In 2007 I was sharing my travel experiences by email - heres one about the lack of concern for customer service I encountered in Cambodia: Subject: Cambodian vs Thai culture in a nutshell Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:22:14 +0000 The Thais go out of their way to be polite. They have a deep understanding of service and hospitality and show great concern for each others feelings. That doesnt mean they cant be ruthless or treacherous if they have to be. They share a border with Cambodia and have been enemies in more centuries than theyve been friends. I was trying to characterize Cambodian culture and think I stumbled upon a key difference while staying at the City River Hotel (which is still a good hotel and still a great deal). I cant do the broken English well but there was a pre-printed sign taped to the room safe that basically said If you read the instructions for operating the safe and dont understand them, call the Front Desk for assistance. If you read the instructions, dont ask for help and lock yourself out of the safe and the safe is empty, we will not fix it until after you check out.. They also have a timed internet service and an alcove with six pcs. For $3 you are given a username and password allowing you to use the internet as many times as you want for a total of one hour during the next 24 hours. A timer and logout box are shown on the screen. Unfortunately, if you switch internet addresses, say from Comcast to Google or Yahoo, the meter and log out box disappear forever and presumably you have forfeited any unused time. That happened to me and I asked a bellman who was passing by about it. He ran to the front desk and a desk clerk took the long walk over, looked at the screen and said, yes, its gone. I asked him what he was going to do about it and he said Nothing, its gone.. I finished up and went to the Front Desk and delivered my I was in the hotel business for five years and Ill teach you about service lecture. I asked How do you think a guest feels when you go over, look at the loss theyve suffered because of your failure to fix a problem and basically say too bad? This must happen many times every day. Do you think that is good service? Are you in the business of upsetting your guests?. My service lectures often work (thats why I give them) and they did in this case too. The desk clerk said, Youre right. and produced a pre printed form for me to sign acknowledging that my log out screen had disappeared and giving me another username and password for another hour on the internet. So instead of fixing the disappearing screen problem, they print a form and then only use the solution if they really want to. And Im tempted to blame the French for this attitude too. Im off to Jakarta tomorrow at 5AM.. Ive only booked one night at my favorite hotel because the rates have gone from $40 a night to $47 a night since February. I think Ill stay a night in each of several cheap hotels and make sure Im getting the very best deal before my close Korean friend Mike and his fiance, Jin, come to visit for a few days on September 3rd. Im taking them on a tour of Indonesia, hopefully including Yogyakarta, the ancient, capital of Java; Parangtritis, which has a beautiful resort hotel high on a cliff overlooking a three mile stretch of beach ($50 a night) where you can gallop horses along the beach at sun up and sun set; Borobudur Temple, a massive Buddhist temple (larger than the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico) carved out of lava rock and one of the original Seven Wonders of the World; and Lake Toba in Sumatra, a very big hole in the ground filled with water with a city on a chunk of land in the middle of it.. And my letters at the end of the name jab has backfired, Professors that never used their degrees before are now signing off with them. Theyre a sensitive bunch, those professors. And yes, I already knew it was Ph.D. not PHD so dont get your knickers in a twist. Love, Bob.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:25:20 +0000
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