Two attempted rip-offs last week !

[bangkokairportlink]

1 hour ago, mesquite said:

Regarding the Udon Thani rental car attempted ripoff the OP describes, I had a similar thing happen there a few years back.

 

I rented a bike and left a 1000 THB deposit and also paid for three days of use.  I returned the bike to the rental place and waited for the proprietor to return.  "She coming soon" said the staff.  I needed to get to the airport and she did not show despite repeated phone calls from me and assurances from her.  Finally I called the Tourist Police and told them the situation.  They asked for her number and called me back 5 minutes later saying she would be there in ten minutes.  Sure enough, ten minutes later she showed up with the deposit.  I then took a tuk tuk to the airport and caught my flight.  An old timer there told me later, "Yep, that's the Udon way.  Rip off the tourist first chance you get"

 

BTW, that is the ONLY time the Tourist Police have ever helped me.  A couple of experiences in Chiang Mai resulted in them trying to get money out of me.

 

10+ years and never needed any tourist police as I never needed help from any cop of this world. Your life are weird guys.

 

 

[mesquite]

7 minutes ago, bangkokairportlink said:

 

10+ years and never needed any tourist police as I never needed help from any cop of this world. Your life are weird guys.

 

 

Good for you.  You sound like a made guy.

[Editorial]

Just do not rent anymore as you can never know who is the cheat and who is honest. Vehicle renters are often mafia operated scams (not all obviously) but it is impossible to make out who is what? - I stopped renting my bikes and bought a scooter. I stopped the useless arguments with taxi drivers/tuk tuk's refusing to turn on the meter by using UBER or public transport when available.

 

Carry enough supply of 100B notes. Yes, it would make your pocket bulky but when you are in a country where a farang is often just a commodity to ripoff and not considered a human being, you must use extra precaution and common sense. (of course this is not a generality).

 

If making a purchase for your home or condo, and if you don't have a thai girl by your side, just hire a girl/translator. I once used my maid to get a price quote for furniture in BKK and the price was 50%!!....yes guys 50% less then what was given  to me, the stupid farang "full of money" as they think.

 

Obviously, many will never encounter any problem of the sort...all the better for you guys!...but for those having a sort of a ripoff karma (like myself .-))) - these few tips could help!

 

Enjoy Thailand as it is an amazing place with lot's of amazing people...

[NancyL]

I'm always amazed at how many resident foreigners pay for every transaction with 1000 baht notes and then complain about getting ripped off by cashiers.  Once a week or so, when either Hubby or I get money from an ATM we go into the bank and change some of the 1000 baht notes into 100s and 20s so we can give clerks and cashiers close to the exact amount of a purchase in our daily transactions.  Eliminates the opportunity for "confusion" in the change making process.

 

As for a major purchase like car rental -- that should always be charged on the U.S.-issued Visa card, along with other travel-related purchases like airline trips, hotel stays, etc.  That way, if there's any dissatisfaction, the charge can be contested with the credit card company for a refund.  Not possible with a Thai-issued credit card, but has worked for us several times when Thai merchants or service providers haven't lived up to their end of the deal and we filed a claim with our U.S. credit card company.

[mesquite]

14 minutes ago, NancyL said:

I'm always amazed at how many resident foreigners pay for every transaction with 1000 baht notes and then complain about getting ripped off by cashiers.  Once a week or so, when either Hubby or I get money from an ATM we go into the bank and change some of the 1000 baht notes into 100s and 20s so we can give clerks and cashiers close to the exact amount of a purchase in our daily transactions.  Eliminates the opportunity for "confusion" in the change making process.

 

As for a major purchase like car rental -- that should always be charged on the U.S.-issued Visa card, along with other travel-related purchases like airline trips, hotel stays, etc.  That way, if there's any dissatisfaction, the charge can be contested with the credit card company for a refund.  Not possible with a Thai-issued credit card, but has worked for us several times when Thai merchants or service providers haven't lived up to their end of the deal and we filed a claim with our U.S. credit card company.

Amen.  This has saved me several times.

[Ahab]

Out here in the boonies of Buriram a 1000 baht note is fairly useless because no one (nearly no one) can make change if you are spending 100-200 baht on a purchase.

[claffey]

I would suggest that the Big C incident was due to incompetence. There is no one stupid enough to try that in a Big store with cameras everywhere.

 

I would also suggest that your car deal was down to linguistic understandings. Thai people who speak some English will usually nod their heads even if they don't understand.  Misunderstandings are very common The fact that they returned your money promptly before your flight shows that it was a mistake. When mistakes like these happen foreigners assume that they are being ripped off whereas incompetence and the language barrier are more often at fault. I've being here a long time and the only people who have tried to rip me off were the police..

 

 

[evadgib]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

I'm always amazed at how many resident foreigners pay for every transaction with 1000 baht notes and then complain about getting ripped off by cashiers.  Once a week or so, when either Hubby or I get money from an ATM we go into the bank and change some of the 1000 baht notes into 100s and 20s so we can give clerks and cashiers close to the exact amount of a purchase in our daily transactions.  Eliminates the opportunity for "confusion" in the change making process.

Banks could make this easier by inc 1x500 & 5x100's each time someone uses an ATM.

[bazza73]

I've  had the 1000 baht scam happen once, recently. When I pointed out the error, correct change was given without comment or apology. Perhaps that's about preserving face.

I do, however, get quite incredulous looks when I get too much change, and give the excess back. That happens quite frequently.

[whiteman]

I've  had the 1000 baht scam happen once, In my early days staying here I use to get my shirts and other stuff washed and dry cleaned and picked up the next day. The bill this time was 100 bhat I only had 1000 on me which I handed to the lady at the counter.

She said thank you and just smiled at me as she handed the bag of clean cloths to me. I asked for my change but only got blank looks, I asked again and she said  Mr only gave me 100 bhat

 

Well that was it 900 bhat gone I never went back to her again.

[bbi1]

On 2017-5-29 at 2:44 PM, evadgib said:

Banks could make this easier by inc 1x500 & 5x100's each time someone uses an ATM.

Who really would want to get a bunch of 100's & 500's when they are taking out 50,000 baht out of the ATM? Having 50 x 1,000 baht bills is bulky enough when trying to put it in your wallet or pocket.

[evadgib]

11 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Who really would want to get a bunch of 100's & 500's when they are taking out 50,000 baht out of the ATM? Having 50 x 1,000 baht bills is bulky enough when trying to put it in your wallet or pocket.

The poster to whom I replied?

 

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Who really would want to get a bunch of 100's & 500's when they are taking out 50,000 baht out of the ATM? Having 50 x 1,000 baht bills is bulky enough when trying to put it in your wallet or pocket.

I agree.  I mostly use ATM machines outside a branch bank, where a security guard is lurking.  Somehow I think those machines are safer to use.  Not a big problem to walk into the branch bank and get some of the brown notes changed into pink and green ones.  I wouldn't want the entire withdrawal to be in small bills.  

[bkk6060]

How hard is it to walk into 7-11 and buy a bottle of water and put down 1000 b?  I have never have them say "cannot".

 

[evadgib]

You might if you'd actually done what you'd have us believe ?

[NanLaew]

On 5/28/2017 at 5:36 PM, bangkokairportlink said:

About BigC, video camera are everywhere and even Thai are not stupid enough to try to scam you this way.

Do you ever watch the morning news that has endless clips of thieves and other lawbreakers doing what they want regardless of the presence of a CCTV camera?