Comments on: Rant: “Amok” at a Kitchen Supplies Store…

By: cw

cw — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:57:54 +0000

I have to be honest in saying that I didn’t read the entire post. The first couple of paragraphs took me back to my recent stay in the Philippines and total recall of my daily frustration with ‘staff’.

I finally came to the conclusion that it’s not because the people are stupid. It’s because they are simply not empowered enough to be the intelligent people they probably are. Hell, I don’t think management over there even knows the meaning of the word. When it takes 3 or more people to fix a simple problem like keying in the wrong price, there IS a major problem. When employees are NOT allowed to think, there IS a major problem. When it’s not OK for staff to say ‘I don’t know, let me get someone who does.’, there IS a major problem.

I feel this total lack of employee validation one of the major reasons why the Philippines is waaaaaay at the bottom of the Asian food chain. It’s really sad considering what the country used to be…

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:23:06 +0000

Lin, you are absolutely correct. I say speak up, and with conviction and force, if you are certain you are in the right. People who choose to say nothing are often simply trampled on… of course they have no confrontation, but they often get the short end of the stick.

The motto is not my own, it was printed on a t-shirt that some good friends got me as a present. They said I “owned it.” :)

By: Lin

Lin — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 04:20:03 +0000

I LOVE your motto of “Choose Frustration Over Indifference”! I have always been a strong advocate of voicing your frustrations when you have the clear right to do so. I used to always encourage my colleagues at work to speak up when it comes to poor customer service. Just yesterday we were rerouted on our way back from Frankfurt to HK and landed in Bangkok instead. After waiting in the plane for 3 hours and finally herded into the airport and not given any answers, I finally raised my voice, exasperated that NO one was saying anything and demanded they tell us what was going on. They told us it is ILLEGAL to let us take another flight to HK and that we must wait for the same plane which will mean at least a 10 hour wait. I finally lost my cool with that ridiculous reason and demanded they put us on another flight. Suddenly they said we can go on a flight that was leaving in 2 hours. All those that said nothing and were willingly herded away were brought to random hotels and waited until today to get on the same flight back.

By: joy =)

joy =) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 03:14:23 +0000

hmm curious about the pw protected post … any clues ’bout it … =) —- Got it!

By: myra_p

myra_p — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 22:04:10 +0000

Dear T*chn*lux (oops, was I not supposed to say?), you should send MM a Pasensya Award for password-protecting his latest post, haha. The digital sleuthing is awesome and stupid people deserve to be called out for posting as multiple people. Cowards with bad grammar, no punctuation and low-class language = pet peeve. Ireklamo sa barangay.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 09:31:37 +0000

H, thanks for that. I was just in Manila and missed the kitchen show in Cebu last week, and i hope to make the Wofex in Manila on August 1. Yes, there are indeed far more choices these days, in a sense, but it’s still amazing how service levels seem to be lacking given the great opportunities to differentiate one’s company by adding a really reliable layer of pre-sales and after-sales service. Trying to find real service for major appliance manufacturers is still a hassle in Manila… the number of folks who email me for help with their stoves, mixers, refrigerators, blenders, etc. suggests it isn’t even easy to figure out WHERE to get after-sales service. On the positive side, i have run into some very responsive suppliers and sukis, and they have gotten the bulk of our business this year.

At our own businesses, we do NOT typically employ on rolling 5/29 contracts. I think they are reprehensible. I find if employees are permanent and do something that is just cause for their dismissal, then they are rightfully dismissed. If one is fair in their handling of labor, I think folks will find it is indeed possible to improve employee relations and service standards. At least I am still hopeful that it is… we try to walk the talk so far…

By: H

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:50:21 +0000

Speaking from experience, labor laws in the Philippines _really_ favor the employee over the employer, so I guess that’s why the whole 5 months 29 days hiring has become commonplace (and affects customer service).

There’s always two sides to a story but discussing what’s wrong in the food service industry is looong and messy. What’s good is that at least it IS improving (it’s really different from what it was 10 years ago), despite the crappy experience you had. Now it’s more open and competitive, and “google-fu”/researching online has made it way easier for people to find the right equipment and get their money’s worth.

There are two upcoming tradeshows (maybe you’ve already been/heard of it) where you can find a lot of suppliers and maybe cross-reference it with whatever companies people e-mail you with (hopefully the company I work for is in that list!) :)

WOFEX August 1-4 at World Trade and SMX
AFEX September 12-15 at World Trade

Next year is the Fil-Chi Bakery Fair, usually held in the first quarter of the year, mostly baking equipment but a lot of equipment suppliers join because it’s one of the better expos in the Philippines. They only hold it once every other year and it’s definitely worth visiting!

By: j.

j. — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:12:30 +0000

@ Mart, the Japanese believe or used to believe [from what I have been told by my family] that the service is part of what you pay them in terms of the price of the food. It used to be an insult to give out a tip, as it denotes that you went out of your way to be extremely deferential, instead of the fact you hold ALL of your customers in high regard.

@ Betty Q…I put raisins and pistachios sometimes a couple of almond slivers in my Kheer, never tried malagkit… gotta add that….

By: betty q.

betty q. — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 06:26:07 +0000

MP….typo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the 1/2 cup refers to sugar!….not salt! The salt is only a PINCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: MP

MP — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 06:08:40 +0000

BETTYQQQQQQ!!!! thanks a mil… of course I will try that sosyal recipe of yours. I just hope I won’t mess it up. But I now have a back-up quip for hubby when he says: “In my next life I want to be bettyb’s hubby”… now i tell him, “In my next life, i will be bettyq and I WON’T MARRY YOU”!!! mwahaha…