I fell out with a retailer this morning!

[Asiantravel]

I have been patronising one retailer in Pattaya for about the last 3 to 4 years but today she tried to impose a 15% price increase on me.

I think she was a bit surprised when I said I didn’t agree to such increase and refused to proceed with the purchase. After that I asked her to justify such price increase because I said labour costs are not going up and some components of manufacturing such as oil are certainly not going up -so how could they justify such increases? I thought it was a perfectly reasonable question.

but her response to me was to ask me why I talk too much and either I should buy or not buy. In fact as I left the shop she said I was crazy. I think it was her hostile reaction more than anything that really surprised me and it seemed obvious that being a return customer over all these past years has meant absolutely nothing.

Maybe I got her back up when I said I would return in the low season when there would be very few customers around and see what the price would be then.

Was I wrong to question her action and to expect any decent response to explaining why prices of increased by 15%? Has anyone else had any similar experiences to me recently?

[JESSVANPELT]

i have lived here 10 years and I have seen each year a few small shops try to raise the prices as the hear its BUSY, so they do so and if it works the prices stay raised, if it does not work the prices will eventually go back down.

You were not out of line by asking, But She Is Thai, she does not and will not care what you think and would be insulted if you implied she did not know how to operate her business.

Just find a new shop.

[RabC]

If it upset you so much that you posted here then maybe her assessment of you was pretty close to the mark.

[thaiduncankk]

Thais do not care about return custom, what they take today, they take.

Tomorrow is another day.

[kokesaat]

I've been here for 20 years. About 10 years ago, I determined that some businesses refused to change the way they do business......no return for faulty products, prices not marked, old model products on sale, the, at times, refusal to treat a customer with any degree of respect.

In those cases, sometimes despite convenience or the desire to keep mom&pops alive, I've taken my business elsewhere.

In one particular case, I bought fish, bird, and dog food from a feed store for many years. Despite my ability to speak Thai, the owner never inquired about my family or took any interest in conversation. She never smiled. She never said thank you. I finally stopped going. About a year later, a new pet food store opened nearby. I went. The owner was bubbly, smiling, helpful.......she was the old store's daughter. Different generation....different way of thinking.

I no longer have sympathy when people complain about the old style stores closing....and people flocking to the big name stores.

[patsfangr]

I'd say you were naive, rather than wrong. Most westerners fail to recognize the fact that Thais are not raised or educated with the same western economic consumer rules and policies as we were. They simply do not think in the same terms. That's no more "wrong" for them than is the fact that most of them eat very spicy food, and don't like most western food. This is a different culture. It has now adopted many things from western culture; but it remains different in many ways. Business practices is just one of those ways.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

The prevailing logic here would seem to be that when there is a shortfall in the number of customers, prices are increased to compensate for the reduction in trade.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Rajab Al Zarahni

[luke000]

In one particular case, I bought fish, bird, and dog food from a feed store for many years. Despite my ability to speak Thai, the owner never inquired about my family or took any interest in conversation. She never smiled. She never said thank you. I finally stopped going. About a year later, a new pet food store opened nearby. I went. The owner was bubbly, smiling, helpful.......she was the old store's daughter. Different generation....different way of thinking.

I no longer have sympathy when people complain about the old style stores closing....and people flocking to the big name stores.

Although you do go to shops to buy things, rather then go there for social interaction .

[luke000]

It really was none of your business as to why She put the price up and She wasnt obliged to give you an explanation .

[swissie]

The prevailing logic here would seem to be that when there is a shortfall in the number of customers, prices are increased to compensate for the reduction in trade.

Thai's struggle with the globally accepted "supply & demand" law of economics.

A case in point: Elderly lady wanted to sell her land for 3 Mill Baht. Highest offer was 1 Mill Baht and that was considered a good price.

She was asked "What's with this 3 Mill Price?" Her answer: " If I sell for 1 Mill instead of 3 Mill, I would become less rich"!!!!!!

Another fine example of what is called "Thai-Logic".

Cheers.

[patsfangr]

The prevailing logic here would seem to be that when there is a shortfall in the number of customers, prices are increased to compensate for the reduction in trade.

Exactly. The logic is that if you need more money, you raise the price. There is no thought given to ways to attract (and keep) more customers. That sort of "advanced consumer economics" only shows up when you're dealing with larger companies, managed by college educated Thais. Even then, there's no where near the level of marketing principles that you see in the USA, Europe, or even Japan.

Another irritation for me is their very poor inventory management. They have no concept of tracking and reacting to demand. How many times have you found a product you like in a Thai supermarket, and seen them continuously run out of it for months on end, without ever increasing their order quantity? Even a "western oriented" market like Foodland has this problem.

[MaeJoMTB]

Never, talk, argue, explain or rationalize with a Thai.

They see it as confrontational.

Just say, NO, too expensive and walk away.

It avoids fights.

[Rimmer]

Moving to general forum

[oxforddon]

The reality is that she does not have to serve you at any price and you do not have to go there again.

You both have some rights and everyone wins or loses in their own way.

[Tywais]

Flame removed.

[digbeth]

What's the product, does the shop really have control over the price? if the distributor/importer decide to... what can the shop manager/owner do? take a loss to keep your custom?

[Thian]

They still have the village-mentality where there's only one shop with a certain product.

Better go to the big shops who show their prices, that will teach them. I'm tired of vendors not showing their prices.

[digbeth]

The prevailing logic here would seem to be that when there is a shortfall in the number of customers, prices are increased to compensate for the reduction in trade.

Exactly. The logic is that if you need more money, you raise the price. There is no thought given to ways to attract (and keep) more customers. That sort of "advanced consumer economics" only shows up when you're dealing with larger companies, managed by college educated Thais. Even then, there's no where near the level of marketing principles that you see in the USA, Europe, or even Japan.

Another irritation for me is their very poor inventory management. They have no concept of tracking and reacting to demand. How many times have you found a product you like in a Thai supermarket, and seen them continuously run out of it for months on end, without ever increasing their order quantity? Even a "western oriented" market like Foodland has this problem.

Sometimes things like imported items take a while to order and shipped, a shop noticing extra demand and ordering more might not get that fulfilled, the importer/distributor might have ran out of their quota for that month/quarter

[flyDelight]

Why doing business with a retarded person?

[stickylies]

After that I asked her to justify such price increase because I said labour costs are not going up and some components of manufacturing such as oil are certainly not going up -so how could they justify such increases? I thought it was a perfectly reasonable question.

LOL. u're taking it all a bit too serious here. she names a price, you accept or don't. ow / mai ow. all the rest is way too complex for thai.

Edited February 2, 2016 by stickylies

[balo]

15% increase on which "product" ? I hope it was not noodle soup .

[stickylies]

Better go to the big shops who show their prices, that will teach them. I'm tired of vendors not showing their prices.

and they are fed up with farang asking difficult questions..... what matters here is "eaten rice yet" + "where you go" ... the true essence of existence!

[Snackbar]

I've been a victim of most of these overpriced 'scams' and questioned the perp on most occasions with interesting outcomes.

Gas bottle scam involves charging a B200 cleaning fee.

Fresh fruit scam where the price is exorbitant and the scales are ridiculously light.

Nails on the road adjacent to the tyre repair shop scam.

Motorbike inner tube scam, when a pin prick hole cannot be fixed. And the innertube's deliberately ripped.

Plumbing scam involves the worker deliberately creating work, sabotaging perfectly good materials that then need replacing.

Karaoke scam, order overpriced beer and before it's finished another's opened and put on the table.

Safety-cut scam, disable the safety-cut and charge an exorbitant fee for 'fixing' the problem.

Second hand car parts scam. Cheap Chinese parts installed and charge for genuine parts.

Air conditioning scam, 3 guys turn up for a one man job and all want paying.

Old English saying....on ya bike.

Happy days.

[slapout]

That was what snackbar was subjected to on Monday, just wait until you look at the list for the full week.

but it does make shopping much more entertaining than a walmart, etc, keeps you on your toes, and alert to what others pay, etc.

[Gecko123]

OP:

Mid-morning, vendor's blood sugar's starting to dip. She tells you price has gone up, and you want to launch into a debate/lecture about input prices and Keynesian laws of supply and demand?

I would have kicked you out of the shop too!

Side note; FYI: 'baa', as in 'ai baa' can be translated as "jerk" as well as "crazy person."

Edited February 2, 2016 by Gecko123

[Chicog]

It really was none of your business as to why She put the price up and She wasnt obliged to give you an explanation .

Absolutely, it's her prerogative if she wants to lose regular customers.

[luke000]

It really was none of your business as to why She put the price up and She wasnt obliged to give you an explanation .

Absolutely, it's her prerogative if she wants to lose regular customers.

Shes lost a regular customer, youve lost a regular place to buy goods from, some other shop will get another regular customer. Life will go on .

You do seem more upset that you need to find another shop, more so than shes upset about losing a customer

[Craig krup]

It really was none of your business as to why She put the price up and She wasnt obliged to give you an explanation .

It would have been prudent of her, and rationally self-interested, if she did, and pretty decent of the customer to give her the chance. "Obliged" doesn't capture it. You're not "obliged" to turn down too loud music in a restaurant if customers suggest that it's a bit loud, they aren't "obliged" to return, and the court officers aren't "obliged" to give you another couple of minutes to get your goods and chattels into the boxes when your house gets repossessed

[luke000]

It really was none of your business as to why She put the price up and She wasnt obliged to give you an explanation .

It would have been prudent of her, and rationally self-interested, if she did, and pretty decent of the customer to give her the chance. "Obliged" doesn't capture it. You're not "obliged" to turn down too loud music in a restaurant if customers suggest that it's a bit loud, they aren't "obliged" to return, and the court officers aren't "obliged" to give you another couple of minutes to get your goods and chattels into the boxes when your house gets repossessed

Would you really expect her to give him a run down of the reasons why ?

"Well, yeah, ,my landlord just raised my rent and I ve spoken to my accountant and our business is losing money and to make ends meet, I have to raise my prices, heres all my books, please inspect them?"

Prices generally rise and if you stopped buying from places that raise their proces, quite soon, you would not be buying anything .

Peoples personal fiances are their personal business and its quite rude to ask someone else to explain their financial situation and to ask a business to justify their prices

[Myshkin]

I've been a victim of most of these overpriced 'scams' and questioned the perp on most occasions with interesting outcomes.

Gas bottle scam involves charging a B200 cleaning fee.

Fresh fruit scam where the price is exorbitant and the scales are ridiculously light.

Nails on the road adjacent to the tyre repair shop scam.

Motorbike inner tube scam, when a pin prick hole cannot be fixed. And the innertube's deliberately ripped.

Plumbing scam involves the worker deliberately creating work, sabotaging perfectly good materials that then need replacing.

Karaoke scam, order overpriced beer and before it's finished another's opened and put on the table.

Safety-cut scam, disable the safety-cut and charge an exorbitant fee for 'fixing' the problem.

Second hand car parts scam. Cheap Chinese parts installed and charge for genuine parts.

Air conditioning scam, 3 guys turn up for a one man job and all want paying.

Old English saying....on ya bike.

Happy days.

If you truly look like your avatar, then I'm not surprised everyone is out to scam you.