![](\"http:\/\/www.practicalnudity.com\/Images\/Artwork\/Slater-GOOD-VS-BAD-SERVICE.jpg\")
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I simply detest bad service and I make no apologies for it. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m just back from a couple of weeks in New Zealand where I toured the countryside sampling a variety of businesses, small and large, from Wellington to Christchurch. The experience drove home to me why our Kiwi cousins are sky-rocketing in the world tourism stakes. As far as down-home, friendly service, New Zealanders leave us for dead.<\/p>\n
Taking my two primary school-age kids for a meal at a popular hamburger restaurant reminded me of the depths of our service ineptitude. Gone are the smiles, the cheery greetings and the genuine effort to give the customer a positive experience. Instead I got a surly glaze, a convincing rendition of that most hair-raising greeting; \u201cU Rite?\u201d – and a free long wait.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just poorly trained teenage drop-outs in tacky takeaways that goad my ire. Dining at a half-decent seafood restaurant recently, I drew the manager\u2019s attention to a crab with an unhealthy aroma of toilet cleaner. \u201cI\u2019ve checked with the cook sir, and he says it\u2019s fine,\u201d was the condescending response. Since when does a cook season crustaceans with Harpic?<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m the first to admit not all customers are deserving of one\u2019s best service effort. But I contend that when faced with a difficult and unyielding client, your skills in customer service are quickly exposed. <\/p>\n
Contempt for the customer\u2019s money is a sure-fire recipe for financial failure, yet some Aussies clearly resent the intrusion of cash-wielding customers eating into their leisure time behind the counter. <\/p>\n
So what am I really complaining about? The key is training: training for managers and training for staff. There simply is no excuse for poor service in a climate of high business failure, troubling unemployment and increased competitiveness. Staff can\u2019t answer phones properly, can\u2019t greet customers, can\u2019t spell and sometimes can\u2019t even talk. Who hires these people?!<\/p>\n
I call upon customers \u2013 and that\u2019s all of us \u2013 to revolt against shoddy service. Commend that waiter or staff-member for good service and remind others that their standards do not meet your expectations!<\/p>\n
So when next challenged with, \u201cYou right there?\u201d respond in a loud, confident tone;
\u201cOf course I\u2019m right, I\u2019m the customer!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I simply detest bad service and I make no apologies for it. I\u2019m just back from a couple of weeks in New Zealand where I toured the countryside sampling a variety of businesses, small and large, from Wellington to Christchurch. The experience drove home to me why our Kiwi cousins are sky-rocketing in the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}