The Customer is Always Right, Right?

I have never really understood why customer service seems to be a challenge for some eating establishments here in Kuching.

I mean, I was under the impression, correct me if I am wrong, that the customer is always right. Right? Well, in some cases, wrong. Let me give you a little example from a recent bad experience.

As you have probably worked out by now, my family and I like to go to the Kuching International Airport sometimes to treat ourselves to a nice bite to eat. Now there are two places we have frequented at the airport - one is a branch of a well-known fast-food chain whose name starts with the letter K, and the other is a famous coffee outlet whose name starts with S and rhymes with 'Tarbucks'.

Just a week ago, I experienced just what customer service means in the fast-food joint at the airport. Now don't get me wrong - up to that point, there had been no problems with the staff, who have always been friendly, if a little robotic. You know the routine:

Fast food staffer: Good eveningsir, havinhere or takaway?

Me: Having here, yes. I'll have two sets number three, original, one burger meal, one set cheesy wodges, one regular fries, four regular pepsi...

Fast food staffer (after a lot of clicking and whirring of the cogs): OK, I repeedurorder, two set nummer three..............

and it goes on. Eventually, we get our food and sit down.

But last week, it all went wrong. When we sat down to start eating, we noticed that the girl behind the counter hadn't given us many tissues. Seeing as there were five of us, and we only had three tissues, this was a serious logistical problem. So, my dear wife asked one of the staff girls if we could have some more tissues.

And that's when it all went pear-shaped!

The girl returned, and slapped down a theatrically large wad of tissues onto our table, then walked off. I mean the wad of tissues was about as thick as a paperback copy of Lord of the Rings, and to my mind signified sarcasm and annoyance on the part of the girl. Annie picked up on that right away, and proceeded to go ballistic.

She called the girl back and threw the tissues back at her, screaming in indignation. With my son and I following behind, my poor missus then proceeded to the Manager's office, where she complained to the manager about the bad customer service she had received. The girl who had delivered the tissues, obviously in shock, disappeared round the corner, and after a few more stern words from my wife, and some calming down from my son and I, we brought this ugly encounter to a close, with apologies all round.

But the damage is done. My wife, being on chemotherapy as she is, sometimes gets a bit sensitive, and the rotten attitude of this serving girl set my wife off. Also, as Annie pointed out to me later on, it's also a matter of how you are dressed. Sometimes, if you are dressed simply, as my wife was that night, you get less respect from shop staff in Malaysia.

The serving girl had no way of knowing it I suppose, but my wife was only wearing a simple track top and slacks because she easily feels cold as a result of her condition. Maybe she should have been wearing a full baju kebaya with gold-laced tudung and bloody matching shoes and bag!

So the Kuching Airport branch of that famous fast food chain whose name starts with the letter K has been added to the list of eating places that will be permanently boycotted by Prof. Madder and his family, forever and ever until the sun turns into a red giant and dies.

The coffee joint whose name starts with the letter S, on the other hand, is the diametric opposite in terms of customer service. Every time you go there, you are greeted by a genuine smile by well-dressed staff who seem to be really nice young people. One of them is a former student of mine, who always likes to practice her English on me. I feel that going to this place is a genuine pleasure, and you are treated as someone special, even though you are probably the ten thousandth person they have talked to that day.

The staff of that coffee place know that every customer who enters a restaurant or cafe is special. They are more valuable than gold, and as precious as air and water. Their patronage pays the wages of all the staff who work there. The livelihood of the restaurant owner or manager depends on whether or not these customers come into their shops, and pay out their hard earned cash to sample the food or drink on offer.

So, eating place owners of Kuching and Malaysia, remember that you should respect your customers, regardless of what they look like, or how they are dressed. If they have money in their hands, hunger in their bellies and thirst in their throats, then they should be cherished like precious gems.

Malaysia, being a country of so many different eating places and food stalls, offers customers plenty of alternative choices, and they will take those choices if what you offer them is not up to the mark. And that includes customer service.

So I will only patronise the coffee bar whose name starts with S from now on, whenever I go for something to eat or drink at the airport. The extra cost is worth it, because their staff have never been rude to me or my family. They have what it takes to provide excellent service to their customers.

Now I'm sounding like one of those business books!!