Argument at S&P Restaurant

[walletss]

 

 

Last trip to Thailand I found myself in a war of words with the management of S&P Restaurant in Pantip Plaza. It was near closing time when I walked in for a late dinner.

The waiter brought me the menu and pointed to the daily special, which was sweet and sour fish. Realizing it was near closing time and that much of what was on the menu would not be available, I tapped the picture on the menu to signify that I will take the sweet and sour fish.. A few minutes later he brings my order, which looks rather large. Thinking nothing of it, I eat what I can and ask for the bill.

The waiter returns and I notice that I have been charged 500 baht for the dish. So I consult the menu and notice that the price on the menu next to the picture says it?s 100 baht and then in tiny writing underneath it says ?per 100 gram.?

I point out the discrepancy to him and he says, ? yes but we brought you a 500 gram serve and that?s the only size it comes in. It?s a family size? I explain to him angrily that there is only one of me here and if he has only a family size serve he should have informed me before he brought it because any fool can see that one person could not eat that serving. (There is nothing in English near the picture that says there is a minimum serve of 500 grams.)

I had an ensuing argument with the waiter and then the manager who rudely tried to force me to pay for it but I flatly refused and ended up paying only for what I ordered.

 

I am not a petty person but my view is that a place like S&P should be more professional in their dealings with Farangs, considering the prices they charge which is plus 10 % for service.

What would you have done in my place?

 

 

 

[Guest]

I would have said, "sorry, I didn't see the 'per 100g' -- what a silly bugger I am," paid, and left.

[jp1]

I'm not sure what I had done. Probably I would have paid the bill without starting an argument. ::

[rookie]

..."What would you have done in my place?"

 

Grumbled to myself, saved face, paid the bill and never return.

[StoneSoup]

I'll add my voice to the chorus - I would have paid, kicked myself for not being more careful, cursed the place under my breath, and never eaten there again.

 

The Fighting Fish

[thalenoi]

These unfortunate events happen to all of us. I try the "mai pen rai" attitude. In LOS it's useless to get upset, that will buy you nothing.

 

Some years back I was eating alone at an outside restaurant in Kon Kaen with a huge stage where a group of sexy ladies were singing and dancing. Next table were two thai guys, one very drunk. They moved to my table without being invited and wanted me to join them for the night. They truly pissed me off. The waiters hads lots of compassion with the poor farang but no one would help me nor interfere. I asked for the bill and left.

 

You also have the case where what they serve you is not what you ordered or what you ordered was not what it should taste like. I simply tell them to take the crap back to kitchen and invariably the plate will figure on the bill. It seems to me people running restaurants in Thailand have no clue of the value of "repeat customer" I live on a small beach, they know where I live and sometimes I tell them this was the first and only time you see me here. They don't care, neither do I.

[walletss]

" I would have said, "sorry, I didn't see the 'per 100g' -- what a silly bugger I am," paid, and left. "

 

I saw the per 100 gram and I expected them to bring me that size portion not a serving for 5 people. There was no mention of a minimum of 500 gram on the menu.

Maybe if the staff would have been a bit more apologetic, I would have just paid and left.

[Guest]

Did you specify that you wanted only 100g of fish? If you did, they probably would have told you that fish don't come that small.

 

I suspect that you just ordered the fish, and they gave you the smallest one they had, which was 500g. Perfectly reasonable and ordinary. No one was responsible for questioning whether or not you were hungry enough to finish off a whole fish (which you were, weren't you?).

 

You see, it is common in Thailand to serve seafood, especially fresh fish, crabs, and prawns, by weight. That doesn't mean that if you want 100g of crab, they'll give you a claw and a leg. They will give you one crab and charge you by the weight of the crab. Same thing with fish -- they don't serve anything smaller than a whole fish.

 

As for how many people a fish serves, it depends on how many other dishes you order. I doubt the fish you had would have made a meal for five people if served alone. I mean, you did finish it off yourself, didn't you?

[walletss]

" I doubt the fish you had would have made a meal for five people if served alone. I mean, you did finish it off yourself, didn't you? "

 

 

Of course I didn't finish it. I sent it back. Do you think I would have kicked up a fuss if I ate it?

 

Trust me the fish was a disproportionate serve for one person.

The fish was pictured in the menu.showing a much smaller portion than they served me. That portion depicted in the menu with rice would satisfy a sole diner.

 

 

 

[limbo]

Hi Thalenoi,

 

I can see where wallets is coming from, I started a related thread about overcharging the farangs.

In this case I think best would've been to pay and not to come back again. Sometimes the reasoning behind the Thai way of thinking doesn't show any logic to me, you gotta live with it.

 

You're right Thalenoi about hte mai pen rai attitude. That'll help you best here.

 

I can't stop wondering about the Thais lack of interest in repeat customers or customer service in general. I doubt that this word exists in any Thai dictionary.

 

There's a few places, restaurants where I live, where I just don't go back to anymore. They seem not really to care. ::

This was just by the way I was treated.

Should I bear no grudges? ::

 

Cheers,

Limbo