Daiwan Has Better Service Than FTrashised Peesai

[makapaaa]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Where front-line service attitude fails
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Tuesday's commentary, 'Stop whining and start serving the customer'.
Indeed, sales assistants in Singapore tend to judge customers by their perceived spending power, with good service accorded only to those with deep pockets.
A Taiwanese friend related his experience of buying perfume in Singapore. He was looking for a certain French perfume, but was greeted with rude nonchalance. Only after he mentioned that he wanted one carton did several salesgirls rush to his service. Such a materialistic attitude left a bitter taste in my friend's mouth.
Another area that continues to be a source of frustration is the failure or reluctance of service staff to see things from the customer's perspective. This is especially so when ordering food. Any special request (less salt or sugar, for example) is often met with an irritated look, as if the customer is trying to be difficult.
Somehow, it never occurs to servers that some people could suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, or simply want to eat healthily to prevent these medical conditions.
Compare this with the food and beverage industry in Taiwan, where servers readily customise to individual preferences. This happens even in small breakfast joints where soya bean milk is available in the following forms: hot, lukewarm, chilled (with or without ice), with sugar, half-sugar or no sugar.
As for poor product knowledge, I remember to this day a mobile phone salesman's classic reply to my husband's question of how much the phone battery weighed: 'I don't know. No one has ever asked me this question before. I think about 2g.'
Someone remarked that he would rather deal with a machine than with customer service staff in Singapore as he does not want to pay money and be abused.
It is time the service industry did some serious reflection and filled the gaps in service quality. The solution is not that elusive: Just treat customers the way you want to be treated.
Liu I-Chun (Ms)

 

[Teo Kok Eng]

These are the social ills of Sinkapore:

• sales assistants in Singapore tend to judge customers by their perceived spending power, with good service accorded only to those with deep pockets.
• failure or reluctance of service staff to see things from the customer's perspective. This is especially so when ordering food. Any special request (less salt or sugar, for example) is often met with an irritated look, as if the customer is trying to be difficult.

Is it a FTrash factor or is it just plain Sinkiepore?