07 December 2011

I HAD ENOUGH. NO MORE BAD SERVICE, SINGAPORE.

This is not just a, i-whine-i-go post. This, is a start of something. Something i'm gonna do, to play my small part in making Singapore (this country i major love for all the good stuff and even some of the not-so-great stuff) a better place for everyone.

For tourist, for your father, your mother, your grandmother, your grandfather, your auntie, your siblings, your gf, your bf, the people you love, yourself, and me. THIS IS FOR US, SINGAPOREANS.

*STAND ON TABLE, FIST IN THE AIR*

I WANT TO HEAR YOU SHOUT!!!

Okay, shout what? Yes, this is what i'm gonna be sharing, and live by, from this post on.

I say first, I AM FUCKING ANGRY.

It's about the service sector in Singapore. I don't care about service sector else where, heck, i don't stay there. But this is home *refrains self from singing* I eat here, i buy stuff here, i spend money here, and if i can do all these without being served, aka "Self-service" i'd be fine.

Fully machine-operated supermarket? Fine by me. Robots serving me my food, or even cooking it? Bring it! It's so interesting! Fully machine-operated cinema? From the ticket office, to snack bar, to the entrance ticket checker. GREAT. It's gonna save us a lot of time, why not! =D

Oh but those people from service sector losing their jobs, NOT FINE.

So, we have human to serve us, so they have a job. And in return, we get.. Hmm.. Personal touch. You know, personal touch, people talking to us, asking us what we want, preparing it and then selling it to us. And saying "Thank you" to us with a smile - Personal touch.

You know what, i don't even need the person serving me to smile. I just hope he/ she is not in a bad mood. Yeah, this is how little i expect, after all the bad service i encountered.

I.. Am not a mean person. Okay. But WHY.. WHY DO I GET BAD SERVICE IN MY FACE, sooooo often?!?!

I say "thank you" to all the service providers becox i respect what they do. They provide a service that i need. I say "thank you". But sadly, hardly service providers show the same kind of gratitude back at me (us), for paying for their service, for creating a demand for what they sell, for them to make a living out of it.

If i buy food, i'd say "thank you" like at least three times. I order, i say "thank you". I request to add or remove something, i say "can i please trouble you to add...." and then i say "thank you". When i pay, i say "thank you".

On rare occasion, if the stall auntie/ uncle reply me "You're welcome! You thank me ah? I should thank you! Haha" then we laugh and then i say "Haha! Okay! Bye bye~" =DDD Like this, i even smile like this =DDD to them. PLEASE?!?! I should totally be in the service sector i swear. Lol.

VERY HARD MEH?! "thank you" and "please" only what!!! WHY IS IT SO HARD for so many people?!?!

So anyway. It may seem like i've been very anal when it comes to customer service.

Here's my first appearance on front page of Wanbao (a local newspaper), back in 2008.


Summary of the whole write up = I AM AN UNREASONABLE BITCH who writes abusive stuff on my blog about a cashier who cheated me of 10cents.

Yeah, you got it right, 10cents.

I wrote about it here. I was pissed becox she not only wanted to cheat me of 10 cents, she implied that i want to cheat her of 10cents. Bla bla bla.

In the article they also mentioned about my other bad encounter with a courier company phone operator lady, who shouted at me over the phone. Which, i wrote about here.

So basically, in the article, i am this stingy, calculative, mean, self-obsessed (this one i cannot disagree thou lol) bitch who is mean to all the people who serve me.

Really? ME? Sigh. It might not seem like it to you, but i think i'm quite polite to everyone i meet in real life leh. Like if any doorman opens the door for me at the building lobby or hotel or something, i'd run that 5 meters to get to the door asap and thank him or her a few times please.

That to me is already very good service please. I mean, opening the door and waiting for me to exit. That's awesome service, to me.

Anyway. So i was saying about that article on the newspaper about me being too critical about bad service. Hmm.. There's actually nothing to be critical about, on bad service. There is only things to be critical about, on service. Becox being critical is to find fault about something.

I wasn't finding fault but THEIR FAULT, WAS IN MY FACE. No really, they shoved it right at my face. What service? NO SERVICE dude. Nothing. It was just bad experience(s).
Just couple of months back, a blogpost of me writing about some restaurant in a five star hotel, who provided pretty lousy service, got on the newspaper. You can read the post here if you're keen.
Mich sent me these screenshots so i thought i'd show you.

You know what i learnt from all these newspaper articles? Even though they think i'm this loud bitch who is very fussy about stuff, or even when they wrote about me and the boob job etc, THEY ALWAYS LABEL ME AS 美女 (pretty girl?) LOLOLOL.

That's why i never really took any offense to any of these biased articles. Hahahaha.

So back on the topic on service. I give you brief encounters my family members, my friends and i went through, okay? You tell me, if i'm being too critical, or is it me, you, us, is it just us, having to bear with shit service day in, day out?!

APEX HUB at NEX, YOUR RECEPTIONIST IS A VERY, VERY BAD GUY WHO TELL LIES
My friend, let's call her G, she bought a deal from some coupon site, for her mum. It's for spa/ massaging etc, at a company call APEX Hub (located at NEX). It's actually for her mum's birthday. So she called two weeks before the appointment date, to book a weekday, late noon appointment. A guy, took down her appointment for her.

On the day itself, she accompanied her mum to APEX HUB and the first thing she did was to take out the deal voucher print out, and then she told the guy at the recept that she is here for spa/ massage services, and she passed the voucher (which doesn't state any name) to the guy.

The guy didn't even ask her for her name, nor for her appointment time, the guy took a look at the voucher, and then say "OH, this one. We only do by appointment. You don't have an appointment so you cannot do today"

So G told him "I actually made an appointment, you can check for my name and phone number". Then you know what the guy said?

"No i don't see your appointment in my record"

PLEASE, G HASN'T EVEN TELL HIM HER NAME AND CONTACT NUMBER.

Why?!?!?! Not happy to serve customers who bought your company services from deal site at a cheaper price??? THEN DON'T DO COLLABORATION WITH COUPON SITES. FUCKING SMELLY DICK.

So G ask him "How you know?! I haven't even tell you my name and phone number"

Then he reply "Okay, then can i have your name and phone number?"

She gave, then he say "No. There is no appointment booked by you"

She say "How can it be? I remember i spoke to a guy, about two weeks ago! And the guy helped me make my appointment"

Smelly dick say "Which guy? I am the only guy working here. I have never took your appointment before"

So she say "No no no, hold on a second, i remember your voice and the way you speak, YOU are the one who helped me make my appointment!"

That guy is a sissy, so he speaks in a certain way lah okay. Distinguished way. Plus he say he's the only guy working there. So now there's only two reasons to why this shit is happening, right?

1) He booked the appointment wrongly on other day, or he totally forgot to book the appointment for G

2) He sees the deal coupon print out and he is reluctant to treat customers who pay lesser than full price nicely.

EITHER WAY, G didn't want to create a scene for his cb mistake and she tried to tell him about how it's the mother's birthday etc. So she requested for a slot now if any, or slightly later (she can go for a bite with her mum then come back for spa/ massage).

The guy say NO SLOT the whole day. And he also say even if there are slots, customers who choose to use coupon vouchers will only be entertained if they made prior appointment.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!?! On a regular weekday, late noon, where most people are working, THIS LOUSY FUCKED UP SPA, dare treat customers like this??!!!?!? NO SLOTS?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?

GROUPON, WHY YOU PARTNER SUCH SHIT COMPANY?!?!?!?!?

That guy messed up customer's appointment, treats customers like shit, and lie about having no slots for whole day, when the main idea is HE IS JUST FUCKING UNHAPPY TO SERVE CUSTOMERS WHO BUY VOUCHERS FROM COUPON SITES.

Now i hope you're happy, you lying faggot. I hope your parents are proud of you. Of how you screw up people's mother's birthday pampering treat.

V8 Cafe at Bugis Junction, I HOPE THIS FREE ADVERTISEMENT WILL HELP YOU EARN MORE MONEY =) Stop trying to earn by selling mayonnaise sauce.
My sister and her daughter went to V8 Cafe (they use to serve nicer food back then, like yearssss ago, their fish and chips was mainly why our family will visit this cafe but now their food suckballs, just my personal opinion). My sister visit pretty often, and have their loyalty/ VIP/ membership card whatever.

My niece will always order fish and chips, and fish and chips is served with one small saucer of mayonnaise sauce. And this time, my sister ordered lamb chop.

So my niece and my sister both finished the mayonnaise and asked for one more, which, was also finished lah. Don't judge okay. Both got french fries all, and i don't believe customers in a restaurant, paying restaurant-price, cannot choose what dip they want to eat their french fries and fish cutlet with.

So they asked for one more, which is technically the second serving they asked for becox the first mayonnaise was a given, with the fish and chips. So my niece walked up to one of the young lady server and asked if she could have one more mayonnaise sauce.

The lady told her "NO. You have to pay one dollar for mayonnaise sauce you know!"

So my niece walked back and tell my sister about it. And my sister was curious cox they dined there for many times, not all the times they asked for second serving of mayonnaise sauce, but when they do, nobody informed her of this $1 for mayonnaise sauce policy.

So she went to ask the server, if this is something new they practise.

The lady told my sister "This girl *point at my niece* ask for mayonnaise TWICE!"

So my sister said "This is not about the $1. I am asking you, if this is a new policy as before i asked for mayonnaise, i wasn't asked to pay $1"

She rolled her eyes and then walk to the manager to ask him to talk to my sister. They wanted to give free mayonnaise to my sister and niece after that. But my sister declined. The manager didn't apologise, he just offer in a way "So madam, i bring the mayonnaise to you for free?"

So my sister sent an online feedback form on their website.

MUCH TO OUR AMUSEMENT AND SURPRISE, A LADY FROM V8 CAFE CALLED MY SISTER.

She started with "HALLO. V8 ah. You got what problem? The mayonnaise sauce of course we must charge! We never increase our price over the years, we gave her one mayo, she still ask for one more, LIKE THIS HOW WE MAKE MONEY?!"

SO SPOKESPERSON FROM V8, you plan to make money from selling mayonnaise sauce now? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?!?!? Is that why your food standard drop so drastically over the years? You're not motivated to earn small money is it? Nobody is forcing you to keep charging whatever price you are charging currently ah! WHY NOT INCREASE THE PRICE OF YOUR YUCKY FOOD THEN? =D

Increase it!!! Then maybe you won't have teenagers who visit your restaurant intending to pay $8.80 for your fish and chips..
This is from a girl who replied me on Twitter. They ask a simple question to the staff at V8 "Why so expensive huh?" Becox the girls honestly didn't notice the prices will be subjected to 10% service charge and 7% GST. So the fish and chips turned out to be $10.40 around there.

Instead of responding professionally with explanation, the staff asked the girls "You never eat in high class restaurant before huh?"

WOOOOOoOooOoooo. Congrats V8!!! This is truly high-class service!!!! Yes please increase your price to high-class price!!! I bet you will have tonnes of people willing to pay more for your great service and meh-ish food!

Please. If i order pork chop, and i ask for more sauce, it's probably becox i simply find the pork chop too dry! And i prefer to eat it with more sauce.

If it's truffle sauce, or even mushroom sauce, something that the chef needs to cook/ prepare, i understand, i'd pay for it.

But MAYONNAISE?! It should be like chili and ketchup, no?! In any case, this is not about the $1. It's about how the staff and the spokesperson handled the situation. The fact that the lady called my sister to yell at my sister over the phone, is disastrous.

I will never again step foot into that restaurant that serves meh-ish food, with staff and spokesperson all working a diva attitude. To think that last year my sister arranged for the whole family to celebrate my birthday there. I always knew their food taste normal, on par or below par food court standard but they charge slightly lesser than restaurants. Being so freaking mediocre as they are, i cannot comprehend why they would wanna throw such bad service stunts.

V8, you need to fan xing fan xing.

This taxi uncle win
I hop on to a cab at Pasir Ris, wanting to make my way to Tampines.

About one minute into the ride, i ask the uncle

"Uncle, 请问你可以把冷气关小一点吗? Sorry ah, 因为有一点冷"
It means "Uncle, can you please switch the air con to be less cold? Sorry, cox it's a bit cold here"

He reply me "Pasir Ris 跟 Tampines 很近而已嘛! 还要调什么?!"
It means "Pasir Ris and Tampines very close to each other, adjust for what?"

I kept quiet after that. He wins!
- - - - - - -
So you see? Is it just me? Is it just you? I doubt! It's not our fault. It's the people out there, earning a living by serving people, and they are not happy about it, sometimes.

Then do something else with your life if you have the capability to. If not, please live with what you can do, and do your job well. Everybody has a calling, okay. "行行出状元", got hear before not? Be professional leh!

It's not like i only complain about bad service and don't acknowledge good ones.

I've written quite a fair number of compliment letters to any remarkable service i've enjoyed.

From the Malay auntie cashier at Punggol Plaza KFC (i think her name is Jumilah) who is so ever ready to serve with a smile, to the fantastic bunch of enthusiastic staff at Fish and Co Bugis, to the SBS bus driver of bus 65 who was super patient and helpful with old folks boarding his bus.. All of them and more that i can't remember now, i make an effort to write compliment letters to their companies.

BUT IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! *smash raw fish like Gordon Ramsay* IT'S RAW!!!!! Our service sector, is raw!!!

Do all these people in the service line have to go through some sort of personality test to gauge if they are human-friendly?!!?

I mean you can't just recruit any ah mao ah gou who comes interview for an easy job, and then put them at the frontline and let the customers deal with all that shit. Right?

It's unfair!!!!! It's okay if they have some sort of physical or actual mental disablities. But if it's the attitude that's fucked up, EVERYTHING IS FUCKED.

Companies.. Please.. Screen who you hired. Please?

Imagine if it's your loved ones, going out there, having to face these people with really bad attitude, and then when you make feedback about it, they turnaround to embarrass you.

Imagine if your dad who can't speak english, gets mistreated at some restaurant who thinks he is 'low-class', or your grandma, being yelled at by the cashier at the super market. How would you feel?

I made a pact to myself, that i will share all the good and bad services i encounter. Or any pointers i picked up that can help improve the service sector. I will write them all down. This, i believe will help improve the service standard in Singapore.

Not just the atas standard in hotels and restaurants. But really, the service we have to receive everyday from people at the frontline. Cashier, bus drivers, taxi drivers, movie ticketer, receptionist, toilet attendance, F&B servers, salesgirls, customer service phone operator.. They make up a HUGE part of our lives. How can we let the blacksheeps rot like this?!

Sidetrack a little, THE GOOD AND PASSIONATE ONES, YOU DESERVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TOO!!! JIAYOU IN WHAT YOU DO GREAT AT =DDD

And besides, good service will bring up our country's image all together. So feeling very very inspired, i have decided to set up this blog.

Click to visit the blog thou there's nothing much now lol.

I open the invitation to anyone who feels strongly about this whole service thing, to share your thoughts with me.

But of course you have to have an identity to own up to the experiences and encounters you share about. Cannot be anonymous. If you wanna be part of this initiation, email me please!

Here's how it works, you blog about it on your own blog, if it's reasonable, not in anyway flaming for no reason.. I'd put up an abstract of your post with the link to your post.

It's time we stop living with bad service, and brushing it off by saying "Ah forget it lah, i just won't patronise this shop anymore" NO! We have to let everyone know if it's bad. If we can deter one customer from spending with that company, we prevent. So we share.

The good, and the bad. Who knows, maybe we can make this blog so influential that it'd be a deciding factor that make or break a company's image. Lol.

This blog will belong to us. US WHO DESERVES TO BE TREATED NORMALLY by NORMAL people who are glad to serve. And we should not have to worry about what if.. Our waitress is in a bad mood. What if the salesgirl is in a bad mood.. And also we'd know what places to avoid, if we don't wanna meet fucked up people holding jobs they dislike.

Now stand on the table, put your fist in the air, and shout..

SERVE US RIGHT LEH!!!!!!!

Okay i'm not angry anymore. Please email me if you wanna share your experiences (good or bad) on the blog and contribute to "SERVE US RIGHT LEH"

It might turn out fun and informative, it might turn out dead after one month. It depends. Lol. But for now, LET'S DO THIS THING!!!!! *RU-RAH!!!!!!!!*

65 comments:

Anonymous said...

Qiu, i'm very much all for your mission for good customer service in Singapore. As someone who's experienced customer service abroad and that of the service in Singapore for the better part of my years, i do believe that service is sub-par in Singapore and needs to be looked at. good job in raising this point and good luck with the mission to change Singapore's customer service attitude.
However, i do think you need to change your alternative blog name, because when i read it, i read 'Serves us right leh!', almost like we deserved to be served badly. Maybe a title which cant be misconstrued as much, such as 'Serve us better'?

Xynn-eigh said...

I agree 100%. I don't know whether to laugh or be angry after reading this! Fish and Co gives lemon butter sauce for free even if I ask twice! "high class" my arse. If it's really that high of a class IT WOULDN'T COST $8.80. I always say thank you to the doorman, waiters etc whether I'm in a kopitiam or high class restaurant. This is not good service this is common courtesy if you don't bother saying it you obviously have no upbringing. And it's true that Fish and Co has fantastic customer service. They are always polite and attentive although they're not exactly high class. This V8 should learn from them.

나니 said...

This is a great post and it honestly doesn't only apply to Singaporean customer service. I've gotten AWFUL service at many places.. I once had a guy at Sunset Boulevard (restaurant) yelling at me because I told him that I paid extra for a cheese burger but that it seems he forgot the cheese. He flipped out and went all "SO YOU'RE GETTING ANGRY NOW HUH?" and I stood there like "Whut? O_O no.. I just would like the cheese burger that I paid for please." and he completely flipped at me for NO reason at all. I hate when people are so damn rude like that. I don't care how shitty your job is or how much you hate your customers. You WORK at the place, you are PAID to smile and make me happy, whether you like me or not. Hell, I was being very calm and polite when I asked for him to get me a cheese burger, yet he still bitched at me. -__-" If you hate your job that much... just quit? It's not that hard. >_>

Anonymous said...

Haha.. I agree with anonymous. The blog title has to be changed.

Anyway, well written blog post. There's way too much room for improvement in our service sector.

Thanks Qiu for standing up for our well deserved rights of better service!

Anonymous said...

Omg I feel so angry for you!! Anw I hope your this post will be publish in the newspaper. Love your blog!! Stay pretty!

Anonymous said...

You are being too extreme. What if someone come and contribute just to smear the company's reputation and it's not even true? How would you know if it's reliable enough to publish it?

Unknown said...

Dear QiuQiu!
This is a very god post! I like it!
I think service is very important!
Me myself work in service, I'm a coach, I have small studio where I train people, like fitness classes, Pilates and so. I like this job very much! I like to deal with people firsthand, I like to have the immediate feedback whether they like our training session and me myself :) or not :)
And my mom, she has a beauty shop, she talks a lot about customers and employees.
It's the best part in service industry - you are dealing with real live people not with some charts and cells in tables :) I like to please people! I enjoy to be liked.
Also I just don't get it why do people need to be mean! I hate it! And I'm so happy to find good service! I always leave feedback! We have special notebooks in every shop, restaurant or hotel or anything like this over here.
One thing I've learned - people can really be in bad mood ;( I always give excuse for this. Or smbd can be new in busyness and still awkward and shy or what - always forgive! give some credit!
hugs for you and everybody in your family!!! :)

JoJo-EmotionStorm said...

Very inspirational!

SL said...

Babe, no publicity is bad publicity. Don't over worry yourself. =)

Ash said...

Charging $10.80 for a plate of fish and chips and yet, they call themselves a high-class restaurant? Please. Upscale restaurants usually have their fish and chips priced for more than $20, $30 even. It seems that V8 is really overconfident of their dishes and services to compare themselves to restaurants that are obviously way out of their league.

I also had numerous encounters with bad customer service. There was once when I took bus 985 from Bukit Batok and the bus driver stopped the entire bus to scream at me because he claimed that I didn't tap my EZ-link. I said I did and went up to tap to show him. He refused to apologize after that. It was clearly his mistake for being so careless. An incident like that can spoil one's entire day, you know?

And I do agree with anon that the service sector in Singapore is sub-par as compared to other countries. However, it is unfair to disregard excellent services from restaurants like Original Sin and Michelangelo's. The other services would have to step up their game because they are giving Singapore a bad name. Every employee of the service industry should realize that they represent their company's image when they sign up for the job. It gives them no such reason to treat customers like shit.

Gah. I type too much :/ Anyway, best of luck in your mission, Qiu Qiu! :D

Anonymous said...

I never knew you were homophobic! O.o

QiuQiu said...

Ash, I know right. It's like they decide to keep their prices low, yet they keep thinking this is a big deal. It sure is somewhat attractive to people, but definitely not a good justification to them charging $1 for mayonnaise. If she say it's a new policy the company practice, So be it. Why go bring up grandmother story about how they haven't been increasing their price.

Anon who ask about me being homophobic, where the hell you get the idea?! The sissy part? Out of this 3000 words blogpost, you decided to zoom in on something and jump to conclusion about it? Anyway to answer your doubt, I am not homophobic. I love nice/ bitchy/ funny gay/ human/ man/ woman. Regardless of their sexuality.

Unknown said...

Jiayou Qiuqiu, we always support you! Don't need to care of those stupid news and the writer who is trying to insult people! Love you and your blog :) Stay pretty always!

Anonymous said...

Hi Qiuting,

I'm not your haters but however i understand the point of every time you blog, you will insert those self-compliment etc kind of remarks. I know that is what people would call "own-style" of blogging. Perhaps have you ever think this style of yours cause more people to curse & swear rather than love and support you?

You're pretty & unique thats undeniable but i sincerely hope you can be more humble & i'm sure your blog will be ever better and attracts people with the right crowd instead of those haters with no standard...

Just a 2-cent of advice, because i'm always reading different people blog & i realized the problem of why there is people insulting you and you are also getting annoyed by it... STILL i love your blog, in a way of how you save & advert.. Perhaps is the words you used are misinterpreted...

Hope you don't spam me with nasty words, i'm sure you will like to improve your blog & even accept good intention comments. :)

Jaslyn said...

Actually, I count myself super lucky because I do not really have bad experiences with service in Singapore (ok maybe is because I don't go out often T_T) But I've read some comments (from some web that i forgot alr la) that the service sector in sg is considered bad cox many people take service for granted. They do not look at the service industry as high class.

So they serve us consumers the "low class" standard. They do not even bother to do their job properly cox they deem it as low class -_-

But I guess they have to look at the customer's point of view.. It's really upsetting to get bad service.
I'm sure you'll feel like pulling out the person-that-gave-you-bad service 's hair.

haixxx.

Anonymous said...

I realize shops treat me differently when im in school uniform, they all think im gonna steal their stuffs!! they follow me around and touches whatever i touched, eg. re-folding the clothes after i looked at it even though i folded it back it back with the collars facing up. its a small gesture but i find it super annoying. Another thing is when the boss advertises with coupons online WITHOUT telling their employees, and i have to wait for them to confirm with their boss, sometimes even have to bear with the employees who thinks im trying to cheat their money, but most of the time they're just apolegetic for making me wait so long, still dosnt change the fact that i waited 20min+...

PL said...

LOVE YOUR POST! I encounter lots of these kind of fuckup service too!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I quite agree with you about this one. I find it quite difficult to find good service in Singapore, you can only find it in expensive places and more over not all expensive places have that good service attitude. That's why I really put a list which place give good service and I will only come back at places that have good services.

Maggie said...

Omg that made me sooo angry! That is TERRIBLE. You're doing the absolute right thing by standing up for yourself. Those places/people will one day do something wrong and get sued until they are bankrupt! This I believe. Hope you feel better , I'm sure karma will give you your justice!!

Anonymous said...

Sometimes i wondered y do we have to pay service charge and get a crappy service..

I mean if we are not charged for the service charge, its arguable that we are not given good service. But restaurants everywhere is charging 10% on top of our bill and we still have to tolerate their ill manners and unwelcoming attitude.. like "we pay to get slap in the face" !

chiaweii said...

very interesting post :) i <3 it !

eve said...

Very interesting post. I usually hate reading words words words post but I FINISHED READING IT WORD BY WORD! 赞!

Anonymous said...

Yeah. I agree with you. Probably very soon 'serve us right leh' blog will be super famous leh? Lol.

Anonymous said...

V8 CAFE HAD VERY BAD REPUTATION!
google search and you will see some bad reviews found online.

Chance upon a blog post last week

http://myfatpocket.com/blog/mistyillusionistcat/2011/12/03/v8-cafe-very-bad-cafe/

do read.
i think everyone shld really boycott such horrible dine-in place.

Anyway, great post qiuting!! =DD

Jamilla Camel said...

Obviously, in Singapore, the CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG! They have a lot of nerve to publish your face in the paper, lol!

Anonymous said...

Agree. But bad service by people also unavoidable :(

As a part-time employee, I went to SingPost to purchase 10 booklets of 10 stamps. When I went to the counter, I said I wanted to purchase 1 booklet of 100 stamps. She didn't manage to get my point across. Yet she also didn't tell me the price of 1 booklet of stamps. Thus, I was unsure of the amt of stamps I was suppose to buy.

So I turned over and went to a corner behind the service counter to SMS. Guess what ? I overheard that either her or her colleagues were talking very loudly about me when I havent even step out of the room yet -.-

Herine said...

Qiuqiu, I really had enough too. Esp with V8 too!
My friends & I were given very very poor service, being asked to pay and to get lost.
It's my first time being "chased out" by cafe owner/staff.
I blogged about it too: http://myfatpocket.com/blog/mistyillusionistcat/2011/12/03/v8-cafe-very-bad-cafe/

Anonymous said...

YES! Most of the deals at groupon.sg or Deal.sg are scams. Not all but MOST. Like what many said, "Good things are never cheap. Cheap things are never good."

I bought a Slimfit (Remember this scam company) spa treatment deal from deal.sg with my friend. It is suppose to include a massage, one body scrub and one body wash.

When we first entered, the service they rendered is super good I would said. IT IS THE AFTER that is horrible. After the massage, the beauty consultant brought us to a room and start to psycho us to sign package? WTH! After rejecting them, they send us out to the waiting area.

My friend and I then wanted to collect the remaining deal--> Body scrub and wash. Guess what! While approaching the counter, the girl just said "No stock!" while sitting down and don't look apologetic AT ALL. We haven't even open our mouth to ask. So I BELIEVE is because we didn't sign up for package, that's why they just fake some excuse and refuse to give us the product.

If like that i feel bloody cheated. I am like paying $25 for a TRIAL. Since the actual massage is suppose to be around 2 hr and the one given was 45 mins? REALLY? To think Slimfit is quite reputable. TSK. Just out to cheat people. BEWARE OF THEM. I believe the other spa deals are like that too.

P.s. We wrote a complain letter to deal.sg. They replied saying they called Slimfit and confirmed that the products are currently out of stock and they should have given ask a piece of paper and go down to collect like 2 months later. OH PLEASE, they didn't even give us anything. Plus, if they participate in such deals shouldn't they make sure that there are sufficient stocks? Just finding excuses so that deal.sg wouldn't blacklist them? SO ANGRY. I HATE SLIMFIT. *pui* I told many of my friends who are initially interested in such deals, now all of them are so wary of them. Hope you close down soon like how other spas do. *hmph*

Amy said...

Actually I personally think McDonald has one of the best service in Singapore la lol. Even tho is not atas restaurant but still the service very good. They serve with smile and and all very friendly. See alr also ownself happy lol.

Anonymous said...

i'm not from singapore, but after reading your blog post, and experiencing service in asia, it really baffles me sometimes too. since we are customers paying for a service, we should be treated well for that service. we are the people who are giving you a pay cheque essentially. if there were no demand for their service, they wouldn't have jobs. and is it really that hard to smile sometimes? i don't understand why some people give so much attitude. it's not like we're not nice to them. and seriously, they shouldn't complain about their job if they hate it, if its shit. at least they got a job with their shitty credentials and attitude. they should at least do it right.

QiuQiu said...

Hello hello, i'm not affected by the newspaper articles at all now! No worries!

OMG i'd put up the V8 one, it's extremely horrible!!!!!!! It's like what happened to my sister, but IN REAL LIFE. I suspect the lady in black is the one who called my sis.

Herine, i put up your link and abstract of the article on that SURL blog okay!

QiuQiu said...

Amy, i agree with you O.O McDonald's does generally have good service!!!! Like fast, simple, happy-feeling in the restaurant all the time lol. I love McDonald's!

FiSh said...

wow i didnt know that singapore is that bad until i read your post here. i thought bad services only occur more often in malaysia :/

Krystle-fied said...

I have never really gotten bad service to the point of atrocity, but this post really highlights the bad side of service in Singapore. I am appalled by your experience in V8, it seems as if the staff are not well trained, and that they just hire people who they think can serve, without providing proper training, much less a lecture of some sort on what good service is. I am never visiting V8 EVER! :D

Anonymous said...

Wow. looks like many people had bad experiences with V8. I found another post on V8 cafe.

http://myfatpocket.com/blog/mistyillusionistcat/2011/12/03/v8-cafe-very-bad-cafe/

Cat(Herine) said...

Qiuqiu: yes i suspect only that lady is mad enough to piss off all customers like that.
Thanks for sharing on the blog! I will share on fb too! ;-)

Anthony said...

Hello Qiu,

I am a huge fan of your blog/shows! I'm not from Singapore but I've visited a few times, and I think I understand what you mean. I've had some bad experiences, although luckily not as bad as yours. Hopefully your mission can make a difference.

I would like to gently remind you though that the use of the word "faggot" is considered offensive, especially for the gay community. It is like calling an African-American person with the n word.

Also, I understand you may be angry at the (allegedly) gay person at the salon, but if I may ask you, please do not attack someone based on their sexuality. It is like insulting someone based on their race/gender. Be angry at their service if you want, but not at their innate characteristics which they cannot change.

Just some friendly suggestions ok. Thank you for considering and good luck with your mission! :)

Anonymous said...

I so agree with Serve us right leh. Hope that blog is always active =D

QiuQiu said...

Hi Anthony, I'm sorry I really didn't mean to direct it at whichever sexuality group by using that particular group. It is to me, like scolding someone "Fatass!!! Pig!!!" When I'm angry.

I mean no offense to anyone else other than that lying piece of crap.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you can also mention that if they want you to post on Serve us right leh they need to take a pic or video or whatsoever just so that it is not cos they want to give that shop a bad reputation :) Some auntie also tried to cheat my one dollar before also lol. Not that sure if that was on purpose, though.

Anonymous said...

Never knew that Singapore are this bad =/

The Empress said...

I've gotten pointed middle finger by a taxi driver ==

ar.girl♥ said...

the condition is same here in Malaysia. im just a 16 year old girl, so i don't really have the rights to complain. i think*

sometimes i hate it when people look at me as if i'm a kid. well, i know im not an adult though. haha...

but facing bad services have been too common to me sometimes. i tried to contact the people in charge or write complain letters or emails to them but nobody turned up to really apologize or explain anything. well, i really support you for publishing this post. it really tells out what feel..

reading your blog has been part of my life now.. please post more frequent c: love your photos so much!! do camwhore more cause you're born with a super pretty face!

do drop by at my blog c:

Anonymous said...

Yes! Why should we pay $$$ to 受气?!!
Wonderful, fabulous idea from u!!!

Jane said...

Hi Qiuqiu I think this is very prevalent in Singapore. People take advantage of your kindness and friendliness. I have learnt to be fiercer to people who bullshit me and insist on my rights. They are humans, we are also humans.

Anonymous said...

I admire you for being brave enough to post this. I'm kinda scared to post anything bad about food service. You know, you are quite known and so is your blog- what if one day you walk into a restaurant unknowing you have somehow irked someone inside and they'd play with your food??? That's a scary thought- that gives me paranoia that's why I never complained :-( even though I know it's wrong not to.

Evangeline said...

What u are doing is GREAT!! I am so ashamed of Singapore's service sector. I have lots of Japanese customers and friends, whenever we go out for dinner or drinks... My foriegn friends will always ask me why service workers in singapore sucks so much? They always told me even if they dun compare our service to their hometown Japan, we r still probably the worst out of many countries they visited..

HuiMin said...

OMG, I was in my sec sch uni at Tamp Century Square BHG when I was 16. I looked a bit Malay, non Chinese etc. Me and my friend picked up a scarf or two then try it on and put it back in the original place without folding it properly. The temporary staff said to her friend in CHINESE DAMN LOUDLY ALMOST LIKE SHOUTING which unfortuantely for her I CAN understand, "wo xiang gen ta men jiang, mei you qian jiu bu yao peng! deng xia wo hai yao zheng li" (i feel like telling them no money don't touch! later i still have to tidy up!) and her friend laughed at the comment. WTF? At least I never misplace the damn thing, I still put it back and never fold nicely cause Idk how you guys do it right?? Is this how you treat your potential customers? I weekday schoolday no money, I can come back on weekend or the next day with more money to buy the damn thing right? I tell you I walked out of that store straight away. I really damn angry that stupid bitch is bloody racist wtf? I am still very angry when I think about it.

Also, whenever I wear my school uni people think I want to steal their stuff at their shops, especially at city plaza... Like please as if your stuff is worth me going to jail wtf? -.-

The Tamp Macs at the onterchange got this weird non chinese girl who works there. I was trying to take a photo of my new HK pouch with my friend's macbook photobooth then she thought I was trying to zi lian. So she say dman loudly "hi, oh you taking photos of yourself ah?" to the whole place like wtf everybody can hear and they now think I'm some weirdo taking photos of themselves in a macs outlet wtf -.-

Also hate it when people give me the -.- face when I am just looking but not buying and ask for their help... The boss paid you to talk to customers right??? You find it a chore then quit lah!!!

Bus 81 the drivers forever don't like to auto drive to the bus stop one, must wait for people to flag then they will stop. It's like they're not even near the bus stop yet thats why I don't flag yet??

Anonymous said...

Yeah! In one of XX's blog post also got say ppl tried to cheat her money.

http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2008/09/dont-just-let-it-go.html

Go read it! :)

tw said...

Great post there!

On a whole, service in singapore is relatively alright. But there are always a flock of black sheep that brings down the group. I guess in singapore many people just do not put in the effort. It's a shame but i doubt it'll improve much in the near future. Just like how t-shirts, shorts and flip flops will always stay. To those people, doing the bare minimum is already considered a chore.

Anonymous said...

You're being way too fussy

Anonymous said...

haha. then dont ever go to Prague. service here sucks even more. feel like kicking their faces all the time.

Anonymous said...

Hi this is a brilliant post! Totally agreed with what you have shared in your blog. I myself have also experienced countless of nasty and turnoff attitudes from Singapore service line folks.... We still have a long way to work to a gracious society. Shall boycott those shops with BAD SERVICE!
No one is entitled to bad service at all because we are the customers who paid and still said THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more. Rmbr when i was in secondary school years ago, my friend and i went to some watsons store at katong. We were browsing around and started to try samples of a product which is placed on the bottom shelf. And TADAH the sales assistant came over and demanded to check our bags cause apparently squatting down in their shop equates to theft. We were pissed but we let them check and they literally ransacked our bags and threw it back to us when they found nothing. NOT even a word of apology after we were wrongly accused of theft. Seriously appalled. Really hate stereotypical people. They shouldn't be allowed to serve at all!

Kim said...

Well, I live in Australia and I can't compare but - our food and clothing is SUPER expensive but sometimes when I walk into some clothing shops, the girls there give me nasty faces just because I didn't dress up. I don't dress up for shopping. No makeup (I don't want to dirty the new clothing with the makeup), and just a shirt and short shorts. I get treated like crap, as if I have no money to buy anything. I went to Malaysia last year, same thing. Sure, I was shopping in pavilion.. maybe I should have dressed up a bit? But the weather is so hot, how else am I supposed to dress?

Anyway, enough with the ranting but I also need to add.. if the servers are okay/nice, try not to give them too much trouble. Just ask for manager. This is because I am a server myself (and I get paid peanuts) but I make sure I give good service to customers..and thats all I can do. However, too many people come into the restaurant harassing me because the food is too "expensive" and they have to pay extra 50c for extra mayo (I try to give people free sauce, but I can only do it for ketchup because the ketchup don't have to go through the kitchen. If something has to go through the kitchen, I am forced to charge because the manager will know if I give out free things and I will get in trouble) and I really can't do anything about it.

But yeah my point is, just go straight to manager if you have a problem. If even the manager is rude, then time to write to the company. I don't know about Singaporean companies but at my place, once the manager got a bad complaint and the head office actually called her to investigate. Please don't harass (I'm not saying you do, but most angry customers do) the poor server who is getting paid peanuts unless they are already being mean to you :(

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the rant. I feel your pain. ;) No, seriously it's beyond bad nowadays. The right way to do things or a more diplomatic approach is for the sales staffer to apologize and just do it the way a customer expected it to be. End of story, an item off the shelf, sold. Bye. Right? But no it's weird how confrontational people are in shops or restaurants now. We are paying for this stuff, how can they dare act like rude a&&holes? This is what I don't understand. I'm from the USA, and Asian/American. I remember working alot at shops etc... during my university years, most students do. It's not big or negative thing- working at a restaurant or mall. Why is it so negative in Singapore? It's all about self loathing with these sales people. They are ashamed to be working, as if they're royalty. This I feel is the problem. Singaporeans need to get off high and mightly self importance. A job is a job, and you are obligated to do it right. Have some dignity and responsiblity rather than act like a spoiled baby. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I'm coming to singapore this winters : I'd heard people are Good there :p ??? Anyways i like your personality

Anonymous said...

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yvonnezoe said...

Dear Qiu Qiu! awww why you so cute!! hehe!! let's fight bad services together!! you're one brave girl! i want to learn from you :D

talk to you soon! <3 jia you!

Anonymous said...

The only reason why you're gaining attention with this is because you're pretty. Any other person (average looking)wouldn't even get half of the publicity. I don't blame you - just shallow Singaporeans.

Anonymous said...

Hi guys who ever reading this post. My friend recently bought a groupon from Slim Fit at an amazing price. Treatment is using FR for slimming. She got burn by the machine and the machine produces some "electrical burnt smell"!! Now she is doing scar treatment in this Slim Fit ctr. So guys beware!!

Anonymous said...

Just beware of this Slim Fit company. My friend was there for the first time to do RF treatment and got burnt on her back .....now got 2 scars. And the company is doing scar treatment for my friend now.....

Unknown said...

There are lots of good reasons why service is so awful in Singapore (I am thinking of restaurant service, mainly). I think there are sound historical and cultural reasons why good service is hard to find here but comparatively well-understood and common in Europe/USA.

I have written something about this on my blog: www.thedarksmile.com

Anonymous said...

While I agree that it is not wrong to expect better customer service and those examples cited do shows service areas that needs improvement, I feel that you can learn to be a better customer too. Ain't the most gracious one in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Singapore customer service still need a lot of catching up to do. It not easy to do deal with different customers but it is part and parcel of the job. If you cannot deal with your feelings & emotion and the demand of the job then the job is not for you.Sometime I wonder will it better if humans deserve to take over by robots in the front line service sector especially the food industry.