also is responsible for the sales and staff of that department. More commonly the store manager and the buyer are jointly responsible for sales of the department. Buyers are very protective of their suppliers and like to control brand names so that other buyers in the same store can't get in on the action. To a customer this competition can be a problem as staff in one department are not interested in selling a product from a different department, as this adds to the "opposition" departments daily figures. To combat this in many stores the - staff do not belong to a department but have to sell accross the whole floor. The problem with this is they can't know the detail of what they are selling. This can be further compounded by the fact that the modern trend has been to have fewer buyers and they are often buying for branches of a chain where there are distinct regional differences in requirements and the buyer does not appreciate these. Then there are the departments that are possibly run by the store but the staff are paid for by a "Brand name" this is typical of cosmetic counters. They naturally want to sell only their product. Some of this type of department are totally staff independent and the brand payes rent to the store. In any case stored find it hard to give the service and product knowledge that a private and independent specialist shop can give you. But you often pay a little more for the service. I started in despatch and receivals of a moderately large store (4500 employes) and worked my way up to the stores head buyer then moved to New York to work there. I ended up as merchandise manager for a group and that meant I pretty well got to know most of the stores in Europe, Australasia and Canada and a fair few in USA. The move from small shps to Department Stores to Shopping Centres and to "box shifting warehouses" has been very interesting. The shift to stores that are really warehouses with commission based salespersons has been very evident in the last twenty years. Now these operations are in turn under preasure from the internet trade. In fact I get more help from good internet traders than staff in mosttraditional shops or stores. Also if you have a real gripe the internet trader can be very vulnerable to bad reviews. If you have a problem with a tradional store's product you are just one small voice. Purchasers are now far more likely to research online before they make a choice and can easily become informed, often to a level far higher than a salesperson in a store. I now do about hyalf the family purchases online. Even my next car will most likely be an online purchase. I already purchase insurance online as well as most of my clothing, books, computer gear, phone, and am now looking at direct purchase and delivery of the weekly groceries via the net. Shops will try to hit back with direct advertising. Your position is known already - by your phone. As you pass a store a message will flash to you with details of the specials within that store (only privacy laws can halt this). Details of the product can if neccessary be also communicated, thus eliminating the need for staff. The days of the checkout chick are also numbered and in many parts of the world the check out staff have already gone. The days when great department stores ran fabulous themed events and were fun places to shop and where staff knew their stuff are sadly rapidly becoming part of history.

Great post . Well done

This is why Nordstroms (in the US) is the best department store in the world, IMHO. Their staff are super trained and sell any brand. Its an amazing experience.

and they don't sell 12.5s.

I am size 13 and honestly.... the years of happy shopping at nordstroms has not been tested lately. I used to be 12 BB but walking around Asia without shoes or just getting fatter has resulted in big dogs. 13 is a number that gets attention. not normal, even for usa where fat big people are the norm.

[nikster]

true that in thailand sales staff in those stores seem to make most of their salary by way of commissions. accordingly, they're very annoying. for me a reason to actively avoid Home Pro.

however, i find that sales staff anywhere in the world is completely useless. they offer a nice smile (hopefully) as well as the ability to fetch a box from the warehouse, that's about it.

only exception is small shops where the owner is also selling things. or REI - kind of the same thing as all REI sales staff are shareholders.

the good news is you really don't need sales staff to make informed choices. we have the internet and google, and amazon, it's all out there.

Edited April 14, 2013 by nikster

[Genericnic]

So the moral of the story is if you are looking for something don't immediately trust the advice of a sales person

I don't trust the advice of ANY person here!

What a way to go through life! You don't trust anybody or only Thai's? Either way for me there is something very wrong.

"Trust, but verify." - Ronald Reagan

David

[Thighlander]

What's a 12.5?

My shoe size. The department stores will tell you that they aren't made........How would you like to be a 9.5, and have to chose either a 9 or a 10?

[rene123]

What's a 12.5?

My shoe size. The department stores will tell you that they aren't made........How would you like to be a 9.5, and have to chose either a 9 or a 10?

7 is my shoe size, but 8 feels so comfortable that I buy a size 12.

[Thighlander]

What's a 12.5?

My shoe size. The department stores will tell you that they aren't made........How would you like to be a 9.5, and have to chose either a 9 or a 10?

7 is my shoe size, but 8 feels so comfortable that I buy a size 12.

don't worry, I'm sure what they say about small feet is a complete myth.

[junglechef]

It's not a case of product /supplier staff, in most cases it's driven by commission, sales staff are given a list of various products the store wishes to sell aggressively and staff are paid commsssion accordingly, Even in our local Rimping, staff in the wine section are paid a bonus for recommending certain wines and it's become an open joke between the girls who work there and myself.

If it's the one by Airport then I know what you mean! And they aren't chosen for their knowedge of wine!

The Rumchok location has plenty of young female staffing the wine area, once when I asked if they carried any American bottles they told me no and as I looked for something else I came across the California Wine section.

[Thighlander]

that's pretty funny. I've been buying wine at www.traderjoes.com for 24 years, and the only bottle I ever took back was a french wine recommended by a salesman----tasted like vinegar, meanwhile the 1.99 bottles of chianti (in the basket) were superb.