A LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

If there is one thing truly lamentable during my stay here in Saudi Arabia, it is the apparent lack of the true spirit of professional customer service among the ranks of people supposed to provide you that. [For sure, Saudi Arabia's customer service industry has no monopoly of this lack but I am going to be writing from experience.]

Last night (June 9), I was scheduled for a 7:00 pm massage therapy at one of the five-star hotels here (and part of a global chain of hotels). I was driven to the hotel a good half hour before the appointed time but due to traffic at checkpoints, I arrived a few minutes after 7:00 pm, and told by the Receptionist that my slot was given to someone else who has already paid for it. Besides, the Receptionist added, it will only be for 15 minutes.

I will be attended to as soon as the therapist is again available.

I would have let this slide were it not for the fact that this was the second time this happened in a little over 7 days. In both instances, it involved the same Receptionist who appeared not to be worried about any inconveniences customers may suffer due to his undue regard for prior appointments. Mouthing the same favorite expression of "Mafi mushkila (No problem)" just because I will be attended to anyway after about 15 minutes, he thought he could get away with it.

I had to make a ruckus. I asked him why he does this but he simply tried to explain that it was just for 15 minutes and that the service has been paid for by the new customer/intruder! I demanded to speak to the manager but the Receptionist of course refused to listen to my demand. I called up the hotel operator and was promptly connected to the Health Club. The call of course was picked up by the Receptionist I wanted to complain about and so I hang up and harrangued the hotel operator again. This time, he connected me to the Duty Manager. I narrated the incident to the Duty Manager and he agreed that the Receptionist's behavior in mixing up the schedule and in his lack of propriety in attending to the consequences, is not acceptable. We therefore agreed that I will send the hotel a letter regarding my experiences and the hotel will take appropriate action.

It would have ended there but after the therapy and after paying for the service, the Receptionist had the gall to say to the therapist that I was angry at the therapist (and not at the Receptionist!) - thereby clearly demonstrating how the Receptionist completely missed the whole point!

Which brings me to another petty but equally high blood pressure-inducing incident at noon of the same day.

After buying food for lunch at a mall that my colleagues and I frequent, I hoped to sit down at one of the benches by the mall's gate, to wait for Dennis to pick me up to get back to the office. I have not sat down a minute when this mall security guard asked me (in Arabic, which I barely understood were it not for a passerby who somehow translated things to me) that I was not supposed to sit at the bench because it was for women. I stood up from the bench and silently fumed since there were no women around at that time and I remember seeing other mall security guards sitting on those benches at other times that I was at the mall (also for food; which means almost always at the same noon time).

The mall security guard was not pacified that I stood up. He also made me know that I was not supposed to stand around the benches as well and that if I must wait, I must do it outside of the mall's gate where the sun was shining brightly and hotly at 46 degrees Celsius! For sure, he told the same thing to another guy (who was obviously a family driver) who dutifully agreed with the guard's wishes. In fairness to the guard, as soon as I tried to argue (in English but without a doubt that I was antagonistic) he backed down a bit and even said "Sorry" a few times.

I made a ruckus again! I mean, why wouldn't I? It was not right to let me wait outside in the hot sun, when he himself was inside the mall. He was another male like I was, if being male was a problem around females. There were no females anyway during the time and even if there were, what problems would there be if they were seated and I was standing up away from them while waiting for a car?

To cool off and stay away from the obnoxious mall guard and the ridiculousness of it all, I called up (Dennis) that I will instead wait at another gate. Lo and behold, that gate had the guard seated at the benches by the gate, with other males (family driver types) to boot! And there were ladies in the same area as well.

Oh well.