I just entered an internet cafe and sat at a computer. Being the only one here I felt pretty lucky. I didn’t seem to be interupting the counter boy. I asked if I should sit here since it was the onllly computer on. Looking at me with light brown contact lenses on he gave the nondiscript “Hao” we are all accustomed to. Suddenly the Laoban walked in , presumable his Mother by the rapport they show. He starts to prepare a drink for me which is nice but to my American way of thinking pointless if you don’t ask me what I’d like to drink. I know, Im too picky. I catch him before he gets too far into the process, “Do you have hot tea? I ask. He puts on some motivational music: Cha-Cha !!
Settting up the internet to explore this site a tall glass of room-temperature milk tea is placed before me witha pink straw in it. I take the straw out as I usually do, after all I am not a child anymore. I guess I am just used to it now but I can’t explain why I had to inspect my drink. Lucky I did because I found a fly floating at the top of my drink. No, this is not a spoof on the old standard “Waiter, there is a fly in my soup” joke.
I laugh reluctantly, the kind of tired laugh of a foriegner who has lived here long enough to loose his standards. Laoban hears me and inquires, “Is there something wrong with the tea?”
I pull the pink straw out still and put it close enough for her to see the little critter on the end of it. " Xiao Pengyou” I call it and she gets a littel laugh of her own.
Now, the multiple question begins…
What did the Laoban do?
A. Get me another straw.
B. Shrug and claim it is a local tradition to put flies in the tea.
c. Apologize and prepare a new drink.
I’ve a somewhat similar story (the one above is hysterical). It’s about the TGI Fridays up on Tun-Hwa North Road. Their service standards are LOUSY.
I was there a few years back (and have tried to avoid it as best I can since then) having a late lunch with a friend, ~ 3 pm I think. The restaurant was clearly not busy given the time of day it was. But we waited 20 minutes to get seated. And that was fine.
We had to wait another 20 minutes before anyone would come to take our order. And that was fine too, because my friend and I were enjoying the time we had to catch up. But once the food was ordered, we had to wait another 30 minutes before it came.
When it came time to pay the bill – and here’s the kicker – no one would pay any attention to us. We waved at the wait staff at the cash register, and they waved back. We waved again and it SEEMED like someone would be right over, but no one came. Another 30 minutes went by and by then, I was PISSED AS HELL.
Finally, my friend and I decided that instead of CHARGING THEM for wasting OUR time, we were going to stop by the ladies room downstairs, and if by then they did not care to take our money, we were going to walk out of that restaurant.
And that we gracefully did. The best part was having the front door open for us, and the door greeters bowing low and thanking us for coming. That’s about the only thing they do well when it comes to customer service.
True. The service here is chronic and people would not last two seconds in the west.
One thing that really drives me nuts is the chicks who answer the phone and say, “Just a moment,” before you even get a chance to make a request. Then some other no-brain does the same thing. This goes on while I generally practice my best swear words in Chinese.
Once in TGI Fridays, one of the clowns with the funny hats and badges gave me my French fries and returned with the sauce I had requested 15 minutes later. By which time the fries were half-eaten and cold!
By anybody’s standards, that is truly pathetic…I sometimes think it’s a form of passive aggression.
[quote=“Anonymous”]I just entered an internet cafe and sat at a computer. Being the only one here I felt pretty lucky. I didn’t seem to be interupting the counter boy. I asked if I should sit here since it was the onllly computer on. Looking at me with light brown contact lenses on he gave the nondiscript “Hao” we are all accustomed to. Suddenly the Laoban walked in , presumable his Mother by the rapport they show. He starts to prepare a drink for me which is nice but to my American way of thinking pointless if you don’t ask me what I’d like to drink. I know, Im too picky. I catch him before he gets too far into the process, “Do you have hot tea? I ask. He puts on some motivational music: Cha-Cha !!
Settting up the internet to explore this site a tall glass of room-temperature milk tea is placed before me witha pink straw in it. I take the straw out as I usually do, after all I am not a child anymore. I guess I am just used to it now but I can’t explain why I had to inspect my drink. Lucky I did because I found a fly floating at the top of my drink. No, this is not a spoof on the old standard “Waiter, there is a fly in my soup” joke.
I laugh reluctantly, the kind of tired laugh of a foriegner who has lived here long enough to loose his standards. Laoban hears me and inquires, “Is there something wrong with the tea?”
I pull the pink straw out still and put it close enough for her to see the little critter on the end of it. " Xiao Pengyou” I call it and she gets a littel laugh of her own.
Now, the multiple question begins…
What did the Laoban do?
A. Get me another straw.
B. Shrug and claim it is a local tradition to put flies in the tea.
c. Apologize and prepare a new drink.[/quote]
I wonder when we’ll be getting the answer to tis one?
It’s been 5 years already. 