Why do Thai shop owners have such bad attitudes?

[golfer678]

funny, i get what you get....only 1 place ever says thank you, please come again....STARBUCKS. i was at macdonalds 1 day and when served i said thank you come again, in thai and english. the manager came out and ask me to train his staff to say this. i did, free, had them lined up and repeating after me and saying alone. the next day there was nothing. back to old business.

they like your baht but not you.

one time looked at a small stool, was told 160 baht. typically a thai came, butted in front of me...irritating by itself but always happens...she got hers for 100 baht. i gave the man 100 baht and took one. from what he said in thai he was not happy. one price for thai's one for farangs.

maybe this is why the above people have good luck, they are paying farang price. who wouldn't like this

Edited December 31, 2013 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[chuang]

Strange I don't find the shop owners/helpers in Thailand as what the OP said....As for the shop assistant/owner in China, this is my experience ..

I was at a flea market I think they called it the Russian market in Beijing, there was this store selling children imitation Barbie jeans...asked how munch is a pair the price quoted was about USD 70, WOW I said this costs more than an original... So I walked off, the woman kept shouting and gesticulating, I understood she wanted me to quote her a price....I said how can I if the price you quoted was so outrageous...

So much so for what the OP has said about China shop owners...

Rule of thumb for a foreigner in Yabalu Market is to counter at 10% of the first price tossed out. Then the fun starts. Can be a little offputting if you come from a Western "price is clearly marked" background.

Etiquette dictates that you don't negotiate on something you don't have a genuine intention to buy, because that's a waste of their time (and they pay ridiculous rents so they don't want to waste their time)

In your case, she was hoping you'd toss out an acceptable price on the first offer- lots of foreigners do, still thinking they got a great deal. It's bad etiquette to walk out without at least offering a price (no matter how low you go), or saying :"thank you" for the information. But you don't have to worry about offending anyone. They are in it for the money and have developed extremely thick skin from getting 50 no's for every sale.

I was astounded at how far most Chinese shop owners would go to make a deal happen. Overall, my general experiences in Thailand have been favorable, but once in a while I wander into a store that doesn't want me in there- same as in China. They usually make it pretty clear from the first few seconds, and I find my way to the door as quickly as I can.

I walked out after saying thank you..so how much should i offered her in this case, i know not how to quote a price as it was soooo outrageous....USD30/20...

From another shop I paid USD15 for the same jeans,.price quoted USD25..The morale of the story is she should be reasonable in giving me a price, not quoted sky-high and expected me to bargain down to 1000%. ...I speak Pu Tong Hwa also.

[Arif Khalil]

My experience is to go at a store they know little bit of English then they won't get shy and try to facilitate. On the other hand it was just one day I (my wife, a South Asian friend and a Thai friend) spent in Chinatown (Bangkok) that the Chinese were not even allowing us to stay at their stall/ shop... rude with insultive behavior... not to even see or touch the items on display let alone ask or negotiate the price same happened with me and my friend from UAE in Silom that Chinese lady asked us to leave the leatherware shop and we had to buy from a Thai shop next door... may be they have become Thai

[freedom4life]

Strange..I believe that we are not getting the whole picture here. All the time that I have been in Thailand, there has been very little trouble in shopping around...

[brianP]

First customer of the day is lucky for the vendor and customer in Chinese owned stores.

[tonypace02]

If you'd ever shopped in London, you would know who the Thai shop owners are trying to emulate.

[Emdog]

"Surely shop owners understand the concepts of basic customer service?" Short answer: no. Home improvement places are the worst in my experience. Gather in a clot and just gossip. "Who do I have to <deleted> to get some service here?" (no takers, btw). Or go to Tesco, ask if they have bike lights. "No hab". I walk around, find them, bring back and present: "Hab". They get puzzled angry face. The lack of initiative to know what they have and where..... oy vey! Would rather stand there and go into "mental erase" state when no customer around.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Emdog

[HerbalEd]

After 30-plus years in Thailand this has not been my experience. Yes, a few shop owners have bad attitudes but no more than what I experience in my home country (USA) or other countries of the world.

[louse1953]

I dress very,very casually but always get treated with respect and a laugh,bargaining no probs,i rekon the trick is to speak their language.

[khunPer]

Cannot recall – only had good and smiling service everywhere, local shops up Isaan; shops, larger stores and shopping centres in province towns; Bangkok at both markets, malls and Seven-elevens; major tourist areas; and where I live, in a tourist area.

[brfsa2]

I have also faced this kind of attitude from shop owners. not very often, but 1 in 10.

As someone commented, it's just their personal momentary ego, they are usually some employee who hate their job, or some owner that has something against foreigners.

Often I see this in tourist areas.

In China it's different, I;ve been there, and according to Chinese, a customer once will be a customer again.

Also, a customer lost is win for another seller.

[louse1953]

i hate it when you enter a shop and they follow you about like a lap dog , you smile and say " just looking " intent on buying something, they get aggresive , they are just greedy people. i am sick of people saying how nice the thais are when really all they want is your money and they probably hate us, but hey thats a different topic .

Of course they want your money,that's the point of having a shop,doh.

[louse1953]

The shop i hate (yes really hate) the most is 1- Homepro and 2- Homeworks. They are waiting at the entrance to annoy you, then follow you like a lapdog, don't know anything about their own products because they have never used/posessed them. They only try to sell you the brand that they are selling, approach you in a group or are playfighting with eachother. They don't speak english, can't count. I always get a bad mood after i have been there. When i go there with my wife they talk to her like crazy while i am the customer and not her. My wife refuses to go there again, also Powerbuy has annoying sales by the way but better then homepro.

Your wife refuses to go with YOU there again.Maybe they speak Thai because TIT.You should try it sometime,amazing how helpful they can be.

[Halion]

For me this is simply part of the human condition and with regard department stores to a great extent it depends on expectation , training and supervision. Where the owner /management set a high expectation ,provides training and adequate supervision then the service is good to exemplary,where this is not the case then there is minimal stakeholder interest and the service/attitude can be abysmal.

A typical example is with regard to western style fast food outlets. Some of these are simply a nightmare with staff all doing their own thing and the customer and product being of no consequence to the staff whereas others which have adequate management are as efficient and effective as anywhere in the world.

Once in a major department store I wanted to buy two bottles of aftershave totaling around 5,000 Baht for a 30 second transaction. The lady at the counter was crouched on the floor doing her make up and glanced at me and continued with her make up. A lady at the adjacent counter spoke to her in Thai with regard to my presence and in a very pissed of manner she rose from the floor asked me what I wanted. I told her and she started to complied the request and her cell rang to which she turned her back on me and walked a few paces away while holding a conversation that went on for over 3 minutes . She kept glancing over her shoulder but ignored me and continued with her conversation. She then hung up and started to dial another number. I just walked of and gave another store my business, however I did make a formal complaint at the information desk like throwing snowballs at the moon.

[Prbkk]

I have also faced this kind of attitude from shop owners. not very often, but 1 in 10.

As someone commented, it's just their personal momentary ego, they are usually some employee who hate their job, or some owner that has something against foreigners.

Often I see this in tourist areas.

In China it's different, I;ve been there, and according to Chinese, a customer once will be a customer again.

Also, a customer lost is win for another seller.

I don't see much difference between China and Thailand. If a Thai knows you are a resident , he will do anything to keep you happy and coming back to the store.

Dept Stores different.

[seasia]

I`ve encountered very poor customer service at times in Thailand but seemed to be mostly from staff rather than owners.

Away from tourist areas does seem to be generally better.

[atyclb]

I think biggest problem is the lack of english here and the lack of Thai from the others. They just feel uncomfortable talking in English it goes slower and such. To be honest there are bad shops anywhere but with a few words of Thai they often help me. It can be quite fun explaining something in Thai when you don't know the exact words. Of course this is outside the tourist area's and not in a busy shop taking up all their time.

I bet most people here can't say 2 words of Thai (not that mine is perfect by any means) but just a bit helps.

Nice theory BUT when you become proficient in the language (written and alphabet) and pronounce the vowels and words correctly you will realize there is a HUGE issue with competence, work ethic, motivation, connecting dots, etc etc. The majority populous does not notice anything wrong because they know no other way and have been conditioned to go with the flow. Mind you it is not their fault, the culprits lie in the (lack of) education system that fails to train the mind "how to think" When you factor in societal values like money worship and cheating the situation just gets compounded.

In my experience just a small % of staff are knowledgeable about what they sell day to day. Believe me, when you remove the language barrier you get even more frustrated.

I live in a thai neighborhood (very few non thais) and there are specific stores that routinely try to cheat customers, regardless of ethnicity, although I do agree some of them will try to scam farangs more. Big C is not always the place for fair prices either. I recently priced an antibiotic at big c for 400 that sells at the mom and pop pharmacy for 200.

Be happy you believe it is the lack of language ability that produces these issues.

[A1Str8]

You answered your own question when stated...it's all about the money in Thailand. That's why. The myth that thais are so friendly and all about smiling was busted a long time ago, everyone knows that it's not true.

[chrisinth]

OK, I understand where the OP is coming from. Just tried to barter with a bottle of HP sauce in Tops. Offered them 70 baht, and I swear I thought the checkout girl was going to hit me with it.

Can't understand it..................

[uptheos]

Maybe you are in a tourist area?

Outside them I see only nice and friendly.

Of course, he IS a tourist!

(Or maybe been here 29 years and 'lurking')

Edited December 28, 2013 by uptheos

[somchaismith]

Wife has owned clothes shops for quite a few years now. At one time had five but, as we are both getting older, have persuaded her to cut down to two.

The following are her views.......

But if I give a first offer price of 700-800 to foreigners, expecting them to come back with around 200, and finally get near to the 400 for a sale but they are living here it just reinforces their view that foreigners are charged double. Selling at a price equal to or lower than total cost is not acceptable, so sometimes a sale cannot be made (a failure really). Of course if buying more than one item there will be a further discount.

This is an example of dual pricing, that pisses foreigners off.

Now, where are the people which say that it doesn't happen?

[nithisa78]

1,000,000 to 1 , you are projecting your own self image. Creating what you see and experience. Natural law.

[nithisa78]

Cannot recall – only had good and smiling service everywhere, local shops up Isaan; shops, larger stores and shopping centres in province towns; Bangkok at both markets, malls and Seven-elevens; major tourist areas; and where I live, in a tourist area.

100% agree.

[Nemesis7]

You yourself is a racist dude. You gave hint of back packers, stink and average down people, what's that all about ? They are not customers ? They can not buy or deserve to be treated nicely? No wonder the shop owners don't treat you nice.

Learn to respect people first before asking that in return.

[atyclb]

You yourself is a racist dude. You gave hint of back packers, stink and average down people, what's that all about ? They are not customers ? They can not buy or deserve to be treated nicely? No wonder the shop owners don't treat you nice.

Learn to respect people first before asking that in return.

In reality thai culture has considerable racism. Typically darker skin people are either looked down upon and or thought to be farmers / low end society. This is thai people with thai people.

Society is all about image because there isn't a whole lot of substance. This is why backpackers and unkemp appearing foreigners are mentioned. The backpackers are often upstanding people but the average thai does not think deeper than the image.

[stoli]

You don' have to face haggling over price in the USA. You state the price on the sticker, and everyone knows the cost. Very easy. The Thai's have developed a system, because they know some people will not haggle, where they sometimes get 10 times the cost of the product. This is not your fault, or mine, it is theirs. I will always play the game that they have initiated, whether they like it not. I try to offer a fair price, and if I don't like their counteroffer, I walk away. Most of the time they call me back. I try to be fair, and hope they will be fair, but I was not sent here by anyone to boost the sellers to richness. I am just trying to buy at a reasonable price, which is fair in any country I believe.

[suthansman]

In Cha-Am, I'd go to the market for fruit n veg.

A few stallholders used to overcharge with a smile and I knew the food was overpriced when tallied up, so I'd not go back to them. Eventually I found a couple of stalls selling to me at the Thai price. These often used to give me extra potatoes, the odd extra onion and stuff. They were also friendly too and often talked to me in their limited english. They obviously wanted and valued my custom and they got that repeatedly. I'd be in there twice a week and ignore the other stallholders as I walked past them. Some are plain greeedy and / or miserable.

Up in Nakhonsawan, they built a really big market under a roofed area. There, I paid the normal price, always served with a smile. Very friendly people.

At the shops near the village they too were more than happy with my custom. One Thai guy even brought his wife out to see the new farang customer. Yet all I bought was tobacco for about 20 Baht. Needless to say I used these places whenever I needed what they were selling.

I've had generally good and friendly service all over. Bartering the price down too. Some you win and some you lose.

Possibly if they (shops and shopkeepers) have had bad experiences with foreigners before, it might taint their outlook, yet a smile and being able to ask how much it costs and also bartering using Thai numbers seems to work for me most of the time.

On the other hand some shops might simply not know how to cope with a foreigner and that might make them seem hostile. I say that because some places I've walked into have given me some really odd looks, yet when I have gone back to them with a Thai in tow their attitude changes and they are friendly and happy to serve.

Just my threepence worth

[somchaismith]

Wife has owned clothes shops for quite a few years now. At one time had five but, as we are both getting older, have persuaded her to cut down to two.

The following are her views.......

But if I give a first offer price of 700-800 to foreigners, expecting them to come back with around 200, and finally get near to the 400 for a sale but they are living here it just reinforces their view that foreigners are charged double. Selling at a price equal to or lower than total cost is not acceptable, so sometimes a sale cannot be made (a failure really). Of course if buying more than one item there will be a further discount.

This is an example of dual pricing, that pisses foreigners off.

Now, where are the people which say that it doesn't happen?

The customer brings it on themself. 99 out of 100 times.

Wow! You actually know that 99 % of these shop's customers are foreigners?

Call your bluff on that one. If what you're saying is true, that would be an awful lot of people (foreigners) which they've discriminated against.

Edited December 28, 2013 by somchaismith

[kannot]

many times get vague indifference, Ie its like Im not there or they take the money dont even look at me.

Went to buy a water pump once (Honda about 9k baht) Wife asked if we can see one out of the box, answer NO, Wife said if we cant see it how do we know what we are buying, owner said if I get it out the box you have to buy it. Result went to next town and bought it for 7.5k baht. The owner of that shop was great he even said "Oh yes that shop is well known for his crap attitude" Have since been back to the same shop for a brushcutter.

Edited December 28, 2013 by kannot

[nomad127]

I have never had a bad experience in a Thai store and having worked in China for 5 years, I would like to know what city you were in where the clerks were happy and cheerful, and no, Hong Kong does not count.