An encounter with Mr "CANNOT"

[EveryDayTheSame]

Took my laptop battery to the computer shop opposite Makro in Samui to see if they had one or could order one from Bangkok. I approached the guy at the counter with my carrier bag.

(there was no one else in the shop, and the guy was not busy doing anything)

"Sawwasdee Krap"

(Silence)

"can you help me?"

(Silence)

"I have a laptop battery" (reaching into carrier bag)

"NOT HAVE!"

(At this point the battery was still concealed in the bag)

"Can you....?."

"CANNOT!"

"cannot what?"

"CANNOT!"

"Do you have......?" (producing said battery. He didn't even look at it)

"CANNOT"

" I see.....Can you order from Bangkok?"

"CANNOT ORDER!"

"Are you saying that there is no shop in the whole of Bangkok where you can get a laptop battery?"

"CANNOT ORDER!"

At this point i left the store. ......... If the Thai's are so freaky about not "losing face" then this guy has got it all wrong! I will never set foot in the place again, and it is anyones guess as to how much business this guy is losing for his employer, with his "CANNOT" attitude and his outright hostility. I don't know if this guy is racist or lazy or both, but i have to say that this is not the first encounter with a Mr or Mrs CANNOT in the many years i have lived here.

I would be interested to learn if anyone else has similar encounters?

[khman]

Hello,

I went there too. The guy was not so rude but not very clear nor cheap.

So I gave up for now, and keep my mike and speakers kaput...!

[worgeordie]

If you still want laptop battery, order from China direct,they are way cheaper,than

buying in Thailand, they are even cheaper on Ebay UK, UK has 20%+VAT,so ,

they are wanting too much profit here.

Try Alibaba,Aliexpress,DX, Geekbuying,* one of those is sure to have what you

are looking for.

regards Worgeordie *google them

[spacedcowboy]

I Had a similar hostile experience in a Nathon stationary shop with two older female shop workers, I literally got 5 feet through the door and asked politely for some plastic sleeves only to be aggressively dismissed in Thai by both of them shooing me away with hand gestures. I just turned around and walked out laughing.

[John 1]

I Had a similar hostile experience in a Nathon stationary shop with two older female shop workers, I literally got 5 feet through the door and asked politely for some plastic sleeves only to be aggressively dismissed in Thai by both of them shooing me away with hand gestures. I just turned around and walked out laughing.

What were there name's Mrs Cannot and Mrs Nohave.

[Totster]

I will never set foot in the place again,

That'll teach him !!!

totster

[Amusements]

That place is a joke.

I had the same thing when I tried to order some memory there a couple of days ago, as they did not have the speed I wanted it in stock, and was told CAN NOT, even though it was showing on their website. I asked if it would run ok at a slower speed, DONT KNOW, and obviously they could not be bothered to even find out for me.

so I went back yesterday and bought 2 sticks of the next speed up, (after some research to make sure it would run Ok at a lower speed). They made a point of telling me there was no returns, so I

bought it anyway as I have never had a problem with memory in nearly 20 years of putting computers together. Guess what? 1 stick was completely duff!

Maybe they use that place to get rid of stuff that's faulty to tourists/farangs.

I will never use them again!

[evadgib]

Others have reported up to a 2K markup when ordering batteries via some Samui based outlets.

Go with post #3.

Re General computer maintenance; the shop opposite Maenam post office is cheap, reliable & user-friendly.

HTH

Edited September 22, 2013 by evadgib

[PoorSucker]

Went there with a DVD drive from a laptop.

Asked politely in my bad Thai.

Answered polity in Thai that thy can not order, but try the store on second floor of big C, close to the book shop.

Went to BigC and they could get me one for 3000 baht within a week.

Declined and ordered from China with Aliexpress for 1.400 baht all included, arrived within a week.

[parallaxtech]

I agree with Worg, just got my new, original laptop battery from Ebay US for 800B, free shipping(one week)and no duties. The shops around here wanted 2800B and two weeks for delivery. I only buy food and drinks in Thailand these days as everything else, except women, is much cheaper on the internet. Don't expect Thais to get frendlier, either, as those days are long gone along with the smiles.

[WitawatWatawit]

"Don't expect Thais to get frendlier, either, as those days are long gone along with the smiles. "

That's a bit of a sweeping statement, isn't it? Here on the darkside I find heaps of smiling friendly people. Sure, you get the odd loser - like that unpleasant peasant in the computer repair shop on the 3rd floor of Central Bangna (I steered a lot of business away from this fool). Went to a print shop yesterday to get some scans, and the owner's husband, who speaks no English, went out of his way to show me some tricks with his smart phone to make a scan. Lovely guy.

[MB1]

That place is a joke.

I had the same thing when I tried to order some memory there a couple of days ago, as they did not have the speed I wanted it in stock, and was told CAN NOT, even though it was showing on their website. I asked if it would run ok at a slower speed, DONT KNOW, and obviously they could not be bothered to even find out for me.

so I went back yesterday and bought 2 sticks of the next speed up, (after some research to make sure it would run Ok at a lower speed). They made a point of telling me there was no returns, so I

bought it anyway as I have never had a problem with memory in nearly 20 years of putting computers together. Guess what? 1 stick was completely duff!

Maybe they use that place to get rid of stuff that's faulty to tourists/farangs.

I will never use them again!

They made a point of telling me there was no returns,

The second you heard that should have been your warning to leave the store and spend your Baht elsewhere.... But you didn't, aah well I guess you "Learn something new everyday".....

Edited September 22, 2013 by MB1

[colinneil]

It seems to be a thai problem when dealing with farangs, no have.

In banphai there is a pharmacy ,each time i go in, without looking up the man says no have, hello i can see what i want on that shelf , no have,I go outside get the wife she asks for same item , he goes to the shelf and passes item to my wife 80 baht please. <deleted>.

[MB1]

It seems to be a thai problem when dealing with farangs, no have.

In banphai there is a pharmacy ,each time i go in, without looking up the man says no have, hello i can see what i want on that shelf , no have,I go outside get the wife she asks for same item , he goes to the shelf and passes item to my wife 80 baht please. <deleted>.

That could be something as simple as the guy don't speaka the farang lingo, maybe the only words he knows are "no have"....Language barriers are the world over, not just a problem in Thailand...

[SamuiRes]

That shop opposite Makro used to be quite good - I had some good service and help from them. Those days have sadly gone. They never have a decent supply of printer ink and I recently went in to buy a new power cord for my lap top. No chance. The staff have certainly changed as there was previously a very helpful guy there - but no more. Shame as it was convenient.

[EveryDayTheSame]

I will never set foot in the place again,

That'll teach him !!!

totster

It may well teach him when his boss makes him redundant due to falling sales,or because of his hostile attitude to customers.

[Samaaw]

Thai's are probably one of the nicest nations on a social level - party - fun - smiles - jokes etc... however when it comes to working they are one of the worst I have come across- they are lazy and alot of the work is "half jobs"

Was looking at registering a business here but after some thought and observations I decided not to because of the bad after sales service and lazy half job way of working

[curtklay]

It seems to be a thai problem when dealing with farangs, no have.

In banphai there is a pharmacy ,each time i go in, without looking up the man says no have, hello i can see what i want on that shelf , no have,I go outside get the wife she asks for same item , he goes to the shelf and passes item to my wife 80 baht please. <deleted>.

That could be something as simple as the guy don't speaka the farang lingo, maybe the only words he knows are "no have"....Language barriers are the world over, not just a problem in Thailand...

No, it's not a language barrier. It's an attitude problem. I have had similar experience with the "no have" reply when I am pointing directly to the item behind the counter. There is no excuse for not making a minimum effort to understand what the customer wants. Thankfully, I don't encounter this attitude often.

[crazykopite]

Go on ebay and get the battery from Hong Kong or China that is what I have done in the past and have had no problems with postage I know the shop you are talking about they are <deleted> useless there. Why not try Banana they seem to hold a good stock

[Maggusoil]

I Had a similar hostile experience in a Nathon stationary shop with two older female shop workers, I literally got 5 feet through the door and asked politely for some plastic sleeves only to be aggressively dismissed in Thai by both of them shooing me away with hand gestures. I just turned around and walked out laughing.

What were there name's Mrs Cannot and Mrs Nohave.

No, I have met them. Mrs Nono and Mrs Shooshoo

[Cuban]

Where there is such depth of emotion and angst on the part of the shopkeeper it is my shameful fun to completely ignore the bad service and English if any is spoken and continue to smile and natter on with plenty of hand gestures, if possible aping their own movements but completely changing their meanings, nodding for every choice swear word offered and agreeing that the weather is bad or the broken battery etc is the cause of the frustration. It helps to increase the baffling fog of confusion if you can offer a well pronounced but out of context Thai word to the situation, hippopotamus is a favored word of mine, I can not write it here in Thai otherwise the mod-police wipe the whole post !

Taking such a standpoint increases the shopkeepers blood pressure by about 7-10 points while the internal humor that you generate relives yours by at least the same measure probably more as you can relive the encounter later.

You will never get the desired result from such a shop because they are on their own internal mystical trip or Pluto is retrograde in Libra again etc. so be sure to pop in next time you are passing with a cheerful comment to make - it really pisses them off.

[BWPattaya]

Cannot

Cannot

Cannot speak Engrish

[technologybytes]

Hey.. I have a similar experience just about every day in Thailand... I get the feeling shopkeepers prefer us not to bother them, that way they can carry on eating noodles.

Lazy.. yes, Racist.. possibly but more lazy.

[fire and ice]

Maybe the shop is a money laundering front & real custoemrs are a pain in their operation.

[EveryDayTheSame]

Thanks for all the replies guys......It seems that i am not the only one regularly encountering Mr CANNOT, and iam glad to see that the shop in question is fast accquiring a richly deserved reputation for bad service by rude and lazy staff. If my post has deprived them of even one potential customer, then i am happy. Thanks also for the advice concerning Ebay, which looks like the way to go.

[Just1Voice]

Been living in CNX for going on 6 years now, and I've only had a problem with finding something I need if I forgot to bring the old one with me to show them, and I'm not quite sure how to say it in Thai. But have yet to run into anything quite like Mr. CANNOT or Ms. SHEW-SHEW.

As for any thing even related to computers, pc or laptop, I wouldn't think of going to anyplace other than a shop in Computer City on the moat. The manager's name is Tony, speaks fair English, as do a couple of his male employees, that have a printed price list for most of the more common things they do, and will quote you a price for anything not on the list, and their prices are very reasonable. Always friendly, always polite to everyone I see them dealing with, and because of that, a very steady stream of new and repeat customers.

Maybe the northern Lanna Thai are just nicer people than the BKK Siam Thai.

[samuijimmy]

I generally find the above statement, by technologybytesnot to be true... many shops go out of their way providing good service, and at a more than fair price... Sometimes I think it's the customer who needs a bit of an attitude change when dealing with the Thais.

As for the shop in question, which I assume is the one that starts with xxxxxxxxxxx If so, I agree things have slipped there... But it can depend on which staff member you get, but generally there are at least three staff in there.... so I find it strange only one there when the OP went in... unless it was lunch time? It's a national store, so an email complaint to head office may or may not help!

A new policy they have (if this store) is they want to charge 5% for a foreign credit card, versus 2% for using a Thai credit card.... that's what BananaIT store use to do, (maybe still do? ) ....except it depended on whether a regular card, gold or platinum card... as to the % rate. .... I have not dealt with BIT for years, because of that policy... and refused buying an item when told that....

But there are a good number of computer shops around the island, that are OK, it's just a matter of shopping around....

Edited September 23, 2013 by Rooo
Removed name as per forum rules.

[EveryDayTheSame]

If you still want laptop battery, order from China direct,they are way cheaper,than

buying in Thailand, they are even cheaper on Ebay UK, UK has 20%+VAT,so ,

they are wanting too much profit here.

Try Alibaba,Aliexpress,DX, Geekbuying,* one of those is sure to have what you

are looking for.

regards Worgeordie *google them

Thanks for the info Worgeordie, but none of your suggested suppliers will ship to Thailand......However Ebay look like the way to go!................Thanks anyway

[alfieconn]

Been living in CNX for going on 6 years now, and I've only had a problem with finding something I need if I forgot to bring the old one with me to show them, and I'm not quite sure how to say it in Thai. But have yet to run into anything quite like Mr. CANNOT or Ms. SHEW-SHEW.

As for any thing even related to computers, pc or laptop, I wouldn't think of going to anyplace other than a shop in Computer City on the moat. The manager's name is Tony, speaks fair English, as do a couple of his male employees, that have a printed price list for most of the more common things they do, and will quote you a price for anything not on the list, and their prices are very reasonable. Always friendly, always polite to everyone I see them dealing with, and because of that, a very steady stream of new and repeat customers.

Maybe the northern Lanna Thai are just nicer people than the BKK Siam Thai.

Bit of a way to go from Samui

[stoffel45]

Yes, there are negative Khun Cannots around. I live in Belgium where, in a store, after one has waited for up to half an hour for "service" everything is pre- and suffixed by NO.

Try to get anything repaired. "It is cheaper to buy a new one." sales assistant turns away disinterested.

Panasonic camera - needed a new reflector. Normal cost about 40 euro. "Better to buy a new camera!". Hold it right there. I want you as the agent for Panasonic to get this camera fixed. A new one of these costs over 5,000 euro.

Great sighs of exasperation. "Very well, we can send it to Luxembourg and it will take 2-3 months - maybe longer to repair. You have to pay 200 euro for return delivery charges."

Yes, I sympathise with the original poster, and I am certain that that shop in Samui will soon be closed. But in Thailand doing business for repairs or purchases is a delight compared to dealing with the grim faced, impolite morons we have here.

Count your blessings. (and learning Thai will help a lot too.)