Bad Service

Bizarre things have been happening to me. Was at the ehem, lingerie section at Takashimaya, wanting to buy some stuff. I picked out some seamless stuff, and asked the sales person what other colours does it come in. She pointed to some, and said, "Here. They got purple, they got yellow."

I looked at the purple and yellow stuff. Right. Firstly, I'm not into adventurous colours. Next, they were OBVIOUSLY NOT seamless.

Me:: Are you sure they are seamless??
Salesgirl:: Yah, should be. (in unconvincing tone)
Me:: I don't think so, you know.
Salesgirl:: I'm not sure. Actually, I don't know the difference.

Oh my gosh, some kind of product knowledge training she went through. Next, since this was the first time I was buying from this brand, I couldn't decide on which one of the two sizes to choose from. I was expecting her to take out her measuring tape and advise me. That's what they ALL do, don't they? But no. Instead, she told me that it depends on what size I'm more comfortable with. I got impatient and frustrated. She wasn't being helpful at all! I held up one of them, asking for the final time, "Do you think this one will fit better?" To which she replied, "I don't know. Is your backside big?"

I almost fainted. I'm never going there again. -_-

Service is such an important component of the customer experience. No matter how good your product is, if the service delivery sucks, you would have failed. Here we are, trying to be THE hub for everything, including shopping. GEMS (Go the Extra Mile Service) was something the tourism board wanted to instil in our service staff. From the incident, it is certainly disheartening to see that we are still a long way from reaching the desired standards.

I still recall how I was so impressed by the salesman in one of the shopping malls in Christchurch. I asked for a pair of shoes in a certain size, of which I sounded uncertain when I told him the size. He came back with TWO sizes, in case one didn't fit. Now, THAT is being proactive, anticipating customers' needs!