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It was interesting to read DD's opinion of customer service in the Philippines.
Sometime's it astounds me how stupid some waitress/waiters are in Dubai.
The strange thing is that they are the same nationality.
Assuming anything at all is fraught with danger.

Example
Waitress: Helloooooo Mamsir.
Me: Hi, What do you have on tap?
Waitress: Fosters, Heineken etc etc. Its happy hour. Buy one get one free.
Me: Bonus! I'll have 2 fosters then please.
Waitress: (Brings 2 pints of fosters)
Me: (Gets bill... several hours later), Excuse me, but I thought it was buy one get one free? You have charged for, %^43 (cogs turning in my head to try and remember how many beers I've had) x number of beers.
Different Waitress: Happy hour is for cans of beer sir, not draught beer.
Me: WTF? That other waitress (who has disappeared), Bernadette, didn't mention anything about cans.
Cashier: Oh, sorry sir, nothing I can do, comes out of her salary etc etc etc.

Example 2
Waitress: Menu Mamsir?
Me: Thanks, Do you have a kids menu?
Waitress: (brings kids menu)
Me: (Quick look at menu). No worries. I'll have a steak, well done, mushroom sauce, etc etc. And (pointing a 5 yo kid) a beef burger for him please, no cheese or tomato.
Waitress: repeats order.
Me: Perfect.
Waitress: (Brings food, including a burger the size of a small childs head... with cheese and tomato).
Me: Is THAT a kids burger?
Waitress: No sir. You didn't order a kids burger.
Me: WTF? Well he isn't going to eat all of that, so change it to a KID's burger please.
Different Waitress: (previous one ran away). What's the problem sir, can't change it, comes out of her salary, etc etc etc.

A certain resturant delivered spoiled hummous with my order and when I can called back to ask very politely to say I don't wan't anything other than just replace it so I can have a decent meal. The manager actually said that maybe I haven't had proper hummous before and this is the way its suppose to smell and taste.

Without a doubt in the next five minutes he had me staring down at him in his packed resturant challenging him to eat his "proper" hummous !

The point is if your going to let crap service slide then its going to continue.

It is funny you mentioned the happy hour thing, benwj. When I was over there, happy hour seemed very popular, and knowing how Dubai is, I was wary when ordering. Big sign in Boracay read "Happy hour 2-8: All local beers and Select Cocktails". Knowing I would have a beer, i asked the server 'Is there any catch"? He asked me what time it was to which I replied "2:10pm". He said, the only catch was that any beer ordered past 8pm would not be buy 1 get 1. I stayed and had a couple (not quite till 8pm).

I noticed in the Philippines, the service staff KNEW what they were doing. A Sommelier helped me pick out a bottle of Shiraz after asking me a few questions, did not just offer the most expensive nor what he thought I wanted to hear. The staff in the stores knew about their wares, and there was a general sense of pride in what they were doing.

There was not that feeling of getting accosted when you walked into a store or restaurant. It was a more "patient" pace there. Service was attentive, not over the top. I was surprised at the language as well. Everyone I encountered spoke perfect English with no worries. All signs, menus etc. were in English. When I told my local friend about the hassles in Dubai he said that it was likely we see mostly Provincial workers here, people whose English skills are not good enough to work in the city. Not once did I get that "clued-out" look from an employee there.

The BIGGEST thing I noticed was that the people take ownership of their guests and responsibility for their establishments. The hotel in Makati always gave me good advice, and always clear instructions on where to go, etc. They always made sure I knew to call them if I have any troubles. When I rebooked the hotel in Makati, the reservation was not yet logged when I left. The hotel assistant GM gave me her card and said to call later and she would make sure it was booked, etc. No sooner was I on my way to Boracay when she called me and said that the fax had come thru from the US, enjoy my time, and see you in a few days.

When I got back, there was a minor mixup with my room and they were "out" of rooms with Kingsize beds. I was not going to stay in a single bed, and was polite but firm. I thought maybe the room would have 2 doubles, not 2 singles. When the manager came out, she said right away "Welcome back, Mr. DD"...if you would like to go have a drink in the lounge we will sort this". The front desk girl was concerned as there was "no rooms". The Manager said to her (in front of me) "I confirmed this myself, if there are no rooms, we will just have to find one, won't we?" (With a big smile, might add). No sooner had I poured my beer, and the front desk girl came up to me and said my room was ready,turned down for the night, my bags were there, and to please enjoy free breakfast, internet and 20% F&B during my stay.

Yes, I stayed 5 star, but try getting that here! Not in a million years!

When I stayed in Boracay, the resort owner texted me ahead of time, said they would watch my flight details and ensure there was staff available for me when I arrived. They actually did. Like I said before, I think I was just "normalized' being there.

desertdudeshj wrote:Without a doubt in the next five minutes he had me staring down at him in his packed resturant challenging him to eat his "proper" hummous !

The point is if your going to let crap service slide then its going to continue.

Well I havn't heard that one before, but they certainly have an excuse for everything.

Its unfortunate DDS. I am usually a very easy person to please. However in Dubai, I need to be more demanding and sometimes just a plain areshole to get something changed to how it should be.

DD, the hospitality staff in Dubai seem to be quite 'normalised' to difficult customers also, and don't seem to understand the benefits of a happy customer either.

Yeah I know what you mean, I'm pretty easy going too but sometimes it just gets too much and sometimes you wonder if all the bother is actually worth it.

On the flipside I've worked in retail too I can understand how shit it can be, to be on your feet the whole day and dealing with crappy customers all day long, some you just want to shoot ! That can also get to you too, so I try to be extra nice aswell but when you see they take your being decent, polite and accomadating as being a pushover thats when the foot comes down.

I think at the end of the day I think its a vicious circle really. We all know how "polite" people can be here, having ordering a 20dhs fast food meal they think they own the staff and resturant, constantly shout, moan and b!tch. Sometimes I can live with the fact that for once I'm on the recieving end of someone who has had to deal with such morons the whole day.

On the other hand its these morons who always seems to get served properly and makes you wonder were they always like this or now they know to get anything right you have to be obnoxious from the word go ! Makes you wonder ?

Anyways I don't have a solution, as with most things here its each day at a time.

Having worked in a kitchen of an upscale restaurant myself in my student days, you better be decent to restaurant personnel. Ever since, I prefer restaurants with open kitchen or where the food in made in front of you (Japanese p.e.).

desertdudeshj wrote:Yeah I know what you mean, I'm pretty easy going too but sometimes it just gets too much and sometimes you wonder if all the bother is actually worth it.

On the flipside I've worked in retail too I can understand how tasty it can be, to be on your feet the whole day and dealing with crappy customers all day long, some you just want to shoot ! That can also get to you too, so I try to be extra nice aswell but when you see they take your being decent, polite and accomadating as being a pushover thats when the foot comes down.

I think at the end of the day I think its a vicious circle really. We all know how "polite" people can be here, having ordering a 20dhs fast food meal they think they own the staff and resturant, constantly shout, moan and b!tch. Sometimes I can live with the fact that for once I'm on the recieving end of someone who has had to deal with such morons the whole day.

On the other hand its these morons who always seems to get served properly and makes you wonder were they always like this or now they know to get anything right you have to be obnoxious from the word go ! Makes you wonder ?

Anyways I don't have a solution, as with most things here its each day at a time.

Can I order a Happymeal please with diet coke

Flying Dutchman wrote:Having worked in a kitchen of an upscale restaurant myself in my student days, you better be decent to restaurant personnel. Ever since, I prefer restaurants with open kitchen or where the food in made in front of you (Japanese p.e.).

Its not unheard of that restaurant staff can spit in your food before serving it if you have even mildly pissed them off...

Customer service sucks in Singapore too, especially if it is young locals doing the job. They have no clue about the products they are selling and cannot understand simple questions. Like Dubai, many companies don't give much (or any!) staff training.

This isn't retail related, but a good example of how communication often works here.
Me "Excuse me X, how many children are on the waiting list for the morning session?"
X "I'm sorry, the morning session is full."
Me "Yes, I know it is full, that's why I asked how many children are on the waiting list."
X "There are 3. It will take some time before your child will be able to join the morning session."
Me "That's ok, please add us to the list."
X "But there are 3 people before you, so you must wait."
Me "Yes, I understand how a waiting list works."

Then I totally lost my cool with a guy from a big electronics chain here who called me back about the warranty period for my replaced electrical item. I told him that if the product broke down in less than a year already, and they replaced it with a new item, then I should get another full year warranty on the new item. They were only going to give me a warranty for the remaining period on the old item. Instead of sympathizing with me and giving me the contact details of HP to deal directly with them about the warranty, he talks over top of me and tries to explain how a warranty works. After trying several times to communicate with him nicely only to be interrupted and talked over I lost it on him and sternly told him off for interrupting a customer, not listening to what I saying, and treating me like I don't know how a warranty works.

Flying Dutchman wrote:Having worked in a kitchen of an upscale restaurant myself in my student days, you better be decent to restaurant personnel. Ever since, I prefer restaurants with open kitchen or where the food in made in front of you (Japanese p.e.).

Not a good idea in Dubai FD.
A contributing factor to the poor customer service is that they are all shit scared of getting sacked and I doubt they'd try this.

I have had plenty of similar issues with restaurants regarding bad customer service.

Most of the times when I go to Lebanese/Syrian restaurants and I order something in specific (and double checking with them on my order couple of times) they'd just nod to me and then they serve me the food regularly and not as I requested!
For example, when I order shawarma, I always ask for extra tahina and garlic sauce, and I'd be repeating my order 3 times to make sure I'll get my order right, but I always end up with a DRY shawarma =@ ..

Same goes for the Fattoosh, which I always ask for some pomegranate syrup on the side, but they never listen despite repeating my order million times. Its raaaare that I get served correctly as per my order .

What bothers me the most is their attitude of nodding to me without even eye contacting me! It's as if they just want to take my order as quick as possible and just get done with me.

Another issue is when you go to a well known restaurant such as Ceasars, and if you order something and then served wrongly, they'll never take responsibility to change it and just debate with you as a customer in an ugly way, as if they're telling you "we might be wrong, but we wont do anything, so just eat it".

Happened to me and my friend, he order something and it seems that the waitor (who's english wasn't good) got him the wrong order, and when we asked to change it he got his manager and kept on debating us to the extent that we lost our appetite. When I decided to leave, he didn't even put an effort to stop me.

The customer is always WRONG in Dubai!
Due to such horrible attitudes, many restaurants are loosing loyal customers.

I think thats the best description yet. The customer is always wrong LOL !

Reminds me of a joke about customer service:

Man get on an airplane and finds himself seated next to a parrot (as you do)

When the stewardess comes round just after take-off offering drinks he orders a beer, to which the parrot adds "Yeah and bring me a large whisky ya skinny a$$ed beyatch!"
The hostess is rightly upset and shuffles off, returning a few minutes with the large whisky, but without the beer. She apologizes saying she was upset and that she will bring it to the passenger immediately. At which point the parrot pipes up again and says "And while you are up there, bint, bring me some fecking peanuts ya slaag!"
The hostie runs off in tears and returns a little time later with the peanuts but has, yet again, forgotten the guys beer.
He thinks about this and says to himself that, despite the abuse, the damn parrot has a whisky and a packet of peanuts in front of him and he is left striking matches on his tongue. He thinks the abusive route might actually get him his long awaited beer. He turns to the now weeping stewardess and says "Right hooer, bring me an effing beer ya slapper!"
At this point the hostess runs off and weeps to the purser and he gets the flight security guy and they throw both the parrot and the passenger out of the door at 15,000 feet!

Whilst they are falling towards earth, the parrot turns to the guy and says:

"You are pretty ballsy...

for someone who can't fly!!"



Knight