At the risk of getting lynched,I have to ask; Are we (black people) our own worst enemies? Lets talk about the service industry. Any day at all, Id rather go to Woolworths, than go to Shoprite. Not necessarily because of the food being better, but because the service is better. I hate by greeted by Plastic? Or Smart Shopper? And I hate having to remind the person helping me that if there is no till packer at the till, I dont take on that job of packing the groceries that are keeping her employed, she does. The employers should also take the blame. Customer service training, taking customer complaints seriously, being visible on the floor, so the staff AND customers know that they can come to you about whatever. I hate being served by a surly, angry person, because, Lord knows, I am not the one who made her angry. Most of all...I HATE watching the clients before and after me (who happen to be white) get a Good morning maam. Enjoy your day sir! While I get a Plastic? There is something very self loathing about that. I am not saying that ALL black people give bad service. And I am certainly not saying that ALL white people give great service. I am, however saying that I have received very compelling arguments in both directions of that statement. And when you complain...you are acting white. So white people are the only people allowed to complain about bad service? Believe me, I have received some amazing service from my own people. But it was mostly from people who were running their own business and actually gave a damn about me as a client. And yes, in some places, you will walk out with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Many times, I have walked out of a shop and thought Wow! What an experience! Everybody in that place was so happy. And so welcoming. Nothing more amazing than to have other waiters, other than the one actually serving your table, come along, remove plates when you are done eating, bring food from the kitchen, when it is ready. Those are people with a bigger picture mentality. They dont just fold their arms and go Not my table when they see food for Table 13 ready in the kitchen. They realize that if Table 13 patrons are really happy about their experience here, they will come back to the restaurant over and over. And on their second, third or fourth visit, they may land up at YOUR station. Yes, they are not your table...But if Table 13s food sits in the kitchen for 13 minutes, the patrons will be ticked off, not enjoy their experience and NEVER come back. Snowball effect; Less and less people come to this restaurant. Then the owner is eventually forced to close the place down, or cut down on staff, because there is no point in having so much staff for a quiet place. Then you blame it on witchcraft. My neighbor bewitched me, because she saw that her daughter was not working, and i was. I am tired of demanding good service. More importantly, though, I am tired of going to one place, getting service excellence from one person, then coming back and getting awful service from another. And the people serving me just happen to be white, then black, respectively. Now...let me make this part crystal clear. This is not some head in the sand commentary. These are not some First World Aspirational rants and raves. I am not forgetting where we have come from. I am not forgetting that in the past we could smile and give the best service and never get the chance to progress in the workplace. I am, however speaking from somebody who has employed many people in my life. Those times when I have had to cut down on staff, the people with a bad attitude were the first to go. The people who always had something to complain about consistently gave the worst service and were the ones that I received complaints about from clients. Come promotion time, the people with the best service also got first preference. Let the complainers keep complaining that it is not their fing job, while you smile, go the extra mile and go far in your career. I do and will continue to support black business. There is something fulfilling about seeing a brother or sister that made it out of the same dusty streets as I did, make a success of his life. And I will applaud and spread the word, when I get great service. But I wont support a business, just because it is black owned, if the service is crap. We need to learn to vote with our feet. Show dissatisfaction by walking away. A guy who owns a spaza shop sat down, calculated that each sweet costs him 10c. And he is selling it for 20c. He mustnt then take my business for granted, because Its just 20c. Ultimately, it is MY 20c that is keeping him in business. Not understanding that is what will keep him at spaza shop level and never grow him to supermarket level. Attitude really does determine altitude.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 11:09:50 +0000