FatManInNYC

Let's file this under Travel Scam Advisory so as to connect it properly to FT and the Thailand forum. It's a new one to me, wondering how often this happens.

Having concluded a conference call with my client in New Jersey I make my way over to the 7/11 next-door to the Le Meridien Bangkok to replace the mini-bar chips consumed during the last few hours. It's just before 2 am local time and while I may look like just another overweight tourist stumbling from the agogo's, I am in fact bleary-eyed but sober.

I gather up a few items for purchase and after the first item is scanned I hear the ladyboy working in the snack-cake aisle say something to the cashier in Thai. All I recognize is the word "song," or "two" in English, and when I look up I see "2 @ 27: 54" light up on the register lcd screen.

Uh-huh.

Speeding things up a bit: The cashier finishes ringing the items, I pay and ask for a receipt. She hands me a receipt for someones 17 baht water purchase while casually tossing some other scraps of paper into the waste bin. I smile and ask for my receipt. She then tells me the machine is broken (all while opening and banging on the roll of receipt paper.) I ask her, very politely and without any accusation, to fix the tape and rescan the items from my bag. Dutifully she does so, and (of course) the new total is 54 baht less. She pretends not to notice. When made aware, she offers a bright smile and quickly returns the overage.

Minor league stuff, yet to me the most interesting thing is how nonchalant it all played out. I didn't yell or make a face-losing fuss. She didn't admit any malicious intent, and life goes on with a bemused smile. Kinda like when you catch a taxi-driver keeping your change from the tolls ...

Makes one wonder how prevalent are shenanigans like this in the wee hours of the morning in the tourist areas of BKK.

More or less than what you find in a NYC bodega at the same time?

So, a word of caution, for whatever that is worth.

Safe Travels!

dsquared37

I've definitely seen much worse in a bodega in NY. It happens all everywhere.

The wise keep their eyes open.

og

Its like the hotel that adds a Mini Bar charge when you have not had anything. Latest offender with this racket is the IC JNB Airport

jiejie

Haven't had this happen to me in Thailand, but as always, wise to keep eyes open, and make mental tally of bill in your head before you hit the cash register. My worst experiences with Serial Bill Padders has been at European restaurants located on famous city squares.

OP, well-handled, I must say. In your place and after getting my correct change back, I probably would have turned into a harpy and scratched the cashier's eyes out, along with a torrent of verbal abuse.

railways

I love the hypocrisy. You were apparently trying to defraud Le Meridien and then you get all indignant when someone tries to scam you?

I presume this refers to you replacing the mini-bar items?

FatManInNYC

LOL.

Yes, I get indignant when someone tries to scam me, don't you? No, I don't feel I'm scamming anyone when I consume and then replace something from a mini-bar. It's an old debate, one your side has lost. You pay the minibar for the convenience. If you replace it, you haven't gotten any convenience, just deferred when you make your trip to the store, and the hotel hasn't lost any money. Management seems to have no problem with it.

But, if you had read my post carefully, I state what was the most interesting was how it was handled, in what seems a very efficient Thai manner that is subtly different than how it might be handled in the West.

seanthepilot

I have had this happen once to me in PHUKET. I bought a bunch of items. The clerk scanned them. I looked at the total and just shook my head. A pause. I looked at them again, with a sour face and again shook my head. Another pause. Punch, punch, punch, a few buttons, rescan all the items... appx 100THB cheaper. I paid. Life goes on. I wondered how often that happens to tourists and the don't know.

But it's in SINGAPORE where I repeatedly get shortchanged at 7/11. A few times while I was talking on the phone during my purchase. $5 or $10 SGD each time. I habitually count my change everytime I get some. It's from 20 years of being a waiter... where any clerical error was paid from my pocket, if I made one. When it happens, after counting the change, I just put it straight down on the counter and point. The missing bill is then quickly tendered. Bloody crooks, it drives me nuts.

Jaimito Cartero

I've never had this happen in Thailand. I do, however, usually only buy a few things and know what they cost. I've had countless times that restaurant bills, hotel bills and other stuff have been wrong. Often, it's hard to tell if they're actually trying to scam you, or not. Seems your case was pretty clear cut, though.

My biggest problems are usually with the minibar. If it's priced reasonably, I may drink one or two drinks during a weeks stay. Otherwise I don't even touch it. A few times in BKK I've replaced the drinks, but usually not. Getting charged for stuff that is missing is very aggravating. I actually got to the point, I'd open up the fridge and take a picture as soon as I got to the hotel, so I could point it out later that there were not 4 Singha beers in the fridge, but 2. (Plus I don't drink beer!)

dsquared37

Last year I had a pint of JW Black missing from the room, but on the minibar list. That would have been painful if not immediately caught.

Can't say if it was a scam or not. But it is something I pay attention to.

Jaimito Cartero

JW Black disappeared every day when I was at the IC BKK in April. It's nice to be an RA.

yosithezet

Interesting that they rang it up on the register. Do they remember to later ring up the 'return' of the item so that they can palm the money or are they remembering what was extra so they can eat it themselves later?

seanthepilot

In my case, Yosi, the items were likely from the previous customer, sold rung, paid for, but not settled in the register. So that when my purchase was rung in, it just added to the subtotal already inthe machine. The clerk would just pocket the difference at the end of the shift.

It's similar to a gas station scam that has popped up from time to time. Customer 1 puts 40THB in the motorcycle, customer 2 asks for 100THB. The employee doesn't reset the meter and the customer doesn't know that they only got the difference between the last sale (40THB) and the current 100THB showing on the pump. Google this one, it's been around for a while.

CrazyInteg

A guy at my previous job here in NEBRASKA would do a similar thing. It's not just BKK. It happens all the time, everywhere in the world. Lazy people just trying to make a few extra bucks for themselves. (You know as soon as you leave, they split that extra charge between the two of them)

rally

7-11 worker is making $10 - 300 baht a day or so, so getting 30-50 baht once an hour doubles his pay !

Rally

thaidai

^^