Contributed by EUNICE LI DAN YUE –
Poor Ratings In Singapore – What do we do?
It is indeed worrying that more tourists are unhappy with restaurants and hotels in our country, according to the latest Customer Satisfaction Index (“More tourists unhappy with hotels, restaurants”; Straits Times, Nov 26).
According to the annual survey by the Institute of Service Excellence (ISES), consumer satisfaction for the food and beverage (F&B) sector had significantly dropped from 70.3 points of last year to 65.8 points, the lowest since 2011.
If our country is to improve the customer satisfaction ratings, we must really examine the underlying reasons behind the poor service in the F&B sector.
Tightened Quota On Foreign Workers Causing Shortage of Labour
Since last year (2013), countries such as Malaysia had tightened the foreign worker quota in our country, so there are fewer foreigners to take on such jobs.
As a result, the F&B had no choice but to hire local workers. However, most young and fit Singaporeans are ashamed to take on such jobs, due to their low pay and long working hours.
So what we are seeing in food courts, restaurants and café these days are senior waiters who are past their retirement age, they sometimes cannot even walk or hold the plates and dishes properly. Once, my family saw an old waiter in a Teochew restaurant serving us a dish, while the thumbs of both of his hands are inside the edge of the dish. However, we really pity him and so did not complain about it, but frankly, this can sometimes spoil the appetite of the patrons.
In another chicken rice stall that my husband and I visited a few months back, he asked an old waiter in his mid-70s why he is still taking on the job. The old man just replied that he has no choice as he has to earn a living for himself.
Keeping The Prices Still Attractive For the Average Tourists And Locals Means that The Service Standards May Have To Be Cut
I do understand that some hotels and F&B establishments still want to keep the price attractive for the average locals and tourists, by only having a slight increase or no change in the prices of meals and goods, but then this sometimes means that the service standard may have to be sacrificed.
My family had been to a hotel buffet where in order to keep the same price as that of last year, their quality of the food had been cut, such as serving fruits which are off colour and seafood which is not fresh.
In another hotel, the price of the main course is included in that of the Sunday brunch. However, the portion that is being served is miserably small, as they can be ordered unlimited multiple times, with the exception of lobster. It puzzles me as to why it is not being included in the buffet selection as well.
Shortage Of Manpower Leading To Slower Service
In fact, we have been to a few restaurants in hotels, where due to the shortage of manpower, we have to wait sometimes at least 20 to 30 minutes for the bill.
On one occasion, there was even an embarrassment that the waitress gave my mother twice the bill to sign, on the night that we entertained some guests.
Luckily, the waitress managed to track down who the original person who gave my mom the bill was, to clear the misunderstanding.
Time To Improve The Service Industry
According to the Singapore Tourism Board, our international visitor arrivals (IVA) last year reached 15.6 million, registering a strong year-on-year growth of 7.4%. Tourism receipts (TR) came in at S$23.5 billion, a 1.7% year-on-year growth. It is estimated that the F&B made up of about 10% of the number of tourists who visited our country.
Given that tourists also contributed significantly to our economy, in terms of accommodation, shopping, sightseeing and entertainment etc, it is time that we wake up to the poor service ratings revealed by ISES and do something about it.
By Eunice Li Dan Yue
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