You break it in Thailand ... you don't pay ... surprised?

[Jingthing]

Broke a glass container food item at Tops Pattaya Klang. (Reaching for an item another adjacent item was perched on the edge and just fell.)

This incident was witnessed directly by a Top's employee.

This being Thailand, I had just assumed I would be made to pay for the item even though in my home country I doubt I would have. Well, as long as it was clear it was a legit accident and not some kind of vandalism.

So I hung out there while they took a record of the code of the item and figured some manager would come by to tell me how to proceed.

Hung out a few minutes and realized nobody was coming.

Well I didn't want to seem like I was doing a hit and run so finally found someone to talk to and they made it clear that I could just go away without paying for the item.

I was surprised. Would you have been surprised?

I think it's OK to mention Tops here as this is a positive story for them,

Anyway ...

Edited August 27, 2013 by Jingthing

[petermik]

Interesting- well I guess the staff know about the accident you had on the baht bus and they didn,t want to add to your woes?

have a nice (safe) day

[R123]

Not surprised J-T. It was on your account a pure accident, so no reason you should pay. Sorry this seems a bit of a non story.

Hope you are better, and that event was more interesting.

[Jingthing]

Thinking about this a little more, it was probably a weird coincidence that the accident was directly witnessed.

Assuming most similar incidents that happen there are more ambiguous, what would most local Thai people do?

Would they seek out staff and try to pay or would they just walk away?

Yes I am thinking about the hit and run culture with car accidents.

Perhaps the way I acted, assuming I would be required to pay and by hanging out at the scene almost INSISTING on taking responsibility, I was creating a problem and more work for the staff as the usual M.O. is to have nobody take responsibility?

Perhaps they decided to just act like they didn't see what they saw?

Of course I am grateful that I wasn't made to pay but at the time I was actually feeling more bothered that they were going to make me spend lots of time there to resolve it.

If it was you and nobody saw you, would you seek out staff to insist to pay?

Do you think they have security cameras?

Edited August 27, 2013 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Not surprised J-T. It was on your account a pure accident, so no reason you should pay. Sorry this seems a bit of a non story.

Hope you are better, and that event was more interesting.

Just watch me as I make it a bigger thing ...

[paddyjenkins]

Not surprised J-T. It was on your account a pure accident, so no reason you should pay. Sorry this seems a bit of a non story.

Hope you are better, and that event was more interesting.

Jingthing, you have once again wasted everybody's time on Thaivisa with a bit of a non story. So please have a think about what actually happened and embellish the story a little. It is very difficult to understand that more didn't happen, so I suppose you must be holding back. For example, were you assaulted by shop staff or other customers, temporarily incarcerated, or did you do a runner? Have you considered that this might have been a setup by the staff to cause you to have this accident, maybe they placed the item precariously, waiting for you to knock it over? Thats happened to me many times, so maybe it could have happened to you too. Did the police get involved? Surely there must be something more to it?

Edited August 27, 2013 by paddyjenkins

[KittenKong]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

[Jingthing]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Fair enough. I expected to have to pay here in Thailand. Partly due to being a foreigner who obviously has the ability to pay.

[Jingthing]

...

Jingthing, you have once again wasted everybody's time on Thaivisa with a bit of a non story.

...

I have that power, do I? To make people read threads? Interesting.

[tropo]

Thinking about this a little more, it was probably a weird coincidence that the accident was directly witnessed.

Assuming most similar incidents that happen there are more ambiguous, what would most local Thai people do?

Would they seek out staff and try to pay or would they just walk away?

Yes I am thinking about the hit and run culture with car accidents.

Perhaps the way I acted, assuming I would be required to pay and by hanging out at the scene almost INSISTING on taking responsibility, I was creating a problem and more work for the staff as the usual M.O. is to have nobody take responsibility?

Perhaps they decided to just act like they didn't see what they saw?

Of course I am grateful that I wasn't made to pay but at the time I was actually feeling more bothered that they were going to make me spend lots of time there to resolve it.

If it was you and nobody saw you, would you seek out staff to insist to pay?

Do you think they have security cameras?

Your story reminds me of an incident at Big C Extra. I wanted to check the expiry date of a jar of (expensive) coffee. When I turned it upside down to check underneath the lid fell off and all the coffee fell to the floor. It was a little embarrassing and I expected to pay even though it was not my fault... I suspected they probably wouldn't believe the lid was loose and wouldn't understand me if I tried to explain what happened. One of the staff witnessed the coffee on the floor with me standing there (that was the embarrassing part), but not what happened.

I didn't wait around though and kept on shopping. I figured that if they wanted me to pay someone would approach me. As it happened, no one did.

[Jingthing]

Anyway I posted partly to share info about what might be a policy at Tops. Or maybe it's like I said, too much trouble for the staff to bother with charging me and just easier to act like they didn't know who did it which I reckon is the more usual scenario. I don't really know. In any case, frankly if the same thing happened to me tomorrow I think I would still try to pay for the damage because better that than end up on some kind Pattaya "press" crime news showing my mug shot and accusing me of doing a hit and run. That would be just my luck.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Jingthing

[bartender100]

I dropped a plastic container of salad in Central food store that I had just selected from the salad counter, went all over the place, no charge, like you I was also surprised.

[Swiss1960]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Fair enough. I expected to have to pay here in Thailand. Partly due to being a foreigner who obviously has the ability to pay.

I would expect that you have to pay for ANY good that you damage / destroy in any country worldwide...

Staff / store management might have the discretion to say "no problem" if it is a $2 item, but think about you throw down a $100 bottle of wine ar a $1'000 television in a store... do you REALLY think they would let you off the hook? I don't think so...

I know for sure that the store will make me pay and that my private liability insurance here in Switzerland will take over the cost of what I broke, as long as I have not done it on purpose...

[Jingthing]

If it is their policy it's definitely good public relations. Although that's kind of wasted on tourists but as I am a regular long term customer of Tops I guess I like them more now. As much as you can like a boring grocery store like Tops anyway!

[Jingthing]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Fair enough. I expected to have to pay here in Thailand. Partly due to being a foreigner who obviously has the ability to pay.

I would expect that you have to pay for ANY good that you damage / destroy in any country worldwide...

Staff / store management might have the discretion to say "no problem" if it is a $2 item, but think about you throw down a $100 bottle of wine ar a $1'000 television in a store... do you REALLY think they would let you off the hook? I don't think so...

I know for sure that the store will make me pay and that my private liability insurance here in Switzerland will take over the cost of what I broke, as long as I have not done it on purpose...

Good point. An expensive bottle of wine would be something. This item was about 200 baht. As I said in the OP, I wouldn't expect to pay for accidental damage in a grocery store in my home country, I'm sure they have accounted for product damage and waste and also I think they know it's bad PR to make people pay for accidental damage, but then again like you say a very expensive item, I'm not sure.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Jingthing

[paddyjenkins]

Wow, after reading this post I went down to TOPS and tried it. Absolutely in line with the rest of the comments here....no charge.

[Jingthing]

Wow, after reading this post I went down to TOPS and tried it. Absolutely in line with the rest of the comments here....no charge.

Don't try this at home!

[balo]

Thais dont want you to lose face so you don't have to pay . It was just an accident, Mai pen rai.

[KittenKong]

Your story reminds me of an incident at Big C Extra. I wanted to check the expiry date of a jar of (expensive) coffee. When I turned it upside down to check underneath the lid fell off and all the coffee fell to the floor.

It sounds as though someone before you may have already taken the lid off, and more.

Dont all coffee jars have a hermetic seal under the lid? So even if the lid falls off the contents should not fall out.

[Spalpeen]

A pleasant surprise. Full marks to Tops. The very opposite of my experience of that food store on Thappraya Rd. which I no longer use.

[WitawatWatawit]

It is because of clumsy idiots like JT and tropo that we have to pay more in the supermarkets. Both of them need a nanny. In a uniform. A very tight uniform. Split up the side to make it easier to reach grocery items on the top shelf.

[Jingthing]

It is because of clumsy idiots like JT and tropo that we have to pay more in the supermarkets. Both of them need a nanny. In a uniform. A very tight uniform. Split up the side to make it easier to reach grocery items on the top shelf.

That's very harsh. I've just been channeling my inner klutz.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Jingthing

[tropo]

Your story reminds me of an incident at Big C Extra. I wanted to check the expiry date of a jar of (expensive) coffee. When I turned it upside down to check underneath the lid fell off and all the coffee fell to the floor.

It sounds as though someone before you may have already taken the lid off, and more.

Dont all coffee jars have a hermetic seal under the lid? So even if the lid falls off the contents should not fall out.

I can't remember the details of the lid, but I do remember it was a bit unusual. The hermetic seal may have been broken already. I was standing there with a jar full of coffee on the floor looking stupid when the shop attendant spotted me.

[poanoi]

Well, i did cause an accident at friendship when i couldnt for the life of me take a pipe apart,

i had to pay

[Chonburiram]

Your story reminds me of an incident at Big C Extra. I wanted to check the expiry date of a jar of (expensive) coffee. When I turned it upside down to check underneath the lid fell off and all the coffee fell to the floor.

It sounds as though someone before you may have already taken the lid off, and more.

Dont all coffee jars have a hermetic seal under the lid? So even if the lid falls off the contents should not fall out.

I can't remember the details of the lid, but I do remember it was a bit unusual. The hermetic seal may have been broken already. I was standing there with a jar full of coffee on the floor looking stupid when the shop attendant spotted me.

Shop attendant thinking: Here goes our secret morning cuppa...

[ericthai]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Guess again. I was in 7-11 and Picked up a box of the Spy wine drinks for my girlfriend. The box was no good and they fell to the ground and broke.

Guess what I had to pay. I was a little upset that the box was broke so it was not my fault, but too bad you pay.

[KittenKong]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Guess again. I was in 7-11 and Picked up a box of the Spy wine drinks for my girlfriend. The box was no good and they fell to the ground and broke.

Guess what I had to pay. I was a little upset that the box was broke so it was not my fault, but too bad you pay.

7/11s aren't actually chain stores in the sense I was referring to them. They are individually owned and managed franchises and as such are more like a mom-and-pop grocery store than a chain store, and "policy" will be down to the individual owner rather than 7/11 central management.

That said it would be a cold day in hell before I would pay for damage such as you describe, even in a small store.

[poanoi]

OT but i come from hell, and its cold every single day there, and snow half the year.

[fakename]

Im not surprised that things break in the store, sine Thai's love to open containers and look inside and smell. Then of course they forget to screw the top back on all the way. I have found many containers open, when I got home, and maybe its a day or week later. No use to take it back to the store, and they just dont care. Same as when a Thai goes to a outside Thai food stand, and open all the lids on the pots, to see what is inside. They have been doing this forever, so they see no difference, a pot of food, or a sealed container in the super market, its all the same to them.

We expect sealed things to be sealed, not opened and played with. My gf even does the same, and doesnt understand why I dont want her to look inside.

[tropo]

I wouldnt expect to pay for accidental damage in any chain store here or anywhere.

Guess again. I was in 7-11 and Picked up a box of the Spy wine drinks for my girlfriend. The box was no good and they fell to the ground and broke.

Guess what I had to pay. I was a little upset that the box was broke so it was not my fault, but too bad you pay.

But did you really HAVE to pay? If they ask you and you cough up, it's makes it easy on the staff because in actual fact it is their fault for putting a broken box in the fridge and you're covering them by being so forthcoming and just paying.

Just saying... because maybe it's not worth the time and trouble to argue over it.