Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Rude Service
Encountered the rudest service ever at a travel agency yesterday. Now this is a reasonably reputable travel agency, which has always seen many customers and I was quite appalled at being treated as such by the person. This is what happened:
The receptionist directed me to this agent. So I sat down and asked him the usual stuff like how is the weather like in Japan now and when is the peak season and the price etc etc. To the best of my knowledge I was being very courteous, smiling and all as I asked.
But the man kept replying in a huffy tone and rolling his eyes as he replied. After a while he wasn't even interested in replying but sat in a sullen silence as I tried to jot down the price etc, continuing to ask. When I asked to borrow a pen, he kinda threw it to me. And he did not even bother to enlighten me more on the differences between some tour packages, but used his standard lines of,"People travel there at ALL seasons! It depends on what you want to see!" and "The two packages, well, it depends on what you want to see!" rolling his eyes all the while.
At last, I looked at him straight in the eye and said in a quiet tone,"Excuse me, why are you so impatient? I was just asking." That was when he seemed stunned into silence and did not dare to look me in the eye. The phone rang and saved him from further embarrassment. I stood up and left, telling the receptionist that the man was very rude as I did so.
People told me I shd have just asked for his name and called for the manager right then and there. Well, I was very angry, esp as I felt I did nothing to provoke such a response from him. As a customer, I have every right to ask and compare prices. He cannot expect me to just go straight up and want to book seats with them immediately, can't he? As a travel agent, he did not even deliver the very basics of customer service, but was outrightly insolent. I don't know what sort of boss he has, but I don't wish on him the same treatment as he did me, so I just left without creating a scene. Hopefully, he has learnt his lessons for the day.
Aunt and cousin told me that particular travel agency has a reputation for having bad service later on. Ah well. Mom even said that perhaps some people look down on customers who speak Chinese. Think that is crazy, given that the travel agency is located in Chinatown and I think the Chinese-speaking probably make up a majority of their customers. I like to speak Chinese to people I am close to and oso when I am trying to establish a closer rapport with some people, so there is nothing I can do if he does have such a prejudice towards the Chinese-speakers.
In contrast, a rival travel agency was so polite and helpful. Not only did the travel agent helped me select confirmed departure date without my asking, but oso told me which places are nice and what to do there. He oso pointed out the selling points of each itinery and gave suggestions etc. That was the sort of service that will keep me coming back as a customer.
The receptionist directed me to this agent. So I sat down and asked him the usual stuff like how is the weather like in Japan now and when is the peak season and the price etc etc. To the best of my knowledge I was being very courteous, smiling and all as I asked.
But the man kept replying in a huffy tone and rolling his eyes as he replied. After a while he wasn't even interested in replying but sat in a sullen silence as I tried to jot down the price etc, continuing to ask. When I asked to borrow a pen, he kinda threw it to me. And he did not even bother to enlighten me more on the differences between some tour packages, but used his standard lines of,"People travel there at ALL seasons! It depends on what you want to see!" and "The two packages, well, it depends on what you want to see!" rolling his eyes all the while.
At last, I looked at him straight in the eye and said in a quiet tone,"Excuse me, why are you so impatient? I was just asking." That was when he seemed stunned into silence and did not dare to look me in the eye. The phone rang and saved him from further embarrassment. I stood up and left, telling the receptionist that the man was very rude as I did so.
People told me I shd have just asked for his name and called for the manager right then and there. Well, I was very angry, esp as I felt I did nothing to provoke such a response from him. As a customer, I have every right to ask and compare prices. He cannot expect me to just go straight up and want to book seats with them immediately, can't he? As a travel agent, he did not even deliver the very basics of customer service, but was outrightly insolent. I don't know what sort of boss he has, but I don't wish on him the same treatment as he did me, so I just left without creating a scene. Hopefully, he has learnt his lessons for the day.
Aunt and cousin told me that particular travel agency has a reputation for having bad service later on. Ah well. Mom even said that perhaps some people look down on customers who speak Chinese. Think that is crazy, given that the travel agency is located in Chinatown and I think the Chinese-speaking probably make up a majority of their customers. I like to speak Chinese to people I am close to and oso when I am trying to establish a closer rapport with some people, so there is nothing I can do if he does have such a prejudice towards the Chinese-speakers.
In contrast, a rival travel agency was so polite and helpful. Not only did the travel agent helped me select confirmed departure date without my asking, but oso told me which places are nice and what to do there. He oso pointed out the selling points of each itinery and gave suggestions etc. That was the sort of service that will keep me coming back as a customer.
// posted by Jenn @ 10:29 AM 
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