interesting approach to service

[kimdub]

You would think that if the person had a window to jump ahead and prepare something, they would share that with the customer and serve their drink.

That had been my thinking. It seems the employee had already broken the policy when he made the tea ahead of the other orders.

 

[William King]

But that opens the door to all sorts of abuses... think Indonesian workers in any government service department. Have you tried explaining, in detail, all the situations that would be suitable to allow someone to jump a queue, and when it is not ?

Easier just to say, follow this rule, no customers allowed to queue jump, no matter what.

 

[nosox]

There does seem to be a lack of initiative in the workforce here. As an example, I was doing a wall mount for a tv at a friends office yesterday, asked for a broom to sweep the drill mess up, a broom duly arrived but no dustpan..... not sure where she thought I would sweep it to.

 

[Anglian]

Talking of queue jumping, I was queuing up to pay for my eye test at the driving licence centre, when this guy pushed right to the front, I was about 3rd in the queue, I told him to piss off to the back, he got the message and pushed in behind me, there was quite a queue behind me, nobody said a word and he just grinned at me, really weird.

 

[PhilippeD]

The matter of employee motivation, which would have a direct impact in the quality of their service in this example, is a complex subject involving almost every point of management.

Definitely the self motivation of an employee is the base for have him motivated but too much often this motivation is killed by dictatorial manager.
I have ever been told by my boss in a private meeting for talk about a salary rise: If you are not happy with your salary just leave, I can replace you anytime.
I was the one debugging the other "more experienced/senior" and do innovation like implementing new method which reduce the fabrication time of 70% for one of their product.
Believe me my motivation was at it's lowest after the meeting and I didn't give a sh1t of their business after the meeting. Two week later I was out of there.

Indonesian are king for having boss believing they are god... Which lead to have employee with no brain waiting for order as it is what the whole society (culture?) is waiting from them.
Just take a look at the tread about why Indonesian prefer hire young employee... because they are no-brain and more easily manipulable.

 

[Vicissidude]

I seem to remember Starbucks and every coffee shop back in the states operating totally differently. I usually just get a "brew coffee" (the correct term is "drip" btw) if I go to Starbucks. The cashier would just grab a cup, turn around, fill it, then hand it to me. All during the transaction, no need to wait. Same for tea, I'm pretty sure. It's no different from grabbing a cookie or pastry and putting it in a bag. Why waste the barista's time? Their job is to pull shots (at Starbucks there's no literal pulling going on, but I digress), steam and pour milk.

In my first visit to Starbucks here I was really confused why I had to wait for a tall drip. Also, there's no half and half or milk at what we always called the milk station. I guess here it's just a sugar station? And asking for room is an odd request. I have to go wait for my drink, lean over, charm the barista with a really nice smile, and ask for a little milk in my coffee then thank them sincerely like they bent the rules just for me. C'mon I'm just getting a normal fucking coffee.

 

[Vanuatu]

I had an experience at Gloria Jean's coffee in Blok M. I had 5 50K gift certificates for Gloria Jeans (a gift from my bank) so stopped there with a friend and ordered two sandwiches, two coffees and a dessert to get close to 250K. I gave the cashier the gift certificates and they prepared the order, but when I went to pick it up the manager said they couldn't accept the gift certificates because I had folded them and they were damaged. I told him they were not "damaged" they were simply folded in half as they were to large to fit in my pocket. He said he could not accept them, handed them back to me and asked me to pay in cash. I refused and reiterated that the gift certificates were not damaged and that he should accept them. He refused and became upset that if I didn't pay he would need to throw out the food and coffee. I again told him I would be happy to pay using the gift certificates, he again refused so I walked out. I'm sure they had a memo about not taking damaged gift certificates and he was just blindly following some stupid rule, but these were in pristine condition, other than a sharp crease in the middle where they had been folded. I wasn't that disappointed, as I really don't enjoy Gloria Jean's sandwiches or coffee, but a free lunch is a free lunch, unless you've folded your GC.

 

[harryopal1]

These kind of nonsense procedures are by no means uniquely Indonesian. In the 60s I was at Gabo Island, just off the NSW Victorian borders, working as a relieving lighthouse keeper. At the end of my term I was to return to Melbourne and due to bus and train timetables I was to spend 2 nights at the Malacoota hotel and be paid for an extra two days. I found there was a flight to Melbourne the day I would get to Mallacoota and it was to cost 10 shillings more than the combined costs of hotel and travel let alone the extra salary. I asked if I could fly. Word came back from the Department of Shipping and Transport and the answer was 'no.' I offered to pay the difference. and was told , "Lighthouse keepers don't fly.' (Always thought this a great title for a book.)
A new water pump was required at one of the Bass Strait lights. The pump went to the wrong station but rather than acknowledge the mistake the unneeded pump was left where it was delivered and a new pump purchased for the needy station. This was the kind of management culture in place with that department.
At Cape Schanck lighthouse near the end of the financial year two workers turned up and spent two weeks not replacing tiles but simply moving them around on a roof and the workers were of course pout up at a hotel. The point of the exercise was the budget allocation for this work had to be used up before the end of the financial year otherwise next year's allocation would be reduced.
Years later I worked freelance for the ABC. I was making an application for a loan from a finance company and needed to show my income. I asked the accountant at the ABC for a statement showing my earnings. This put the accountant, Mr Vernon into a fluster. He opened and shut drawers and fluttered about for some minutes and then said he couldn't give me a statement because it was 'private.'
"Yes," I agreed. "It is private and as it is my income I think you can give me the information."
Mr Vernon went on to explain there was no precedent and he was unable to give me a statement.




To get

 

[Scooterindo]

Talking of queue jumping, I was queuing up to pay for my eye test at the driving licence centre, when this guy pushed right to the front, I was about 3rd in the queue, I told him to piss off to the back, he got the message and pushed in behind me, there was quite a queue behind me, nobody said a word and he just grinned at me, really weird.

I had this in the airport check in desk at Surabaya a couple of years ago, this arrogant prick just marched straight up to the front of the queue. When I challenged him, he turned round and gave me such a dirty look to which I replied "what ?? you wanna say something to me ??" Fearing an altercation, the check in girl at the desk timidly told him there were other people waiting in the queue and took the ticket of the lady in front of me. He got the message and indignantly went to the back of the queue. I wasn't surprised that if I hadn't piped up nobody would have challenged him as it would have appeared "rude" to do so. Even after this long living here, and always trying to be "culturally sensitive" I still cant get my head around this timid say nothing mentality.

 

[Anglian]

I had this in the airport check in desk at Surabaya a couple of years ago, this arrogant prick just marched straight up to the front of the queue. When I challenged him, he turned round and gave me such a dirty look to which I replied "what ?? you wanna say something to me ??" Fearing an altercation, the check in girl at the desk timidly told him there were other people waiting in the queue and took the ticket of the lady in front of me. He got the message and indignantly went to the back of the queue. I wasn't surprised that if I hadn't piped up nobody would have challenged him as it would have appeared "rude" to do so. Even after this long living here, and always trying to be "culturally sensitive" I still cant get my head around this timid say nothing mentality.

Theres a sort of I've got to be in front syndrome, you see it at the Toll booth, someone will overtake as far as he can in the car queue and push in, the motor bikes at traffic lights that jockey to get to the front until they are half way across the road blocking traffic, motor bikes shooting red lights because they cannot be bother to wait for a green, the driver who thinks his lane is going too slow so he changes lane by pushing in, only to find he is in the slow lane again and tries to get back, amazingly placid, try these stunts at home will generate road rage

 

[wanderer]

Love the business class flight posting.

When I went to get my first credit card from a local bank I was told I could get one but being a foreigner I had to deposit 110% in an account for the amount of credit limit I wanted. No problem as I only need a small limit so all the forms were filled in, the money was transferred to the account and then I waited for the few days she said it would take. PS. They do pay interest on the money I deposited albeit not very much.

I received a phone call a few days later saying that there was an issue as I had not provided a contact in Indonesia who could verify who I was. I told the girl that this is not needed as I already paid into an account to cover the credit limit and that I would not be a credit risk as if anything happened they had the funds to pay off the card. She kept stating company policy and I kept repeating the same thing and eventually asked to speak to the manager. She said she would try and sort it out. Needless to say, a few days later the card arrives. Hard work sometimes to explain things to people who are only told to do as the system says.

 

[rabbit_39]

Mos burger Plaza Senayan :
1. Sit down and ask for the menu
2. Get the menu and order an iced tea while browsing the menu
3. Ice tea arrive and order a set menu that includes a drink
4. Waitress asks and argues that I must want 2 drinks. The one I ordered first and the one that came with the menu
5. Tired of arguing with the waitress, I asked for the manager. Manager has the same mindset and even tried to explain to me slowly and a little bit loudly as if I'm retarded. I ordered the drink first, and then since I ordered a set menu that includes a drink, I must want 2 drinks. I got up and left.

 

[Vanuatu]

Mos burger Plaza Senayan :
1. Sit down and ask for the menu
2. Get the menu and order an iced tea while browsing the menu
3. Ice tea arrive and order a set menu that includes a drink
4. Waitress asks and argues that I must want 2 drinks. The one I ordered first and the one that came with the menu
5. Tired of arguing with the waitress, I asked for the manager. Manager has the same mindset and even tried to explain to me slowly and a little bit loudly as if I'm retarded. I ordered the drink first, and then since I ordered a set menu that includes a drink, I must want 2 drinks. I got up and left.

I've had that happen a few times, they argue that the cash register has one drink inputed already and there is no way to input a combo order minus a drink and they can't delete the drink you ordered, so you get charged for the extra one, not just Mos Burger, but several restaurants.

 

[rabbit_39]

I've worked with several POS systems before, and it is darn near impossible that they cannot cancel an item off an order. Humans are known to make mistakes, what will they do if they entered an item that had just gone out of stock? Will the customer have to pay for it too?

It is perhaps possible that there exists somewhere a POS system without a cancel button. But in my opinion highly unlikely. It is more likely that they get penalized for canceling an item (horrible management practice), the manager who has the authority to cancel is not present (horrible management practice), or they don't know (horrible training procedure) . Just my opinion that is.

 

[Nimbus]

I'm more inclined to think that the cancel function is restricted to managers only. This is Indonesia after all, where corruption is common even in the private sector. The fear is that employees would abuse the cancel feature and give free meals to their relatives and cronies, or themselves.

I knew some people in USA who worked at gas stations. Even with a good system and competent management in place, they were still able to somehow skim a fraction of the sale for themselves. Imagine what 'creative' Indonesian employees can do.

 

[rabbit_39]

I'd believe and be okay that the cancel function is restricted for managers only. That's why at Mos Burger I called the manager. And her logic was the same: I ordered the drink first, therefore if I ordered the set meal with the drink I will get another drink. If she's not the real manager with the authority to cancel the drink item, where is he/she?

Perhaps this is a small thing, and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. It's not about the incident, but about the mindset and how this can be allowed to happen frequently and in many places. The real problem is not the incident itself. And the real problem is what needs to be fixed in general throughout Indonesia.

 

[Banana72]

I'd believe and be okay that the cancel function is restricted for managers only. That's why at Mos Burger I called the manager. And her logic was the same: I ordered the drink first, therefore if I ordered the set meal with the drink I will get another drink. If she's not the real manager with the authority to cancel the drink item, where is he/she?

Perhaps this is a small thing, and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. It's not about the incident, but about the mindset and how this can be allowed to happen frequently and in many places. The real problem is not the incident itself. And the real problem is what needs to be fixed in general throughout Indonesia.

I think many restaurants have their 'set menu' and they cannot be changed. At the very least if they knew in advance that you'd want to order a set menu with ice tea, they'll ask you if you wanted the ice tea first. I've been to Bakso Afung and they have sets of different bakso/tahu/etc mix and would not change at all. Again it's probably the management wanting to just make things 'fool proof' for the employees (at the cost of the customer's inconvenience/rigid ordering system). I went to Jco and they had the "Avocado with mocha swirl smoothie". I asked the server, if I can order JUST the avocado with the mocha". He say, no it's how the way they need to make it. I had to repeat the order three times, before the manager (behind him) said "Yes pak, bisa tidak pakai mocha" (and gave the server guy the dirty look and shaking his head subtly).

Same like you rabbit...my fifth year in Jakarta. I've survived all that and getting better. Things that would've given me chest pains, now I can just witness and laugh it off.

 

[rabbit_39]

Now just to clarify, I didn't ask them to change what's on the set menu. The set menu includes iced tea in the drink list. Just that I ordered the iced tea first. Even if the servers can't cancel the initial iced tea order, where's the manager who can? What if they'd put in my order and that particular burger was out of stock? No one can cancel that item?

Is it wrong to expect that we can complain about this at the restaurant, have one person who's somewhat competent actually have the light bulb come on and fix the issue so that it doesn't happen again? This is continuous improvement. Something to aspire to, no? Or do we just let Indonesia and Indonesians be like it is now?

Okay, my mistake is assuming that people want improvement, or even want to be better.... It's hard for me not to try and fix things that's in front of me...

 

[Anglian]

Has anyone been to Ace Hardware lately, I'm sure I saw a sign which said faulty items will be replace, the sign now seems to be covered by a big box, anyway I told my wife not to buy electrical goods from Ace, so unbeknown to me she buys a kettle, I go to Perth , I come back, low and behold the kettle boils but doesn't cut out, so she takes it back, she is told o the warranty is only 2 weeks, I stick my nose in and tell her the kettle didn't last 2 weeks get the manager, this timid chap appears and I berate him about his crap kettle he agrees to repair, so off it goes for repair, one week, that was 3 weeks ago, maybe tomorrow, it might be fixed, would be better if they gave us the money back, but hardly likely

 

[Davita]

Re post# 39 by Anglian
I agree..Ace is an American franchise and if they had the same return policy there they'd be out of business by now.
I hate shopping in ACE as nearly all product is from China and should be cheap but isn't...and they have such a limited return policy when the crap doesn't work.
Unfortunately some items can only be sourced from ACE or are hard to find in Bali. However, I never buy any lighting equipment before checking Graha Multi Daya Electric at 62 Jl Teuku Umar first...