Store policies in Pattaya

[9cisco999 107]

I ventured to Tesco on Sukumvit two days ago to buy some general household goods, all of which I gave away before I left the home country. I'm no miser or cheap charlie but I do note prices when I shop. I find some items here are lower than I anticipate and others are surprisingly higher.

 

In general I found Tesco clearly marked the prices for things. Anyway, I picked out a trash can and then later found another one in a different isle I liked much more. I believe it was in the low two hundreds but when I got to the register it rang up as bt.422. I thought about saying something but then figured it wouldn't matter as I'd just have to pay what the register says. Was I correct in that assumption? Are prices listed just to serve as a possible guideline?

 

I accept the fact that things aren't similar to my home country I just like to know how they are different.

 

 

Also I plan to buy a microwave today. Do I have anything more than a "walk out the store with it guarantee". I recall in the PI when I bought a DVD player they checked it at the store to varify it worked and gave a two week (14 days) warranty. Sure enough in 8 days it stopped working and I returned it only to find they said it would take a month to send it to Manila to have it repaired. They kept that promise and I did get it back in a month in working condition.

 

How do warranties work in Patts? I'd appreciate knowing the ground rules.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

I ventured to Tesco on Sukumvit two days ago to buy some general household goods, all of which I gave away before I left the home country. I'm no miser or cheap charlie but I do note prices when I shop. I find some items here are lower than I anticipate and others are surprisingly higher.

 

In general I found Tesco clearly marked the prices for things. Anyway, I picked out a trash can and then later found another one in a different isle I liked much more. I believe it was in the low two hundreds but when I got to the register it rang up as bt.422. I thought about saying something but then figured it wouldn't matter as I'd just have to pay what the register says. Was I correct in that assumption? Are prices listed just to serve as a possible guideline?

 

I accept the fact that things aren't similar to my home country I just like to know how they are different.

 

 

Also I plan to buy a microwave today. Do I have anything more than a "walk out the store with it guarantee". I recall in the PI when I bought a DVD player they checked it at the store to varify it worked and gave a two week (14 days) warranty. Sure enough in 8 days it stopped working and I returned it only to find they said it would take a month to send it to Manila to have it repaired. They kept that promise and I did get it back in a month in working condition.

 

How do warranties work in Patts? I'd appreciate knowing the ground rules.

 

The trash can. It could be that the lower price was applicable if it was bought with something else, e.g. a mop and bucket, and 422 was the full price. Tesco has lots of these 'linked' offers but they are normally not too difficult to work out. Carrefour was the same, but I find Big C can be a bit of a nightmare if you don't read Thai.

 

The example you gave of the warranty situation is the same as I've experienced. In my case, it was a printer/scanner/copier that had issues with the scanner. Took it back after 2 days, their techie guy had a look at it, and they gave me a new one. 1/2 weeks seems to be the normal timeframe for return and replace issues at the store but lots of appliances/aircon units etc carry a 3/5 year manufacturers guarantee - it may stretch your patience in having that guarantee honoured though.

 

As an aside, is there any particular reason this thread is in this part of the forum.

 

Edit in: There are some household items (buckets, basins etc) currently on sale at Tesco, but only if you are donating them to the Tesco Flood Appeal. Or, at least I think that was the general drift.

Edited October 18, 2011 by CheshireTom

[MM 6,562]

I've found that the guarantee/warranties on big ticket electronic items are manufacturer's warranties. If you have a problem, they say they have to send it to a manufacturer service center, which could take weeks or months.

 

I bought 3 LCD TVs (Samsung) at the end of August 2011. One of them went on the fritz 5 weeks later. The store (Big C) said they would send it for repair, but it would take 4 weeks or more. I then took it to the local Samsung shop on Sukhimvit, and they said they'd fix it, but that it would only cover labor, not parts. I didn't get why, but I think it was something about a current surge blowing a major component.

 

So, I had my Thai staff look around, and they found a "private" repair place that fixed it in a day, but it still cost half the cost of the new unit to fix.

 

Just hope you don't have to use the warranty repair service.

[jacko 8,827]

I would jusst like to chuck in a good result.

I bought a LCD TV which was on sale in what was then Carrefour.

Damned thing kept turning itself off (I have a Philips DVD/Audio centre does the same). I was miserable with the prospect of carrying it up the escalator looking like a berk, until I realised there was an LG service centre on Suk. Into the back of the truck, they seemed to know about the 'ploblem' there and sent a guy to carry it out for me, and I got it back fixed without charge after 4 days. I had suffered the problem for over 2 months.

Edited October 18, 2011 by jacko

[9cisco999 107]

Tom:

I returned to Tesco today and discovered I was mistaken about the price. The register was correct.

I posted the question on the forum in hopes of real experiences before I asked the same question at Tesco. Today I asked the lady at Tesco customer service and her English was pretty much on par with my Thai. She did manage to convey that cash will be refunded during the first 7 days after a purchase. Impossible for me to ascertain if that is only for a defective product The translation was as usual hesitatingly given by my lady friend. The "customer service" lady answered another question by saying after the 7 day period, as stated in replies, Tesco would deal with a defective product for "one or two months" by sending it to the factory. I don't know if the one or two month time frame period is at the choice of Tesco or the customer. 555

"As an aside, is there any particular reason this thread is in this part of the forum."

Tom, as Filipina friends sometimes say to me, SECRET.

MM:

I guess your last words pretty much sum it up as far as buying anything in LOS is concerned "Just hope you don't have to use the warranty repair service" I wanted to confirm that buying anything here involves trust and hope. It must be nice to have a staff to look around for a solution. That would aid in adjusting to the conditions.

I suppose you have a fairly good idea how Costco would have handled your TV meltdown. I wonder how that company is able to have the kind of policy it has and be so successful? In your situation, I realize you could only grimace and bend over if the same thing had happened to all three of your TV's.

I don't look for any changes in that area here but I wonder if eventually there will be a customer service/satisfaction change as time passes.

Jacko:

Good to hear a positive, successful story. By coincidence, I bought an LG microwave today at Tesco. It was a display model and the last one as the stock is depleted because of the floods. It didn't have a box and Tesco said they couldn't supply any kind of box for transporting it. There was a monsoon happening at that moment which could be heard on the Tesco roof. I was finally able to persuade the clerk to wrap the thing in plastic wrap to protect it.

I wish that I have the luck of never needing it repaired while it's under my watch. I'd like to gift it to someone in proper working order if and when I move somewhere else.