Calgary Service Industry Rant

[Igottago]

I've been living away from Calgary for 3 years and every time I came back for a visit I noticed the service industry in general was in bad shape. Crappy servers, stores that were a mess. Just seemed like everything was disfunctional.

However, the latest trip I had back in early October I generally had a better experience. Maybe things are getting better with less jobs out there.

[DementedReality]

as some who makes a living in sales (not retail, commercial), i can tell you that people in general just have lost all common courtesy and respect for others.

people do not return voice mail or email and when you have a confirmed appointment, they may or may not come out of their office.

it drives me nuts! i make a point to be courteous to all people, if i dont want the product they are offering, i tell them but i am not a jerk about it. if you leave me a voice mail, i call you back. everytime. if you email me, i email you back. everytime.

[Phaneuf3]

Overall, I would say the service I get in Calgary is pretty good. Of course there's the rare bad experience - sometimes very bad. But the numbers of times I've received excellent service far outweighs them.

I see far more customers treating service workers like cr@p than the other way around.

[bugsy]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Last time I was at the bank, this woman in front of me talked on he phone the whole time in line, and didn't even hang up when she got to the teller. She just swiped her card, slid a cheque across the counter, and waited for the teller to hand her cash. It totally blows my mind how arrogant some people are.

And the Safeway example I gave earlier... Just totally amazing that people will yammer on about the stupidest crap while the cashier tries to get the person's attention to ask if they want their milk in a bag. It really is no wonder that sometimes you encounter a cashier with a hate-on for the world.

People who do this should be drawn and quartered. And then quartered again. Seriously.

As far as the service persons side of it, though...Even in the non-tipping culture where I live, the range of customer service (I guess im meaning mostly restaurants/hospitality here) is wide and varied, and as ppl have said already, depends often on what you bring to the table as much or more than what the person "behind the counter" brings.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by bugsy

People who do this should be drawn and quartered. And then quartered again. Seriously.

That man should be drawn and Sixteenthed!

[bugsy]

Originally Posted by Reaper

That man should be drawn and Sixteenthed!

was gonna say something like that but my math is crap

anyway i stand by it: and if there is any justice, they'll be drawn and sixteenthed by cars funded on Daddy's Oil Money!

[drewboy12]

My friend and I talked about this on a trip to Seattle. We couldn't believe how hard they were working for their tips at IHOP. Just how the industry is supposed to work. Sure our bill was maybe $20 but I am sure she made at least a 50% tip from us.

The service in 95% of the places here is just terrible. Hell call them out on it, get your meal for free. Let them know they suck at their job.

[driveway]

I don't know where you people are eating or shopping, I find service in Calgary to be fine, but then I work in the service industry so maybe I cut people a little more slack.

What are people's general expectations around service? What behaviours by service people really honk you off?

[Razor Ruddock]

I went to Ricky's the other day. I ordered an omelette with chunky hashbrowns and toast.

The plate arrived twenty minutes later with the wrong type of hashbrowns. Normally I wouldn't make a big deal about it but I really don't like their flaky hashbrowns so I called the lady over and told her about the mistake. The way she acted you'd think I was asking for her first born child.

I go to eat the toast - no butter on any of it. I felt like walking out. Still, I tipped 20%, I don't know why, I just don't want to be rude. But I won't go back there again.

[Mr.Coffee]

Ah yes, the annual Calgary service sucks thread. I think we may even be a month or two overdue. Anyway, this stuff is classic, I like to read these because I think the stories are hilarious. Especially hilarious in this thread are the gross generalizations regarding "them damn kids" spoiled by "daddy's oil money", which I'm guessing is probably not confirmed by a survey of service workers.

Look, I know that people in the service industry are automatically assumed to be your bitch for the moment because they chose a job in the service industry, but a lot of customers are total ######bags as has been noted in this thread (and every previous "Calgary service sucks thread").

Now then, please respond and tell me I haven't travelled anywhere so I don't know how bad we have it. I'm going to guess that there's:

a) no way of telling in comparison how bad one place is for service vs. another unless it's culturally oriented which therefore renders this debate fruitless and
b) even if you could compare, no way in hell Calgary would rank last in the world (save Antarctica, apparently) in terms of service.

Maybe the spoiled ones are you, expecting people to serve your ass at your beck and call. Take a trip to Africa or something. Thailand- they don't bring you the bill, you have to go ask to pay. So please, give me a break.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by Razor Ruddock

I went to Ricky's the other day. I ordered an omelette with chunky hashbrowns and toast.

The plate arrived twenty minutes later with the wrong type of hashbrowns. Normally I wouldn't make a big deal about it but I really don't like their flaky hashbrowns so I called the lady over and told her about the mistake. The way she acted you'd think I was asking for her first born child.

I go to eat the toast - no butter on any of it. I felt like walking out. Still, I tipped 20%, I don't know why, I just don't want to be rude. But I won't go back there again.

So, this isn't completely a service issue, is it? I mean, she clearly didn't react appropriately when you mentioned the hashbrown issue - but the mix-up and the unbuttered toast is a kitchen mistake, not an issue of poor service on her part. It's well and good to say that you don't like the way they prepare food at Ricky's, but again, this isn't a service issue - it's a matter of your not liking the product they make.

Originally Posted by fotze

I've heard there are a few restaurants that if you show up as two and there are only 4 person tables available, they will not seat you. Dicks.

I would NEVER seat you in my restaurant, fotze, it very, VERY clearly says "Do Not Feed" under your name.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by 4X4

But there is one place that recently pissed me off pretty good. The little engraving booth at the north end in Chinook Center. Went there a couple months ago to get a tag for my dog, there were two little dorks behind the counter, both helping the same customer - for 10 minutes. I'm standing there waiting and neither of them acknowledged me. Finally, they finished helping the lady, and then one of them immediately went over to the machine and started punching in whatever he was going to engrave for the lady, and the other one grabbed his ipod and left.

At this point, I was kind of in shock. They both just turned their backs as if I wasn't there. So I stand there for another minute or two before I say to the one guy "hey, man... I'd like to get a dog tag done please". He says "it'll be quite awhile, I have to engrave an entire set of forks for that woman. Probably about an hour".
I wanted to bonk his scrawney little face off of the counter. Like, really? Were you just going to let me friggin wait that long before acknowledging me? Holy crap. Why didn't you just say so? What the hell do you think I'm standing here for?

I kinda hope he reads this. You know who you are! You're a completely useless SOB.

Oh god, I also had some extremely bad service with that store.
A couple years ago I had to return something there.
I got the receipt and went there to return the thing. I can't remember the exact price that was on the receipt, but I'll go with $20.
When I got to the store I told the guy behind the counter I would like to return this. He started going through with it, and then stopped and said "this is now on sale for $10".
I acknowledged that and said "Yes, but my receipt show that I paid $20, so I would like my $20 back".
He then explains to me that he doesn't know how to do that.
There is a girl visible in that back, so I call out "Miss, (explain situation) can you help him with this?"
She comes out and they both stare at the computer for a bit, then state that neither know how to do that. They tell me that I should go to their southcentre location, and the manager there will know how to do it.
I asked them to call over there and have someone from there explain to them over the phone how to do it...
I can't remember what happened there, but I ended up having to go to southcentre to return it.

[TheU]

i think people are blowing this a bit out of proportion, I've had good an bad experiences everywhere I've been. btw if you want great service and amazing food check out nawab downtown. so effing good

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Ah yes, the annual Calgary service sucks thread. I think we may even be a month or two overdue. Anyway, this stuff is classic, I like to read these because I think the stories are hilarious. Especially hilarious in this thread are the gross generalizations regarding "them damn kids" spoiled by "daddy's oil money", which I'm guessing is probably not confirmed by a survey of service workers.

Look, I know that people in the service industry are automatically assumed to be your bitch for the moment because they chose a job in the service industry, but a lot of customers are total ######bags as has been noted in this thread (and every previous "Calgary service sucks thread").

See, now that just doesn't work. Nobody's saying "the service in Calgary always sucked" they are saying "the service in Calgary sucks now".

We an see the difference. It's gone downhill. Or off a cliff maybe.

It's not a mass delusion. We know it because we saw it happen. And considering how fast the population was rising and how ridiculous the labour market got here, it'd be far more surprising and unrealistic if this didn't happen. But it did, because that's what happens.

And remember, the service industry is, well, the service industry. A hell of a lot of us actually worked in the service industry at one point in our lives. The old "walk a mile in my shoes" routine doesn't fly.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

See, now that just doesn't work. Nobody's saying "the service in Calgary always sucked" they are saying "the service in Calgary sucks now".

We an see the difference. It's gone downhill. Or off a cliff maybe.

It's not a mass delusion. We know it because we saw it happen. And considering how fast the population was rising and how ridiculous the labour market got here, it'd be far more surprising and unrealistic if this didn't happen. But it did, because that's what happens.

And remember, the service industry is, well, the service industry. A hell of a lot of us actually worked in the service industry at one point in our lives. The old "walk a mile in my shoes" routine doesn't fly.

I just think a lot of people have high expectations, that's all. I'm not discounting actual circumstances where people have bad service, but the point that customers can be asses is extremely valid, and it happens everywhere. And believe me, your point about how fast the population climbed furthers my point about customers acting douch-y.

Over the last 3 months I've seen a handful of cases of customers losing their mind on service people, it's embarassing.

[4X4]

Individuals must live in some kind of bubble where only certain things affect them. Service at restaurants and bars and stores is the last thing to annoy me (except when I encounter over-the-top ######s like at the engraving store). But when it comes to driving, I see the idiots day in and day out. Then Ipost it and half the people think I'm crazy, just like half the people in this thread thing the OP is.

Weird...

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by fotze

Well to be fair, mr. Coffee was in junior high school 5 years ago, so his customer experience consisted of getting slurpees an a pack of nerds at lunch time across the street from school.

haha And damn those kids were great at service.

Aren't I taller than you?

[jayswin]

I had an awesome one last night. I went into one of those new A1 convenience stores. I didn't see anyone at the till, as it turned out the girl was slumped back in a chair, so it looked like no one was working there when you walked in.

Anyways, I walked past the till and heard "Hey, how're doing?". So I responded just as I saw her slumped in the chair. She gave me a "You're an idiot" look, pointed to her cell phone and said "uh, I wasn't talking to you", then laughed on her phone as she explained that "pfft the guy thought I was talking to him".

[mikey_the_redneck]

The key to getting good service is to stick with businesses run by asian immigrants. Those folks know good service!

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Razor Ruddock

I went to Ricky's the other day. I ordered an omelette with chunky hashbrowns and toast.

The plate arrived twenty minutes later with the wrong type of hashbrowns. Normally I wouldn't make a big deal about it but I really don't like their flaky hashbrowns so I called the lady over and told her about the mistake. The way she acted you'd think I was asking for her first born child.

I go to eat the toast - no butter on any of it. I felt like walking out. Still, I tipped 20%, I don't know why, I just don't want to be rude. But I won't go back there again.

I had a similiar issue a couple weeks back. The wrong hashbrowns. The server was great. She apologized 3 or 4 times. Sent it back to the kitchen without a problem. It came back right away all nice and hot and she gave me a 10% discount on the meal.

I only tipped about 18%. lol. The math worked out that way. Yes, I tipped on the original amount as well.

My point? There is some back service in the city. But for me it is about 90% good service. Then you get the occasional individual that is not very good.

Like the girl at chilijs (however you spell it) I waited and waited and waited for each part of the meal. She kept disappearing. Then she would throw in a 'dear' every so often. I am not her dear. Gave her an 8% tip. Have to make sure she can tip out to the cooks etc.