Job Discussion Forums

[Andy123]

I have been here for many years and have experienced the �normal� issues regarding customer service. I am no newbie to Asia.

During the last couple of months I have notice a marked change. I go to the supermarket 3 times a week and shop in the non-foreigner areas. I have noted an overt non-foreigner attitude.

The locals know who I am, where I live and that I speak enough Viet to make my transactions without reverting to body language. I patronage the same business�s on a weekly basis and know how to interact respectfully.

I have experienced several incidences in the last couple of months where the employees were grossly disrespectful and behaved like I was there to serve them. I never want a staff member to do something I can do including bagging my own goods. Never! I am no better than them nor are they better than I.

Two weeks ago I had a staff member in a supermarket �literally� push me aside to stock the shelves. Mind you I am twice her size. Three days ago I bought my groceries and had the women crush, and I mean crush all my vegetables while bagging them.

Yesterday, I made a major electronic purchase and wanted to pay by Visa. You would have thought the world came to an end. Then when I received my product, it was opened contrary to what the seal stated that I should not accept �if the seal was broken�.

After I had paid for the product the staff refused to give me the product or any paperwork. At this point, I know what to do and made a show of it. Who the hell do the Vietnamese think they are that they think that because they sell you something that they are doing you a favor!

In Vietnamese, I asked multiple times to speak to the manager and nothing ever happened. Surprise, surprise. In the past it never worked either.

I know for a fact that the staff receive a 10% commission and the time I spent selecting my purchase was less than 1 minute. Entitlement at its height.

Great business, great future.

[bobpen]

Undoubtedly customer service -- that is behavior and conduct of store or shop workers -- is something that Vietnam needs improvement on, and as they "ascend" it is bound to be only more volatile. I also have had a similar experience when buying an electronic item, for me it was a digital camera (canon). Evidence within the camera and suspicious behavior by the staff shows that it likely wasn't as "original" as was implied by the shop. They even forgot to write anything about the 12 month warranty on the receipt, and when I returned a few days later to ask him to, the guy suddenly insisted on it being 6 months. To take it a step further, he finally wrote it entirely in Vietnamese even with me asking to put a few words in English, he refused, although I could read some or much of it fine but still, it was what was implied. The typical rush you to buy and then rush you out that simply needs major improvement. Certainly not to say that every last person does bad business, but you really gotta dot every i and cross every t with these guys.

[DNK]

North or South?

Haven't noticed this stuff in HCM beyond the typical laziness.

Also, I think there was a thread on this about a month back you could look into...