Tell us about the funny, stupid ways restaurants in Thailand have lost your business ...

[Jingthing]

You would think that in the restaurant business, very rough business that it is, loyal regular customers would be a TREASURE that business owners work very hard to keep loyal.

But that is not always the case.

I reckon most expats in Thailand who eat out a lot and are regulars at some places have had experiences that instantly make you decide --- this is OVER.

In my experience, sometimes the ways they lose your business can even be COMICAL.

That's what this thread is about.

An invitation to you to share these little gems for amusement purposes.

Sure this happens all over the world, but this is about when it happens in Thailand.

The restaurants or owners don't need to be Thai, of course.

It will probably add to the story to go into juicy details.

That is, if you're game.

[smokie36]

There is one place in Bangkok that charged my Thai gf 100 Baht for a couple of dip style condiments to go with her 200 Baht starter type dish which left her raging and now she refuses to go there at all.

Shame as its my local pub....but I can't disagree with her.

Some places just don't care about such things as regular custom.

[Jingthing]

Here's one of my recent ones.

A place I was a semi regular at and I know for sure the owner recognized me.

High season and low.

They're empty low season and crowded high season.

Always got a small plate of "free" fruit at the end of the meal, and being a regular had come to expect that.

So anyway, high season comes, and no fruit.

I see on another table of two with a massive serving of fruit (which I know is "free"), so much that I'm sure they won't eat more than 10 percent of it. The portion was absurd.

So wanting a tiny plate of fruit as before, I speak to the owner, asking why no fruit and pointing to the other table.

He gives me this insulting rude dismissive response as if he was so stupid as to think I was asking for a mountain of fruit and says something like only for over 1000 baht tables.

But for me nothing.

I roll my eyes.

That was it.

There are about 10 other local places I can get the same type of food, just as good, generally lower priced as well.

No it wasn't the value of the fruit, yes for 10 baht I can get some fruit on street. It was the rudeness of the owner and the disdainful attitude he displayed in response to a legit request from a year round customer.

Yes I think beyond being rude he was also stupid to treat a year round customer that way, but also funny to me that he was so stupid, and to add the absurdity of the wasted MOUNTAIN of fruit he was giving to richer tables.

Also sure it is POSSIBLE they really did change their policy on fruit, but if a REGULAR asks for something so cheap to give that they have come to expect ... brain cells, wake up please.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Jingthing

[Lukecan]

Theres this indian restaurant in nana.

I asked them to bring a FRİGGİN water to my table.

Had to ask them 4 times until they brought it.

4 times!

Never went there again.

[h90]

service play on their phone instead of service

you tell really spicy, you can eat it, you know it.....you get the non spicy farang dish

MSG and Sugar in the food

cheap things, palm oil, cheap pork, fish beef.

Wine that is already open 2 month in the heat

Ladyman as staff that want to go with me.

Funny story: Going eating with my father and the gay service thought I am the young boyfriend of that old guy and wanted to invite himself to be the with us....

Never gone there again

[dukeandduke]

Adding the "plus plus" reduces the chances I'll return to nearly zero.

Advertising a special price without mentioning the plus plus, then adding it to the bill, gets me all the way to zero.

[Jingthing]

Yeah sure but this is more about places that have already won your loyal business but have found some brilliant way to blow it. On plus plus I avoid unless they've really got something I want and there are no good non plus plus alternatives.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited May 23, 2015 by Jingthing

[Qman]

Being charged extra to sit in the air conditioned portion of the restaurant. Not like they had to turn on just for us. Should have at least told us there is a surcharge rather than just adding as a surprise. Bad attitude when I asked them about the charge so voted with my feet and wallet and no longer eat there. I don't like but accept many places charge extra for ice if they have in a bucket at the table.

[hugocnx]

Well, this so called famous restaurant somewhere up Ang Thong. Went there with 6 people and checked the menu.

Besides the fact that the waiter/waitress stands there for lor instead of getting our drinks, when we finally decidced what to eat, first dish....mai mee, second dish.....mai mee...and so on.

Thank you and we went to another place. What is this??

[uptheos]

Boy, you guys must live in some crappy places.

[HeijoshinCool]

Over the years while traveling the backroads, I've been asked by restaurant owners to allow my photo to be taken while eating their food. Okay-snap-snap-thank-you-sir, and done with it. Having my photo, enlarged to the point of making one think they had 20/100 vision, on a three-meter banner in a town I was just passing through was one thing, but at a place in my own backyard where I had long been going twice a week, this just was not going to happen.

The owner of this particular eatery, specializing in excellent Issan food, had asked me just about every freaking time I went. I was privately annoyed, but torn. I loved the food, but didn't want my photo on a bus-load-attracting roadside banner just up the street from my house. On the other hand, they were never busy, so I felt bad for them. And, uhm, I was worried they might close up. So a bit of advertising, I concluded, might keep my regular Issan nosh supply in business.

I finally relented. Minutes later the owner started to stage multiple dishes of food around me -- none of which I was offered a sample. He set up lighting, posed staff over my shoulder making uncountable Victory signs, and worst of all, asked my wife to please step aside.

[Jingthing]

Geez, are you a super hansum man or something? Why your picture?

[Jingthing]

This is another story that illustrates the issue of restaurants giving "free" stuff to some tables and not to others. Of course that's going to piss some people off if they see it. At one of my regular places they offer all tables all the time a "free" glass of sweet after dinner liquor. OK maybe not if you just had a house salad but nobody gets just that. Anyway, I tried it once and decided too sweet not worth the calories and declined ever since. Once I said ... no need to offer this anymore, I will NEVER want it. But that didn't take ... so I just let the offer go ahead every time. OK it would be better if the message don't ask me took, but that is a restaurant that is not going to be losing any regular customers with silliness like fruit for you, not for you stuff. Some owners really DO get it.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Jingthing

[HeijoshinCool]

Geez, are you a super hansum man or something? Why your picture?

.

Blond hair, green eyes ….

[wooloomooloo]

Blond hair, green eyes .

Pure aryan. I'm surprised they don't want to kiss you, I would. JT might as well.

Edited May 23, 2015 by wooloomooloo

[HeijoshinCool]

Blond hair, green eyes .

Pure aryan. I'm surprised that they don't want to kiss you, I would. JT might as well.

.

Never experienced it in the city, only rural areas. Some did indeed want me to touch their children, especially newborns, which created really creepy and awkward moments.

[wooloomooloo]

Some did indeed want me to touch their children, especially newborns, which created really creepy and awkward moments.

That's happened to me. It just goes over my head.

[SantiSuk]

Edit - Deleted - I posted but I now see that my examples don't fit Jingthing's requirements to post about restaurants you have become a loyal customer in first

Edited May 23, 2015 by SantiSuk

[mca]

There was an Indian restaurant near my soi which me and the wife always used a couple of nights a week for takeaways dinners. Not the best on the planet but it was convenient. Went there one night as usual, was given a menu by the owner and sat on the chairs reserved for takeaway customers. A couple of minutes after we arrived ( and still having not ordered) a large family group of about 12 people came in and sat down. We sat there for a short time with me and the wife looking bemusedly at each other while the staff took the group's order and when the owner walked past us said "Can we order now?" With a fleeting glance and no word of apology he said " Too busy for takeaway" and walked off to act all servile at the group's table.

Last I heard he'd closed down due to lack of business. Pass me a Kleenex I might cry.

Edited May 23, 2015 by mca

[Langsuan Man]

There was a bar in the condo complex where I lived that serves a limited number of fast food type items item to complement their liquor offerings. They also serve a pretty decent American breakfast and I used to go in every morning, seven days a week, for breakfast. The coffee was included and came from a machine so it wasn't the "instant" stuff that most places have. They also had the Bangkok Post which was hard to come by in the complex unless you got up early enough to get the limited number available at the desk

So we are talking about a 79 THB a day customer (110 after tip) on a daily basis for the 8 months a year I stay in Thailand, a pretty nice earner IMHO, especially since I was usually the only customer early in the morning

One day I go in and some other people are newly arrived and must have been acquaintances of the owner so the young lady who I see (and tip) every morning basically ignores me and I have to ask three times for my breakfast and I have to go back behind the counter to get the Bangkok Post

Come back to the room and tell my tale to the Thai girl and she goes out and buys a hot plate and proceeds to cook me breakfast every morning and insures that the desk guard saves a Bangkok Post for me

So all the years of loyal patronage meant absolutely nothing to both the server and the owner. Would see him in the hall since he lived on the same floor as I did and not once did he even bother to ask why I was no longer coming in for breakfast

So go figure, the lack of long term thinking that these business owners have here is unbelievable They sometimes act like they are not in business but this is just a hobby for them

[mca]

the lack of long term thinking that these business owners have here is unbelievable

I've found that to be true in a number of cases. I used to frequent the same mom and pop minimart back in Khon Kaen and spent I suppose up to and sometimes beyond THB 1,000 a week there on sundries etc. Pulled up once in my car, grabbed a can of Pepsi from the fridge, got in my car and popped the lid. It was flat. Got out, went to the owner's wife and showed her. Panicking that she might be losing 13 baht she refused to give me another one so I just thanked her and voted with my feet.

Shrewd business woman that she was she could proudly tell her husband that she'd saved 13 baht - and lost 50k a year in the process

[stoli]

Owned a restaurant in the states for 7 years. There is no harder job on earth. But, you must always prepare the best food possible, and give your customers the service they desire. Every time!

[Billmont]

Went to a restaurant regularly for about 2 years and noticed that the standard was dropping, not seriously so but noticeably but still convenient for us. Last time about 3 hours later started running to the toilet, every 15 minutes. Had this several times before especially in India so just keep drinking lots so water. Late at night my wife wants me to go to hospital but refused as "I can handle this". By early morning no better and I was too weak to refuse my wife's insistence to see medical help. Was hospitalized immediately and 36 hours later and a THB 21,000 we went home. Most expensive THB 700 (For two) I have ever had and never been back. Lost a bit of weight but soon went back on as was very hungry.5555

[Crazy chef 1]

recently opened Thai steak house in my town though i was thinking give it a go...

first i ordered the ribe ye- no hab

ok lets go for the tenderloin...no hab

and the pork chop ...waiting...no hab

hungry as i was i said ok then a f%@##g portion of french fries...and you guess...

one week later-CLOSED..

business Thai style

[h90]

had one close to us, excellent Farang food.

Than something changed....the chef I guess.....

Gordon Bleu: the cheese inside is something I have never seen before, I don't know if it is cheese or some soja replacement....and it is 50% of the total weight of the dish.

steak: raw, medium, well done.....everything the same well done

point is: they start good, when they got customer they start to save money to increase profit.

[marko kok prong]

In feburary i was in Phuket,went to an Indian near the hotel,they were charging 150 baht for a large tiger beer,which i noticed the guy going and buying in 7/11 next door, for 60 baht i had the worst chicken Biriyani i have ever had,the manager looked like he was suffering from manic depression and about to break down at any moment,there was a massive row between the staff and two Irish couples who had been waiting ages for their food,and had to be at the airport in a few hours,one of the blokes fed up and went and looked in the kitchen to see what was happening,he came back incredoulous "nothing happening,the chef is watching TV" he yelled,they then said the would pay for what they had and go,but the owner then tried to charge them for the full meal,saying the chef had already defrosted the prawns,another row erupted,they threatened him with trip advisor,meanwhile his nephew was outside, almost physically forcing people into the restaurant,it was entertaining to say the least.

[tingtongfarang]

Last area i lived there were 2 street food stalls side by side, 1 being an old lady cooking any thai food to order and right next to her a middle aged heffe making somtam and grilled chicken, maybe 3 times per week when feeling lazy to cook i would go and order kapow or pigaeng moo,

One day on arrival on ordering my food it became clear to me the somtam heffe was totally sloshed and still sucking on a bottle of hong thong, while eating my food she came staggering over and tried to put the bottle to my mouth while kissing me on the cheek suggesting she wanted to come back to my place,

The stench of hong thong from her breath while attempting to eat my food was just too much at 1 pm in the afternoon, i turned in my chair and vomited onto the car park behind, standing up out the chair i offered to pay for my food with the old lady but she declined payment,

I felt loath to go and eat there again fearing a repeat performance but a few days later the old lady came to my door and apologised for her co workers conduct, she suggested i come that afternoon and the meal would be free of charge,

On arrival i noticed somtam nan was stone cold sober sporting a pair of sunglasses in an attempt to hide a black eye

Edited May 24, 2015 by tingtongfarang

[Ulysses G.]

It's not funny, but places that charge 3 or 4 times the retail price for soft drinks lose my business as do the ones that add on an extra charge for diet drinks. They are the same price retail, so why the extra charge?

Edited May 24, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Gecko123]

When the restaurant only bothers to tell you after you have finished eating that, oh, by the way, on account of you being a big guy and all, we decided on our own that you needed a "special" large portion which, oh, by the way, has a "special" more expensive price, and even though after you've mentally reviewed what you just ate and can't think of a single thing about the dish which was "special", you're powerless to put up an argument, because all the evidence is in your stomach.

[arunsakda]

My standards are pretty flexible. Have walked of a place that was swarming with so many mossies that I could not remain despite moving tables and mosquito coils. Also drunk people being loud and abusive has caused me to take my leave.

Another place recently offers a tomato and fresh mozzarella sandwich with pesto, olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction. The server asks me what kind of condiments I want on the sandwich (mayo, mustard, chili sauce etc., ) I tell her not necessary as it has pesto already. Then the manager comes out and says in perfect English he can give me the pesto but "we have not served it to anybody that way before". So I showed the guy the laminated menu description of the item clearly listing the pesto and asked him if he thought that should cause be for concern? No answer. Not a nice face either. So I got the pesto. I would have paid extra for it but I was not charged. If they had though I would never have returned as I expect menu items at a pricy western restaurant to conform with their description.

Maybe basil is expensive? Another place served me a margarita pizza with no basil. When I complained it came back garnished neatly with 6 tiny sprigs. A Pizza Margherita with no basil is not, it is a CHEESE PIZZA and that is fine but it should be listed as such.

Edited May 24, 2015 by arunsakda