Contractor

Just to add my seven cents worth... I also dislike the adding of 7% tax to the bill. Although The Dukes isn't being dishonest because this fact is made clear on the menu I don't see it as entirely honest and up-front either. Lets face it, when you are reading the menu and see something priced at for example 300 Baht, it would be reasonable to expect that that is the actual cost TO ME. Why else do people look at prices on a menu other than to see WHAT THINGS COST (to them).

I eat at The Dukes from time to time, but this pricing policy doesn't sit well with me (although the delicious food does - that's why I still go). Why not just be clear and up-front and include this tax in the stated costs (like most other places in Chiang Mai do)? I DON'T CARE what portion of my bill goes to The Dukes and what portion is tax - it's just not my problem and i don't want to be involved in calculating 7% of everything (if I could be bothered) when I am simply going out for dinner!

To follow the argument that this 7% is someone elses money to its logical conclusion why not make all of the menu prices really cheap and then add a percentage for rent, more for staff, another for depreciation on capital investment (equipment), etc? That way you could make the menu prices APPEAR REALLY LOW and so long as you stated all of these "add-ons" it would of course be honest. But would it be really up-front and fair?

getgoin, on 2010-10-04 11:36:48, said:

Thanks for your answer

Anyone who would be annoyed with this should really take a good look at the world and why would you even worry about something like this and why would you take the time to bitch about it?

I took the time because every place I go, takes the VAT from customer profits, not directly from the customer. Maybe you need to think about that more, as well as not saying the above

Ulysses G., on 2010-10-03 08:37:11, said:

I have not been giving you red marks every day. As I said, I and most posters mark the message not the poster.

I have given you a red for this post as it is not only inaccurate but doing what you do best - inciting other posters.

The contributions I and others were making ( whether you agreed or not ) to the closing business thread was only rescued when sbk issued a warning.

I don't complain about the reds I seem to be accumulating - I wonder from whom - as my pms seem to suggest my posts are worth reading whether my opinion is accepted or not.

Very interesting thread.  

As a member here, I am going to express a thought, or a couple.

I have said it before and I am going to say it again.  As far as CM restaurants go, The Duke's is not the fanciest , The Duke's is not the least nor most expensive,The Duke's may not be the best located of restaurants in our area.  What it is is simply the BEST all around restaurant in CM.  PERIOD, full stop.

So much so that I am now going to order a pizza from them.  

Now for the other thought, and this is directed towards the/those BS'ing red dot pushers who write one thing and do something else.  It may be too philosophical for them to understand but I have to say it.......  " Cream is not the only thing that rises to the top"

Now Dukes's I am going to place my order.

Gonzo has spoken

CMX, on 2010-10-01 07:17:33, said:

They actually taste like real pizzas from the U.S.. For Thailand, that is almost unheard of. They are also cheaper than most of the places making psuedo-pizza, so one more reason to do the Duke's.

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

We've had a long and happy relationship with the folks at FedEx Chiang Mai, even though we had not shipped anything with them for over three years until July of this year (main office now on the first ring road, or superhighway, on the other side from Carrefour); always had great service from them with a smile

Last  month, a local Thai dealer called us to accept an offer made in January this year, when a friend from the US was here, on a quite beautifully cast and unusually detailed large bronze Lord Ganesha (the Hindu elephant God, son of Lord Siva, whose divine-head was cut-off by His Celestial Father under circumstances for which there are myriad mythical-hagiographic variant explanations) that he had "fallen in love with" on his visit with us.

< edit : that was Lord Ganesha's human-type Divine Head that was cut off, and then lost, which is why He now has an elephant's head: evidently an elephant's head was handy at the time >

The said dealer,perhaps sensing my friend's enthusiasm for the piece ... estimated as older than fifty years, but certainly under one hundred years old ... asked an outrageous price (from our point of view).

We counselled our friend not to "rent" at that price, and, using utmost diplomacy and bargaining skills, mentioned, in passing, on the way out, that: if the price were to come down to about 40% of the asking price, we might be interested, while of course profusely apologizing in Thai if the offer was ("kar toon" :  i.e., would be insultingly low; literally in Thai "loss of investment," or less than what the seller had paid, or as we might say in American slang, "lowball").

Sure enough, got a call early late May saying that things were tough, and the Lord Ganesh was now available for rent if the 40% offer was still available.

Our friend, back in the U.S. said 'yes,' sent some $. Had already measured the piece, and knew it could fit in a FedEx 25kg. box, with ample room for the type of packing we knew was required for this particular piece.

So, our US friend says ship to him, and bill shipping to his company account in the U.S. No problem.

We check on the FedEx Thai website, and simulate a 25kg. FedEx box Chiang Mai to California, contents about 20 kg. Price about 5200 baht (US $ 165) and that inclusive of aviation fuel surcharge.

So, we ship. Our friend receives, and the shipping bill is US $360 (and that does not include US $22 later charged by US Customs on the usual vague grounds) !

We visit FedEx Chiang Mai to ask what happened: evidently: they now charge based on the country of the payer for the shipment, not on the country of origin of the shipment !

This form of "reverse price-kiting" was not in effect three years or more ago, we are pretty sure.

So, be warned, be informed.

We don't blame the FedEx Chiang Mai folks in any way; it was our responsibility to do due diligence before shipment. Fortunately our friend in the US was not put off by the extra shipping charge.

Of course we are sending a letter "raising hel_l" about this pricing mis-match to FedEx international to which we expect a response of ... zilch.

best, ~o:37;

p.s. while one of the most interesting "spiritual aspects" of Lord Ganesha in India is that "He is not only the remover of obstacles that block your 'path,' but also the bestower of obstacles that you really need," we do not, in this case, feel the "bestowed obstacle" has redeemed us in any way ... yet.