Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charlieDD]

Just 30 minutes ago, I'm in a shop in Insadong called Ye Chon (directly up from Fraser Suites / Coffee Bean, facing Nok Won; words in English Ye Chon). It sells the usual Insadong stuff. I'm about to buy 10 sheets of tissue paper. Getting my 10,000 out to pay the aujumma, who's a bit cold, but doing her job.

Two guys come in - - look to be Indian, maybe Sri Lankan. They're carrying some postcards from her rack outside. One ask, in English, "How much are these?" . . and all hell broke loose. This lady starts going off on the guy in Korean:

"Where did you get these?"
"Why did you take them off the rack shelf?"
To her, I suppose, husband: "They've messed up my rack and they aren't going buy but one anyway."
Back to the guy" "Where? "Where did you take these from ?" leading him back outside, grabbing the cards from him and putting them back on the rack.

The stunned customer asks her again in Engliish, "How much are they" and the lady picks up one card that has a label on it and points at the price, in Korean, "1,500" "Can' you see it right there?"

At this point I put my tissue papers down on the counter, put my money back in my pocket, go outside and urge the guy to just walk away, telling him the woman is being wholly unreasonable, that he can find these anywhere and from a friendlier person.

I walk away; the guy walks away. She's left huffing and puffing about her postcard rack. You would think he had just disturbed a work of art.

Do you - - any of you - - foreign or Korean - - think the customer did anything wrong by picking some cards off the rack and bringing them to the cashier's counter to ask how much they are? I don't and I can think of no other reason for her outburst than xenophobia-imbued disdain for the customer.

I'll admit: I don't know what this lady has had to put up with in the past. Maybe she has had to endure similar customers stealing her cards; maybe . . maybe . . . I can't know her motivation. But, her reaction was so instantaneous, so full of anger and hatred, so supercilious . . . that I had to see it the way I did.

Again,the place: Ye Chon, just up from Fraser Suites / Coffee Bean, facing Nak Won (not that I'm calling for a boycott )

[Satori]

Well, I think the dude was pretty silly taking more than one card into the shop just to ask how much they are. And probably didnt need to ask at all if the price was on them. He should have looked at the price, and then just taken the ones he wanted to buy up to the counter. The response was unjustified though, and possibly xenophobic. One can't imagine the same diatribe against a Korean doing the same thing. The owners dont seem very suited to the artsy retail feild...

[stevieg4ever]

Totally uncalled for imo, the guy did practically nothing wrong or nothing that doesnt go on thousands of times in 인사동 on a daily basis.

I imagine these kinds of incidents are commonplace for 3D workers in Korea unfortunately.

Maybe he violated some cultural law or other

[itaewonguy]

the ajuma was a *beep*!!
the customer had all thw right to to ask how much are they..
he can take 5 off the rack if he wants! maybe he was gonna buy them if the price was right.. so he got them ready!
the woman does not belong in retail!!
and I have found KOREA is a place where they dont care about customer service!! you will find workers like this in all countries around the world.
of course its usually the owners who work like this...
I would have fought with the slag!! and told her off in korean!!

[jajdude]

I don't know. Sounds just plain stupid to me. Let's see, you are in the business of selling thing to customers in a tourist area and you act like that? Maybe you should try something else.

I love this little gem though: nicely put OP.

"xenophobia-imbued disdain"

[Homer]

Well...walk away and give your business to a friendlier store....

Satori makes a good point about it being a bad idea to bring the card rack to the front....but the store keepers sound like idiots.

Many more stores out there with great service...move on and forget it.

[Smee]

Yeah, that sounds like par for the course for a 3-D worker.

I haven't been to Insa-dong since December, but there's one shop I went to often for tourist-type stuff. I wish I had written down the name. The owner was very friendly, and it turned out she lived in Migeum (Bundang), in the apartment next to me. She gave me good deals on stuff, and she was always patient as I plied my limited Korean skillz.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It's perfectly normal to pick up a pile of stuff, carry them to the counter and ask for the total amount due. The woman is a geek.

Too bad the guy didn't know how to say, "You sure are a rude b*****" and leave the postcards on the counter when he leaves.

[Ilsanman]

I toured Insadong with my parents this week.

We did things like that. We picked up many things and looked at them, carried them around (a little), asked for prices, whatever. We bought a few things from a few different stores. We got no treatment like that, nor should we.

[Ekuboko]

[jaganath69]

Spread the word and deal with it the capitalist way, don't shop there. I met an Indonesian woman who lives here who told me she gets similar treatment in the markets as well. Most likely xenophobic.

[djsmnc]

Those poor and dirty Sri Lankans ought to keep their grubby paws off the merchandise

[coolsage]

The law that they violated was having darker skin than the proprietor. Welcome to the hub of Asia. Apparently the word hasn't trickled down to street-level yet.

[chronicpride]

[caniff]

Go to Namdaemun really early morning instead of Insadong if you wanna buy touristy stuff. MUCH cheaper (especially if you know how to haggle), and no crowds. Early morning means like 4 or 5 a.m. Some places are closed, but the ones that are open are hot to make that first sale of the day.