one day out leading to many strange events
So, I've said before that I'm supposed to go for a pre-employment medical examination. And so I did today.
I was supposed to be at the office by 3pm, but I only got there at 3.05pm. Reason? I was caught up reading Memoirs of a Geisha. It is really a captivating novel. I think everyone should read it.
After all the running to and fro from office to clinic to X-ray department, I finally sat myself down at Starbucks for my late lunch. It was there that I met these two outgoing girls studying art at NTU. Their names were Yoon and Trina and they approached me to request if they could take photos of my piercings and tattoos for their project. And being the nice person that I am, of course I obliged. =p
The three of us had a short chat of around 20 minutes about various topics, ranging from travel, to body art, to cigarettes. The two girls are smokers, you see. And as a gesture of goodwill, I offered them one of mine because they were sharing one Marlboro Menthol.
I think those two girls would have made perfect clubbing mates. They are so energetic and fun-loving.
After all that, I took a bus down to my new place because I was due to meet my renovator there to check on some issues that surfaced. When I boarded the bus, I moved to the back and stood there. This grandma, who was seated, promptly shifted away her shopping bags and gestured for me to sit down. I didn't want to, because I was going to alight after no more than 7 stops, and I didn't really liked those seats at the back that faced the windows anyway. So I shook my head.
Yet bus-stop after bus-stop, she kept gesturing for me to sit down. And I kept declining. Finally about 3 stops before I get off, she started looking at me and talking. So I took off my headphones which were blaring, and said "Huh?" because I didn't catch a word she said.
And guess what?
She spoke a string of Malay words that I didn't understand. I only caught the "tak mau" (don't want). So I gave her the raised-eyebrows "I don't understand you" look. And she started all over again in Malay.
Like what the fuck?! I look Malay?! Not the first time already, ok.
Then finally as I gave her more of my bewildered look, she finally said in Chinese: "You are Chinese ah?" *laughter* "You want to sit down or not? Don't stand there lah. Don't sit now then no more already."
I rejected her kind offer once again. And she finally left me alone.
Last notable event of today, read it for yourselves. I just copied the whole email and pasted it below.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing this email to you because slightly more than an hour ago, my friends and I received unjustified rudeness from your Assistant Outlet Manager (Cindy Chiah) at your Holland Village outlet.
One of my friends, a foreigner, was looking for the washroom, and asked for the directions from Cindy. And as the washroom is quite concealed, she was not able to find it. So she went to ask Cindy again to confirm the directions. When my friend emerged from the indoor area, Cindy followed shortly after, saying quite audibly "Stupid customer cannot even find the toilet." As she was saying that, she walked by our table at the alfresco area, so we all overheard it.
We asked her out to our table and asked her to justify her impolite attitude towards us and although she did seem apologetic while paying her apologies to my friend, we had already lost trust in her.
So thus I am sending this email instead of using the feedback forms.
Another issue was a waitress named Jean. She brought us our menus, only to serve the table behind us and then come back to us asking if she could take away two of the menus. Are they not supposed to retrieve the menus from inside instead of taking away the menus from other customers?
I would presume that the people seated at the table behind us were friends or colleagues who were off duty, as all the staff there were mostly chatting idly with them.
I feel disgusted by the service which was provided, especially from the supposed Assistant Outlet Manager. She was completely unprofessional and almost unethical in her behaviour. Should we be other customers who overheard her calling another customer "stupid", the integrity of "Coffee Club" would be entirely compromised.
I hope not to see this type of customer service any longer from any one of your outlets. Even though I should probably add that the service at the Orchard outlet is definitely better.
Best Regards,
Shelly Sim
I was supposed to be at the office by 3pm, but I only got there at 3.05pm. Reason? I was caught up reading Memoirs of a Geisha. It is really a captivating novel. I think everyone should read it.
After all the running to and fro from office to clinic to X-ray department, I finally sat myself down at Starbucks for my late lunch. It was there that I met these two outgoing girls studying art at NTU. Their names were Yoon and Trina and they approached me to request if they could take photos of my piercings and tattoos for their project. And being the nice person that I am, of course I obliged. =p
The three of us had a short chat of around 20 minutes about various topics, ranging from travel, to body art, to cigarettes. The two girls are smokers, you see. And as a gesture of goodwill, I offered them one of mine because they were sharing one Marlboro Menthol.
I think those two girls would have made perfect clubbing mates. They are so energetic and fun-loving.
After all that, I took a bus down to my new place because I was due to meet my renovator there to check on some issues that surfaced. When I boarded the bus, I moved to the back and stood there. This grandma, who was seated, promptly shifted away her shopping bags and gestured for me to sit down. I didn't want to, because I was going to alight after no more than 7 stops, and I didn't really liked those seats at the back that faced the windows anyway. So I shook my head.
Yet bus-stop after bus-stop, she kept gesturing for me to sit down. And I kept declining. Finally about 3 stops before I get off, she started looking at me and talking. So I took off my headphones which were blaring, and said "Huh?" because I didn't catch a word she said.
And guess what?
She spoke a string of Malay words that I didn't understand. I only caught the "tak mau" (don't want). So I gave her the raised-eyebrows "I don't understand you" look. And she started all over again in Malay.
Like what the fuck?! I look Malay?! Not the first time already, ok.
Then finally as I gave her more of my bewildered look, she finally said in Chinese: "You are Chinese ah?" *laughter* "You want to sit down or not? Don't stand there lah. Don't sit now then no more already."
I rejected her kind offer once again. And she finally left me alone.
Last notable event of today, read it for yourselves. I just copied the whole email and pasted it below.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing this email to you because slightly more than an hour ago, my friends and I received unjustified rudeness from your Assistant Outlet Manager (Cindy Chiah) at your Holland Village outlet.
One of my friends, a foreigner, was looking for the washroom, and asked for the directions from Cindy. And as the washroom is quite concealed, she was not able to find it. So she went to ask Cindy again to confirm the directions. When my friend emerged from the indoor area, Cindy followed shortly after, saying quite audibly "Stupid customer cannot even find the toilet." As she was saying that, she walked by our table at the alfresco area, so we all overheard it.
We asked her out to our table and asked her to justify her impolite attitude towards us and although she did seem apologetic while paying her apologies to my friend, we had already lost trust in her.
So thus I am sending this email instead of using the feedback forms.
Another issue was a waitress named Jean. She brought us our menus, only to serve the table behind us and then come back to us asking if she could take away two of the menus. Are they not supposed to retrieve the menus from inside instead of taking away the menus from other customers?
I would presume that the people seated at the table behind us were friends or colleagues who were off duty, as all the staff there were mostly chatting idly with them.
I feel disgusted by the service which was provided, especially from the supposed Assistant Outlet Manager. She was completely unprofessional and almost unethical in her behaviour. Should we be other customers who overheard her calling another customer "stupid", the integrity of "Coffee Club" would be entirely compromised.
I hope not to see this type of customer service any longer from any one of your outlets. Even though I should probably add that the service at the Orchard outlet is definitely better.
Best Regards,
Shelly Sim
Shelly breathed again at 1:33 AM
<< Home