RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Another rant...  a new Co-T that never listens to anything i say and keeps saying "Ya -ya" after everythingand just focuses on getting his message across, anything i say after that he pays no attention to.  He assumes everything is a yes or no question, says his annoying "ya-ya" and then gives me a wide fcking smile afterward. When i wait for a proper response, he looks at me with a confused look making me repeat it.

Today I asked a simple question which was not a yes or no question, I know I spoke loudly, slowly and clearly 'cause even the kindergarten teacher with an extremely low level of English understood and responded and guess what i got from him? an answer that had absolutely nothing to do with what i asked!

On top of that, he has no idea what personal space is. Whenever he has to say anything to me, he has to come right up to my face and say it softly. He does this a lot during class where he's at the other end of the class and I have to patiently wait for him to walk around just to ask me a stupid question.  I lean away hoping he'll get the hint and reply loud enough for him to hear so he doesn't need to move closer, but he only asks me to repeat myself and then moves closer. 

URG he frustrates me so much!!!

He's a new co-T and i really want to form a good working relationship with him, but he's so damn annoying!!!

I'm surprised that your co-teacher is even allowed in school.

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*


*apart from donovan's wife

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*


*apart from donovan's wife

Canadians brag about how little they paid for something; Koreans about how much they paid.

I take issue with that, Oggie. My wife is a bargain shopper and definitely wouldn’t have bought that shirt if it wasn’t discounted to something more like 65k.

That said, my MIL and FIL must have spent at least a couple grand on their (literal) stone bed, and that’s after discount. Having broke the bank, MIL now prefers to sleep on the living room floor.

Haha I was only joking. What is with those stone beds, anyway? Is there some 'benefit' from using them? Can't imagine it's for the comfort

Hate to play the apologist in the Ranting thread (Where’s Steel Rails when you need him?) but I believe it’s because they’re cool in the summer and warm in the winter (they have a heating system that radiates from below). Not sure if people actually find them comfortable, but I’m sure there’s probably an argument that it’s good for your back. Of course, as my MIL quickly found out, this is all equally true of the living room floor. I guess what my FIL got out of it was a bed to himself.

Haha I was only joking. What is with those stone beds, anyway? Is there some 'benefit' from using them? Can't imagine it's for the comfort

They simulate a floor, but they can have heating (like a pizza oven or tandoori) or cooling built in.

I don't think people just sleep on the rock itself. At least my parents in law have a 5-6cm thick latex thing on it. It's pretty okay to sleep on it that way.
But guess what, they turn on the heating function even in summer! 

I don't think people just sleep on the rock itself. At least my parents in law have a 5-6cm thick latex thing on it. It's pretty okay to sleep on it that way.
But guess what, they turn on the heating function even in summer! 

They will be sweating like crazy in the morning!

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*

*apart from donovan's wife

There seems to mark up, or apparent mark up here, that happens on loads of things.  My father-in-law bought me an ajeoshi sweater for my birthday with the tag still in it, needless to say, it was pricey.  Red wine as well, you'll find it priced as 150 000 won but reduced to 20 000 won, but when I checked online it was always 20 000 won.    I would take a wild guess that Koreans don't know much about wine so will just think as it was 150 000 won, that it is the price that is more important, even if not a true price.

When my laptop died here, I was looking for a new one, both online and in stores. While I was in HomePlus I went to the electronics section just to see what they had. Even the simplest notebooks were no less than 1,000,000 won. It's completely absurd! I could get a high-end gaming laptop for that much back home

Is it normal for Korean shops to not let you try on clothes? Some native teachers and I went to a Korean clothing store but weren't allowed to try on clothes even though there were 2 changing rooms there one of which was free. 

Is this a common occurrence? Has anyone faced something similar?

One of my friends obviously got very upset with this and rightly so! We went out of there and spent our money elsewhere!

Is it normal for Korean shops to not let you try on clothes? Some native teachers and I went to a Korean clothing store but weren't allowed to try on clothes even though there were 2 changing rooms there one of which was free. 

Is this a common occurrence? Has anyone faced something similar?

One of my friends obviously got very upset with this and rightly so! We went out of there and spent our money elsewhere!

I've had this happen to me. I waited in line to try on some clothes and when I got to the front of the line a staffer ran over and shooed me away. This wasn't in a small town either, this was in the COEX mall.

Is it normal for Korean shops to not let you try on clothes? Some native teachers and I went to a Korean clothing store but weren't allowed to try on clothes even though there were 2 changing rooms there one of which was free. 

Is this a common occurrence? Has anyone faced something similar?

One of my friends obviously got very upset with this and rightly so! We went out of there and spent our money elsewhere!

I've had this happen to me. I waited in line to try on some clothes and when I got to the front of the line a staffer ran over and shooed me away. This wasn't in a small town either, this was in the COEX mall.

I think I'd very loudly say (in Korean) that Koreans can smell bad too. See how they liked the implication turned around on them.

I've had this happen to me. I waited in line to try on some clothes and when I got to the front of the line a staffer ran over and shooed me away. This wasn't in a small town either, this was in the COEX mall.

Oh I am sorry to hear you had to face the same thing! I knew foreigners couldn't get into "Korean Exclusive" clubs but this is a new level of low 

I think I'd very loudly say (in Korean) that Koreans can smell bad too. See how they liked the implication turned around on them.

Oh is this the reason why they don't let you try on clothes? That's just absurd! 

I don't think people just sleep on the rock itself. At least my parents in law have a 5-6cm thick latex thing on it. It's pretty okay to sleep on it that way.
But guess what, they turn on the heating function even in summer! 

a cooling function would be nice. the heating/cooling feature makes more sense. i just thought it was a slab of stone

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*

*apart from donovan's wife

There seems to mark up, or apparent mark up here, that happens on loads of things.  My father-in-law bought me an ajeoshi sweater for my birthday with the tag still in it, needless to say, it was pricey.  Red wine as well, you'll find it priced as 150 000 won but reduced to 20 000 won, but when I checked online it was always 20 000 won.    I would take a wild guess that Koreans don't know much about wine so will just think as it was 150 000 won, that it is the price that is more important, even if not a true price.

guess it comes down to the old 'if it is expensive, it must be good' way of thinking

retailers must love korean consumers

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*

*apart from donovan's wife

There seems to mark up, or apparent mark up here, that happens on loads of things.  My father-in-law bought me an ajeoshi sweater for my birthday with the tag still in it, needless to say, it was pricey.  Red wine as well, you'll find it priced as 150 000 won but reduced to 20 000 won, but when I checked online it was always 20 000 won.    I would take a wild guess that Koreans don't know much about wine so will just think as it was 150 000 won, that it is the price that is more important, even if not a true price.

Yeah. There's also the 'Korean brand is premium item' but 'foreign import brand also premium item' mindset. The consumer marketplace was super insular until very recently, and nobody ever really considered that the prices of Korean furniture and clothing were ridiculously inflated.

Then came IKEA and all the furniture companies flipped out and protested the big foreign devil for coming in and disrupting the market (despite IKEA Korea's prices still being higher than IKEA in most other markets).

Also, affluent older people (anywhere really) are notorious for not necessarily being savvy shoppers.

you're probably right about the 'korean brands are best' thing. not necessarily korean (i think a lot of countries do this. i know the UK does for certain things) but it seems to be a good selling point and a way to put a huge premium on goods (just look at how much samsung products cost in korea!)

i suggested going to IKEA, but MIL didn't want to. i guess people also like convenience - the local furniture shops will deliver it to your house whatever time/date you want, put it where you want it and probably take the old one away

i think a lot of people are also savvy and know they are being ripped off in korea. a lot of people are unaware and are shocked at how cheap things are abroad. my MIL would fall into this category. 200k for a shitty duvet is literally the norm, and how much she has always paid

I've had this happen to me. I waited in line to try on some clothes and when I got to the front of the line a staffer ran over and shooed me away. This wasn't in a small town either, this was in the COEX mall.

Oh I am sorry to hear you had to face the same thing! I knew foreigners couldn't get into "Korean Exclusive" clubs but this is a new level of low 

I think I'd very loudly say (in Korean) that Koreans can smell bad too. See how they liked the implication turned around on them.

Oh is this the reason why they don't let you try on clothes? That's just absurd! 

I think I remember another poster saying the reason why foreigners were not allowed to try on clothes was becuase they were thought to "stretch them out" due to different body shapes and sizes.

anyone notice how much koreans love getting ripped off?

MIL just spent 3,000,000won on an small, uncomfortable sofa and low-quality wardrobe. absolutely insane

shopping around for mattresses few years back, the average price was about 3m - and they were basically rock-hard

duvet sets are 200k in my local bedding store (and terrible quality). err, what?

even when shopping for a donovan-ajeossi thsirt for my FIL, they seemed to be 100k+. it's literally a polo shirt. who buys this shit?*

*apart from donovan's wife

There seems to mark up, or apparent mark up here, that happens on loads of things.  My father-in-law bought me an ajeoshi sweater for my birthday with the tag still in it, needless to say, it was pricey.  Red wine as well, you'll find it priced as 150 000 won but reduced to 20 000 won, but when I checked online it was always 20 000 won.    I would take a wild guess that Koreans don't know much about wine so will just think as it was 150 000 won, that it is the price that is more important, even if not a true price.

Yeah. There's also the 'Korean brand is premium item' but 'foreign import brand also premium item' mindset. The consumer marketplace was super insular until very recently, and nobody ever really considered that the prices of Korean furniture and clothing were ridiculously inflated.

Then came IKEA and all the furniture companies flipped out and protested the big foreign devil for coming in and disrupting the market (despite IKEA Korea's prices still being higher than IKEA in most other markets).

Also, affluent older people (anywhere really) are notorious for not necessarily being savvy shoppers.

you're probably right about the 'korean brands are best' thing. not necessarily korean (i think a lot of countries do this. i know the UK does for certain things) but it seems to be a good selling point and a way to put a huge premium on goods (just look at how much samsung products cost in korea!)

i suggested going to IKEA, but MIL didn't want to. i guess people also like convenience - the local furniture shops will deliver it to your house whatever time/date you want, put it where you want it and probably take the old one away

i think a lot of people are also savvy and know they are being ripped off in korea. a lot of people are unaware and are shocked at how cheap things are abroad. my MIL would fall into this category. 200k for a shitty duvet is literally the norm, and how much she has always paid

I got my duvet from homeplus on sale for 40,000 won down from 65,000~ won. It's really comfortable too
I don't really bargain shop. Other than food and video games, I buy things as I need them, and I'll use them until they need replacing. Which for me can be a long time. I'm still using t-shirts from 8 - 10 years ago because they still fit and don't have holes in them haha.

You know them Nescafe dolce gusto coffee machines that are like a very reasonable w80-100k at most retailers? Well when I was out and about the other day I saw the equivalent Samsung/LG coffee machine for w1.3m. Just one of them Pod capsule ones. Not a fancy one with steam frothers and a morning BJ.

The best and only place to buy bedding used to be Homeplus. You can find some mom and pop stores kicking around that sell bedding essentials at a reasonable price and good quality but definitely stay away from any big branded bedding store they are practically stealing.

The other day I bought a 500ml bottle of samdasu water for w850. 2 years ago they were w500. Things are really starting to sky rocket here.

Is it normal for Korean shops to not let you try on clothes? Some native teachers and I went to a Korean clothing store but weren't allowed to try on clothes even though there were 2 changing rooms there one of which was free. 

Is this a common occurrence? Has anyone faced something similar?

One of my friends obviously got very upset with this and rightly so! We went out of there and spent our money elsewhere!

This happened in multiple ways, though I'm suspecting it's a practice that's starting to die out.

1 - I wanted to buy a dress shirt, store wouldn't let me try it on. They said I could buy it, take it home, try it on,
    and return it if it didn't fit

2 - Wanted to buy a rather expensive guitar (USA deluxe strat) at Nakwon music plaza in Seoul. The guitar was
     a little over 2mil won. Guitar shops, all over the world, are more than happy to let customers try as many
     guitars as they like, play for hours and only buy when they're really ready as the feel and sound of a guitar
      are pretty much the sole determining factors of buying it! The guy didn't even want to let   
     touch the guitar, let alone try it. He wanted to keep it "new" He said I could pay for it then play it... What the
     f*ck is the point of that? I was feeling rather spiteful so I gave him the money, played two notes,
     told him I didn't like it and took my money back. I bought the same guitar at another shop and waved my
     new guitar at him as I walked past.

3 - A bit unrelated, but happened yesterday. I was walking home and needed just one tomato, was making   chicken
     tortillas for supper. On old lady was running a small vegetable shop and she had a bowel of tomatoes (not in
     sealed packet, individual tomatoes) displayed outside her shop. I told her I wanted one tomato and she
     refused, saying I couldn't buy just one. I walked away, reaffirmed in my belief that the reason so many
     Korean private businesses and mom 'n pop stores can't compete with Lotte as SOLELY their fault.

Capitalism and it's economic model are still quite new in Korea, it'll take another generation or so before good business practice, relative to Capitalism, becomes common sense.
Simply by souring the mood of a customer, the guitar shop lost a couple hundred thousand won in profit.
That lady , running a tiny business, could've at least made something selling one tomato and more importantly, potentially gain a regular customer, but her stubbornness made sure she gained neither. Since the tomatoes were sitting in the sun, it's critical she sells them fast. I'd also potentially tell this story to others in the vicinity causing even more people to avoid her store, all because she didn't want to sell a single tomato. 

I don't think it's got much to do with xenophobia or racism, though it does happen, it's more:

- a lack of business common sense
- fear of taking initiative and thinking on the spot
- rigid and binary thinking, inability to think outside the "rules"