Buying wine at Tesco Lotus Express

[Jblood]

This will probably seem like a weird topic. I'll give it a shot anyway.

I went to Tesco Lotus Express the other day and asked the counter clerk to hand over the bottle of wine priced at 167 Baht. He went and picked the bottle for 299 Baht. At which point I gestured no, and I very clearly pointed West with my hand signalling that he should pick the bottle immediately West of the one he just handed over to me. He went back and picked the bottle which was East of the previous one and a price of 300 Baht. So again I signaled West, move West very clearly. But again he went East and this time picked the bottle at 599 Baht. At this point I wasn't sure what's going on, I mean he doesn't need to even know East from West - he just needs to see the direction which my hand was clearly pointing. So this time I flagged down West with both my hands and started pointing at that bottle, but he again moved East and picked the bottle at 799 Baht or whatever, can't remember really. So you see I'm curious, in Thailand if you want to get someone to move West which direction should you be pointing, because pointing West didn't work at all. Anyway he finally brought the right bottle over to me, but then I realized I was short of something like 20 baht and had to go to ATM, so anyway I decided not to buy it this time, and I sort of explained as much as I could that it was just because I was short of 20 baht Baht, so I left.

But then the next day I came back - and exactly the same thing happened - I pointed at exactly the same bottle, but he brought over the 299 Baht bottle. So I pointed West, but he went East again and brought over the 300 baht bottle, and then the 599 Baht bottle, he wouldn't move the direction I was pointing period, but always went in the opposite direction. On top of that he clearly couldn't remember what happened only just yesterday, he should have known by now which bottle I wanted - but he didn't... I was bemused beyond belief. When he finally brought the right bottle over - I wanted to ask for my own sake just to figure out what I was doing wrong - pointing at the bottle "Tammaj Majdaj?" What I think it means, basically I was asking why can't I buy the 167 Baht bottle of wine... what's the secret here. But at that point, some guy I think maybe he was the manager jumped off his chair, ran to the counter grabbed the bottle out of my hand, he looked red and pissed off beyond belief, kind of very agitated. He put it back, picked another bottle at 299 baht and started saying something in Thai, just looking that the situation is getting out of hand I just walked straight out of the store because I had no idea what was happening at that point... I'm pretty sure I'll never shop there again.

In any case what was the cause of all this trouble:

a) the counter clerk is completely retarded

There's some unwritten rule that if a Farang walks into the Tesco Lotus Express he must buy the bottle of wine worth no less than 1000 Baht per bottle?

I just needed some cheap wine to wash down my pizza that night, it was supposed to be an incredibly simple thing, but now I'm dealing with this situation. I mean if I go back there and ask for the same bottle of wine again, I don't know what will happen, I better figure this out beforehand...

[sawadee1947]

Well, bake your pizza by yourself then you don't need a cheap wine......Also directions as "west " in shop might have been confusing for that guy?

[Scouse Twoccer]

What was the orientation of the shop? Maybe the assistant was right about the direction and you were wrong. If he was facing north and you were facing him (south) then west to him would have been east to you. Would have been much easier if you'd have said left or right instead of banging on about west, west, west. Who on earth uses compass directions in a shop?

Did you really go shopping for wine with only 147 baht in your pocket? Why didn't you use your card to pay after all the trouble you'd gone through?

In view of all your messing about with compass points and then not having enough money to pay last time perhaps the manager thought you were just being a nuisance.

[Scouse Twoccer]

What was the orientation of the shop? Maybe the assistant was right about the direction and you were wrong. If he was facing north and you were facing him (south) then west to him would have been east to you. Would have been much easier if you'd have said left or right instead of banging on about west, west, west. Who on earth uses compass directions in a shop?

Did you really go shopping for wine with only 147 baht in your pocket? Why didn't you use your card to pay after all the trouble you'd gone through?

"Tammaj Majdaj?" What I think it means, basically I was asking why can't I buy the 167 Baht bottle of wine."

You need to brush up on your Thai, whatever it was that you said ("tammaj majdaj"?) doesn't mean what you thought. I don't think it means anything in Thai at all.

In view of all your messing about with compass points and then not having enough money to pay last time perhaps the manager thought you were just being a nuisance.

[Thian]

Saai is left, Kwaa is right......

anee au = means i want that one.

anee au toook krab means i want that cheap one.

Personell in Tesco or Homepro are the most uneducated folks you can find in Thailand....They probably never heard of West and East, left and right is much easyier.

I would just go in and point at the bottle and say: anee au took krab. Then with saai and kwaa you can tell him to go left or right.

But many times i don't buy anything which i can't grab myself, i had too many problems with the personell as well in the past. Also in Foodland i don't understand why the sandwiches from 40 baht have to be ordered from the staff...I would buy them every time if i just could grab them myself. Now i don't need them.

[TheCruncher]

Ever considered to say " the bottle from 167 Baht" and maybe adding the name on the label to your request?

[kkerry]

Why on earth say east or west? Right and left is what any normal person would say... interesting first post btw...

[tx22cb]

The clerk understood that you wanted to buy some wine, ditto the manager.

Manager took away the 167 Baht bottle from your hand(!).

Deduction - the 167 Baht bottle is not wine - probably some Thai-style moonshine or something that would rot your guts.

Action - you owe the clerk & manager an apology for being a p artist

[TheCruncher]

Anyway he finally brought the right bottle over to me, but then I realized I was short of something like 20 baht and had to go to ATM, so anyway I decided not to buy it this time, and I sort of explained as much as I could that it was just because I was short of 20 baht Baht, so I left.

So while going out shopping you were 20 Baht short of a 167 Baht biil, then when walking to the ATM you considered that 167 Baht might actually over your budget.

This post suits better in the other thread, as you have delivered proof that it isn't a myth.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/901551-cheapcharlies-myth-or-real/

[shunter]

i wonder whether or not the O.P should actually be here or even let out on their own..

Anyone with a modicum of common sentence would know that you do not get a bottle of wine for 167 baht here or anywhere else for that fact.

Gut rot booze 167 baht yes, ,wine no.

As for the directions given to the poor assistant, words fail me,

No normal person goes into a shop and tells staff the compass points of the item they want, .Left or right up or down is the normal method of indicating ones choice.

I can only suppose that the O.P. was trying to show his superiority over a mere Thai shop assistant , probably spoke at the poor Thai shop assistant in a loud voice so as to convey his wishes too.

I think the O.P.. is a whine lover.

I think if the O.P. looked in a mirror he might find the root cause of his problem.

.In any case what was the cause of all this trouble:

the counter clerk is completely retarded

Edited March 14, 2016 by shunter

[KhunBENQ]

I don't expect every expat to learn Thai.

But hey!

Don't you think it would be worth to learn at least the numbers and ask for the "167 Baht" wine?

http://www.thai-language.com/ref/numbers

Must be a one mouthful bottle

[colinneil]

Another mind blowing POST.

[siamcrut]

This will probably seem like a weird topic. I'll give it a shot anyway.

I went to Tesco Lotus Express the other day and asked the counter clerk to hand over the bottle of wine priced at 167 Baht. He went and picked the bottle for 299 Baht. At which point I gestured no, and I very clearly pointed West with my hand signalling that he should pick the bottle immediately West of the one he just handed over to me. He went back and picked the bottle which was East of the previous one and a price of 300 Baht. So again I signaled West, move West very clearly. But again he went East and this time picked the bottle at 599 Baht. At this point I wasn't sure what's going on, I mean he doesn't need to even know East from West - he just needs to see the direction which my hand was clearly pointing. So this time I flagged down West with both my hands and started pointing at that bottle, but he again moved East and picked the bottle at 799 Baht or whatever, can't remember really. So you see I'm curious, in Thailand if you want to get someone to move West which direction should you be pointing, because pointing West didn't work at all. Anyway he finally brought the right bottle over to me, but then I realized I was short of something like 20 baht and had to go to ATM, so anyway I decided not to buy it this time, and I sort of explained as much as I could that it was just because I was short of 20 baht Baht, so I left.

But then the next day I came back - and exactly the same thing happened - I pointed at exactly the same bottle, but he brought over the 299 Baht bottle. So I pointed West, but he went East again and brought over the 300 baht bottle, and then the 599 Baht bottle, he wouldn't move the direction I was pointing period, but always went in the opposite direction. On top of that he clearly couldn't remember what happened only just yesterday, he should have known by now which bottle I wanted - but he didn't... I was bemused beyond belief. When he finally brought the right bottle over - I wanted to ask for my own sake just to figure out what I was doing wrong - pointing at the bottle "Tammaj Majdaj?" What I think it means, basically I was asking why can't I buy the 167 Baht bottle of wine... what's the secret here. But at that point, some guy I think maybe he was the manager jumped off his chair, ran to the counter grabbed the bottle out of my hand, he looked red and pissed off beyond belief, kind of very agitated. He put it back, picked another bottle at 299 baht and started saying something in Thai, just looking that the situation is getting out of hand I just walked straight out of the store because I had no idea what was happening at that point... I'm pretty sure I'll never shop there again.

In any case what was the cause of all this trouble:

a) the counter clerk is completely retarded

There's some unwritten rule that if a Farang walks into the Tesco Lotus Express he must buy the bottle of wine worth no less than 1000 Baht per bottle?

I just needed some cheap wine to wash down my pizza that night, it was supposed to be an incredibly simple thing, but now I'm dealing with this situation. I mean if I go back there and ask for the same bottle of wine again, I don't know what will happen, I better figure this out beforehand...

OP, do you speak any Thai?

Yes? ok then,

next time, point the bottle you want,

with your index- finger... can't be that difficult right?

[1BADDAT]

While the OP comes of a little weird to say the least, I have had very similar experiences. You point directly at one bottle and then start out no where near it. You point in the direction to move and they move over one bottle. You tell them move over more and suddenly they skip over 2 bottles. You motion back and they put their hand back on the original bottle they chose. It amazes me how bad they are with just hand signal directions.

[mogandave]

You go to a market without enough money to buy a sh*t-grade bottle of wine and accuse the clerk of being retarded.

Classic

[stoneyboy]

You go to a market without enough money to buy a sh*t-grade bottle of wine and accuse the clerk of being retarded.

Classic

All the time not muttering one word of Thai or merely making the situation worse by indicating east or west.

Whatever happened to left or right.

This has to be a wind up.

[shunter]

stoneyboy post # 16.

All the time not muttering one word of Thai or merely making the situation worse by indicating east or west.

Whatever happened to left or right.

This has to be a wind up.

Whatever happened to left or right.

This has to be a wind up.

Stoneyboy. Are you sure ''wind is not a spelling error? A comes before I you know and K comes after D you know

Seems as if the O.P. didn't know what was coming in the course of his shopping trip.

Probably he was still counting to 99 then changed hands

[farang1979]

Who directs someone "East" and "West"?!

If you'd had the extra 20B first time round, then you would successfully purchased your bottle of wine. Don't go back there, you're just pi55ing them off, and they're justified to be pi55ed off.

Learn some Thai too, you're not in Kansas anymore.

Edited March 14, 2016 by farang1979

[farang1979]

You go to a market without enough money to buy a sh*t-grade bottle of wine and accuse the clerk of being retarded.

Classic

This.

[mogandave]

Who walks around with less than THB150 in their pocket?

[Jblood]

Actually if you READ my post carefully, I never said "East" or "West". I was only pointing with my Hand each, time, every time, I'm only using "east, west" here to explain to YOU what was happening. You don't NEED to shout "West!" to POINT West with your finger. This is really hilarious, because now I think what I suspected for a while - it turns out a lot of you are even more retarded than the Tesco Express counter clerk.... it's very sad really. As for the other comments. I understand if I traveled to another town to do my daily shopping with just 147 baht, what happened here is I just ran down the stairs of my condo to hop in into Tesco EXPRESS for a quickie, but for some this "Express" part at Tesco turns into some "Seriously weird BS" stuff each time, where they don't serve you but just serve themselves and waste your nerves. Instead of acknowledging that this is a great example of horrendous service which is typical of Thailand lately - all of you are ganging up on me for some reason..... lol

I've traveled extensviely around the world, I've never experienced anything more weird than what I keep experiencing here in Thailand, where even shopping at a European based food chain express point turns into some seriously weird Twilight zone BS...

[farang1979]

Actually if you READ my post carefully, I never said "East" or "West". I was only pointing with my Hand each, time, every time, I'm only using "east, west" here to explain to YOU what was happening. You don't NEED to shout "West!" to POINT West with your finger. This is really hilarious, because now I think what I suspected for a while - it turns out a lot of you are even more retarded than the Tesco Express counter clerk.... it's very sad really. As for the other comments. I understand if I traveled to another town to do my daily shopping with just 147 baht, what happened here is I just ran down the stairs of my condo to hop in into Tesco EXPRESS for a quickie, but for some this "Express" part at Tesco turns into some "Seriously weird BS" stuff each time, where they don't serve you but just serve themselves and waste your nerves. Instead of acknowledging that this is a great example of horrendous service which is typical of Thailand lately - all of you are ganging up on me for some reason..... lol

I've traveled extensviely around the world, I've never experienced anything more weird than what I keep experiencing here in Thailand, where even shopping at a European based food chain express point turns into some seriously weird Twilight zone BS...

Learn basic Thai. Numbers and left and right would be a start.

[Jblood]

I already speak basic Thai. What I used was even better - body language which is universally understood. Even the lost tribes in the Amazon should be able to ascertain that if I'm pointing in ONE direction then I'm trying to draw their attention at that location or in direction of tjat location - but what the Tesco clerk couldn't figure it out period, he kept moving in the OPPOSITE direction. So it's either something really doesn't click inside his head or he was doing it on purpose for his amusement or other reasons - like for example trying to sell me the more expensive bottle would be a good motivating factor to cause the clerk to completely and repeatedly disregard the simple directions from the customer... But then what he doesn't understand is that doing something like that is only good enough to piss somebody off, because it's EXPRESS food point and not a restaurant where sometimes it's accepted to offer a different brand of wine to the customer, at the EXPRESS food joint it certainly is NOT ok... especially in a way that they are doing it... I go to EXPRESS food point because I expect an Express service - i.e. very quick and hassle free, but what you get here is the exact opposite of that.... When the counter clerk starts acting as if he's my life consultant volunteering the free service of updating my shopping list to include the more expensive bottle of wine and pretty much starts tying to shove it down my thoat, then it's no longer EXPRESS, it's pure BS

[farang1979]

I already speak basic Thai. What I used was even better - body language which is universally understood. Even the lost tribes in the Amazon should be able to ascertain that if I'm pointing in ONE direction then I'm trying to draw their attention at that location or in direction of tjat location - but what the Tesco clerk couldn't figure it out period, he kept moving in the OPPOSITE direction. So it's either something really doesn't click inside his head or he was doing it on purpose for his amusement or other reasons - like for example trying to sell me the more expensive bottle would be a good motivating factor to cause the clerk to completely and repeatedly disregard the simple directions from the customer... But then what he doesn't understand is that doing something like that is only good enough to piss somebody off, because it's EXPRESS food point and not a restaurant where sometimes it's accepted to offer a different brand of wine to the customer, at the EXPRESS food joint it certainly is NOT ok... especially in a way that they are doing it... I go to EXPRESS food point because I expect an Express service - i.e. very quick and hassle free, but what you get here is the exact opposite of that.... When the counter clerk starts acting as if he's my life consultant volunteering the free service of updating my shopping list to include the more expensive bottle of wine and pretty much starts tying to shove it down my thoat, then it's no longer EXPRESS, it's pure BS

If you wave someone away here then they might think you're beckoning then forward. The two actions with the hand for beckoning someone and waving someone away are similar. A completely different scenario if a car flashes its lights here, then it means DON'T GO. Similarly, if they beep their horn, it's means I'm here WATCH OUT. My point is that actions aren't always universal. I'm not sure how long you've been here but what Westerners need to do is leave this attitude that they are somehow superior and it is the native of the country that they're in that must adapt and understand the Westerner. It's kind of an arrogant approach, and I've come across many Westerners who say "it should be like this" and "in the u.s./uk/australia/wherever it's like this". They don't owe you anything here. Don't automatically assume they're trying to make a fool of you or that they're trying to rip you off or whatever. It's usually a misinterpretation and waving and flailing your arms and having a hissy fit might work in the West, but here it's absolutely the worst thing to do and won't get you anywhere. Adapt, don't expect others to adapt to you

[Bantex]

If you pointed West and he went East why didn't you just point East, he might have gone West?

[Jblood]

I'm trying to keep it simple. So far I only see the problem with the Tesco Lotus Express. I haven't experienced the same at 7/11 anywhere in Thailand, they seem to keep the work up to the universally accepted standards, and btw it's all the same whether it's America, Europe, Taiwan, Hong Kong or Japan, so this is not a West vs East thing. It's all a matter a really crappy management at the Tesco Lotus Express locations - where the managers don't have a clue and systematically fail to train their staff properly. They don't have a clue period... I think they have a terrible attitude to customers, and never heard of elementary work ethic or service standards...

[SoiBiker]

Maybe he didn't have a compass?

[Jblood]

And btw I heard similar complaints from the Japanese all the time, about the service and work ethic standards in Thailand. In fact apparently you manage to drive the Japanese even more crazy than Westerners with all this day-to-day service or work practices... I mean Japan is also an East Asian Buddhist country - so what are you going to so to that?

I agree that a lot of westerners are very arrogant, but I see more often than not it's just being used as an excuse for Thailand to never improve to the elementary service and work standards which are accepted everywhere - including you sister countries like Japan or Singapore... so I suggest you don't make a habbit of it. If you get a complaint there's 90% chance you are doing something seriously wrong, but I think it's pretty much a standard practice in Thailand that they just never follow up on it...

[SoiBiker]

And btw I heard similar complaints from the Japanese all the time, about the service and work ethic standards in Thailand. In fact apparently you manage to drive the Japanese even more crazy than Westerners with all this day-to-day service or work practices... I mean Japan is also an East Asian Buddhist country - so what are you going to so to that?

I agree that a lot of westerners are very arrogant, but I see more often than not it's just being used as an excuse for Thailand to never improve to the elementary service and work standards which are accepted everywhere - including you sister countries like Japan or Singapore... so I suggest you don't make a habbit of it. If you get a complaint there's 90% chance you are doing something seriously wrong, but I think it's pretty much a standard practice in Thailand that they just never follow up on it...

Do you think you're talking to Thai people here?

[roo860]

And btw I heard similar complaints from the Japanese all the time, about the service and work ethic standards in Thailand. In fact apparently you manage to drive the Japanese even more crazy than Westerners with all this day-to-day service or work practices... I mean Japan is also an East Asian Buddhist country - so what are you going to so to that?

I agree that a lot of westerners are very arrogant, but I see more often than not it's just being used as an excuse for Thailand to never improve to the elementary service and work standards which are accepted everywhere - including you sister countries like Japan or Singapore... so I suggest you don't make a habbit of it. If you get a complaint there's 90% chance you are doing something seriously wrong, but I think it's pretty much a standard practice in Thailand that they just never follow up on it...

Do you think you're talking to Thai people here?

I reckon he found some really cheap wine and has OD on it!