Lotte Mart - Contacting Customer Services

I've never tried to contact Lotte Mart by email or FB.

Did you write them in Vietnamese or in English? (if in English, they probably can't read it)

Why don't you just go there?

cruisemonkey wrote:

I've never tried to contact Lotte Mart by email or FB.

Did you write them in Vietnamese or in English? (if in English, they probably can't read it)

Why don't you just go there?

I had contacted them on a couple of occasions via email before. Last time (on 30 April 2019) was to ask about how long before the points on Loyalty card expires if it's not used regularly. I contacted them while in Malaysia. Customer Services responded the next day with answer. If anyone's interested it's 2 years BTW.

Both occasions contact was in English. Response also in English. Although response does seem like it's been through an online translator, I can understand it.

When I write to Vietnamese businesses I usually take the privilege of checking what I've written by translating from English to Vietnamese using Google translate. Then translate that back to English to see if it translates back to English exactly how I wrote it initially. Most times it doesn't. So I re-word the English, then rinse and repeat.

Sometimes this process takes a while. But eventually I get there. Then only I send the English version.

I always assume the recipient will translate what I've written to Vietnamese, hence the above process. I've noticed that it's useful to know some Vietnamese, as you can sometimes see where the Vietnamese translation has gone wrong and change the Vietnamese translation and get the English version to suit.

e.g. recently I was chatting online with Vietnamese friend (in Vietnamese). After seeing a picture of me, she said I looked fat now. I said the picture was taken 6 months ago, now I'm a little less fat.

Translation by Google translate:

Bây giờ ít béo hơn một chút (Now a little fatter)

Which is not what I meant. So I experimented by switching around the 'ít' (less):

Bây giờ béo ít hơn một chút

stuck this in google translate and got:

Now a little less fat

I felt this conveyed the correct meaning. Anyone fluent in Vietnamese can maybe correct it. (I'm only intermediate).

BTW, the facebook message I sent to Lotte Mart was in Vietnamese. I'd presume that if it was unintelligible, staff would've come back to me and said 'không hiểu' (don't understand).

Re. latest email, I've had a response from a senior staff member last night (at 9pm). So that's good.

p.s. apologise, this post has somewhat gone off in a tangent talking about vietnamese language. But I still feel everything is relevant to the reply.

sanooku wrote:

Translation by Google translate:

Bây giờ ít béo hơn một chút (Now a little fatter)

Which is not what I meant. So I experimented by switching around the 'ít' (less):

Bây giờ béo ít hơn một chút

stuck this in google translate and got:

Now a little less fat

I felt this conveyed the correct meaning. Anyone fluent in Vietnamese can maybe correct it. (I'm only intermediate).

Both sentences carry the exact same message. The order of words (ít béo vs. béo ít) doesn't change the meaning at all, Google translation notwithstanding.

However, béo is a pure Northerner term.  If the person to whom you conversed was a young Southerner, she might have difficulty understanding the word.

I used to shop fairly regularly at Lotte Mart, but then I eventually realized I can get most everything somewhere else without having to deal with the parking lot, walking in, the loud music, the crowds, the escalators, the noise, and the checkout lines.

It's a great place if you want to pick up a large number of items at the same time, but if you just need a few things, it's not so convenient.

I miss my Q7 lotteMart and DQ for that matter.

Ciambella wrote:

sanooku wrote:

Translation by Google translate:

Bây giờ ít béo hơn một chút (Now a little fatter)

Which is not what I meant. So I experimented by switching around the 'ít' (less):

Bây giờ béo ít hơn một chút

stuck this in google translate and got:

Now a little less fat

I felt this conveyed the correct meaning. Anyone fluent in Vietnamese can maybe correct it. (I'm only intermediate).

.......
However, béo is a pure Northerner term.  If the person to whom you conversed was a young Southerner, she might have difficulty understanding the word.

The person I was chatting online with was around 20-30 years old, and from central Vietnam. She used the word 'béo' first.

sanooku wrote:

The person I was chatting online with was around 20-30 years old, and from central Vietnam. She used the word 'béo' first.

There are many Northerners living in the Central and there are also many Northerners living in the South.  Almost all the residents in Ban Mê Thuột (capital city of Đắk Lắk Province) are Northerners.  More than half of Vũng Tàu residents are Northerners.  The entire population of Hố Nai and Gia Kiệm (Đồng Nai Province) are Northerners.

Also, a person who was born in the Central or the South to Northerner parents is a Northerner because that's the dialect s/he speaks at home.

Ciambella wrote:

Also, a person who was born in the Central or the South to Northerner parents is a Northerner because that's the dialect s/he speaks at home.

Although her father was a Southerner, my wife's mother is a Northerner living in the Mekong Delta, which may put her in a slightly different group.  In her case, it seems that the Northern dialect is a language that she does not speak but which she fully understands.  Occasionally she will tell me "North Vietnam they say xxxxx."  She also seems capable of watching Hanoi TV on YouTube with no problems.

Interestingly she tells me that our family doctor in Honolulu, who has never been to Vietnam in her life, speaks with a very strong Northern dialect.  That would certainly confirm your hypothesis over an even greater distance.   

Ciambella wrote:

sanooku wrote:

The person I was chatting online with was around 20-30 years old, and from central Vietnam. She used the word 'béo' first.

...Also, a person who was born in the Central or the South to Northerner parents is a Northerner because that's the dialect s/he speaks at home.

I just asked her if her parents were from the North. No. they are from Central.
I also asked her how she says:
1)  turn right
2) blanket

she said:
1) rẽ phải
2) chăn

both northern dialect words. Then I looked here to see if central has a unique word for 'fat':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnames … Vocabulary
There isn't. However, it seems the central province use several 'northern' words (except 'tui' to mean 'I'..there may be more not in the list). It doesn't seem like the central province uses the southern word 'mập'.

I could be wrong. I don't claim to know more than the resident expert.

Is this thread about Lotte Mart, or the Vietnamese language?

cruisemonkey wrote:

Is this thread about Lotte Mart, or the Vietnamese language?

No.

It's about sanooku trying to teach Ciambella