LOVE, Kloudiia

I called AMEX to apply for the Krisflyer card so that I can get more mileage for my frequent flyer. I was transferred to one of their personal sales staff. Let’s call her Ms A. She sounded eager to close this sales, hence she said she would courier the form to me the same night at 10pm. I agreed. I thought she was being very prompt – which was a good sign for a sales personnel.

I got the form that night. That was last Thursday.  She promised to follow up on me next week, which is this week. I was pretty impressed with such efficiency and good service. How wrong could I be.

I called her several times and she didn’t answer her phone the next day after I got the form – both her desktop and her mobile. She didn’t return her missed calls too.

Nevertheless, I called her again earlier. She had absolutely no recollection of who I am at all! I told her about my failed calls, and she actually explained that she was on leave last Tuesday. I mentioned, for the second time in that phone call, that she sent me the form Thursday, not Tuesday.

Anyway, she asked me to fax the form to her which I agreed. She asked me for my name and my mobile so that she could retrieve her records (which I’ve already given last week) and I gave her.

10 minutes later, I got a missed call and I returned. Guess who answered? Our dear Ms A again, and she introduced herself as if it was the first time that we were talking. It was the first time – for her. She was selling me the AMEX Gold card. I told her that I’m applying for the Krisflyer card and will be faxing her the form soon. She then said: “Oh, may I know your name?” I gave her my surname. “Oh, so you’re Ms Tay!” I said yes. Then she said if I don’t mind, can I give her my mobile phone?

I said I mind, and I was planning to give her a lesson on how to track your prospect and your activities for a sales person but decided to just keep my mouth shut. I realised it’s not up to me to teach her how to do her job.  That”s her company’s job.

She had actually taken down my mobile, someone whom she just spoken to 10 minutes ago and called to prospect me, thinking I was totally new. Gosh! Doesn’t the sales people at AMEX learn how to track? Don’t they have a system to follow? Don’t they realise that they are wasting their client’s time by being so confused about their own activities?

If AMEX, a company that claims to be internationally recognised offers such a level of personal sales, I’m indeed disappointed and shocked.

Speaking of lousy service, I was immediately reminded of the awful experience my sister and I had at Pan Pacific Hotel, Orchard.

My sis made the mistake of thining she booked a room at the Pan Pacific Hotel that, I believe, all Singaporeans knew – at Marina. Only when we were there then we realised that she had booked a room at Pan Pacific Orchard, their new sister hotel at Orchard Road.

No choice, we had to bring ourselves to the actual Pan Pacific Orchard, our high spirits already dampenend. I asked my sis how did she make this mistake? She said when she called, the person answering the phone only said “Pan Pacific Hotel”, and until that day, none of us knew there was a new branch at Orchard Road. A few phone calls to my friends and we affirmed that we weren’t the only ones – all of them had the same reaction: “Huh! You mean there’s a Pan Pac in Orchard? When was that? How come I don’t know?”

Anyway, the experience was far from pleasing, starting from the checking in. The front desk staff was rude, and was very defensive and giving us all sorts of excuses for failing to give us the room we booked for. The manager came and resolved it eventually.  We thought that was it, finally we could enjoy the rest of the day.

Alas, we had more shocks waiting for us – we discovered drops of pee on the toilet bowl; there were stains in the bathtub; our bedside lamp remote was out of order and the technician had to manually shut it and we couldn’t turn it on anymore during the night.

We cut short our stay from 2 nights to only one (who wouldn’t, right?).

When we were checking out, another manager came and spoke to us. Apparently, our feedback about the front desk staff’s bad attitude and the room condition were recorded in their computer. Impressive, we thought. But very soon, that bit of “happiness” was killed too. This manager apologised for such a bad experience we had with them, and sincerely asked us to give them another chance to prove that they have good service. She offered us a discount or a free upgrade to a better room the next time we stay with them.

So, what’s the problem with this solution? Pan Pacific Orchard is actually asking their patrons, who have been very unhappy and dissatisfied with their hotel condition and service, to return to them again and pay them to give them a second chance?  Shouldn’t they give us the discount outright to appease us?

Amidst such doom and gloom, compounded by the fact that it was my sister’s birthday that day and it was meant to be a gift for herself, we saw a glimmer of light – 10 At Claymore restaurant.

Not only did this restaurant located at the lobby level of the hotel  serve delicious food (the Blackforest Cake is a must-try!), the service was simply excellent. Thumbs up! The manager even gave us a VIP card with a 10% discount for future dining. Well, I told my sister, at least you had a good birthday dinner!

I seldom post complaints on my blog. But this time round I had to because customer service relations is probably what we, this little island, can bank on to promote our country’s tourism. If this is the level of service we’re getting, I’m really worried.

What’s wrong with the sales and customer service nowadays, really?

Oh, I still have another story with a really nasty taxi driver from Trans Cab. Apparently, the supervisor from the complaints department wasn’t any better. No wonder.

Maybe I should email their General Manager. Hmm …