curiosity wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:37 am Hi folks,

I know about the foreigners-pay-500 riel more at every street shop rule and the many attempts at ripping me off. The cheat that I hate the most is what happened to me right now. I call it the "late cheat".
I have been buying fruit from a lady's small street shop for quite a while now. Her fruit is very yummy and the price has always been reasonable. Today I went there to buy some bananas and a small pineapple. The lady was not there, but some men as well as two teenage girls were outside at the shop. One guy charged me 7.000 Riel for one bunch of bananas and for a small pineapple. After I had handed over the 7.000 Riel to the older teenage girl, another older man started laughing in the background, saying "bai dollar, bai dollar" (3 USD). Then the guy who had already asked me to pay 7.000 Riel suddenly looked at me slyly and asked me for 14.000 Riel (which is even more than 3 USD).
I said "thlay nah!", shook my head and repeated in Khmer "7.000 Riel". Then the Khmer group started smiling in that weird way and said "14.000 Riel". I then took the money back from the teenage girl and returned the bag with the bananas and the pineapple. After that I walked away, hearing the whole Khmer group laughing.
I'm so angry right now.
How dumb can Khmer people be? If you have already set the price, you cannot suddenly change it!
Has the "late cheat" (first being asked an ok price, then suddenly more) ever happened to you? How did you deal with it?

Don't let it bother you too much. Sounds like original lady you buy is good. Hard to find good third world help. Also remember locals got no problem fecking their own kind with prices. Not same as whitey but a lot more than you'd guess. I wouldn't be against going back when original lady working either, might as well let her keep the business she earned before ....i recently had aeon mall "price changed" on a marked item and "broken meter" on transpo... Your not alone!

curiosity wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:37 am "late cheat"

This has happened to me in so many places, I realize it is a normal part of Cambodian culture.

1. You may ask the price, and you are told the price. The person who told you the price goes away, and another person comes along. The other person charges you a higher price.

2. You buy something for a certain price. You go back again another day for more of the same. There is another person there who charges you a higher price.

When it happens so often, you realize it is intentional. It is not a mistake.

Cambodians think in terms of getting money now, and dont care if they upset customers for a small amount of money. In Australia, people think in terms of repeat customers, and building up the business, so they do everything they can to keep customers happy.

If you question it, Cambodians always take the side of Cambodians. Cambodians are always right. Foreigners are always wrong. Other customers in the shop may also join in and take the side of Cambodians. But if you see a foreigner getting scammed, and tell them, Cambodians will tell you it is none of your business, and turn very hostile.

The thing is to understand it happens, and not get upset about it.

If it is only a small amount of money, in a place where I rarely go, I am not normally concerned about it.

It has happened to me recently at two shops where I regularly buy things. In one situation, I will not buy that product from that shop any more, but go to another shop which always gives me a good price. In the other situation they told me the price has gone up, so all shops will now charge more. I told them, next time I buy this product, I will go to another shop and ask their price. If they are cheaper, I will buy it from the other shop.

explorer wrote: ↑Mon Jun 24, 2019 9:19 am If you question it, Cambodians always take the side of Cambodians. Cambodians are always right. Foreigners are always wrong. Other customers in the shop may also join in and take the side of Cambodians. But if you see a foreigner getting scammed, and tell them, Cambodians will tell you it is none of your business, and turn very hostile.

Unlike other countries where this kind of criticism will be welcomed and an immediate change of behavior can be seen.

Sometimes I just wonder if its stupidity, cheating, or simply don't give a flying f*ck because their work is so boring and their salaries so low.

Three examples for this weekend.

At lucky Supermarket there's a promotion for instant coffee, buy one, get one free. On the bill I was charged twice, the promotion was clearly not in the system. I told the cashier and she said 'if it's not in the cash register, there's no promotion'. I showed her the promotion, but she stood by her story. Highly annoyed I cancelled the sale of all the items and left.

When I checked in at my guesthouse / hotel in Phnom Penh last Friday they tried to charge me 'service charge' and 'city tax'. I told them it was included in the booking and had been paid for already. It took them half an hour to decide. Then they cancelled the charges.

But... One pleasant surprise.
After a few rides with Grab I got a promotion to get some sketchy energy drink for free at (a.o. Circle K). There was one next to my guesthouse so I tried my luck. The cashier knew about the promotion, she asked for my phone, found the promotion, filled in the code of this shop (3 times) and handed me 3 cans. Flawless service. Then she had to explain to her colleague why she didn't have to scan the cans etc etc etc. If I would be served by her colleague..... But I wasn't. So kudos for this girl!

armchairlawyer wrote:I also buy lovely soft leather belts from Beautiful Shoes ($20) and my wallet came from there. It's a gem of a shop.

Sandals are $25 and my ankle boots were $50. They are fantastic!

explorer wrote: ↑Mon Jun 24, 2019 9:19 am If you question it, Cambodians always take the side of Cambodians. Cambodians are always right. Foreigners are always wrong. Other customers in the shop may also join in and take the side of Cambodians. But if you see a foreigner getting scammed, and tell them, Cambodians will tell you it is none of your business, and turn very hostile.

While I've seen Khmer side against foreigners before, I've also seen first hand more than a few times where shop owners would chide cheaters (especially the workers) for trying to cheat customers, both Khmer and Foreigner. I've also seen first hand just recently a shop owner intervene in a deal and tell the other shop owner to sell for less, and not for a small amount either ($450 down to $400). Cheating goes on here no doubt more than other places, but there are scammers and cheaters everywhere, as are good upright people.

Not all Khmer are like you say they are, and at the risk of getting another PM warning or ban for criticizing you, could you please stop with this "I know everything about all Cambodians" attitude? It's not good to spread misinformation.

I make an offer to buy, they make an offer to sell. I know how much I will pay and if the price is too expensive I say arty orkun and move on. No need to be nasty or angry.

I think it stems from the fact that Khmer culture doesn't give as much consideration to the future as it does for Westerners. You see if everywhere. It's all about the here and now. The present. From education to money to business. They don't put much consideration on the fact that actions in the present have consequences for the future. Trying to rip off customers falls into that very neatly. They don't consider the fact that not only will they lose that one sale at that one time, but they'll lose a lot of future trade because people don't tend to return to places that have tried to rip them off.

I don't know much about Buddhism but I do know that it places a lot of weight on being happy in the present and not to worry about the past or the future, but I think many Khmers take this to the extreme.

JUDGEDREDD wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:46 pm

fax wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 6:00 pm

Kammekor wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 5:25 pm Scamsterdam?

Amsterscam

Scamsterscam

enough already...

I also get annoyed when new staff quote a higher price or the price goes up because shop keepers decide they now want more money from me because I am a foreigner.

We tend to take these things personal.

But, they also do something somewhat similar on the Internet and then I usually don’t even blink:

On Amazon, one of the largest online retailers and online market places in the world, the price for an item often changes in response to what other sellers for an item charge and the quantity currently available.
Amazon themself also engage in this behavior.

Some sellers are constantly tweaking to see what they can get away with. And they often have to if they want the so-called buy box, i.e., get their offer in front of the customer rather than hidden.

So you might buy an item for $10. Five minutes later the price for another customer is $12 or $8.

Yet on Amazon, I have gotten so used to it. it’s a competitive market place.

But imagine a vendor at the market did the same thing. I would be seriously pissed off.

Some flight booking sites are alleged to keep track of whether you have already looked at a certain flight and adjust the price accordingly. The next guy might get a different price.

Consumers on the other hand use price trackers, comparison sites, etc. and try to get the best possible deal, regardless of whether sellers make any profit.

Sure, one could argue these scenarios are not the same as what we are experiencing when vendors charge us “foreigner prices” at the market.

Gotta play the game.