Those wonderful Thai retailers

[Barney R]

Have you tried shopping at Homepro ? About 4 weeks ago I bought a new juicer there the staff were great . After answering my many questions and finally when I made my choice they took the juicer out of the box , assembled it ,plugged it into the power , turned it on to see if it worked then re packed it , filled out the warranty card for me and escorted me to the cashier all very professional , I was impressed to say the least. And the price was cheaper for the same juicer than 2 other retailers in the area .

[puukao]

We are more educated consumers now. We know it's cheap labor, they make 40% or more on each product, and are only nice because we have money. once we leave, after purchasing something, they could care less who we are. so yes, i expect more and hold on to my money tighter than before. i bought a good laptop at airport plaza last year, and it still works great. took me 2 months to find a shop and brand i could trust, and that was a long two months. land of smiles is they smile at your bank book. we do that in USA. of course, in USA we have stores like REI that allow returns no-questions asked. even up to a year, and before it was unlimited. this can make a consumer feel better.

[jacko45k]

The Thais suffer from it too.

Mine bought a new phone, popular brand in LOS.

It had a defect and she took it back, she was sent to the service centre and they kept it for 10 days.

She called (on the borrowed phone), they said it has been ready for 3 days, 'Why didn't you call me and tell me'...visualise shoulder shrug!

A month later, problem is fixed but she complains battery only lasts nearly 2 days. When I open it I see the Original battery has been replaced by 'some other'.

She goes back to complain.. long time ago she is told, shoulder shrug.

Tip.... if your car has a relatively new battery, check it is the same one after having it serviced!

Edited March 17, 2014 by jacko45k

[heybruce]

You are totally wrong. These big shops do not care to send back the products to the distributor / wholesaler and they have no reason to just try to sell it again. Ridiculous.

And yet I and others have had products with open boxes and missing items sold to us. Clearly there are some people at these stores who don't want to go to the trouble of returning products to the wholesale source.

[heybruce]

Now I understand why every time we buy something, my wife insist on opening up everything, and check that it works before we even pay...

Your wife (I assume she's Thai) knows what we expats need to learn.

[junglechef]

I think the reason there are less complaints about the traditional stores here is because we have lower expectations. I personally don't buy big ticket items at them and am so much more forgiving mainly to do with the improved shopping experience they provide over the Western style retail outlets. Yesterday at The Food Hall in Central Festival the General Manager brought me to the pasta section after I asked if they had any British foodstuffs. Luckily I had a 10 yr old Thai boy with me who polity told her that spaghetti was Italian.

[Chiengmaijoe]

As a contrast to the saga of the 16 baht bottle of unfizzy sprite I thought you might want to know about my experience today.

I finally got around to taking my defective DVD player back to Big C and was very pleasantly surprised. I'd had it for about 2 months when a DVD got stuck inside and it seemed to power down. I couldn't find the receipt so after a week or so of looking I decided to open it up and see if I could maybe get the disc out and see if it works. Of course that meant that the factory seal that was over one of the screws was broken, but what the hell, I reckoned I couldn't return it anyway. I could see no way of removing the disc so I left it and decided to look more for the receipt.

After another few weeks I found the receipt and the original box. By now it was about 3 months since I'd bought it, but I thought I'd try to at least get it fixed under warranty, but aware that they might not fix it because of the broken seal. So what happened? They looked at the receipt and called over the guy from the electronics dept. He looked at the receipt, asked me what the problem was and said he'll change it for a new one. I kid you not, they didn't even bother to check it. After about 15 minutes of searching for the same model I was given a new one, and just to be sure, they opened the new one and tested it. Those wonderful Thai retailers!

My policy always has been to buy electronics or big items at the big retailers because on average, this is the sort of service you get. It is certainly a far cry from the no refunds or returns policy of 20 years ago, but having said that some of the small retailers haven't caught on.

[scottishjohn]

As a contrast to the saga of the 16 baht bottle of unfizzy sprite I thought you might want to know about my experience today.

I finally got around to taking my defective DVD player back to Big C and was very pleasantly surprised. I'd had it for about 2 months when a DVD got stuck inside and it seemed to power down. I couldn't find the receipt so after a week or so of looking I decided to open it up and see if I could maybe get the disc out and see if it works. Of course that meant that the factory seal that was over one of the screws was broken, but what the hell, I reckoned I couldn't return it anyway. I could see no way of removing the disc so I left it and decided to look more for the receipt.

After another few weeks I found the receipt and the original box. By now it was about 3 months since I'd bought it, but I thought I'd try to at least get it fixed under warranty, but aware that they might not fix it because of the broken seal. So what happened? They looked at the receipt and called over the guy from the electronics dept. He looked at the receipt, asked me what the problem was and said he'll change it for a new one. I kid you not, they didn't even bother to check it. After about 15 minutes of searching for the same model I was given a new one, and just to be sure, they opened the new one and tested it. Those wonderful Thai retailers!

My policy always has been to buy electronics or big items at the big retailers because on average, this is the sort of service you get. It is certainly a far cry from the no refunds or returns policy of 20 years ago, but having said that some of the small retailers haven't caught on.

Did you not get your disk back?

[worgeordie]

As a contrast to the saga of the 16 baht bottle of unfizzy sprite I thought you might want to know about my experience today.

I finally got around to taking my defective DVD player back to Big C and was very pleasantly surprised. I'd had it for about 2 months when a DVD got stuck inside and it seemed to power down. I couldn't find the receipt so after a week or so of looking I decided to open it up and see if I could maybe get the disc out and see if it works. Of course that meant that the factory seal that was over one of the screws was broken, but what the hell, I reckoned I couldn't return it anyway. I could see no way of removing the disc so I left it and decided to look more for the receipt.

After another few weeks I found the receipt and the original box. By now it was about 3 months since I'd bought it, but I thought I'd try to at least get it fixed under warranty, but aware that they might not fix it because of the broken seal. So what happened? They looked at the receipt and called over the guy from the electronics dept. He looked at the receipt, asked me what the problem was and said he'll change it for a new one. I kid you not, they didn't even bother to check it. After about 15 minutes of searching for the same model I was given a new one, and just to be sure, they opened the new one and tested it. Those wonderful Thai retailers!

My policy always has been to buy electronics or big items at the big retailers because on average, this is the sort of service you get. It is certainly a far cry from the no refunds or returns policy of 20 years ago, but having said that some of the small retailers haven't caught on.

Did you not get your disk back?

Hope it does not get stuck again too soon,

regards Worgeordie

[ArfurMaggot]

I've had this tried on me, be it bad factory packing or repacking by the store but i always take everything out of the box before i buy, sometimes much to the annoyance of the staff. If it's something electrical i wanted it tested in front of me and i would rather spend another ten minutes in the store making sure all is well before taking it home.

How was this "tried" on you? Did they force you to select it?

If after your thorough inspection you decide not to buy a product after all, it then goes back on the shelf for other wary customers to refuse because it has been opened until it becomes out of date; style; whatever. Is that fair to the retailer? I guess that doesn't matter because, presumably, the retailer is Thai and it would be their own fault for trying it on with you, Trainman!

[Chiengmaijoe]

As a contrast to the saga of the 16 baht bottle of unfizzy sprite I thought you might want to know about my experience today.

I finally got around to taking my defective DVD player back to Big C and was very pleasantly surprised. I'd had it for about 2 months when a DVD got stuck inside and it seemed to power down. I couldn't find the receipt so after a week or so of looking I decided to open it up and see if I could maybe get the disc out and see if it works. Of course that meant that the factory seal that was over one of the screws was broken, but what the hell, I reckoned I couldn't return it anyway. I could see no way of removing the disc so I left it and decided to look more for the receipt.

After another few weeks I found the receipt and the original box. By now it was about 3 months since I'd bought it, but I thought I'd try to at least get it fixed under warranty, but aware that they might not fix it because of the broken seal. So what happened? They looked at the receipt and called over the guy from the electronics dept. He looked at the receipt, asked me what the problem was and said he'll change it for a new one. I kid you not, they didn't even bother to check it. After about 15 minutes of searching for the same model I was given a new one, and just to be sure, they opened the new one and tested it. Those wonderful Thai retailers!

My policy always has been to buy electronics or big items at the big retailers because on average, this is the sort of service you get. It is certainly a far cry from the no refunds or returns policy of 20 years ago, but having said that some of the small retailers haven't caught on.

Did you not get your disk back?

Hope it does not get stuck again too soon,

regards Worgeordie

John, I had a copy of the disc.

Worgeordie, one slipped disc is enough for now, thanks.

[Tchooptip]

either paying a taxi or asking a favor of a friend to get it there (its too big to carry on my bike)

Where were you educated ? Nothing on earth is too big to carry on a bike pffff

[heybruce]

either paying a taxi or asking a favor of a friend to get it there (its too big to carry on my bike)

Where were you educated ? Nothing on earth is too big to carry on a bike pffff

You're right, I'm clearly lacking in initiative.

[Thighlander]

I bought an old condo last month and have been making all the retail rounds. I wish that I had gone to that hardware store at IKON on day 1....even for the toilet repair. Went to the American Standard on 11 and never seen more of a no you can't attitude, and no refund, etc....her jaw dropped alittle, when I told her I had repaired 100+ toilets. So, I went to Thor Homes way out HD rd., and they are very pleasant in there, and I like their attitude. Paid 770 for complete rebuild kit for a Karat tank. Works perfectly, however, I later discovered that the place at IKON sells a pretty good kit for 350, the one at TESCO sucks for 299, which is why I went to American Standard to begin with. Really dissapointed in "Gnome Throw" and was surprised they want 1500 to install a ceiling fan, but shocked when I found out "Bong and Yonder" want 5000 THB. I would do it for a lot less than that....wire and switch are already in place....Siam TV was great.....TV and HWH. They left a gap in the wiring on the HWH, and I went to the store with a picture...they came back later that day and did it right.....TESCO had an older model TV for the same price I paid at Siam, with some very nice extra features. Had my heart set on a Sony, but would you belioeve no ENgrish on SOny? But they can upgrade for free at Service Center..no thanks...now I se why Sony is losing their <deleted>. Almost bought an LG until I listened to the sound....very poor. I went with Toshiba.

[KRS1]

i know a farang (Brit) that bought a drill to use once then returned it.

its not limited to thais

[Frank James]

I've bought several items from the store in question, and in every case the staff at the store carefully opened the box and made sure the item was complete and fully functional. I was favorably impressed by that. I have found the level of customer service at large stores here generally better than in the USA. Take it back. They'll make it right.

[sustento]

Telling Tits to beware is usually a waste of time.

Too true. They just wobble around a bit and then ignore you

[jacko45k]

The Thais suffer from it too.

Mine bought a new phone, popular brand in LOS.

It had a defect and she took it back, she was sent to the service centre and they kept it for 10 days.

She called (on the borrowed phone), they said it has been ready for 3 days, 'Why didn't you call me and tell me'...visualise shoulder shrug!

A month later, problem is fixed but she complains battery only lasts nearly 2 days. When I open it I see the Original battery has been replaced by 'some other'.

She goes back to complain.. long time ago she is told, shoulder shrug.

Tip.... if your car has a relatively new battery, check it is the same one after having it serviced!

The original defect has just returned!

No more Nokias.