BOGOF in Thai

[AyG]

I just bought a couple of bottles of barbecue sauce in TOPS. They were labelled ซื้อ 1 แถม 1 ฟรี. I've always taken that to mean "Buy one, get one free". However, when I checked the receipt there had been no discount applied: I was charged the full price for both bottles.

This lead me to wonder. The special packs included a set of fork and spoon. So, does ซื้อ 1 แถม 1 ฟรี always mean "get one of the same for free", or can it also mean "get one of something else (in this case the spoon and fork) free"?

[rajyindee]

Maybe the promotion had expired.

[KhunBENQ]

Do you have a "SPOT" card and was it booked correctly?

From the writing it is clear that it means "buy one, get one free".

Maybe the ad refers to a slighty different article (flavor, package size).

Happened once to me when I wanted to use coupon for an article.

"can not", only for bigger pack/bottle.

At MAKRO it is even more confusing, "buy 3 get 1 free" meant: put 3 in the cart and pay them at the cashier.

Then goto the customer service center, show the receipt and there they hand over an additional pack from a small "warehouse" in the back.

One time at Lotus I failed with a "buy 2 get 1 free" and couldn't work out why.

I insisted on cancellation and they did.

Thats life in Thailand...

At 7/11: the receipt shows the full prices for the discounted articles.

A (sub) total sum with the full price is printed.

After that come the discounts (subtracted) and a "final total" is shown.

Also quite confusing, as you always see the full price on the cash machine display while scanning.

[AyG]

The SPOT card was (I presume) correctly booked. The cashier said the name of the card owner when handing the card back.

The offer was actually written as part of the packaging of both packages I bought, so it seems pretty unambiguous.

I guess I'm just going to have to go back to TOPS and ask for a refund.

Tsk.

[AyG]

Went back to TOPS and was told by the manager that it referred to the free spoon. (The clerk who initially dealt with me didn't seem to know what to think.)

Credit to them that, despite that, they eventually gave me back the cost of one bottle, so I left fairly happy.

[Briggsy]

Once I complained to a Thai colleague that I discovered a 5 baht coin in the โจ๊ก at a foodshop. I was thinking if money is dropped in there, what else is in there. He smiled and replied ของแถม.

[AyG]

Once I complained to a Thai colleague that I discovered a 5 baht coin in the โจ๊ก at a foodshop. I was thinking if money is dropped in there, what else is in there. He smiled and replied ของแถม.

That reminds me of the old joke:

Q. What's worse than finding a cockroach in your food?

A. Finding half a cockroach in your food.

Incidentally, I checked with my partner about ซื้อ 1 แถม 1 ฟรี. Apparently, the free item doesn't have to be the same as the paid for one. It's quite often for the free item to be a smaller version of the paid for one. Being something totally different, however, is quite unusual.

[SlyAnimal]

Just as an addition to this, and I have no idea if this happens in Tops or not, it's primarily just at 7/11, but sometimes you need to show an old receipt at 7/11 in order to receive some of their specials (Every 40 THB spent gets you a 1NP point or something).

I can't remember what this is called, I think it's like "ลุกลัก" or something like that (Which is often in the smaller print of the special's details).

[Lara Alex]

This case happens quite often in my life. Promotions for shopping here are vary. Buy 1 Get 1 Free in Thai super markets cannot be applied, for example, when 1) the promotion was expire 2) you're not a member 3) other unexpected mistakes etc.

There's a way that I think it can prevent a 'mistake' on my bill; I always check with the casheir again before I pay.

Good luck with your next shopping trip!