wont give change what would you have done

[BlueSkyCowboy]

You should have trampled her produce.

Good idea, get arrested or beaten for one dollar

[96tehtarp]

I sympathize with the OP. Last week a local vendor ripped me off for two baht. (No, not two baht in gold. Two baht in change).

The fact that I'm upset about it a week later surprises even me.

When it happens again I'm going to be better prepared verbally with some sour and humorous Thai comments bordering on the stall owner losing face. Stuff like "I need that two baht. It's my lunch money," Or, "What am I going to eat for dinner?", or worse.

I listen to Thai people in the markets doing this all the time. Sometimes they even have mock fights, chasing each other around yelling, shouting, and laughing, and smiling while pinching and calling each other thieving scoundrels.

I'm still angry about my lost two baht. Next time I have to be better rehearsed for the drama.

[BlueSkyCowboy]

This has come up before, I think an Ozzy girl bought something at a market and wasent given her change either. Poor girl broke down in tears over it.

If this ever happened to me, I would stand my ground and demand my change back, but Im known to get a little hot headed, and this is probably the reason my wife doesnt let me go shopping alone lol.

What you could of done is taken a bite out of one of the bananas, then spat it back out on the floor and shout out "mai aroi". Then throw the rest of the bananas on the floor and stand on them. You then proceed to buy some more bananas from a different market vendor, take a bite from the new bananas and say "aroi maak". Hand over a nice juicy 500 baht tip and give the vendor who didnt give you your change back a nice big Thai smile.

Lost face big time, produce spat on the floor, rival vendor gets a compliment and a huge tip. That will teach them to steal 30 baht.

I am surprised that u have a wife with your logic and temper. Win at all cost

[techboy]

What you should have done, return the bananas and got your 50 Baht back, few countries have a law which states that retailers must give change.

What to do now? As JT says never buy from her again.

Indeed!!! I would really like to see your references on laws or lack thereof regarding giving change. In my naivety I maintain the notion that all countries have laws against stealing.

[techboy]

Best just to walk away. Difficult, I know, but try to keep in mind it's just $1.

It's also not wise to get into a heated argument (which could lead to much more) in an enclosed space like a market. Before you know it you could be on the ground with a knife in your back and everybody would swear that they hadn't seen a thing.

And of course, never go back to her stall. Tell your friends as well.

"Before you know it you could be on the ground with a knife in your back..." Absurd. Don't get out much or what? You have been reading too much Thai bashing in this forum which gives your statement all the credibility of unreliable knowledge which was derived from unreliable knowledge, which was drawn from unreliable knowledge from post to post... Uh huh! Dey is gonna get 'cha boy. Y'all better watch-it.

[jacko45k]

Get your mobile out and take her picture .........

Or help yourself to another bunch!

[thailiketoo]

79 baht or 29 baht

Edited December 7, 2013 by thailiketoo

[klauskunkel]

I would have just helped myself to some extra bananas and walked away never to return.

Kick slap kick slap kick kick slap slap punch stab ...

...and then run away

[brit1984]

i would have assumed 50 baht was the price and gone home to eat my bananas

[planetoftheapes]

Name and shame facebook page. I was thinking of starting one. Take her photo and blast her all over the net. Couple of nice big face shots. Wanted Poster Wanted For High Street Robbery.

It's like some people mentioned mostly you get the change but sometimes your dealing with racist Thais. There are allot of them but most of them do the right thing no matter what there views are on foreigners. 2 teer pricing comes from the top and it is fully condoned the only way of stopping it is by not condoning it yourself and never accept it. Big C Tesco all the big stores don't do it so shop there and don't buy anything from people you suspect of charging you more. There are many rich Thais walking around markets with a Merc parked in the parking lot and they don't get charged more so the excuse that we have more money is not a valid one your getting charged more for the colour of your skin and we in the west call that racism why should they get away with it by any other name.

[techboy]

I would have just helped myself to some extra bananas and walked away never to return.

Great idea...Infact do it and see what happens, I can picture it now, you laid on the floor covered in blood with a bannana or 3 stuck up your arse...

Absolute and total <deleted> ! Yet another scared view perpetuated by more scared views. Totally unrealistic and based on broad generalisations and not based in fact but stupid rumours.

It is called "aggressive ignorance." Don't let it get you down because it is here to stay.

[JamieP]

What you should have done, return the bananas and got your 50 Baht back, few countries have a law which states that retailers must give change.

What to do now? As JT says never buy from her again.

Indeed!!! I would really like to see your references on laws or lack thereof regarding giving change. In my naivety I maintain the notion that all countries have laws against stealing.

Applicable to England, as an example:

Both parties to a transaction are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender transaction it is necessary, for example, to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.

http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/legal-tender-amounts

[dluek]

I would have put the bananas back down and politely, with a smile and in Thai, asked for the 50 baht back. If she refused, I would, still smiling, act confused and tell her that I only wanted one bushel of bananas, not two. I would have persisted to act confused, smiling, and taking up her time and bugging her when other customers came, until she just gave in. If that went on for a really long time (which it probably wouldn't) and didn't work, I'd just take an extra bushel of bananas. One thing I wouldn't do is tell the girlfriend, b/c she'd go and think of some sinister way to make the vendor lose face in a bad way.

With that said, in three years living in Thailand and many more trips before that, I've never once been refused change by a street vendor. So yeah, sounds like a case of either one bad egg vendor or one impolite buyer.

[rgs2001uk]

I would have just helped myself to some extra bananas and walked away never to return.

Great idea...Infact do it and see what happens, I can picture it now, you laid on the floor covered in blood with a bannana or 3 stuck up your arse...

Absolute and total <deleted> ! Yet another scared view perpetuated by more scared views. Totally unrealistic and based on broad generalisations and not based in fact but stupid rumours.

Totally agree.

I would like to ask the OP:

Did the bananas have a price tag on them?

If so, how much were they per kilo and how many kilos of bananas did the woman give him?

If not, did the OP ask how much before handing over any money?

I know that some bananas can be more expensive according to their size and type. So could there have been a bit of language confusion in this case? Because this has never happened to me and this seems more of a misunderstanding than a rip-off.

In any case, I would not advise anyone trying to help themselves, that would be lunacy.

Did the bananas have a price tag on them?

Just about every market I have visited has a price listed, if not ask.

If so, how much were they per kilo and how many kilos of bananas did the woman give him?

I have never seen bananas sold by the kilo at the local market, always by the wee, it may well be the Op bought, song wee.

If not, did the OP ask how much before handing over any money?

Already anwered above, price usually displayed, if not ask.

I know that some bananas can be more expensive according to their size and type

Correct, usually from 25-35 baht per wee, we dont know what type or how many the OP bought.

[techboy]

I do not know if this would work every time but once I played the 'losing face' card during a similar situation. I pointed at the guy and began conveying what at happened to people that were running nearby stalls- but in the attitude of sharing a joke about him, rather than being angry. He tried to recover by offering me more fruit but after turning him down I got my change.

PS. No memory of lying on the ground bleeding with a knife in my back. Just strolled off...

[BudRight]

/sarcasm Remember that you are a guest in this country and therefore deserve to be ripped off. If you don't like it it's your fault and you should go home. /sarcasm

[marioc]

What you should have done, return the bananas and got your 50 Baht back, few countries have a law which states that retailers must give change.

What to do now? As JT says never buy from her again.

What to do now?

Of course never buy from her again but the OP should pass in front of her very often waving a 50 bath note and buy any fruit from a close seller....just to remind her how much money she has lost behaving like dick!

[scorecard]

What you should have done, return the bananas and got your 50 Baht back, few countries have a law which states that retailers must give change.

What to do now? As JT says never buy from her again.

Regarding the change, crossy is correct.

You can't also put it another way:

By law, in most countries, the buyer is responsible to tender the correct money / the seller has no legal responsibility to have change.

Late correction:

Regarding the change, crossy is correct.

You can't can also put it another way:

By law, in most countries, the buyer is responsible to tender the correct money / the seller has no legal responsibility to have change.

[chuang]

Was there any communication problem or mis-interpretation of what's written.....this is the first time I heard of it...

[Suradit69]

today i bought bananas 20 baht gave the woman 50 baht and she refused to give me the 30 baht change i asked her for it and she just told me to "awk by", go away should i have called the police probably ended up paying them as well if i had, should i swear at her and have all the other Thais give me a kicking.so like the farang dog i am

"today i bought bananas 20 baht"

20 baht is awfully cheap for a bunch of the large variety of bananas. Are you sure of the price? I bought a bunch of 5 this morning in the Wat Chai market in Pattaya and they were clearly labeled Baht 50. The cheapest bunch I saw was marked Baht 40.

"i have called the police probably ended up paying them as well"

"like the farang dog i am"

You clearly have a chip on your shoulder and probably deal with people in a manner that deservedly gets a response of contempt. I've always found the people selling in the market to be reasonably pleasant. I don't expect them to kick their heels in the air just because I spend Baht 50 or so, but I treat them politely and have never been treated otherwise.

I sometimes think Thai people are able to discern which farang are overly pompous & self-important and give them a metaphorical poke just to watch them turn red and become apoplectic. As JT says, it may help if they know you after frequent visits to the market, although in your case if they know you it may be the reason you're treated rudely.

Edited December 7, 2013 by Suradit69

[Gsxrnz]

I see the anti-racist racists are out in force today.

On topic - when paying for anything at a market stall in any country including your own, show the money being tendered but do not hand it over, allow the stallholder to gather change from their bag/pocket, exchange your money for the change.

I thought this was on page 1 of Lonely Planet?

[Beetlejuice]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJNeuYyZAdU

[IMA_FARANG]

That's funny.

Yesterday i bought some doughnuts from a street vendor, and then discovered all I had was 1000 Baht for only a 100 Baht purchase.

I apolised to her for only having a 1000 Bahrt note and she said "no problem.... just wait a minute until I get change ,please."

So I waited a couple of minutes while she sent someone into a nearby shop to get change for me.

Maybe it's your attitute that's wrong?

[arminbkk]

...............

What you could of done is taken a bite out of one of the bananas, then spat it back out on the floor and shout out "mai aroi". Then throw the rest of the bananas on the floor and stand on them. You then proceed to buy some more bananas from a different market vendor, take a bite from the new bananas and say "aroi maak". Hand over a nice juicy 500 baht tip and give the vendor who didnt give you your change back a nice big Thai smile.

Lost face big time, produce spat on the floor, rival vendor gets a compliment and a huge tip. That will teach them to steal 30 baht.

Actually, for Thais, if you would do that, YOU would be the one losing face.

But perhaps you were being sarcastic?

My decision on how to respond is usually based on: do I have to come back here frequently (eg. this market) or not?

I usually do, so I don't cause a scene.

Would not buy from this particular vendor again though.

[Korat28]

I had that happen to me often in Vietnam, but (knock on wood) that doesn't happen in Isaan often. You could have grabbed extra bananas and if they wanted to escalate it, I would have put the bananas back. But if they backed down when you grabbed the extra bananas, then take them since technically you paid for them. Also, where did this happen? In Pattaya or Phuket? I get angry too when that happens, but the best thing is to carry small change and if they try to shyster you, then walk away. Usually it's not worth it over less than $1. Sorry to hear it happened though!

[ozyjon]

I saw this in a convenience store in Phuket and calculated the store owner would make a huge profit from all the tourists he didn't give change back to, i would go into his shop on the way to the beach and on the way out look at him and not buy anything, did it every day.

[tim armstrong]

Yes, you have to walk away - usually. Recently I bought a packet of Glucosamine in a pharmacy in a Central dept store in BKK, as I was in a bit of pain, I didn't really question the 1,100 baht price. But remembered that the same thing cost me less at home in Nakhon Sawan.

Yesterday I went to Fascino while in Pattaya, where the same product cost 690 baht. This time I'm going back to the other pharmacy. I know I won't get any money back, but doing nothing is not ok. Actually we don't come to BKK much anymore, but I've found this time that I have to be more aware of the ripoff potential.

[Jingthing]

I see the anti-racist racists are out in force today.

On topic - when paying for anything at a market stall in any country including your own, show the money being tendered but do not hand it over, allow the stallholder to gather change from their bag/pocket, exchange your money for the change.

I thought this was on page 1 of Lonely Planet?

I never do that and would never do that. It seems really rude. I would call out the amount of large bills starting at 500 and make sure the merchant gives some kind of visual clue that they heard it.

[Jingthing]

20 baht is not unusual for a bunch of SMALL bananas in Pattaya markets. Not cheaper than that though.

[Travel Dude]

I have never heard of not getting change. I find your question dumb. Don't you know how to take care of yourself? Your question makes us farang look simple prey. In over 10 years I never had an issue. And if they really don't have chance give the product back. Don't ask; order.