Cashier's and receptionist's attitude to customers

[Bluesofa]

 

Yesterday we went to Global House. My wife had to buy some tiles.

When we came to pay I used my debit card. I had to enter my pin number to verify the transaction.

They printed out the Mastercard confirmation – mine and theirs – and asked me to sign theirs. I said I didn’t need to, as I had used my pin number. The staff said  still needed to sign it. I said I wasn’t going to.

There was some discussion, my wife tried to get me to sign it ‘to keep them happy’, like Thais would do. I said no.
The staff tried to say I needed to sign it in case I had to return the goods, to prove I had paid. I said the shop’s receipt was for that, not a Mastercard bank transaction.

Eventually a supervisor arrived. I pointed out that printed at the bottom of the shop’s Mastercard receipt it stated in English: “Transaction verified by pin. Signature is not required”
The supervisor instantly said that was fine and we left.

The locals will so often kow-tow to anyone who has a little bit of authority, even a cashier.

Talking of which: I told my friend about what happened.

He said he once booked a guest house online near Chiang Mai for 350 Baht. Payment in advance wasn’t required.
When he arrived, he was told that price was not available and the price was 600 Baht.

He was p!ssed off, it was unfortunate the guest house not close to any others. The girl he took with him wanted him to just pay it and not complain.

After much arguing, including showing the the receptionist the booking on his phone, she phoned the owner, who reluctantly reduced the price to 450 Baht.

I said to him that if it had been me, I would have threatened to phone the tourist police. The guest house wouldn’t have wanted that I’m sure.

Perhaps I'm not really bloody-minded, but don't like being cheated, or pushed into doing something I know is incorrect.

 

[Rain]

When in doubt - question everything, challenge everything.

[KaptainRob]

In our experience Global House has the worst training for staff, and poor customer relations for complaints, returns or warranty claims.  We only shop there for those few items not stocked at DoHome or HomePro.

15km's between the 2 stores in your city I think BS?

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Bluesofa said:

Yesterday we went to Global House. My wife had to buy some tiles.

When we came to pay I used my debit card. I had to enter my pin number to verify the transaction.

They printed out the Mastercard confirmation – mine and theirs – and asked me to sign theirs. I said I didn’t need to, as I had used my pin number. The staff said  still needed to sign it. I said I wasn’t going to.

There was some discussion, my wife tried to get me to sign it ‘to keep them happy’, like Thais would do. I said no.
The staff tried to say I needed to sign it in case I had to return the goods, to prove I had paid. I said the shop’s receipt was for that, not a Mastercard bank transaction.

Eventually a supervisor arrived. I pointed out that printed at the bottom of the shop’s Mastercard receipt it stated in English: “Transaction verified by pin. Signature is not required”
The supervisor instantly said that was fine and we left.

The locals will so often kow-tow to anyone who has a little bit of authority, even a cashier.

Talking of which: I told my friend about what happened.

He said he once booked a guest house online near Chiang Mai for 350 Baht. Payment in advance wasn’t required.
When he arrived, he was told that price was not available and the price was 600 Baht.

He was p!ssed off, it was unfortunate the guest house not close to any others. The girl he took with him wanted him to just pay it and not complain.

After much arguing, including showing the the receptionist the booking on his phone, she phoned the owner, who reluctantly reduced the price to 450 Baht.

I said to him that if it had been me, I would have threatened to phone the tourist police. The guest house wouldn’t have wanted that I’m sure.

Perhaps I'm not really bloody-minded, but don't like being cheated, or pushed into doing something I know is incorrect.

My wife, after have lived in Canada,  no longer goes by that rationale and will put up a fuss if the service isn't what it should be 

(Actually she complains and expects more than me now 555)

 

The worst we have encountered is jealous hotel desk staff at smaller, 3 star hotels in Thailand 

 

We don't experience that attitude in any 5 star or even 4 star hotels, quite the opposite 

They bend over backwards 

 

But quite a few 3 star places have been very unprofessional 

 

[Bluesofa]

39 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

In our experience Global House has the worst training for staff, and poor customer relations for complaints, returns or warranty claims.  We only shop there for those few items not stocked at DoHome or HomePro.

15km's between the 2 stores in your city I think BS?

OK, despite your preference, I'm never quite sure if one is better than the other?
What I do know is the Global House website is shite to find anything. The HomePro one - and the app - is much better.

Yesterday before going to Global House we went to HomePro to look at the tiles there first. While we were there we also looked at a shower heater, then we went back to the tiles.

The sales guy selling the shower heaters kept following us around the tile display area, wouldn't leave us alone. Half an hour we were talking to someone in the tile area, this bloody guy was continually standing behind us.

When we were going to leave the guy tried to pressure my wife into buying the shower heater.
I was annoyed, but as usual, my wife felt sorry for him, as 'he only wanted to earn commission'.

I said his commission came from our money, and p!ssing off customers would be the best way not to get any commission in my opinion.

It's 9km between HomePro and DoHome, looking on the map.
We've only been into Do Home a couple of times, as Homepro and Global House are 500m apart on the ring road, and 4km from us.

[gummy]

10 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

OK, despite your preference, I'm never quite sure if one is better than the other?
What I do know is the Global House website is shite to find anything. The HomePro one - and the app - is much better.

Yesterday before going to Global House we went to HomePro to look at the tiles there first. While we were there we also looked at a shower heater, then we went back to the tiles.

The sales guy selling the shower heaters kept following us around the tile display area, wouldn't leave us alone. Half an hour we were talking to someone in the tile area, this bloody guy was continually standing behind us.

When we were going to leave the guy tried to pressure my wife into buying the shower heater.
I was annoyed, but as usual, my wife felt sorry for him, as 'he only wanted to earn commission'.

I said his commission came from our money, and p!ssing off customers would be the best way not to get any commission in my opinion.

It's 9km between HomePro and DoHome, looking on the map.
We've only been into Do Home a couple of times, as Homepro and Global House are 500m apart on the ring road, and 4km from us.

There is one thing I have always said about that Homepro  in Udon. ( The one on the ring road almost opposite Powerbuy).  The lady (s) who cleans those toilets deserve a prize. They must rank as some of the cleanest and well looked after toilets in any major store I have been in in Thailand.  As for the service there I love to have a game by walking around deliberately to see how long they follow me.

[Bluesofa]

1 minute ago, gummy said:

There is one thing I have always said about that Homepro  in Udon. ( The one on the ring road almost opposite Powerbuy).  The lady (s) who cleans those toilets deserve a prize. They must rank as some of the cleanest and well looked after toilets in any major store I have been in in Thailand.  As for the service there I love to have a game by walking around deliberately to see how long they follow me.

Perhaps we could have survey about the cleanest public/publicly available toilets in Thailand.
I don't know what the criteria would be: cleanliness of the bowl, toilet paper, bum squirter, door lock working, trap width, type of piped music available, hand-washing facilities, free - or charged.

Regarding the sales staff following you around: Yeah, quite often they congregate (hunt in packs) just inside the entrance.
I suppose asking for something obscure might be fun. Sanitary napkins - no, no, the hygienic ones that you put on the dinner table.

[thai3]

Watsadu is no better. Once went there looking for tiles, stood over by the salesgirl spent ages looking at 3 lots, putting them on the floor and deciding which looked best. In the end we asked the girl  for 26 sq meters of our choice- 'no have' even though she stood there for ages watching us looking at them. Ok we will have the second choice- 'no have'- they cannot get the materials was the excuse. Onto the third choice- yes have, have you got 26 meters, yes but problem price gone up. I said we will have them if you charge the price on the shelf -no cannot, can you call the manager, no ok goodbye. Went to Home Pro for the annoying following about and 50 sawadee's but at least we got some tiles.

[Bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, thai3 said:

Watsadu is no better. Once went there looking for tiles, stood over by the salesgirl spent ages looking at 3 lots, putting them on the floor and deciding which looked best. In the end we asked the girl  for 26 sq meters of our choice- 'no have' even though she stood there for ages watching us looking at them. Ok we will have the second choice- 'no have'- they cannot get the materials was the excuse. Onto the third choice- yes have, have you got 26 meters, yes but problem price gone up. I said we will have them if you charge the price on the shelf -no cannot, can you call the manager, no ok goodbye. Went to Home Pro for the annoying following about and 50 sawadee's but at least we got some tiles.

Do they say it to try and avoid conversing with the scary ferang I wonder?
Big C used to have the 'no hab" issue, but they 'hab' improved in recent years.

[AussieBob]

Same same everywhere when we lived in Thailand. It all depends upon the person - some good and some not so good - although some places seem to attract the worse ones to work there.  The other thing I hate is if you ask them 'do you have any XYZ?' and they will say 'No Hab'.  Then you figure they must have, so you walk around and find it yourself. Customer service and training in most of those big stores does not happen much in Thailand - costs too much and they quit working a month or two later anyway. 

 

[RobMuir]

12 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

The staff said  still needed to sign it. I said I wasn’t going to.

 

12 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

I would have threatened to phone the tourist police.

Good to see you are enjoying your stay in the LOS and are not sweating the small stuff.

Blokes like you make me proud to be a faranger. 

[Bluesofa]

7 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

12 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

The staff said  still needed to sign it. I said I wasn’t going to.

12 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

I would have threatened to phone the tourist police.

Good to see you are enjoying your stay in the LOS and are not sweating the small stuff.

Blokes like you make me proud to be a faranger. 

I'm guessing you think I'm confrontational?
It is possible to make your point without shouting at the person you're dealing with. Sometimes however, they just aren't interested in listening.

Thanks, I'm enjoying my twenty-three year stay in the LOS.
Sadly I do 'sweat about the small stuff', as attention to detail is important. Perhaps not to you though.

 

[thai3]

53 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Do they say it to try and avoid conversing with the scary ferang I wonder?
Big C used to have the 'no hab" issue, but they 'hab' improved in recent years.

Mrs deals with them not me. Big C this year looking at an LG fridge with the salesman, had special offer sign on it for that day and day after only. We decided to get one only for nong sales to say no have, Mrs said oh sold them all already to which he replied er no we never had any! He did promised to get us one at the price after the Mrs had a long moan at him, got one a few weeks later

[RobMuir]

6 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

It is possible to make your point without shouting at the person you're dealing with.

 

The service in all the big stores is pretty ordinary. They are all monkeys who are paid peanuts. I usually go the "face loss" approach, no need to shout as you say.

But I wouldn't have wasted my time not signing it in this case. Take 2seconds, instead of the drama you put yourself through. I sign everything ฝรั่ง. Usually gets a laugh.

12 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Sadly I do 'sweat about the small stuff', as attention to detail is important

With all due respect, I am pretty sure you have chosen the wrong country to live in. They don't have it in them unless it is something enjoyable like food, a party or music.

[Bluesofa]

33 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

The service in all the big stores is pretty ordinary. They are all monkeys who are paid peanuts. I usually go the "face loss" approach, no need to shout as you say.

I do know however, when not to stand my ground.

Recently I went to collect a certificate, only to be told I needed to fill in a form first. I was asked to sign at the bottom to say I'd received the certificate.
I said I'd sign as soon as I had it in my hand, so to speak.

The official said that wasn't possible. She showed me the certificate with my name on it, unsigned. She said it had to go to the หัวหน้า - big boss to be signed. He wouldn't sign it until I had completed the form.

I was given yet another appointment date for the following week. Fortunately, my wife has a friend who works in the same office.
I gave her the receipt to collect it for me - seeing as I'd already signed to say I'd received it. I thought play them at their own game - ha ha!

Come the appointment date for collection, the friend said the certificate still hadn't been signed, as the boss hadn't been into the office.
Perhaps try again in two weeks was the suggestion she was given.

 

33 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

But I wouldn't have wasted my time not signing it in this case. Take 2seconds, instead of the drama you put yourself through. I sign everything ฝรั่ง. Usually gets a laugh.

In the past, before pin numbers for card payments was introduced and everyone had to sign, no one ever checked the signature.

For over ten years I signed my name as End Blyton (a UK children's author). Twice I signed as Rumplestiltskin.
I did it just because I could, and to prove what a useless system it was.
It was only it you knew your card had been stolen and cancelled it, would the transaction be refused. Otherwise with a Thai debit card the cash is instantly deducted from your account, as my wife found out. No comeback.
 

32 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

With all due respect, I am pretty sure you have chosen the wrong country to live in. They don't have it in them unless it is something enjoyable like food, a party or music.

Looks like I'd better leave then. Thanks for putting me straight.

[RobMuir]

3 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

For over ten years I signed my name as End Blyton (a UK children's author). Twice I signed as Rumplestiltskin.

If I am signing for a delivery on account that I have to pay later I will often sign ไม่มีเงิน -no money, or ไม่จ่าย- not pay. 

5 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

Looks like I'd better leave then. Thanks for putting me straight.

No worries mate. I suggest Japan, they are anal about detail and like here there are millions of cute available smooth skinned girls. Take a razor though.

[Smithydog]

15 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Yesterday we went to Global House. My wife had to buy some tiles.

When we came to pay I used my debit card. I had to enter my pin number to verify the transaction.

They printed out the Mastercard confirmation – mine and theirs – and asked me to sign theirs. I said I didn’t need to, as I had used my pin number. The staff said  still needed to sign it. I said I wasn’t going to.

There was some discussion, my wife tried to get me to sign it ‘to keep them happy’, like Thais would do. I said no.
The staff tried to say I needed to sign it in case I had to return the goods, to prove I had paid. I said the shop’s receipt was for that, not a Mastercard bank transaction.

Eventually a supervisor arrived. I pointed out that printed at the bottom of the shop’s Mastercard receipt it stated in English: “Transaction verified by pin. Signature is not required”
The supervisor instantly said that was fine and we left.

The locals will so often kow-tow to anyone who has a little bit of authority, even a cashier.

 

I have seen such things misinterpreted as attitude. Some may be.

Most cardholders never pay any attention to the Terms and conditions of use nor what is written on the card. Staff often are not trained to know what to do above a single norm, unless the business has been exposed to loss through a fraud.

Therein lies part of the problem. When staff do actually correctly apply the store/card ules, That they have been taught and may even be 100% correctly applying, the customer wrongly assumes the staff as having an attitude problem. Check your conditions of use. Here are 2 clauses just from one Thailand based Bank's Credit Card Terms and Conditions. Bank was picked at random.

 

1.1         “The Cardholder shall sign his/her name in the space provided on the back of the Card immediately after receiving the Card.”

Check your card. It may actually say "Not valid unless signed". Acceptance of cards can vary via issuer (e.g. Visa, Mastercard). Some allow you to get other ID when presented, some may require you get the card signed at the time when ID is presented.

1.7         “… Cardholder shall present the Card to salesperson of the merchant and sign in the document evidencing the purchase of goods or service (Sales Slip) or any other device for evidence of use of the Card unless the Company or merchant specifically stipulates that a signature is not required for the Sales Slip or other device (as the case may be).” 

The last part of the clause is the most common confusing bit. Some cards and stores across the world allow people to use their PIN up to a specific amount and have to countersign the slip above that amount. As such you can see great variance amongst the rule making it hard to understand if staff are simply doing the right things. We tend to see measures that cause us inconvenience as wrong, even if they are designed with an intent to protect us!

Why does it print out the note on your slip then? The machines themselves are often limited in what they can do and don't allow variations. It is why you sometimes see stores with so many card readers. The issuing bank only allows their formatted software and no changes.

So, just be courteous in your frustrations with retail staff. Most times they don't have any choice given and to call assistance from a Supervisor, may be once again, a loss of face and hence why they seem resistant.

 

[KaptainRob]

13 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

It's 9km between HomePro and DoHome, looking on the map.
We've only been into Do Home a couple of times, as Homepro and Global House are 500m apart on the ring road, and 4km from us.

DoHome and Global is what I referred to, sorry I didn't specify, I tend to equate HomePro as being in a different category due to mainly whitegoods sales compared with the other 2 which are building materials specialists.

HomePro have quite good staff training but I also hate the 'followers' who tend to be the commission reps for specific brands.  ie: Samsung supply reps into TV/Fridge/Aircon departments.  You might be looking for an LG fridge, which they'll happily show you and then steer you toward a 'better' Samsung model.

HomePro provide excellent western-style customer service.  They will price-match other stores.  They will also provide a rain-check for specials out-of-stock.  8 years ago we'd ordered 2 inverter aircon units on special and HP agreed to hold in stock for 2 months until house was ready for installation.  Upon requesting delivery they discovered a shortfall in stock, someone had over-sold their quota, and the manager arranged 2 new (higher spec) models at the same price. 

[Bluesofa]

19 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

1.7         “… Cardholder shall present the Card to salesperson of the merchant and sign in the document evidencing the purchase of goods or service (Sales Slip) or any other device for evidence of use of the Card unless the Company or merchant specifically stipulates that a signature is not required for the Sales Slip or other device (as the case may be).” 

The last part of the clause is the most common confusing bit. Some cards and stores across the world allow people to use their PIN up to a specific amount and have to countersign the slip above that amount. As such you can see great variance amongst the rule making it hard to understand if staff are simply doing the right things. We tend to see measures that cause us inconvenience as wrong, even if they are designed with an intent to protect us!

That is an interesting clause.
Now I'm assuming too much already. I would have thought the  'unless the Company or merchant specifically stipulates that a signature is not required for the Sales Slip'  would refer to the 'contactless' transactions up to quite small amount, where no verification of any sort is required?

I don't know how old these terms are. I wonder if they have since been updated to include reference to 'PIN number or signature' - or if indeed they do?

About two years ago did ask the Bank Of Thailand about verification methods. They told me it was up to the retailer to choose how they wanted verification - PIN or signature.

Most of the more reputable retailers go for PIN. There are those who at the time stuck with signature.
It made me wonder if it was because a stolen card couldn't be used without the PIN being known, but signing is easier, and as I said earlier that in ten years not one sales person ever checked my signature.
I'm specifically talking about debit cards now.

 

39 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

Why does it print out the note on your slip then? The machines themselves are often limited in what they can do and don't allow variations. It is why you sometimes see stores with so many card readers. The issuing bank only allows their formatted software and no change

“Transaction verified by pin. Signature is not required” is printed only on the merchant's copy, not mine.
That's obviously their copy I was asked to sign.

I take your point about software limitations, but the phrase would not have been printed if it was verification by signature, not by PIN. so the software must realise that either,
the PIN number has been entered
or,
if the retailer has chosen to opt for verification by PIN, not by signature, then without the PIN I couldn't make a purchase anyway and the slip wouldn't have been printed.

[Changnam43]

Vote with your feet.

If you don't like the service buy somewhere else.

[Fluke]

Cashiers are there to do their job of serving customers , its not up to them to make decisions about things .

  If the manager tells them to ask for a signature , that's what they will do 

[Changnam43]

4 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Perhaps we could have survey about the cleanest public/publicly available toilets in Thailand.
I don't know what the criteria would be: cleanliness of the bowl, toilet paper, bum squirter, door lock working, trap width, type of piped music available, hand-washing facilities, free - or charged.

Regarding the sales staff following you around: Yeah, quite often they congregate (hunt in packs) just inside the entrance.
I suppose asking for something obscure might be fun. Sanitary napkins - no, no, the hygienic ones that you put on the dinner table.

I would have to give my vote to Saphli railway station in Chumphon province for best toilet.

It is a small and photogenic provincial station.  There are only two trains a day that are seemingly scheduled to be of use to the absolute minimum number of people; and yet they have multiple uniformed staff to blow whistles, wave flags, shout stuff and do whatever else they do.

Part of what the staff do must be look after the toilets.  They are spotlessly clean, they have real towels and bars of soap, they have flowers in vases.  It's almost worth going there just to admire the toilets.

[Bluesofa]

15 minutes ago, Fluke said:

Cashiers are there to do their job of serving customers , its not up to them to make decisions about things .

  If the manager tells them to ask for a signature , that's what they will do 

If no one mentions it, then they would carry on in their ignorance.
Surely better to bring up the subject so the manager will realise there's a mistake, or perhaps even that they are irritating customers with pointless requests.

[Fluke]

5 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

If no one mentions, then they would carry on in their ignorance.
Surely to bring up the subject so the manager will realise there's a mistake, or perhaps even that they are irritating customers with pointless requests.

I would have just signed it , 

[Marc26]

My wife got her 1st credit card in Canada

And never having a CC before, she envisioned herself looking "rich " singing for the bill

 

Boy was she disappointed when they stuck a pin machine in her face  5555