I waited a long time to be served at the check-in counter at Changi Airport.
I told the customer service officer, "Are you X? I waited an unusually long time for you to check-in the passenger in front of me. After that, you were chatting with your colleague at the next counter before you attended to me. I am angry at this slow service. I will be lodging a complaint."
X said, "The delay was caused by the system hang. I apologise". X then attended to me speedily, efficiently and courteously. His face light up when I said, "Thank you. I have decided not to lodge the complaint". I am sure that X had a practical lesson in customer service that he will remember for a long time.
Lesson: Never chat with a colleauge while at work. Pay attention to your customer.
I believe there are service personnel who treat customers shabbily as singaporeans are generally docile by nature and won't want to complain.
ReplyDeleteWe as consumers need to do our part by raising the red flag when we feel service needs to be improve.
My personal experiences that i can recollect :-
1) Foodcourt attendant chatting with the next staff attendant. I ordered my food, she got it wrong and blamed it on me. I scolded her on the spot and she pulled such a long face.
2) Tampines Court - Mass orgy by the service staff around the counter. Chatting again.. No one bothered to attend to the customers unless the customers approach the counter. I did not highlight to them but feel sad that mgmt hire an incompetent manager to supervise his staff.
3) restuarant in St. James. The service staff served the angmoh even when i was the first to be seated and signal to him that i wanted to order. Another service staff came over to serve me a while later(5mins), I asked for the previous staff and questioned him in front of his manager. He apologized and I let the matter rest.
Ok, enough of the negatives. Pleasant experiences:-
1) G200 (their quality control on customer service is EXCELLENT.). Every store you go to, you get the same experience. They have really done a good service blueprint and impart it to the team.
2) Service at 4-5star hotels in singapore. Believe they have the same service blueprint for their staff.
Courts service staff seem pretty demotivated. I wonder whether it is because of their pay structure or some other reasons. Similar retailers like Fortress and Broadway in Hong Kong boasts very competent staff who are very knowledgeable in the products they sell as well as service oriented. I am a Courts shareholder and I think I will raise the issue with the management.
ReplyDeleteMake it to be the last time to be served by such rude or incompetent staff. Hope such staff are the exception rather than the norm, if not Singapore is not a pleasant place to be a customer.
ReplyDeleteWell, It is dependent on the company and its emphasis of service as I pointed out 2 examples. I don't know about the high-class establishment as I don't frequent those places.
ReplyDeleteBut if you want me to give feedback, my friends from Taiwan, Hongkong & Japan finds our service attitude totally lacking.
One thing I noticed among my local friends is that those who have been abroad for studies tend to know what good service is and will always subconsciously have that mindset for their own internal customers in their work (even if it's office).
So, this leads to another view of mine. Local graduates need to be exposed to the world for a longer period of time instead of overseas attachments that last less than 6mths. Maybe with more exposure, the new generation of singaporeans will innoculate that mindset in the things they do.