Guest fountainhall Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 No, not the position - the supermarket chain! Last night, I did a major shop at my nearest Tops. When I got home, everything was put away or in the fridge. Perhaps because everything is bar coded, I rarely check my receipts. For some reason, last night I did. And I found it odd because there were two items there I very definitely did not purchase - some strawberries at Bt. 650 and another fruit item at Bt. 127! So I checked again, and then noticed that the teller had not charged me for two small punnets of blueberries - which should have been Bt. 139 each. I decided to get a cab back to the store taking the blueberries with me. I had no idea how the Tops people would react, since I should perhaps have checked the bill prior to leaving the store. However, they could not have been nicer or more apologetic! They checked the bar codes, realised it was their mistake and refunded me the full Bt. 777 in cash. I was about to pay for the blueberries - and also ask if they'd refund my taxis! - when they said these would be complimentary since it had been their fault! When we hear so much about rip-off taxis and rip-off this and thats in Thailand, I think Tops deserves a pat on the back. Quote
Rogie Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 A good outcome. I'm sure I have asked this question before somewhere and it concerns where various fruits are grown. For example in Britain as far as I know we don't grow blueberries so they are quite expensive whereas when strawberries are in season they are cheap. I wonder if the opposite is the case in Thailand, it might seem so at least on the basis of the strawberry:blueberry ratio of roughly 5:1. The blueberries are still woppingly expensive by Thai standards being about US$ 4.60 a punnet, but of course we know supermarkets charge more in Thailand, unlike western countries where they have to be competitive such is the fierce competition. Maybe somebody can tell me what a small punnet of blueberries would cost in the US? They're about UKP 2 here in England so about 90 baht for a punnet. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 I wonder if the opposite is the case in Thailand You can often get strawberries from Chiang Mai which are pretty inexpensive. The ones that I was mistakenly charged for were a double-layered pack - definitely from overseas. Blueberries here usually come from New Zealand (like the ones I bought yesterday) or the US. But the prices vary tremendously. The same punnet from the same producer was sold in Tops for Bt. 199 until about 10 days ago. The price then dropped to Bt. 179 if you used the Spot Rewards card. Then yesterday they were down to Bt. 139. The supermarket in Emporium charges Bt. 229 for exactly the same punnet from the same producer. Paragon beats them all, though, by charging Bt. 299! And I never see that price change whenever I look around that supermarket. In general, Paragon is way more expensive than other supermarkets. Tops has been out of my favourite marmalade for several weeks, and so I bought a couple of jars at Paragon for Bt. 140. Last night, I noticed they are back on the Tops shelves at Bt. 125. Quote
TotallyOz Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 That is a great story. Thank you for sharing it. It is nice to know that these things do happen! However, I was hoping for a sordid story about you looking for tops at Hero. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 No Michael, it was the other way around, he was looking for a Hero sandwich at Tops. The prices for strawberries seem very high to me, compared to what I pay here in Texas. I can get 16 oz. of locally grown strawberries for $1.88 right now. That's about 60 baht. In Fountainhall's first post, he mentioned a cost of 650 baht for a double-layered pack, which I assume is about 32 oz. bringing the relative cost down to 325 for a single (16 oz?) pack. That's over 5 times the price I pay now here in the US. Granted, they are probably imported, and I have no idea of how many ounces are in a punnet, small or big or if the product is organic, non-organic or sustainable. Punnet is a term used in Britain, Australia and New Zealand for a basket used for displaying and collecting fruits or flowers. I cannot find any information as to actual capacity. I have never heard of this term before. Even my spell-checker flags this word because it isn't in its dictionary. Strawberries are my favorite fruit and I can eat them on my diet. However, I like most fruits and now want to find out what are the most reasonably priced fruits than can be found for purchase in Bangkok. I suppose mangoes, papaya and bananas fall into this category. Fruits I cannot have that are high in sugar are pineapple and watermelon, so those I can do without. I will miss strawberries when I move to Bangkok this fall if they are really this expensive. $20.63 for a container of strawberries are prohibitively expensive. What are some of the cheap, local fruits and vegetables and are there seasons when they are especially cheap and plentiful? Also, I've been told that the Klong Tui Market in Bangkok is very cheap. Unfortunately, farang cannot go. There are no prices posted and as a farang I'll likely have to pay 2x the Thai price. I would have to send the boyfriend there alone. I've also been told they open at midnight. Very strange. Does anyone know more about this place? Quote
kokopelli Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 In USA blueberries are normally sold by the pint or by the pound. In season a pint would be about $2.50 USD = 75 TB' I recently bought 180z/510g for about 100 TB. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 Punnet . . . I cannot find any information as to actual capacity I'm not sure there is one. They are used frequently as a simple packaging for fruit products. Here they are clear plastic containers with holes. The blueberries usually come in 4.4 oz packs - 125 grams. Obviously much more expensive than in the countries where they are grown. I have compared prices with Hong Kong and here they are about 30% - 100% more expensive. But then, blueberries are a relatively new addition to supermarket shelves and presumably have only a small market. Until about 3 years ago, only the Paragon supermarket stocked them. Quote
ChristianPFC Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Also, I've been told that the Klong Tui Market in Bangkok is very cheap. Unfortunately, farang cannot go. There are no prices posted and as a farang I'll likely have to pay 2x the Thai price. I would have to send the boyfriend there alone. I've also been told they open at midnight. Very strange. Does anyone know more about this place? Klong Toei market near the MRT station of the same name. I went there a few times. It is a very interesting place that is full of life 24 hours per day. I first noticed when I returned from Ramkhamhaeng are by taxi and wondered why there are so many people that late (3 or 4 am), but it was not late, it was early, they were shopping for the following day! You can observe how poultry goes from live in cages to ready to eat within 5 meters distance. I went there one afternoon to buy fruits, and there were labels with prices. Quote
