was at the shopping mall during one of the weekday evening and witnessed this rather ugly and embarrassing incident. this was what i saw...
i was queuing up at yami yoghurt store to get a cup for mum. there was a guy in front of me. he was apparently trying to exchange a fully chopped loyalty card for a medium sized cup of yoghurt. but the service personnel couldn't do it for him as his card had expired since end-last month. grumpily, he walked off. and before i could even ordered my yoghurt, a woman (supposed the man's wife) marched up to the girl, raised her voice and demanded for the free yoghurt. she insisted that since the card was fully stamped, she was entitled to a free yoghurt. well, technically she was not wrong i thought. but the service personnel turned the card over, pointed out that the conditions stated that free yoghurt need to be exchanged before expiry date. the wife refused to accept the explanation. she insisted the girl must give her a free yoghurt. she added that we had all the boxes chopped before the expiry date!. the service personnel stood firm. mám, sorry, this is the condition stated and it is beyond me. i am really sorry. the wife was obviously not happy and shouted at the girl - "you people don't honour your own promise! hmmmph!" and she walked off.
hmmm, what a hostile ruckus over a s$3.40 cup of yoghurt. it was so obvious the couple was in the wrong. yet, they screamed at the service personnel. i took a second look at my own loyalty card and true enough, the words were typed out so clearly as part of the conditions! anyway, it was my turn to place my order. the service personnel smiled at me (in quite a resigned manner)... and said "i hope you understand, i am only an employee and i have rules to follow..."
i smiled. placed my order, took my cup of yoghurt and moved on. the behaviour of the wife was so typical of an ugly, kiasu, unreasonable and greedy singaporean. i felt embarrassed by her.
i was queuing up at yami yoghurt store to get a cup for mum. there was a guy in front of me. he was apparently trying to exchange a fully chopped loyalty card for a medium sized cup of yoghurt. but the service personnel couldn't do it for him as his card had expired since end-last month. grumpily, he walked off. and before i could even ordered my yoghurt, a woman (supposed the man's wife) marched up to the girl, raised her voice and demanded for the free yoghurt. she insisted that since the card was fully stamped, she was entitled to a free yoghurt. well, technically she was not wrong i thought. but the service personnel turned the card over, pointed out that the conditions stated that free yoghurt need to be exchanged before expiry date. the wife refused to accept the explanation. she insisted the girl must give her a free yoghurt. she added that we had all the boxes chopped before the expiry date!. the service personnel stood firm. mám, sorry, this is the condition stated and it is beyond me. i am really sorry. the wife was obviously not happy and shouted at the girl - "you people don't honour your own promise! hmmmph!" and she walked off.
hmmm, what a hostile ruckus over a s$3.40 cup of yoghurt. it was so obvious the couple was in the wrong. yet, they screamed at the service personnel. i took a second look at my own loyalty card and true enough, the words were typed out so clearly as part of the conditions! anyway, it was my turn to place my order. the service personnel smiled at me (in quite a resigned manner)... and said "i hope you understand, i am only an employee and i have rules to follow..."
i smiled. placed my order, took my cup of yoghurt and moved on. the behaviour of the wife was so typical of an ugly, kiasu, unreasonable and greedy singaporean. i felt embarrassed by her.
7 comments:
dislike those kind of peep, sometimes I subconciously curse them
i was so pissed off. there were onlookers and i thought they shook their heads too... sighs... the extent people can behave out of greed.
"i hope you understand, i am only an employee and i have rules to follow..." I am so so so so gonna use this sentence when i am facing this kinda situation next time!! FYI, this also happens over my place here, but not exactly the same scenario though..so damn pissed off every time, but i can't really scold them... if not later they will jot down my name, take out handphone and take my picture, and etc... >.<
heh heh... hi hi! nice to hear from you again sharks! ok, let me share this tip with you when you are faced with similar situation:
(1) "i hope you understand, i am only an employee and i have rules to follow..." always works... but make sure you follow through with...
(2) give the customer an option out. offer him a chance to seek redress. you can go something like - sir, i tell you what, you can call or write in to this number... la la la...
(3) always focus on what the issue is, see things from the customer point of view, offer an avenue to see redress, be sincere about your expressed regrets.
:-)
most importantly, don't let emotions take control, don't get angry. if you feel emotions welling up, breathe in, count to 10 and then respond...
heh heh... yes, as i say again, it's so nice to hear from you again!
Haha, thanks ya! You look very pro lo, I still have a lot to learn..EQ going down, gosh~ All the while they have been taking things for granted, that's why sometimes I really wanted to scold them, haha...but actually some of them are quite pity also la, just that it's not under my control, so I can't do anything as well..Yalo, I have been away for quite some time, hope you are still doing good lo!
hahaha... we always want to scold people inside us. normal la. but when it comes to customer service, to put crudely, they are the kings and queens (and some call them bitches)... as for us, we just have to smile, prostitute ourselves, take the money and say thank you...
:-)
A constant challenge in the service industry, but then the cahier/clerk acted rather professionally, hard to get employee like that. Dont worry, sill got hope in Singaporean lah~ hehe
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