Customer Service standards here

All the talk about Customer Service in Singapore in recent times has got me thinking and down to writing something here...yes at last you may think..altho this is a bit slow as the current hot topic in the net is Clapbangkiss aka Dawn Yang/Yeo and whether she actually did plastic surgery or not and everyone should be wondering whether Daphne Teo's blog was really closed by herself or was hacked...oh well...just some juicy bits for you

back to our topic

as a customer myself....since i shop so much and buy so much rubbish....and anyone with common sense should know..if you are a good customer(meaning easygoing but not so much that you are taken advantage of)you will most probably receive good customer service. However, there are times when that is not done or almost impossible. One very good example is the Charles and Keith store in Wisma Atria...at any peak hour, you will no doubt find the shop packed with ladies browsing at the store, the assistants rush in and out of the storeroom continuously and sometimes the place is so crowded you cant find someone to help you. If i were there, my motive would not be to browse leisurely, if i didnt want to get shoes, i wouldnt go in..if i did, my mentality would be...Step 1: look for something i like; Step 2: Find someone to help me get the size i need; Step 3: Pay and get lost. I'm not really looking for excellent customer service here. I just want the shoe, maybe a smile and a thank you see you again from the cashier and i'm off.

However, there are times when you are looking for something in a shop ( which if you are smart enough would choose a relatively empty store or a time when a busy store would not be so busy and would like some help or advice if you have no friends with you or you dont trust your friend's opinion and need a 2nd opinion.I have been to many stores with such people who are alright..some detached and polite while others warm and friendly. Like on tuesday , when i saw this earring shop in Far East Plaza, with rather nice earrings (not my usual loud and chunky taste, more dainty yet colourful), although i could tell the woman was trying to promote her wares to a potential customer, she did so in a polite way( although yes, you'd say she was trying to get you to buy the earrings anyway) although not warm but not off-putting in a way, more like informational. I didnt buy anything but i did find out that should any piece of crystal (they use genuine swarvoski crystals) get scratched, damaged or lost whatever, i could bring it back to the shop for damage control at a small fee of course, ...as i have experienced this kind of trauma before (gasp! part of your favourite pair of earrings dropped off!), it is very good to know that i could get my piece fixed.

Then it was on to a shoe shop called mitsi or something...looked at this pair of shoes and tried it on, but found it wierd, so...i asked for my size and the assistant obligingly help me, she was very pretty with long curly hair ( i think). I didnt buy the pair in the end...but she smiled at me anyway.

At gripz, i couldnt really decide whether the pair of yellow pumps i chose..as usual..the bf is of no help...so i asked the assistant, who was very warm and friendly, she por me a bit(customer mah)...but i dont really know if that was her genuine opinion, she said my skin tone is not that yellowish so i could take yellow, then told me that she cant take yellow as she felt her own tone was yellowish..she was wearing a pair of shimmery flats that was on display and told me that their shoes are very comfy which i sincerely believe she thinks its true ( the way she said it and the fact that she showed me her scars from her previous problems with shoes). She also bought the pair i bought in grey...and she did inform me that it takes a few wears before the shoe is seasoned..and after it is, you'd have no problems. Today and yesterday i have been trying to season them, as i was warned it would be uncomfy, i prepared bandages today and got some from others yesterday. The product itself has got nothing to do with customer service, which many people make the mistake of mixing together and end up berating sales staff and customer service staff who arent responsible for product defects. They can only rectify the situation through replacements and whatnots at their discretion. I received great customer service, she made me feel so comfortable and at ease talking to her, whether the pair of shoes will serve me well is another matter altogether. I had other shoes that were uncomfortable on the first few years but are very comfortable now...tho there are some with no hope...

I dont rule out the notion that sometimes the staff may be having a bad day and may not be so polite. She IS a human after all, she is a allowed to gloat over something isnt she. However, when it comes to high end luxury stores, i wouldn't walk in unless i was with my mother. Firstly, it is highly unlikely that i would buy something while i was there, secondly i cant afford it, thirdly neither am i allowed by my mother to charge an exorbitant sum to the card she gave me. As i'm a pretty aloof customer whether they greet me or smile at me or give the me dirty looks( like i cant afford it) or not, i am and would most probably be oblivious to it. I prefer to walk around and look, feel and touch at my leisure, smile at me or whatever, if i notice i will smile back (that is if the smile is noticeable not just curving you mouth up a fraction of a nano-cm). Then if i need something i will approach you, i dont like people to hang at my back , i'm not such an important person.

Of course no sales staff should let the customer(if the customer really cannot get it herserlf like a new piece from the storeroom of smthing) wait so long that it pisses her off, it's business after all...

It really take 2 hands to clap for a win-win situation, as long as you ask politely, chances are you'd get what you need. These people are not here to serve us, they merely assist us to get what we need (admit it, sometimes you can get what you need yourself, you're just lazy...how many times have we asked for a certain size only for the sales staff to walk back to the same shelf and pick out the size needed for you?)

If you really want to compare customer service standards with that of the US, of course there is no fight. The US stores and retailers are more flexible with the returns, refunds and exchanges that customers make, much more so than local stores and retailers. I suppose this has to do with money conscious singaporean companies who try as much as possible to lower costs. Even the american store in singapore 'Forever 21' has a refund system where they refund vouchers to you instead of cash, 'Metro' although local had a credit refund system which was efficient and commendable, where they would give you a pink slip with the credits you have for returning an item...not sure if it was available to everyone or just metro cardmembers. I do admit there could be an improvement in this area. This would increase the amount of flexibility customers would have and can at the same time improve customer relationships with brands and stores.