I am the secret that you keep; MISS SCARLET.

Monday, December 08, 2008

bloody mainland-china staff

i just finished typing out an essay of a complain to 'four seasons durian cafe', which was another waste of my time added to the already-wasted 20 minutes i spent waiting in queue, only to be ignored by that damn china female cashier.

the essay went like this:

"date: 7th dec 2008. time: 7 p.m. outlet: takashimaya basement.

my boyfriend and i wanted to buy 2 of your durian pancakes and saw a queue snaking from the point where the pancakes were made to the cashier. we weren't sure how the "system" of ordering worked, as there was no "Q" sign/directions. seeing a lady in the queue, who was waiting for the pancakes, still holding cash in her hand, i assumed we had to order first and pay later.

then my boyfriend had a gut feeling we might've to pay first and tell the auntie making the pancakes our order thereafter. since we weren't sure, we just stood near the cashier, hoping the young lady manning the cashier could help us.

since she was busy with another customer who had a large order, we patiently waited behind while they sorted out their payment.we waited for about 10mins for her to be done with the customer in front of us and we even tried asking her if we can just order first, so that the pancakes can be made first, and we could pay later (since she was still busy attending to those customers). she didn't say anything, but just gestured for us to continue waiting. after 15mins, she was done and she "seemed" like she was taking note of our order because she did not really acknowledge my boyfriend when he told her what we wanted. she just gave ONE nod and carried on doing God-knows-what.

the whole time she was conversing in chinese to other customers still in the queue and did not utter a word of english even to those chinese-singaporeans in the queue who ordered in english. i just brushed this off, not wanting to make things more complicated.

all this while, an elderly man who had arrived just after we did had been wandering up and down the queue giving his order to the auntie preparing the pancakes. it was all confusing, i assume, as the elderly man soon became frustrated that his order was not understood. he then spoke to the young woman (the cashier) and explained the problem. i didn't understand a word of what he said but i could figure out that he was commenting on the fact that there was no signage/direction as to where the queue started/ended, and that he wasn't the only one who was confused by this. since no one else in the queue spoke up to voice the same sentiment, i spoke up and told her the same thing in english. she just STARED ME DOWN and carried on conversing with the elderly man.

by this time, the elderly man was pointing to a teenage girl who had queued just behind him to explain the frustrating lack of order in service and effeciency. at this time, i thought it was only just for me to point out to her that my boyfriend and i were already IN the queue before many of the other customers, including the elderly man, arrived. i raised my voice, admittedly, because i was appalled that no one felt it was their right to be treated with decent customer service. AGAIN, she just STARED at me like i was crazy and WALKED AWAY to do her own things.

at this point, my boyfriend just nudged for us to leave because it wasn't worth waiting in line for such rude behaviour. i was infuriated and fuming mad at the way i was treated, and did exclaim a vulgarity at her before storming off.

i'm sorry to say, i have never patronised your cafe or any of your outlets before this, and i doubt i ever will, in spite of my love for durian. i feel insulted that i was "pushed aside" just because i didn't speak/understand chinese and it indirectly made me feel like i was 2nd-class!

we're in singapore, not in mainland china, and i don't think it's US who have to accomodate to those who travel overseas to come work here. it's understandably tough for anyone to work abroad in a foreign-speaking nation, but to treat the locals with utter disrespect and rudeness is way too much! plus, in total, i spent 20mins of my time waiting for nothing, but just to get ignored and mistreated!

i have never, in my life, been treated in such a manner by a service staff or anyone else for that matter. i take this matter very seriously because that young lady behind the cashier should not even be working in the service industry if that is her attitude.

i hope you look into this matter ASAP. thanks."

in case you're curious, i just told her to "FUCK OFF!"

i was boiling mad that my ears felt like they were burning hot and i was shaking with every word i screamed at her fuck-face staring back at me. i have had enough of these immigrants coming in thinking we should take pity on them just because they are away from home, trying to earn a decent living for their family back home. i don't expect fantabulous english from them - just meer, basic (hell, even kindergarten level!) english is fine... as long as you don't treat me like dirt! i've been too nice to them; it's time they start taking the non-chinese locals here seriously.

she fucking didn't open her bloody mouth to say a single word to the boy and i! oh, she was more than happy to entertain the elderly man's whining and nagging. fuck-face bitch.

argh!