22 restaurants in Hua Hin guilty of overcharging their customers

[Yann55]

This article is beyond silly.

As far as I know the word 'overcharging' covers only two situations : the prices on the bill are higher than those on the menu or they charge you things you didn't order.

A meal in a restaurant, especially in a holiday town, implies more than just shuving food down your gastro-intestinal system, for heaven's sake, so yes, the price of the food is different depending on where you eat it, how nice the setting is, how well it's prepared etc.

A plate of French fries at the top of the Eiffel Tower is more expensive than in a fish and chips stall in the suburbs of Manchester, and obviously it has to do with the 'wrapping' ! This is so obvious that I can't believe it even needs to be said.

The customer looks at the menu, orders, eats and then pays. It's between her/him and the owner of the restaurant, and it's called business.

If the authorities want to crackdown on illegal practises, welcome, and there's plenty of dirt to clean up all around but hello, don't let this well intentioned policy turn into a witch hunt, it sucks !

Edited August 12, 2014 by Yann55

[koto]

In Samui, some restaurants will have menus in Thai on the wall and hand a menu to the suckers (i.e: foreigners) for double and triple the price... 

My UK friend, who could speak, read and write Thai, would always make a point of ordering for us from the wall. 

Perplexed the thieving, air-headed rascals...

 

We did the same in Hawaii, If you showed a Hawaii drivers license, you would get a discount because

your their year around customers, low and high season...

It was called Kamaaina rates, I also get discounts here by showing my Thai license...

If one lives year around in tourist areas, they should get a discount opposed to the person on vacation...

[Yann55]

 

Ive just realized ive been overcharged every time I go out for a beer because they are always more expensive in bars/gogo's than the 7/11.... who should I complain to ?

No One. The answer lies in the overheads. 7/11's are largely self service and with a lower cost base than a typical bar I would venture to suggest.

 

 

Humpty Lumply, yours is the second post that offers a deadly serious reply to what was obviously a tongue-in-cheek comment.

 

What happened to that thing called a 'sense of humor' on TV forum ???

[ingvar]

suppose this has been said already here....I would never enter a restaurant where the prices are not clearly shown or stated otherwise. Secondly many restaurants have both English/Foreign menus and Thai menus, If they give me a Foreign language menu when I sit, I will always ask for the Thai menu alongside, if they then refuse I leave a look for another restaurant, I suppose this is an old trick by the restaurants but its still around where I live in part (note the Foreign Language menu is always about 50% more expensive). Another thing they do is to quote the price in Kg/uncooked, especially with seafood. Now uncooked and cooked weight has a big difference in these restaurants:)))

 

and so on....The Thai Scams just go on and on.

 

[Deacon Bell]

Who loves when the waiter or waitress comes down after you 'check-bill' and just tells you the total price without showing or giving you a bill? 

[ingvar]

I will never forget one of my first visits to Thailand years ago in Bangkok me and my friends was looking for this famous Seafood restaurant (cant remember the name now) somewhere in Bangkok and we had the name and address. We entered the meter taxi of the street and told him to go there.

 

So now we are on the way and the driver tells us the place just recently burnt down to the ground......Very sad but nobody died. Now he knew this other place he can drive us to.....

 

And then we got scammed at that place with kg/uncooked thing scam, and after that few days after of course we found out that the place we didn't go to was still running, in fact a guest at the same hotel was there the same evening! And of course we realized Mr. Taxi Driver got a percentage of the deal dunno how much but sure somebody can fill me in as the scam most certainly is ongoing.

 

Talk about feeling stupid! But its also a part of the charm of Thailand as long as it does not go overboard as with the restaurants in Hua Hin.

 

[ingvar]

"Some of these dishes such as the Thai papaya salad or “Som Tam” and grilled squid were priced at around 300 baht and 500 baht respectively, which were more than twice the prices of what most restaurants in Thailand would offer."

 

I am not sure what restaurants they refer to, But at my favorite restaurants both in Pattaya, Bangsray, Chonburi and upcountry the price for "som Tam" is about 30 Baht and grilled Squid I never ordered as I do not understand why anyone would eat that stuff?

[csabo]

Women are reading these posts and asking perplexed "Menus have prices??"

[Arkady]

The restaurants actually on the beach are illegal and should be chased away along with the deck chair hire people, as in Phuket.  The restaurants on the fishing piers are also illegal structures that were told to dismantle themselves about 10 years ago but paid people off instead which was the intention.

 

It's supposed to be a free market and many tourists seem to content to overpay but I have no issue, if police are really willing to check that prices are not excessive.  In tourist places there is pressure on all traders not to undercut.  So it is not really a free market where traders can charge the regular market price, if they want more volume.  They will probably be beaten up by the mafia.

 

 

[Nuddy]

Thieves!

 

[Emster23]

"“Som Tam” .... priced at around 300 baht... twice other restaurants" How about almost 10x of carts but half the taste? Since national pastime here seems to be variations on "fleece the farang" I always ask if prices are not posted. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid....

[HerbalEd]

A restaurant should be able to charge whatever prices they want, as long as they are posted in the menu and the customer is billed accordingly and fairly. If the prices are exorbitant then the customers ... or lack there of ... will determine how fair the prices are. 

[HerbalEd]

Ive just realized ive been overcharged every time I go out for a beer because they are always more expensive in bars/gogo's than the 7/11.... who should I complain to ?

Your wife. 

[lvr181]

Maybe they will bring in laws to control the horrendous and devious overcharging by lawyers next?

 

Are you sure you wrote that correctly? I would have thought that "Maybe they will bring in laws to control the horrendous overcharging by devious lawyers next?" Just saying. 

[Nuddy]

Som Tam is only a 30 baht priced dish

[ingvar]

Price for a "som tam" is between 30 and 50 Baht for food stalls anywhere around Pattaya and somwhere in the vicinitiy. If you go anywhere close to a restaurant n those regions it is very much more. But how complicated can it be? Get mortar, a boink boink vessel and start bock bock away, talk about primitive coocking lol any idiot can mortar away a spicy salad. let us start talking about the cuisine of southern France for example, are there any "bock bock" and spicy salad there?

 

[peergin]

If you are worried that a restaurant may cheat then simply take a photo of the menu that you use to order your meal. Then you have evidence if something goes wrong afterwards. 

[ingvar]

I am willing to pay 50 baht for a very good and yummy dish of Som tahm!:)))

 

[jessc]

OP ... is there any information as to whether or not prices were listed on the menu in the Hua Hin case? I own a restaurant in a resort area and we list all prices on the menu. Totally understand the complaint if prices aren't listed. But if prices were listed, this story is worrisome.

[GAZZPA]

Not sure what overcharging means? If the prices were on the menu when it was ordered then they have not overcharged but simply charged the advertised price, Horrendously expensive maybe but not overcharging. If there is a difference on the bill to the menu price then it is overcharging.

 

I once paid about 25 GDP (about 1,300 baht) for Eggs Benedict and a cup of tea for breakfast. Why? because it was in one of Gordon Ramsays restaurants. So, stupid expensive but I knew when I bought it so not overcharged... By the way, it was the best eggs benedict I have ever had by far and so it should be.

 

If there are 22 "Michelin star" quality restaurants in Hua Hin I would be very surprised,, so for 300 baht it had better be the best Som Tum ever created, a dish that you write home about and remember for years to come,, if not the restaurant will not be there very long anyway, just spread the word and it will soon be closed.

 

 

[GAZZPA]

Price for a "som tam" is between 30 and 50 Baht for food stalls anywhere around Pattaya and somwhere in the vicinitiy. If you go anywhere close to a restaurant n those regions it is very much more. But how complicated can it be? Get mortar, a boink boink vessel and start bock bock away, talk about primitive coocking lol any idiot can mortar away a spicy salad. let us start talking about the cuisine of southern France for example, are there any "bock bock" and spicy salad there?

 

You're right ingvar, it is a really simple dish,, clever but very simple and no chef skills required. None of this in Southern France, but it is my opinion that France is the benchmark for the best food anywhere in the world but you can't order a French classic like Salade Nicoise for 50 baht. 

[ronthai]

A group of customers ....

 

... probably means bus something brought there by their guide.

He needs his commission.

 

I agree they got ripped of, of course.

Lesson learned for next time ...

... thank you ALWAYS put all on the social media. That is allowed to show names and such, so links would be nice here on TV (= NO name and shame)

 

For which I mean put a link to the Facebook page or something, should keep TV within the lawyer rules (or NOT)

FREEDOM OF SPEECH, just being democratic or something.

Edited August 12, 2014 by ronthai

[MAJIC]

In NEW ORLEANS there was a very High Class Restaurant that had a Menu with no prices ,

my roommate was a waiter there and I believe it was in the St. Louis Hotel , in the French Quarter,

which is the area where Bourbon St.is located

If a customer asked for a Menu with prices , my roommate simply told the customer

" We are sorry ,but if you need to ask the Prices ,you cannot afford to eat here!"

As long as a restaurant is up front about their prices and not switching Menus ,like some other Posts suggested,

it should not be the Governments business what the restaurants want to price their Menus at !

If the Govt. wants to be involved , what they should be checking into ; is the ridiculous prices the landlords

charge for key money & rent , which Restaurant owners can either pay or find a different location.

That also has a bearing on the prices some places charge , to cover that cost , it is reflected in higher

prices on the menus.Plus how many employees are on the payroll & if there's any entertainment.

If your not forced to go into a place their prices should be their biz not the govts !

 

"We are sorry ,but if you need to ask the Prices ,you cannot afford to eat here!"

 

Legend has it, that was said to a potential buyer of a Rolls Royce,who asked the price!

 

Thai food is nice enough,but hardly Rolls Royce League!

[Mister Fixit]

 

 

PS. I just thought of a great scam. Two menus one with low prices and one with high prices. Then when the bill comes the high prices are charged rather than the low prices and when the customer asks to see the menu the high priced menu is shown. I wonder if that has ever been done!?

 

Yes it has and in Hua Hin too.  I was working with some Thais doing the English for an international golf tournament there, and we went to the smaller night market (outside the Grand Hotel?) for dinner, not the big one in the centre of town.

 

Anyway, there were about a dozen of us and we were given menus (in Thai), which were quickly thrown back at the waitress.  

 

Because I was the only foreigner there, the entire group had been given the almost 100% higher menu reserved to give to foreigners.  When the Thai menu arrived. we were back to 30 baht for som tam, 50-60 baht for tom yam gung etc.

 

Instead of ordering, we moved to another stall 5 yards away and ordered at normal prices from there - I loved the look on the previous owners face as we all walked off!  

Edited August 12, 2014 by Mister Fixit

[slipperylobster]

What kind of person orders food without knowing the price?  Foolish way to lose money anywhere. First thing I check are the prices on the menu.  The rule of thumb for a good meal for two (local food...not imported) with drinks included, would be four to six hundred baht. Sure, you can go to a fancy pants place and pay alot more......but not me.  I love the values you get when you look hard for good quality and reasonable prices. Even the buffets we go to are about 400 to six hundred for two people.  Pizzas for two, with drinks are the same. 

 

Many places have cheaper food, I realize that.   I am referring to the average price of a good, sit down meal.

Edited August 12, 2014 by slipperylobster

[luckyman]

Since 2003 I live and work in Hua Hin, well before the boom started.

 

Never ever have I been overcharged in any of the what must be more than 100 restaurants that I have visited during that time. 

 

Maybe you have to look the part, which I perhaps don't and I do speak the language as well, in order to get overcharged but it all sounds like a very strange story to me.

 

Unless they mean the small and dirty little restaurants on the beach, like in front of the Hilton, I have never enjoyed a meal at those because their 'kitchens' do not look too clean. 

[Jbax]

Whenever I hit the beach I expect the prices to be 2-3x higher than in Chiang Mai. Seems to me unless 1) the bill was jacked up beyond the menu price, or 2) there's a "special" farang menu, there's nothing to gripe about. 

[Jessi]

No one should care what prices a certain restaurant charges and neither should the government. That is unless for some reason people are coerced to purchase from it like tour groups that are told that they must pay for deck chairs on each island or the guide wont look after their property, and not stating it when looking at the brochure that this is a required extra. The PiPi island 20 baht fee for tour groups as well...  but then it's just 20 baht, right!

 

I get annoyed at having to ask the price / for a menu everywhere I go. That I can go to the same shop, that doesn't show prices, and get different prices on different days leads me to always ask the prices every time. However, that is the way it works. Another thing to watch for is when you ask the price and they prepare the item (especially food) for you without giving a price. I've asked prices then sent in my savvy local friends in to get a better price.

 

If the restaurant has menus with prices on and wants to charge whatever prices suits them, it should be their business. If they add extra dishes that where not ordered or served or manipulate the price after ordering then it should be a criminal issue.

 

PS. I just thought of a great scam. Two menus one with low prices and one with high prices. Then when the bill comes the high prices are charged rather than the low prices and when the customer asks to see the menu the high priced menu is shown. I wonder if that has ever been done!?

 

PS. I just thought of a great scam. Two menus one with low prices and one with high prices. Then when the bill comes the high prices are charged rather than the low prices and when the customer asks to see the menu the high priced menu is shown. I wonder if that has ever been done!?

 

This happen to me in Lopburi in 1991, two menu one for Thai and one for falang, faland menu was double the price. Its been going on in Thailand for a long time.
 

[Deacon Bell]

Maybe you have to look the part, which I perhaps don't and I do speak the language as well, in order to get overcharged

 

It is likely that the army are acting on the overpricing of Thais, going by the news report.

[UncleE]

I agree it should be the restaurants own business what to charge.  But bottom line is I don't eat / drink in anyplace which doesn't have a proper menu readily available with clear pricing, that is my decision and it's a no brainer in Asia.  If you don't see plenty of menus laying around with the same prices, don't go in there.