Outrageous behavior! Cinema Chair broke & they ask me to pay for damage

[krisb]

Kind of curious, how much is a Thai cinema chair worth?

I do not know what a chair is worth nor its replacement cost and the question is not relevant to this discussion at all.

Just one of many questions that must be asked is why should a cinema patron be expected to pay for wear and tear on an item that thousands of people have plonked their ample posteriors into? The chair clearly has a design fault and poses a danger to customers such as myself. Who is to say what initially triggered the design fault that led to the chair cracking?

Not once did staff or management ask about my health or well being and while I was uninjured from the chair a simple enquiry from any member of the cinema staff would have been appropriate if not a pre requisite of such a situation. I am of course a paying customer using their provided equipment and I could have been injured.

Ok ok just asking!

If you hadn't spent so much time bouncing from one buffet to the next, this problem may not have found itself.

Next time your praying ask for less cheese.

[LloydD]

hit the gym.

[Paulzed]

You shouldn't have been shagging in the cinema!!!

[Paulzed]

If you could share the video clip by uploading it on you tube and providing a link, we may be able to understand this better.

Yes I agree, we need to see the vid before we can make an informed comment of the situation.

[Paulzed]

She has no problem with her chair

[sirchai]

I gotta agree with the"pay-up" posters here. You should take some responsibility for your weight. I wouldn't have paid full price, but found some median ground. After all it did break while you were using it, and you say it was your "regular" seat, if I am not mistaken.

And really, was that lie necessary? Was losing "face" over a few greenbacks really worth it?

Just my 2 cents.

Please keep your 2 cents with comments like that.

+ 1 Unbelievable what god's garden had left over, with such a lack of intelligence. Better big than stup.

Same guy's living on food stamps under a bridge somewhere, using a mate's iPad. Sad world we live in.

Edited June 15, 2014 by sirchai

[mrowe1973]

I'm not sure how tall you are but I have seen some of the farangs in Thialand. Clearly these seats and facilities are not constructed for bigger people. I'm 6ft3 204lbs myself, so I know what I'm talking about. I also struggle with my weight and work very hard to keep it down. I feel more energetic and have a better outlook on life when I'm in shape. I don't know how tall you are so I can't speak on your conditining. However many farangs in Thialand need to go on diets!

[sustento]

What's outrageous is that a man with an arse the size of Texas expects a Thai cinema seat to be able to cope with it. The next time he ought to bring his own...

[movsrus]

Should have ended the conversation with the manager with 'Sorry for taking up your time. Let me compensate you'. Then give them a 1 baht coin.

That is a bad idea. Once you agree to pay for the seat- even if you offer only one baht- they can call the police and say that you agreed to pay for it and now the complaint is over how much the seat is worth. Better to give them nothing and tell them to call the police at which time you will file a report for back pain and request and ambulance to take you to the hospital.

Another thing that galls me is this thai face crap. I give as good as I get and if someone is rude or irritating to me they will get that same reaction back- in spades. Conversely, if they treat me with kindness and respect I return that when I deal with them. I read many TV posters talking about having to try and keep from insulting a Thai because of the face issue. What a mamby-pamby attitude. Did you wife/ladyboy take your balls and wont give them back? Treat people as they deserve. Give respect when you get it and don't be afraid not to tell people when you are treated in a rude or disrespectful manner. When foreigners roll over and take a bad attitude it just reinforces the belief that all farangs will be pu$$y's when confronted by a Thai.

[ATF]

Dear OP, I think this thread has just about run it's course by now I am sure you have some interesting tales to tell of your experiences with buffets?

[ToddWeston]

6 pages and no one is on about Bariatric surgery/disease and all the mumbo jumbo, nice for a change.

Seems the OP is fine with his size and his partner obviously likes em big, but I'm with another poster why on heavens earth see Tom Cruise, awful flick.

Maybe there's a business idea in here to bring back drive ins, then the larger ones don't have to leave their truck.

[Kasset Tak]

I went to a barbershop last year and the chair broke, then my weight was 130kg. It was not the old style barber's chair but a new one, made from 30mm steel tubes and spot welded. They wanted 2500 for a new chair but, I refused as you could see rust in the broken weld but I offered to have it repaired for them. The welder charged me 300 Baht as it took him 3 hours to fix it... He had reweld all joints in the entire chair because they had cracks!

P.S. I'm 192cm tall and I'm at 135 starting at 165kg in 2011 but it takes time and some times I'm relapsing to my old behavior and gain weight again D.S.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Kasset Tak

[anono222]

Common thing for Thailand. At a bus stop near Udon, I once stopped to eat at a small restaurant during a short layover. The chairs were the usual plastic with a back. As I was eating my meal, the chair broke from under me plumeting me to the floor. I was not hurt, nor did the restaurant owner ask. She immediately let me girlfriend know I would have to pay for the chair. I see the same chairs at Makro for around 90 Baht and she immediately argued for 100. At first I told her no way and she was lucky I wasn't injured by her defective chair. Soon a policeman showed up and the saga began to drag on and on until my bus was leaving. So, paid the gal her blood money and have refused to set in a plastic chair since. And no, I only weigh 95 kilos. Cheers....

[techboy]

I would have probably confused the situation more by demanding a refund.

[canuckamuck]

I think the OP should be required to pay because he reported the damage, which was a mistake. The thing to do is to act like nothing happened and take another chair. If they ask you if broke the chair you say no it wasn't me. There will be no more questions. This is how these types of things are handled everyday all over Thailand. When you go and report the problem you force people into a situation where they need to be defensive. You screw up the whole passive aggressive system. Is it a bad system? Yes it is totally stupid. But it is the system and if you don't want to be a martyr for the cause of better customer service in Thailand. Keep your mouth shut and do as the Thais do.

That being said here is related anecdote:

I took a two man kayak type boat out from a beach to do a little fishing around an area of rocks about 100 meters down shore. I had a little tackle box and a rod. And a friend was sitting in the front. It was choppy but I have done much worse in Kayaks and was unconcerned. Then the little craft (just plastic and full of air) started to sink. It had a hole in it. It was all I could do to stay off the rocks and get the thing back to the vendor. We couldn't even pull it up the beach because it was full of water. I was only in the thing for about 10 minutes before I realized it was going down, so the hole was preexisting. Someone less experienced could easily have drowned.

Being new to Thailand I expected a great deal of apology and concern for my well being. Guess what, they were angry and insisted I pay for the boat. A precursor to the jet ski scam I suppose. I was on an island and couldn't get out of it. but I talked them down to 200 baht.

[techboy]

What's outrageous is that a man with an arse the size of Texas expects a Thai cinema seat to be able to cope with it. The next time he ought to bring his own...

I have not noticed Thai cinema seats to be smaller than anyplace else.

[teatree]

The cinema took his money and agreed to let him in. It is their risk...they should pay.

[mesquite]

In defense of the OP, everything in this country is made for someone the size of a child. If he goes on a diet, he still won't fit. Very few of us will.

[mdmayes]

Thainess.

[mesquite]

I went to a barbershop last year and the chair broke, then my weight was 130kg. It was not the old style barber's chair but a new one, made from 30mm steel tubes and spot welded. They wanted 2500 for a new chair but, I refused as you could see rust in the broken weld but I offered to have it repaired for them. The welder charged me 300 Baht as it took him 3 hours to fix it... He had reweld all joints in the entire chair because they had cracks!

P.S. I'm 192cm tall and I'm at 135 starting at 165kg in 2011 but it takes time and some times I'm relapsing to my old behavior and gain weight again D.S.

No Country For Big Men

[tartempion]

TIT, 4* hotel in Khorat: bathtub had no shower head, wife used a glass to rinse her hair, the glass hit the tab and the glass broke.

Mistake: first checked out and then went for breakfast.

Accounting did their best to locate us in the restaurant and claimed 100B for the glass.

They surely would have called the cops if we did not pay for the damage.

Hotel was Sima Thani, try it out....

[jacko45k]

True. But I doubt the seats were designed and manufactured to withstand 120 kilograms. Not casting aspersions, but it would be interesting to see a video of how the OP lowered himself into the seat. Was it a normal, slow movement, or did he flop down into it quickly? Just wondering.

You make a good point...... heavy guys rarely lower themselves gently but thump down heavily, as anybody who has been behind one in an aircraft probably knows.

And when they are behind you, they pull themselves up using your headrest.

Fancy using cronyism to get out of your obvious responsibility. (TIC)

Like this guy?

Do any of you gentleman own your own scales?? The gentleman in the photo must weigh 400 pounds AT LEAST. That is 180+ Kilograms. I am not a man of anywhere near that great a girth!

120 kilograms is not unusual these days as anyone who has travelled back to the States can attest to!

As for the seat sitting down action; I flipped the seat down and lowered myself onto it reasonably gently. I was carrying a soda and popcorn at the time.

The comparison with an airline seat is spurious and shows it must be a long time since you have visited a cinema in Thailand. The spacing between cinema rows is very generous and leaning forward to use the seat in front of you would be of little assistance in exiting from a seat.

Was it a big gulp? That might explain things.

[sdanielmcev]

I gotta agree with the"pay-up" posters here. You should take some responsibility for your weight. I wouldn't have paid full price, but found some median ground. After all it did break while you were using it, and you say it was your "regular" seat, if I am not mistaken.

And really, was that lie necessary? Was losing "face" over a few greenbacks really worth it?

Just my 2 cents.

Please keep your 2 cents with comments like that.

No. I don't think I will. And you might want to read that blurb on the bottom of your posts, as to why.

[deknoiJT]

In defense of the OP, everything in this country is made for someone the size of a child. If he goes on a diet, he still won't fit. Very few of us will.

In many circumstances I would agree with you but the cinema chairs here in Thailand are luxurious by Western cinema standards. The chairs wide and the backs high. Most Thai people sink deep into the chair and from behind it can be difficult to know if the chair is taken or not from behind.

On another point one member mentioned: When I stated I sat in my favourite seat I did not mean per se that I sit in this actual physical chair every time I go to the cinema. We go to the cinema regularly and I have seen around 200 films in Thailand in a variety of different cinemas. I have a favorite row number and seat number (on the aisle) so any cinema we attend I will request this seat when purchasing the ticket.

Never before i have had a cinema chair break on me, nor ANY chair break under my weight. The conclusion there is that this cinema chair was faulty or maybe broken before I sat down?

The eagerness and certainty with which i was accused and then expected to pay for the chair is what put me in a tizz.

[deknoiJT]

Gluttonous fatties should feel ashamed of all the waste and destruction they create, all the space they take up, their morbid overconsumption.

Pay up for the damage you caused, and no further whining. You owe that to the cinema.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My dear Tubby, I am not given to gluttony. You obviously confuse gluttony with being overweight or confuse gluttony for having a love and vast appreciation of food.

South Koreans are one of the World's most prolific wasters and consumers of food yet people do not think of S.koreans as being 'fatties'. Next time you go to a Korean BBQ or buffet observe the wastage of food.

I pose you this Sir: You are walking down the road here in Thailand and you step on a drain cover. The drain cover gives way and you fall into the hole. By your reasoning the mere act of you stepping on that drain cover makes you liable for the damage you caused to the drain cover.

[scoutman360]

The phone video was absolutely brilliant. Given their reaction, I would have turned tables on them. Anyone who doesn't want to be on TV? 1,000baht.

[Maggusoil]

Kind of curious, how much is a Thai cinema chair worth?

I do not know what a chair is worth nor its replacement cost and the question is not relevant to this discussion at all.

Just one of many questions that must be asked is why should a cinema patron be expected to pay for wear and tear on an item that thousands of people have plonked their ample posteriors into? The chair clearly has a design fault and poses a danger to customers such as myself. Who is to say what initially triggered the design fault that led to the chair cracking?

Not once did staff or management ask about my health or well being and while I was uninjured from the chair a simple enquiry from any member of the cinema staff would have been appropriate if not a pre requisite of such a situation. I am of course a paying customer using their provided equipment and I could have been injured.

Perhaps the old suing the cinema for not providing safe seating, is the better approach. With great respect of course.

You fall off with great style and noise, your partner helps you, to hobble to the manager's office with a please explain query. . .

[expatsupreme]

I did not know fruitcakes are obese, maybe in the bear section of the family tree?

[Jingthing]

The chair was clearly defective. Any chair in a modern cinema should be expected to safely seat a 260 pound person regardless of the level of their obesity. 500 pounds perhaps nor but not many of that size leave their houses much. Thanks to the OP for sharing his adventure.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[deknoiJT]

Gluttonous fatties should feel ashamed of all the waste and destruction they create, all the space they take up, their morbid overconsumption.

Pay up for the damage you caused, and no further whining. You owe that to the cinema.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My dear Tubby, I am not given to gluttony. You obviously confuse gluttony with being overweight or confuse gluttony for having a love and vast appreciation of food.

South Koreans are one of the World's most prolific wasters and consumers of food yet people do not think of S.koreans as being 'fatties'. Next time you go to a Korean BBQ or buffet observe the wastage of food.

I pose you this Sir: You are walking down the road here in Thailand and you step on a drain cover. The drain cover gives way and you fall into the hole. By your reasoning the mere act of you stepping on that drain cover makes you liable for the damage you caused to the drain cover.

I can blissfully step on drain covers as I am in proper shape, not in need of a construction crane to lift me off the floor after every broken-chair mishap. I don't gorge on food but exercise mature restraint.

However, if I were a morbidly obese gelatinous sack of blubber, ...

You are svelte and sleek and superbly proportioned while being as sure footed as a graceful gazelle! Sir i applaud your stupendous conditioning!

But as for the scenario I posed.

If you did step on a faulty drain cover and it broke...you would pay for the damage of the drain cover?

My dear, in proper body shape you might be, but exercise your mind. Exercise your mind!