Customer Service Reflection: The Pot That Boiled Over
By now everyone has heard the story of Shammy Gonzales, who was doused with a pot of hot oil by a KFC worker who he reportedly hit.
This IS MADNESS!
But there’s an underlying issue that lead to the incident, which was partially covered in this Guardian article on the oil bath.
On September 23, in the height of TT Restaurant Week I was part of group chat on poor customer service at various restaurants in the country.
I began to raise the point that while admittedly customer service is largely poor in Trinidad and Tobago, it’s allowed to fester because the average customer reciprocates the bad service with a poor attitude or demeanor.
Which by all means encourages waiters and waitresses to be better at their jobs.
Think I’m wrong, how many of you when having received service not to your standard have:
A) Politely pointed out your displeasure without being condescending
B) Given the waiter the “glare” or changed your body language to signal your displeasure.
C) Publicly criticised the service and vowed never to return (social media counts)
D) Got into a verbal argument with the waiter and manager of the establishment
I may be presumptuous but I’d bet that A is the rare occurrence.
The topic quickly switched to customer service at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It was here I realised how generally inconsiderate Trinidadians are with regards to the situations faced by customer service representatives.
I asked various people, both within the chat, my workplace and social media if they got offended when they received “bad” service at KFC and close to 70% of the respondents said,”Yes.”
Well would you?
(I’m also still seeking answers for the apathy question for the record)
Why?
Because, “it’s their job to be courteous” and various other variations of that was the common refrain.
So then I asked, have you ever considered what that cashier or that attendant had to go through before they served you?
And another common response to that was, “What that have to do with me?” or “That’s not my business.”
But indirectly it is, because it’s invariably part of the reason your service is bad or your attendant is rude.
So because they serve you food, they aren’t human, and God forbid have feelings and limits.
Have you ever really paid attention to the multitudes of people the KFC attendant has to interact with and supposedly remain upbeat and pleasant toward?
How many of us have heard stories of people confronting KFC attendants unprovoked? And I know quite a few who have witnessed it first hand.
Stop at any high traffic fast food outlet and observe the crowd for an hour.
How many “Good mornings, good days or good afternoons” or “Thank Yous” did you hear?
How many “I’m hungry, I’m angry, I’m ignorant” customers did you see?
How about the “Hey Darlings” who rinse the cashiers to get more breast and thigh (both types) guys you noticed?
Or the bratty teenagers?
Or the I just came off my shift and smell like it people?
How long would you manage to be all cool and unfazed by this bombardment?
But it’s their job! They supposed to be trained to handle all that!
Yes it’s their job. What’s that saying? If you enjoy your job it will never seem like work.
How many people enjoy working at KFC? In fact how many people dream about being a KFC cashier?
It’s not a very fulfilling job in terms of pay or work environment.
In fact its a job that is largely looked down upon.
One of my secondary school teachers told me I would shame my school if I took a summer job at a fast food outlet.
In the various hot spots there are unemployed youngsters who won’t ever consider working KFC or other fast food outlets because it would be demeaning to them, making crime more appealing.
Low pay and bad treatment, so how inspired is the fast food worker going to be?
Especially when many of their customers remind them how low they are on the food chain?
But it still isn’t your business right?
It’s bad enough that there is a growing gap between the have and have not in our society.
It’s also bad that with the expansion of the internet, those who don’t have are getting a greater idea of how that gap is expanding.
Trust me, those that don’t have the internet to see it, see it on the avenue with the luxury cars that zoom pass or newspapers that highlight the estates of slain attorneys or the salaries of various executives in their investigative reporting.
It’s only making the pot boil even more.
Everyone has their limit and perhaps Mr Gonzales thought it wasn’t his business either.
And now there is a 32 year old mother who had a job who is currently facing a criminal conviction on an assault with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm charge.
Cloudy Musing: Trinidad and Tobago’s Dark Perception
How is Trinidad and Tobago really perceived?
It’s a question that has roamed around my head for much of the past week, especially with recent social media arguments or outbursts about various incidents that have taken place in our country of late.
The argument which formed the embryo for this blog came via the outrage shown by many about First Lady Reema Carmona’s choice of attire for a fashion event.
My opinion on her dress is not going to be discussed here, but rather the assertions that she was creating the wrong image of Trinidad and Tobago.
This suggestion, I found particularly ridiculous, as I couldn’t imagine the world drawing an idea of our twin island state from a photograph which I believe didn’t really garner that much attention overseas. Correct me if I’m wrong.
But this blog post took further shape when this US report came to my attention.
The fact that we’re listed at level critical is very worrying, but what’s interesting is that within our shores the acting Commissioner of Police claims that serious crime (except for murder) is down.
A fact that actually is noted in the report.
So then how is it that we’re at level critical?
Combing through the report, there isn’t any significant revelation or suggestion really. Any citizen who has paid attention to the news in the past few years could have written the report. There isn’t a suggestion of any new information such as an uprising and the report was actually published before the Besson Street police station was reportedly shot at by irate residents of Desperlie Crescent.
Writer’s note: Many of the murders seem more heinous and brazen than before, not to mention the recent significant murder of senior counsel and special state prosecutor Dana Seetahal.
But what makes the report’s origin sound even more local in origin is the tone, the average Trinidadian sounds just as decidedly cynical about our situation to the very point that any semblance of positive change almost always is dismissed or met with skepticism.
Perhaps it is there we’ve hit critical.
It may seem we have become apathetic to what’s going on. It’s like we just expect it to get worse.
Now to briefly tie in the issue I opened this blog, I got extremely upset that people were so passionate about Mrs. Carmona’s attire when there clearly is a bigger issue to actually give a hoot about, like the crime situation and our attitude to it.
I put this argument to my family and got some interesting responses. Their argument was that if it got push in local media meant it was known worldwide and was yet another contribution to the growing negative reputation Trinidad and Tobago is amassing.
The argument was pushed further that perhaps the continued revisiting of the Section 34 issue and other various scandals have made us more known for that than Steelpan, Calypso and Carnival.
Foreign nationals also similarly had a negative perception of local happenings, there usual sources of information: online newspapers and complaining locals both on and off social media.
Are we reinforcing the perception?
Headlines define us?
Sadly though, I honestly can’t say if the perception is that farfetched. I do think that we’re not as bad as we think in some cases but maybe that’s just the hopeless optimist in me.
What say you?
What’s the perception of Trinidad and Tobago? How true is it?
Plain Talk, Good English 
Filed under: Everyday Commentary | Tags: Customer Service, Inequality, Trinidad and Tobago
By now everyone has heard the story of Shammy Gonzales, who was doused with a pot of hot oil by a KFC worker who he reportedly hit.
This IS MADNESS!
But there’s an underlying issue that lead to the incident, which was partially covered in this Guardian article on the oil bath.
On September 23, in the height of TT Restaurant Week I was part of group chat on poor customer service at various restaurants in the country.
I began to raise the point that while admittedly customer service is largely poor in Trinidad and Tobago, it’s allowed to fester because the average customer reciprocates the bad service with a poor attitude or demeanor.
Which by all means encourages waiters and waitresses to be better at their jobs.
Think I’m wrong, how many of you when having received service not to your standard have:
A) Politely pointed out your displeasure without being condescending
B) Given the waiter the “glare” or changed your body language to signal your displeasure.
C) Publicly criticised the service and vowed never to return (social media counts)
D) Got into a verbal argument with the waiter and manager of the establishment
I may be presumptuous but I’d bet that A is the rare occurrence.
The topic quickly switched to customer service at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It was here I realised how generally inconsiderate Trinidadians are with regards to the situations faced by customer service representatives.
I asked various people, both within the chat, my workplace and social media if they got offended when they received “bad” service at KFC and close to 70% of the respondents said,”Yes.”
Well would you?
(I’m also still seeking answers for the apathy question for the record)
Why?
Because, “it’s their job to be courteous” and various other variations of that was the common refrain.
So then I asked, have you ever considered what that cashier or that attendant had to go through before they served you?
And another common response to that was, “What that have to do with me?” or “That’s not my business.”
But indirectly it is, because it’s invariably part of the reason your service is bad or your attendant is rude.
So because they serve you food, they aren’t human, and God forbid have feelings and limits.
Have you ever really paid attention to the multitudes of people the KFC attendant has to interact with and supposedly remain upbeat and pleasant toward?
How many of us have heard stories of people confronting KFC attendants unprovoked? And I know quite a few who have witnessed it first hand.
Stop at any high traffic fast food outlet and observe the crowd for an hour.
How many “Good mornings, good days or good afternoons” or “Thank Yous” did you hear?
How many “I’m hungry, I’m angry, I’m ignorant” customers did you see?
How about the “Hey Darlings” who rinse the cashiers to get more breast and thigh (both types) guys you noticed?
Or the bratty teenagers?
Or the I just came off my shift and smell like it people?
How long would you manage to be all cool and unfazed by this bombardment?
But it’s their job! They supposed to be trained to handle all that!
Yes it’s their job. What’s that saying? If you enjoy your job it will never seem like work.
How many people enjoy working at KFC? In fact how many people dream about being a KFC cashier?
It’s not a very fulfilling job in terms of pay or work environment.
In fact its a job that is largely looked down upon.
One of my secondary school teachers told me I would shame my school if I took a summer job at a fast food outlet.
In the various hot spots there are unemployed youngsters who won’t ever consider working KFC or other fast food outlets because it would be demeaning to them, making crime more appealing.
Low pay and bad treatment, so how inspired is the fast food worker going to be?
Especially when many of their customers remind them how low they are on the food chain?
But it still isn’t your business right?
It’s bad enough that there is a growing gap between the have and have not in our society.
It’s also bad that with the expansion of the internet, those who don’t have are getting a greater idea of how that gap is expanding.
Trust me, those that don’t have the internet to see it, see it on the avenue with the luxury cars that zoom pass or newspapers that highlight the estates of slain attorneys or the salaries of various executives in their investigative reporting.
It’s only making the pot boil even more.
Everyone has their limit and perhaps Mr Gonzales thought it wasn’t his business either.
And now there is a 32 year old mother who had a job who is currently facing a criminal conviction on an assault with the intention of causing grievous bodily harm charge.