Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

IMO, customer service is inadequate here. I have had more experiences with poor service, in comparison to good service. Why is this?

Case in point: I went to several make-up counters at different dept. stores around Seoul, and as usual, they are sold-out of my color. I asked a store when they would get their next shipment in of my color. They told me a specific date. I returned to the store on that date, and they still didn't have it. I told the clerk that they were supposed to receive a shipment, and all I get is a phony, "Solly". I give the manager my #, tell her I want to buy 4 bottles so I don't have to truck all over Seoul again, and ask her to call when she gets the color in. I figured she wouldn't, and she didn't. I finally found the color at a different store, and yes, stocked-up on 4 bottles. It was insanely frustrating.

Same thing with the hair salon I've been going to for over a year. They totally f-ed up the color, because the stylist dropped the ball (he didn't communicate properly with his intern or assistant or whatever). I spent over 5 hours at the salon (it should've taken 2, max), and not once did they apologize (well, until my husband came along), and it clearly was their fault. Anyway, my husband explains that now I have to go to an even higher-end salon to fix the color (dye it for the 3rd time), have numerous re-conditioning treatments, and I'm very upset because my hair will probably fall out (it's happened before). They give me a free trim and a mini-re-conditioning treatment (because my husband asked for it), but we still payed 65,000 won for the color, and the color is normally 50,000 won. WTF? Is it really so hard to take responsibility for your mistakes, and compensate the customer? Not the first time I've had salon fiascos, either. Man, next time I'm walking out without paying.

Anyway, do you think Korean people just aren't used to the level of customer service that we are used to? I wonder if Korean people complain. I mean, if the salon fiasco happened to an ajumma, do you think she'd just say to herself, better luck next time. Too bad it's going to cost a lot of time, energy, and money to fix this, que sera, sera?

*Sorry about my verb tenses- I'll fix it tomorrow*

Crap- I'll fix THEM tomorrow. What's wrong w/me...

[peppermint]

Confucianist values don't really work well in a service based economy. Surely back in the day, there were stores. . why didn't Confucius add store clerk- customer to his list of important relationships?!

[ThePoet]

On my recent trip to the Philippines, I met a guy who owns a business in Canada. I saw he was wearing a rather funny shirt one day, and he explained he got it for his business and all of his employees wear it. It said:

"Customer Service Representative -

I'll try to be nicer, if you try to be smarter."



Poet

[billybrobby]

[seattlespew]

*.*

[Corporal]

[SuperHero]

In my experience customer service in KOrea is far superior to anything you get in Canada.

[Privateer]

[kermo]

Back home, there's a policy of enforced niceness. People are generally civil, even friendly, but rarely eager to help.

Over here, I am often met with spontaneous outpourings of sweetness, and it makes me wonder whether people aren't just nicer because they don't have to if they don't want to.

Case in point: I've visited this convenience store once before. I bought toilet paper, and we giggled a bit trying to communicate with my limited Korean. She gave me a little discount, which was nice.
I approached the store today, and this ajumma (standing outside) was so happy to see me that she skipped over to the door and insisted on opening it for me. I bought some treats for my class, and she handed me a hot (canned!) coffee after I paid. Why so friendly?

[SPINOZA]

Yet again my experiences are vastly different from those reported on this board.

Off the top of my head, I recall three instances of crap service. Just three.

In Seoul, even folks on the minimum wage in Starbucks or those smoothie places in Emart are thoroughly pleasant to me. The same occurring back home by someone on a few quid an hour is largely unthinkable. Having said that, England would make a poor comparison because service in England is infamously poor. Not only crap service and incompetence but also rudeness thrown in. It's an awful lot better than it used to be but it's still far behind the US and in my opinion Korea. I don't know anything about Confucianism but it seems to pervade Korean society if what people say on here is correct. England has a culture of class-hatred whereby everyone is extremely miserable and hates everybody else. A man of relative affluence like me goes into a shop to be served by someone on mimimum wage - great service unlikely. Then again, go into some swanky shop in London and that guy doesn't like me either because he's more affluent than me. Other societies I'm familiar with are more egalitarian and this comes across in the superior service.