Customer Service in Japan

[Chinpokomon]

This is a response to the following thread:
http://www.outpostnine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2851

For those of you that speak Japanese, can you picture a clerk saying the following?

「あたしに怒鳴らないでよ」
atashi ni donaranaideyo

「あの客、あんなでかい声で叫ばなくていいのに」
ano kyaku, annna dekai koe de sakebanakute ii no ni

「もう、あなたと話す気ないわ」
mou, anata to hanasu ki nai wa

I dunno, I guess it's just that customer service in Japan is a very serious business, and there are some practices that are seen as good customer service in the US, which would be unheard of in Japan
1. Southwest Airlines practice of making jokes over the intercom system
2. Calling customers "Honey" or "Dear" (Think old fashioned style diners)

Neither way is right or wrong, I guess, just different.

However, when it comes to dealing with irate customers, I think the only thing you'd hear from a Japanese clerk would be
「大変も申し訳ございません」
taihen moshiwake gozaimasen

So, which one would you rather have? US style customer service, or Japanese style?

Edit: I have once again managed to shrink the world into just America and Japan. Sorry for being exclusive. Feel free to compare/contrast with customer service in your home country as well.

Edit: Thanks, tona

[Komachi Angel]

I've never seen Japanese staff have to deal with irate an irrate customer, but I have recieved treatment I would consider rude.

For example - I was looking for the *Japanese* version of Shall we Dance, but couldn't find it. The English version had a big stand near the counter, but the original was nowhere about. So, I decided to ask "Do you have the Japanese version of..." to recieve an "are you blind?" look and an angry stare while pointing at the English display. I said again that I wanted the Japanese version, to recieve the reply 'oh'.

Another time, while looking for parking spots I was talking on the phone and had the operator say it was a pain in the ass and hung up on me.

In general, however, I have nothing to say against Japanese customer service. By and large it is great, although recent use of keigo has taken an odd turn. I can't really compare it to 'US' standards, because I don't know what they are.

[tona]

I think I prefer the US way. Having to put up with customers not matter what is incredibly degrading... I think people should still have to treat workers as human beings. Helping customers shouldn't have to mean cowering like a fool.

But, yeah, that's the sort of thing you'd NEVER hear from a Japanese clerk....

And I think your kanji/kana is wrong for moushiwake arimasen...
申し訳ございません。
http://www.sony.co.jp/fourohfour taken from a Japanese 404 page.

[Komachi Angel]

Almost the entire role in those jobs is customer contact - I think that if you are being paid, you should do your best to provide good service.

This doesn't mean customers have the right to do what they want - I am sure anyone working in those businesses can hand you a plethora of stories about people who've never grown up.

[PopCulturePooka]

American way.

With how the west is manners wise, going the Japanese way would just breed legions of customers who think acting like thugs, bullies, shitheads and sociopaths is ok.

[Gestalt]

I think in general I prefer "friendly" service, but you do get both types in Japan - Find some local restaurant or bar and you often get some husband and wife team who've been running the place for 30 years and who joke around (they're still polite though!)

In restaurants at least, I always feel the "friendly" service you get in the US (the few times I've been there) feels really fake, because you know they're just doing it for a tip. You could say it's fake in Japan too: they're polite not because they really, really want to but because it's part of their service culture, and there is a certain way to talk to customers built into the language, but at least you don't have to pay extra for it!

[JusenkyoGuide]

Japanese, every time I go home I miss the Japanese service when I have to deal with the oh-so-helpful service in America.

Case-in-point; at LAX on the flight back to Japan, I decided to pick up some breakfast and coffee. Right before I get to the counter to order, a friend of the staffer wanders by pushing a cart and the two stop to talk for a good 5 minutes while I'm standing there waiting to order. Finally one of the girls nudges the guy who gives me this 'Oh great, this idiot just HAS to come by and wants to order food at a food joint in one of the most crowded airports in the world! Doesn't he know I'm busy talking with my friend here?' look. He gets my order, barks at the women to make it, shoves it at me, then goes back to his conversation.

Landing at Kansai, go to the kiosk at the platform for Shin-Osaka, the woman behind there doesn't even wait for me to find what I want before she puts down her paper and greets me. I get what I want fast, pay with no problem, and get a thank you.

Americans may be friendly when it comes to customer service at times, more so than the formal Japanese, but at least in Japan I am treated like a customer instead of an annoyance.

[jindojim]

お客様は神様。(The customer is god).

At least until they make the purchase. After that, he's a nuisance.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I love American service. To death.

I love the fact that a waiter in a good restaurant makes more money and is better at his job than an employee in the local McDonald's. I like the fact that I get more attention paid to me, and get treated like a king when I'm out to eat. I like the fact that waiters go out of their way to try to be as kind as possible in order to get a good tip. I enjoy that type of service.

Sure the flipside is that fast food workers don't tend to give the best service. Sure it means that many low-paid employees are surly. So what? How long does my interaction with a Dunkin' Donuts employee take? 30 seconds? They can be surly if it improves my experience at a nice 2 hour dinner at a decent restaurant.

Maybe it's because I now have disposable income not to mind giving a 20% tip for good service. Maybe it's because I've been living in a country where the method of getting service in cheap establishments is ordering a ticket from a vending machine to give to your server. Maybe it's because all but the best establishments require me to yell 'SUMIMASEN!' if I want service. But I enjoy having a waiter come by, ask if I need anything, ask how my meal is, deliver the bill in a timely fashion, and generally try to make my experience as hassle-free as possible.

I go out to dinner because I want to have a nice relaxing experience and atmosphere -- not because I just don't want to cook.

And that's what US service provides that the Japanese service doesn't. Atmosphere. All but the highest class Japanese establishments tend to be rather noisy, have very few people stopping by to check up on you, and tend to not be so timely with their service. And while that may save a little off the total at the end of the meal, it makes my experience less valuable.

I don't mind paying for good quality.

[Chinpokomon]

I dunno, PLF. I wouldn't say that our tipping culture necessarily dictates that the service will be good. I can't speak for everyone, but I usually leave 15%, 20% if the service is really good. I have on one occasion stiffed the waiter, after having to ask for an item 6 times, the 6th time was when I got up from the table and walked over to the waiter.

I have accidentally left somewhere between 5-10% tip one time (I was sick, and not thinking clearly), and the waiter actually stopped me before leaving the restaurant, saying "Hey, that's not enough tip." Sure, I don't want to stiff the guy, but being told that my tip was not enough wasn't exactly cool either.

I think the tip is expected. You don't have to give good service to get 15%. It's all part of the package. Why bust your ass for the extra 5%, only to get disappointed most of the time?

Note: Japanese waitstaff are extremely slow when it comes to serving customers at nomihoudai, from what I've seen ;)

[Pierrot le Fou]

It ain't about the difference between 15% and 20%. It's the difference between 15-20% of a $10 entree, versus 15-20% of a $50 entree. The better the restaurant, the better the tips, and therefore the better the service (generally speaking). A waiter, essentially, is working on commission. The higher the value of the sale, the higher the quality of the waiter.

If you ever walk into a high end clothes or jewelry store, you'll quickly be given help by knowledgeable shopkeepers. When you get sales calls for insurance or whatnot, you generally aren't going to get the best of service. Both work off the same principle of a commission, but the level of service is very different because people good at making sales tend to get the jobs that have something sold that will receive a better commission.

I always give around 18% in tip. It is part of the meal. But the waiters are truly working for it, so I don't mind it at all. It ain't about the extra 5%, it's about good service, and I don't mind paying for it.

[hanacker]

After having a Japanese McDonald's employee running around and digging through the trash to find the house keys that my idiot self had thrown away, I 'm a big fan of Japanese service.

[decswxaqz]

From an English (England) POV, service is above average. We don't generally tip so it's not in the interest of staff workers to be nice. But most people generally do. People are helpful but if you keep them too busy for long they do get irrated.

I used to work in a big chemist/drug store and think I was as helpful as I could be. But then I'd get the occassional bad customer and my willingness to help would drop. One time, a customer asked if she could have her photos developed (worked on phott counter) in half hour with the one hour service. She was being really surly and short with me which didn't make me want to help her at all. She demanded I ask the developer who was behind the counter if they could be done in 30 mins so I asked him but with all my might tried to mouth "no" after I'd finished asking him. Yes it was evil, vindictive and all that but if the customer hadn't been such a jerk I wouldn't have needed to do that and would have asked and said yes to them =/.
Would a Japanese or American person do that? *shrug* this is just me and not an average UK sales person :)

I personally hate the instant "Welcome!" when you enter stores. It's not really meant and is an example of automaton behaviour drilled into them at sales assistant 101. I also hate the fact everything is wrapped in two bags and then tied... "I want to eat that now thank you very much and you've put it into two bags that I am now going to have to throw away" =/

Having not been able to converse to a JP sales assistant to ask for help, I can only say that my experience of American service has been very good. Don't know if it's because we were tourists or not but it was good none the less.

[Masa the Masta]

True, that the whole "Welcome" thing is pretty automated, but we as a customer feel that the store doesn't work when we don't get our fix of it.

Think about it, just think for a day if we didn't have Wal Mart greeters. Wouldn't the store feel a little different?

[Chinpokomon]

True, that the whole "Welcome" thing is pretty automated, but we as a customer feel that the store doesn't work when we don't get our fix of it.

Think about it, just think for a day if we didn't have Wal Mart greeters. Wouldn't the store feel a little different?
*psst. I think he's talking about the obligatory "irasshaimase!" when you walk into Japanese stores.*

[decswxaqz]

Indeed I am :) I forgot the correct spelling so I didn't bother typing it :P. And they generally say it any time you walk past them not just when you enter =/. A ripple across the store shouting "irasshaimase!" -_-;

[Masa the Masta]

*psst. I think he's talking about the obligatory "irasshaimase!" when you walk into Japanese stores.*

Oh, yeah..that. I've been literally assaulted with that at a Sushi place once. It's one thing to use it in a friendly, jovial way...it's another thing altogether to assault me with it.

"IRRASHAIMASE!!" *Masa freaks and breaks through the paper wall.*


I guess Wal Mart got it from Japan. :watson:

[atomiton]

japanese ideas of good service are different from american ones.

For example, if you leave your teapot with the lid upturned, the server will come take it away and replace it with hot tea without a word said, however, in America, usually they'll ask.

THat's one difference.

Also, it depends on where in Japan you are. In Osaka, they expect high service, and get it, as it's historically a merchant town.

Americans usually are used to American service, Japanese are used to Japanese service...

but both are good, albeit different.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Hai, Irasshai! [Hello, welcome!]

Aah, ano ano eto eto ano eto ne!
[Ah, uhh, uhh, umm, umm, uhh, umm, hmm…]
Suimasen, ii desu ka?
[Excuse me, is it all right to order now?]
Hai, irasshaimase!
[Yes, welcome!]
Jaa, natto-maki, tekka-maki, sarada-maki,
[Well… natto rolls, tekka rolls, salad rolls,]
nan de mo maki maki, dou shiyou ka na?
[any kind of rolls rolls, what should I get?]
A sou da, California-maki arimasu ka?
[Oh yeah, do you have California rolls?]
Oh…
California-maki nai yo! Koko, Amerika ja nee zo!
[We have no California rolls! This ain’t America!]
Gomen ne, sorry!
[Sorry, “sorry”!]

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo! (Gomen ne, sorry!)
[Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in! (Sorry, “sorry”!)]

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshaima-SE!!
[Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, WELCOME!!]

Ano sa, nan ka sa, da kara ii n da kedo sa,
[Uhh, something, uhh, so yeah, uhh,]
suimasen, ii desu kaa?
[excuse me, is it all right to order now?]
Hai, irasshaimase!
[Yes, welcome!]
Jaa, tako-yaki, teriyaki, teppan-yaki,
[Well, grilled octopus, teriyaki, grilled teppan,]
nan de mo yaki yaki, dou shiyou ka na?
[anything grilled grilled, what should I get?!]
Aa, sou da! Hiroshima okonomiyaki arimasu kaa?
[Oh yeah! Do you have Hiroshima okonomiyaki?]
Urikire! Urikire!
[We’re all out! We’re all out!]
MAJI? Shinjirarenai!! CHOU-mukatsuku!
[SERIOUSLY? I can’t believe it!! This is SUPER-annoying!]
Koko ni modoritaku nai desu!!
[I do NOT plan on coming back here again!!]

[bebopgirl26]

I think good or bad customer service isn't strictly a regionally thing. I think it just depends on who is helping you, what kind of day they are having, how they were trained, if at all, etc. I've never been to Japan but I can tell you that in Louisiana, they have horrible customer service. But in Maryland it's great. Friendly, prompt, etc. But there are exceptions.

[tona]

Hai, Irasshai! [Hello, welcome!]

Aah, ano ano eto eto ano eto ne!
[Ah, uhh, uhh, umm, umm, uhh, umm, hmm…]
*snip*
Koko ni modoritaku nai desu!!
[I do NOT plan on coming back here again!!]
What is this? I don't get what's going on here.....

[Pierrot le Fou]

It's a song. A great song. Those of you coming on the 21st can see how wonderful a song.

[Frankey-eh]

Japanese!

Chinpokomon...you've just hit the key. I HATE AMERICAN SERVICE!!!

I probably don't hate their service itself as much as how I hate... well, see, in my house, I'm always the one who usually ends up making complaint calls whether some dumb PG&E who failed his math class or some irresponsible salesman who doesn't even give us a frickin' manual for the heating system he installed. Of course, these are not fault on our side. So my mom makes me act as her interpretor, to call and complain to them. She expects to just yell at them nonstop, because, well... THEY are at fault. And they've upset a CUSTOMER. How can they expect to have any business if a customer is wronged? Of course they should fix it, if nothing else, and maybe even repay us in some way. So she gets all this fire ready. And she forces me to say them. Me? While I'm attempting to yell the customer service guy's head off... I'm getting yelled with "I don't know, ma'am. I can't help you, sorry. Please do not yell at me. I'm not here to argue with you. etc." ALL that stupid things. So what happens is, I'm getting yelled by the service guy AND taking in all my mom's fire. It sucks hell.

Now, if it was Japanese... oh, they make my day. I think I've told this before, but.... they were just so damn nice. They deserve to be praised twice...or even three, four, ten, hundred....

So we waited until the day before we leave US to buy JR Pass. Turns out, it could only be bought in US, and when we asked our travel agency, they said they needed two days to process it. In another agency in San Francisco, they said they could process it in fifteen minutes, but we'd have to go to their office in person. Now, here comes the life-saving ANA travel agency. After hearing our story, at first they said they'd need two days. Then, when we asked "is there any--ANY--possible way?" and because our airplane is also ANA, they said they could fax us the application, and then hand us the vouchers for the passes at the airport's ANA counter when we checked in. So we just faxed it, and the next day... quite reliably, they were there. The most amazing service ever.

Aside from the example above... one time we bought spoiled milk. The store let us exchange it, even after it's been opened and part of it had been poured out/microwaved/thrown-away (how else would we have found out it was spoiled?) But not only that... days later, the manufacturing company sent us a long letter of apology in addition to a free telephone card. Now, the card probably wasn't worth all that much...but the fact that they were willing to go to such lengths, that is what's amazing.

Okay, I think I've ranted enough.

[Chinpokomon]

Good luck trying to substitute a chocolate shake instead of a coke in your McDonalds combo in Japan, though.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I have never had trouble in the US returning spoiled groceries. I always just brought the receipt back to the store with the product in question, opened or otherwise, and always promptly got my money back or a replacement product, as well as an apology.

Yelling rarely solves anything when you try it first. You have to be diplomatic, because usually the person that is dealing with your claim isn't the person who made the mistake, and as plenty of people in here have said, when a customer is surly they feel less compelled to help you. If they are still being a stick in the mud, then you are justified in getting upset at the person, because they are now at fault for not rectifying the situation for you.

Most of the time I just don't bother, because quite frankly it's more of a hassle to return the milk than to just run to the corner store and buy a half-gallon.

I have had plenty of poor service in Japan too, from surly waiters, to Tsutaya employees. In the US, when I got a crappy movie, I'd simply go to the store, tell them, "This movie is absolute garbage. I've had it out for 30 minutes. Can I swap it out for something decent?" and they would oblige me. In Japan, I get told that I have to pay again, because I rented the film, and they have no way of easily giving me an exchange on it.

You left Japan when you were young, rika, and trust me, the service ain't perfect when you're dealing with it many times a day...

[Chinpokomon]

Yelling rarely solves anything when you try it first. You have to be diplomatic, because usually the person that is dealing with your claim isn't the person who made the mistake, and as plenty of people in here have said, when a customer is surly they feel less compelled to help you. If they are still being a stick in the mud, then you are justified in getting upset at the person, because they are now at fault for not rectifying the situation for you.

In Japan, aren't individuals less important than the group? So it's not too much of a stretch for a Japanese person to find the entire company responsible, and expect the new person they are complaining to (who didn't make the mistake) to apologize as well.

:watson:

[Pierrot le Fou]

Yeah, but that ain't the US, where people tend to not kiss ass because they have a modicum of self-respect that extends beyond their duties in the job. In Japan, emasculating yourself for your job is expected. In the US, it ain't unless you're the CEO of a company that was just discovered to have been marketing baby-food made of babies, and even then, they'll make excuses before their half-assed apology.

[Frankey-eh]

I have never had trouble in the US returning spoiled groceries. I always just brought the receipt back to the store with the product in question, opened or otherwise, and always promptly got my money back or a replacement product, as well as an apology.
Okay, accepting returns, that's obligatory. If you don't even do that... I won't ever shop at your place. But attempting to repay the TROUBLE they've gave us... not just to repay the product, but to repay the trouble they've caused. That's not something you see in US.

Not just spoiled product. Once, we spotted a mistake in our textbook. Our teacher sent a letter to the publisher, and they send us back with an apology and a gift certificate. Of course, the book is already distributed so they can't take it back and reprint it, but they sent money as a "thank you for telling us". You don't hear that in US. A mistake in textbook? Pfft mistakes happen. Our chem teacher sends an email, and it gets ignored. Our math teacher writes a letter and it gets ignored. Not even a "sorry". Psssht forget money.

You left Japan when you were young, rika, and trust me, the service ain't perfect when you're dealing with it many times a day... Well, most Japanese business live with "if we displease our customers, or prove our quality to be low, we've got to close our doors" policy. Those small problems may be what someone earlier was mentioning--maybe he was just having a bad time, and that it's all individual. But in general, company-wise, if US had even half, or a quarter of that attitude... but nooo... the world is going to fall apart when American workers starts bending their backs.

[Chinpokomon]

Okay, accepting returns, that's obligatory. If you don't even do that... I won't ever shop at your place.

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you can't return clothing that you've already purchased in Japan. I'm almost positive you can't return a book in Japan. In the US, you can return a LOT of stuff, even if it's opened/slightly used.

Item went on sale the day after you bought it? In the US, no problem. In Japan, 申し訳ありません。

I find Japanese service to be much more polite, but more inflexible. If it can't be done, it can't be done.

US service is more familiar, but more flexible.

[Frankey-eh]

and let me get into the "You have to be diplomatic, because usually the person that is dealing with your claim isn't the person who made the mistake" topic too...

First of all, let's make it clear. If a saleperson A made a mistake, then not only does A have to apologize, his company should as well. This is COMMON SENSE in Japan. One example would be the West JR president. Even though he wasn't the one who crashed the train, he still had to apolgoize. And not only that, quit his job. That is EXPECTED. It's not radical or anything. He certainly does not deserve any symapthy.

Now, why? Because you, the company, was the one who hired the guy. That's why. As a company, you need to responsible about who to hire. If you hired an incompetent customer service guy, of course not only the customer service guy, but your whole company should be yelled at. This is something that apparently escapes many Americans. They don't take responsibility.

---

To explain about responsibility part...
I've given many examples already. It's obviously to see where the lack of responsibility is on the returning goods part. For the Sears case, the service guy isn't taking responbility simply because the error was not in his department (it seems Sears merged with another company, and our work was done with the other company). However, to us customers, there's is ONLY Sears. There's no "sub-Sears" and as Sears represenative, you should take responsibility to fix something that may have happened even if the job was done before the company merge. Wear your Sears nametag with pride, for god's sake!

In contrast, you can see ANA is taking responsibility. At first, they were inclined to meet our request because they didn't know whether they could take the responsiblity of not. That was fine--it was our own selfish request. But once they accepted it, they made sure everything was done perfectly. No flaws whatsoever. There's no "oops, sorry" moments.

[Frankey-eh]

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you can't return clothing that you've already purchased in Japan. I'm almost positive you can't return a book in Japan. In the US, you can return a LOT of stuff, even if it's opened/slightly used.
Oh, I meant returns for reasons out of your control. Like spoilage. If the clothes were too small...that's not their problem. You need to measure yourself. If the book isn't interesting, tough luck. But... can't you return a ripped book? That's a fault on their end.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Not to mention that the (unrealistic) insistence on things being perfect results in people covering up defects because they know they're going to get hosed on them. I mean, look at Mistubishi, they create a slew of trucks that are prone to blowing up and killing people, and dozens of people all knew about it. However, rather than anyone admitting that there was a problem, they waited until there had been a handful of fatal accidents involving their trucks before taking action. Even then they just fired the guys at the top, rather than the rest of the folks who covered it up.

Mistakes get made. And customers are expected to take that into consideration in the US. It is not a personal slight against me if the receipt is wrong, or my milk is spoiled. And it may not even be the store's fault if the milk is spoiled, as it could have been a mistake made at the factory. For me to demand a pound of flesh for a bit of spoilt milk is just flat-out silly.

Perhaps this offends your Japanese sensibilities, but quite frankly, I think it's preposterous to expect people to go above and beyond the call of duty for a small mistake that doesn't hurt anyone. I think it's preposterous that because of lying about earthquake resistence in apartments he designed, the Tokyo government, using tax dollars, is paying residents of these places to live elsewhere, while the company gets off with firing a couple people and giving a 申し訳ございませんでした。

Japanese service does little things very well, but fucks up the big ones. I'd rather get the bigger things right thanks.

[Chinpokomon]

Oh, I meant returns for reasons out of your control. Like spoilage. If the clothes were too small...that's not their problem. You need to measure yourself. If the book isn't interesting, tough luck. But... can't you return a ripped book? That's a fault on their end.

Right, so, polite, but inflexible. In the US, you can return like-new items, no questions asked, sometimes even without a receipt. Sure, the clerk might start babbling on about their cute nephews while you're returning that ugly sweater, but at least you got to return it.

[Frankey-eh]

...obviously either our priorities are different, or something went wrong with communication.

To me, if the business erred, I expect 150% repayment. 100% for reimbursing, and 50% to make up for the trouble they've caused us, whether it be an extra trip back to the store or illness caused by spoilage, or whatever.

That is the MOST important thing to good business-ship.

I don't care about mistakes on the customer's side. That's going back to responsibility. As much as the stores gotta take responsibility for their mistakes, the customers got to take responsibility for their mistakes too.

[Chinpokomon]

I don't care about mistakes on the customer's side. That's going back to responsibility. As much as the stores gotta take responsibility for their mistakes, the customers got to take responsibility for their mistakes too.
You've never made a purchase you've regretted?
You've never been given a gift that you didn't like, or didn't fit?

Regardless of your answer, you don't think it's a good thing to be able to take back unwanted items and get money for them?

[alansmithee]

Oh, I meant returns for reasons out of your control. Like spoilage. If the clothes were too small...that's not their problem. You need to measure yourself. If the book isn't interesting, tough luck. But... can't you return a ripped book? That's a fault on their end.

I detect a bit of bias here. Being able to return something because you decide you don't want it, or a gift that someone already had, or whatever reason is great service, and apparently isn't common in Japan the Mecca of good service. Not everything in Japan has to be better than what is done in America, some things are just different.

And your comments about Americans not taking responsibility strike me as a bit odd and/or hypocritical based on what I've heard from people who have lived in Japan far more recently than you have. It seems responsibility isn't taken by the person who made the mistake, but the person in the lowest position. I think if you were to go there and live again, you might be just as suprised as some of the Japanophiles that abound.

To explain about responsibility part...
I've given many examples already. It's obviously to see where the lack of responsibility is on the returning goods part. For the Sears case, the service guy isn't taking responbility simply because the error was not in his department (it seems Sears merged with another company, and our work was done with the other company). However, to us customers, there's is ONLY Sears. There's no "sub-Sears" and as Sears represenative, you should take responsibility to fix something that may have happened even if the job was done before the company merge. Wear your Sears nametag with pride, for god's sake!

In contrast, you can see ANA is taking responsibility. At first, they were inclined to meet our request because they didn't know whether they could take the responsiblity of not. That was fine--it was our own selfish request. But once they accepted it, they made sure everything was done perfectly. No flaws whatsoever. There's no "oops, sorry" moments.

And I actually worked at Sears in High school and a little after, in commission sales. You dealt with an extraordinary situation. I know at my store (much to the chagrin of the workers) the management would bend over backwards to accomodate people. I know of one instance where a woman brought in a 20 year old tractor, and simply by yelling a lot got a brand-new one. Also, before I hired in some employees were saying that maintenence agreements on shop-vacs included free filters. This was not the case, but because some people said this we had to honor the agreement, so we would replace the filters. Also, many things not really covered under warranty, we were forced to return anyways. Also, we didn't have a delivery driver, so employees would on their own time offer to deliver and install some appliances (I remember helping one of my friends who also worked there move a refrigerator). So to say that because you had some bad incidents that American service is universally bad, or Japanese service is so much better, seems very ill-informed and biased. How much Japanese service have you experienced on a day-to-day basis recently?

[Frankey-eh]

Regardless of your answer, you don't think it's a good thing to be able to take back unwanted items and get money for them?
It's good, but they are not obligated to do that for you. Therefore I don't expect them to. But recognizing their mistake and admitting it... I demand that. There's a difference between WANT and MUST

It seems responsibility isn't taken by the person who made the mistake, but the person in the lowest position. I think if you were to go there and live again, you might be just as suprised as some of the Japanophiles that abound.
*looks back at the west JR case*
*looks back at PLF's mitsubishi case*
Lowest person, eh?
I HAVE been back to Japan, annually. The only thing that surprises me are fashion. Always need to buy extra suit cases :D

And I actually worked at Sears in High school and a little after, in commission sales. You dealt with an extraordinary situation.
I'd say! It was a 20 thousand dollar purchase. i highly doubt they'd let hs kids handle those. Maybe Sears should stop selling such expensive stuff and focus on selling vacuum cleaners... :sarcasm:

[edit]
So, speaking of service, I was just on the phone with IRS. Asking about Roth IRA. One of those "But if you won't let me do this, and I can't do this, what am I suppose to do?"
Surprise, surprise, their exact words were "this is something you need to consult with your tax planner. If you don't have any more questions, I need to move on to my next customer" It's utterly ridiculous--the IRS should be the most official source of info, and they're telling me to talk to some accountant, who most likely gets his info from IRS anyways. And who asks their customer to basically shut up? And the fact that they are practically suggesting "you aren't nearly as important as my next customer"... to an organization, EVERY customer should be made to feel the most important! They have absolutely no common sense. >.>

[Chinpokomon]

It's good, but they are not obligated to do that for you. Therefore I don't expect them to. But recognizing their mistake and admitting it... I demand that. There's a difference between WANT and MUST

That's your opinion. Perhaps it is shared by many Japanese people. So in Japan, it is a MUST that companies do more when they make a mistake.

However, I can tell you that in America, there are a lot of people who would stop shopping at a store that stopped taking exchanges/returns. So it's a MUST that stores do exchanges/returns in the US.

So, speaking of service, I was just on the phone with IRS. Asking about Roth IRA. One of those "But if you won't let me do this, and I can't do this, what am I suppose to do?"
Surprise, surprise, their exact words were "this is something you need to consult with your tax planner. If you don't have any more questions, I need to move on to my next customer" It's utterly ridiculous--the IRS should be the most official source of info, and they're telling me to talk to some accountant, who most likely gets his info from IRS anyways. And who asks their customer to basically shut up? And the fact that they are practically suggesting "you aren't nearly as important as my next customer"... to an organization, EVERY customer should be made to feel the most important! They have absolutely no common sense. >.>
Yes, I highly suggest you take your business elsewhere.

[koku]

All these threads are entertaining. I hope everyone voices their opinions even if they might conflict.

[Pierrot le Fou]

If you think the Japanese city hall is any better than the IRS, then you're certainly losing your mind.

Take, for instance, the miracle of the re-entry visa. I went to the office, in Kyoto, to obtain my re-entry visa. It closes at 4pm, which means you have to cut off work to get to it. To make matters worse, they will simply refuse to serve you if it gets to be 3pm and there are too many people ahead of you such that they can't process you by 4pm. No apologies, no money, just, "There are too many people. Try again tomorrow."

When I did get my turn, I was told I needed to pay 6000 yen for my permit. I knew this, so I had the money. But when I tried to pay, they said, "No, no money, you need a stamp." So I had to leave the building, sacrificing my place in line, go to this little building around the corner, pay for a stamp, and bring it back. When I had asked where this building was, the oh-so-polite Japanese service worker pointed at a map.

To make things worse, nobody in the office spoke any English. This is a public service for foreign residents of Japan only, and nobody could speak any English.

Japanese service is NOT what you're making it out to be rika. There is poor service both in the US and in Japan. The difference is that I expect poor service when I'm not paying much in the US. In Japan, regardless of how much I pay, my service does not become equivalently better.

[erbiumfiber]

In Tokyo, they've moved immigration to an impossible-to-reach location with no food nearby (it's somewhere in the docks, I think). There's a conbeni on the first floor, which you'll need because you'll be there for the day (whether for your re-entry permit or to renew your visa). I will admit to getting better service at the ward offices in Tokyo. However it does take a couple of weeks to get your initial gaijin registration card. Without that, you are less than nothing when it comes to getting a keitai, bank account, etc. At least that was my experience, maybe they trust you more down in Kansai.

And there was no signing at my bank, I had to get a hanko made (however you spell that). Which still looks like "baka" to me...

Without people from my company walking me through all this step-by-step, I would have been coming back to each location plural times to accomplish anything.

[Pierrot le Fou]

They don't trust us any more down here in Kansai, but thankfully I had a very pushy Japanese lady from the city office telling the bank that they WOULD accept my application with the temporary gaijin registration card, and that they WOULD accept my hanko, and that they WOULD do it without any guff. It wasn't pretty.

But that's foreigner stuff, and I have a healthy belief that it's not much better (if at all better) in the US than in Japan. That's why I'm trying not to bring up tons of examples involving me going to a store and being told by a clerk that they can't answer my question because they can't speak English, or being told to wait while they discuss me right in front of my face in Japanese because they assume I don't understand.

I mean, for Christ's sake, if every time a store employee made me feel like crap in Japan I'd get a nice 100 yen coin, I could have lived of McDonald's 100 yen menu up 'til now no problem.

[JusenkyoGuide]

Maybe people in Nagano are just nicer? I have had nothing but excellent customer service (with a few exceptions, and even then, just moving to another person seemed to get the problem fixed) up north. In fact I would say that it was far above and beyond what I would have gotten in America.

For example, my fiancee and I went to a ryokan for Christmas to find out that they had upgraded the room from the small one we had reserved to a much larger one, for free, because they had the space. The service there was excellent.

About the same cost as the ryokan, my fiancee and I stayed at the Luxor Hotel Casino in Las Vegas about a year before I came over. The room we booked (a standard room, queen sized bed, non-smoking) two months prior had already been filled; an hour after the stated check in time. Our choices were a slightly smaller smoking room, or PAYING an additional fee and getting a room with two beds in it. No appology besides a half muttered 'sorry'.

Hell, I've gotten better service in Tokyo at the rinkydink hotels there than I did at the Long Beach Hilton.

I admit, I've never had to return more than a book (missing pages); but then again, in Japan, everything seems to be done right the FIRST time around.

[Frankey-eh]

about the government office thing, PLF...

Funny how you should mention it...

Most likely, my parents have also went through a similar process. I mean, they must have had to renew our Japanese visas, before we got our passports. And I'll never forget one time when my parents had to go down to Tokyo to do the paperwork. It was on a school day, and they couldn't reschedule it, so they decided to leave me at home alone. I was seven. There was also a six-hr drive from Sendai to Tokyo. So, my parents left early in the morning, before I woke up. Then I woke up, went to school, and came home, did my homework, etc. They came back at eight. But aside from all that detail, they were able to complete the paper work within... a couple of hours. I'd call that efficient...

In contrast... I've been to San Francisco and Oakland to complete paperworks for visa/passport/green card many times. And on more than one occassion, we had to come home empty-handed, and return another day. One time, they had us wait a whole morning at Oakland, and just when it got to our turn, they closed the door saying it was their lunch break! At least your service told you ahead of time that it'll be pointless to wait. (that three/four o'clock thing) We had to wait THREE hours before finding out ourselves. Another time, we were getting our greencards in San Francisco at 7am on a schoolday. We were suppose to go through this door on the side, but the stupid guards there won't let us through, telling us to go line up in the HUGE line outside. So we got in line. We had to wait two hours before we got inside, and once inside, there was still a long line to the counter. By the time we got to the counter, it was eleven o'clock. Now, here's the thing. When we got to the counter and showed them the letter that told us to come get our cards, the people at the counter told us to go down the hallway and take the elevator upstairs. When we got to the elevator... behold, it was the exact same entrance we tried to get in before! We wasted FOUR hours for nothing! After that, we just got up to the office, waited thirty minutes, and everything was over. We could have gone home four hours earlier. I could have been at school earlier. But no... stupid guards.

The only thing I can say is, thank goodness it doesn't take six hours to get to SF/Oakland.

Now... maybe services aren't all the same throughout the country, both US and Japan. But also... maybe... just maybe... do you think there could be a gaijin factor involved? Because, really, I've never seen a bad service. Honestly. I hope not, but... I dunno. I just hope not. Why would it be so different for you and I though? All the sales person I've approached in Japan have all been smiling and willing to help me, while sometimes the sales person in US will just point to a general direction of the store and tell me to find it myself. All the train station people I've approached were willing to help me with eagerness, while for Bart, I actually had the guy sighing at me for asking for clarifications for the second time.

[Ceirnian]

The service I get in the bay area (SF/Oakland included) has been pretty good. Sounds like that four hours of waiting was a fluke though, next time don't trust security to know whats going on. Just head back to the person who gave you the original directions and ask again etc.

Haven't been to Japan so I can't really comment, but it sounds like they both just have their ups and downs.

[Gestalt]

In Tokyo, they've moved immigration to an impossible-to-reach location with no food nearby (it's somewhere in the docks, I think). There's a conbeni on the first floor, which you'll need because you'll be there for the day (whether for your re-entry permit or to renew your visa)..
I'd still take the new place over the hell-hole in Otemachi where the immigration office used to be any day.. It was a horrible, grey, windowless, concrete building where you lined up in the corridors and everything smelt like cigarette smoke. Guess it was a bit closer though..
btw. At the new immigration office, if you get there early (ie. before 10am) you can often get out of there within an hour. It's happened to me a few times anyway.

[JSwede]

Well in my opinion, Japanese service outperforms American service by far. And, being from Sweden, I have to say it runs circles around Swedish service as well.

I don't know if it's because I've lived in Japan for so long, or that I speak the language, but some of the examples of "bad service" you guys have written about (must have hanko, cannot return goods, long lines at immigration office, no help in English, etc) just don't seem like bad service to me.

Japanese service is EXCELLENT, but somewhat inflexible. If you learn which parts are inflexible, and how to best handle the inflexibility without frustration, then you can actually loosen up the inflexibility in some cases. And in the worst cases, it's just simply the way it is, and there's no use losing sleep over it. I still think the service level overall in Japan is truly excellent, and I have yet to visit any part of the world which exceeds it.

In the US however, if service people are working for tips, you can get good service. If they are not working for tips, forget about it.... I recently took a trip to the States and was appalled by the lack of good service and the general attitude towards customers. Unheard of in Japan. That is to say, the US is better than Europe I think (at least Sweden) where tips don't really play as big part in the service industry, and most people just simply don't care enough about treating the customer well.

Hints for getting better service in Japan (if you feel you're not getting good enough): learn better Japanese, most importantly polite Japanese (keigo), and use it. People who are addressed and treated with respect and kindness will treat you the same.

(However, the other day I managed to exchange a TFT monitor at LAOX by shouting and being an obnoxious Gaijin, because I knew I had no right to return it, but I wanted to anyay, so I had to play the role of bullying foreigner... Sometimes that works too!)

[Artful_Dodger]

You don't hear that in US. A mistake in textbook? Pfft mistakes happen. Our chem teacher sends an email, and it gets ignored. Our math teacher writes a letter and it gets ignored. Not even a "sorry". Psssht forget money.
Oh, there is money - money for the publisher. A mistake in the text book means they get to make a new edition and everyone has to buy it.

[Komachi Angel]

>PLF

Seems like you've had some bad experiences - I dunno what kind of places you must frequent, but I've never had any trouble. The guys and girls at the local sushi train are nice and friendly, the people at local restaurants who come to check on you, and small, local stores that are very friendly (even more so to regulars).

I guess everyone has different experiences, but I have personally not encountered that kind of treatment. I have had some bad experiences, but not in restaurants.

As for exchanges, I do have to say things are generally run fairly much to the letter. This can be both good and bad, but generally it has caused no problems with me. I could go on about this, but ESID and all that jazz.

In the end, people will be people (not perfect) no matter where you go. However, as far as customer service is concerned, I myself have felt Japanese service in general is very good. Doesn't mean that of my home country is bad necessarily, but I do feel you get a lot more attention here.

EDIT: About the JR incident and such, I do feel sympathy for the president. While it is true it was the company who hired the person, all people are capable of faults, and I doubt it was he who had any position in directly hiring that employee.

On some occassions, I understand why people want refunds for clothes and such that might be the wrong size - presents, and such. But I think the customer is also responsible for their decision, and needs to make the best one they can.

[Scott]

I think they both have their points... as a customer, I really like Japanese service - if you ask a question or need help, they'll generally help you, if not go out of the way to help you. Then again, for more flexible, interactive service, the US way seems to work better when you have the right employees in front of you...

I guess some of it is that the Japanese seem to train their employees more thoroughly and are stricter with them - which would be 'bad', I suppose, for people looking at it from an employee standpoint.

[Lisa M]

Lisa's favorite customer service story:

When I was in Japan, I was in Ehime prefecture, on Shikoku. The local JET and I concluded that we were probably two of about five foreigners within at least a 50-mile radius.

When my host family took me to the museum, they had a special desk for foreign visitors that had English-language maps and a free gift. The woman working at the foreign service desk was so excited that she ran up to me, said hello, gave me a gift, and called me over to talk about the museum. Her English was amazing.

Later I found out that they peaked at about one foreign visitor a month, if that, so this was a Major Thing.

It was actually a really cool museum. All of the displays had information in both Japanese and surprisingly good English, and they had a lot of fun, interactive displays.

[jingi893]

so i'm in tsujido at the local moss burger...now i want a cheeseburger w/lettuce and tomato...only they don't have one on the menu...they have a hamburger with lettuce and tomato and a cheeseburger without...i asked the girl behind the counter to put cheese on the hamburger...she told me they couldn't do it...so the lion and the unicorn went around the town...finally i ordered a hamburger AND a cheeseburger and moved the lettuce and tomato over to the cheeseburger...the look on the girls face behind the counter made everything worth it...you would think someone had just dropped dead in the very same moss burger....

another time i tried to order pizza from pizzala...now i like my pizza plain...they guy on the other end of the line wouldn't take this for an answer...he insisted that i wanted something on my pizza...after about 15 minutes of arguing i finally convinced him that indeed, i did want my pizza plain...and i got it too...

plf is right when he said polite and inflexible for japanese customer service....

rika - i don't know how you are approaching these people when you call and complain about things...but maybe that's just it...if you start off confrontational or the guy on the other end of the line THINKS you are being confrontational...then chances are he/she will shut down on you...i would do that when i worked in a bookstore...and when i have to call these people i always keep in the back of my mind that they are people...they have the same crappy job as everyone else...if you treat them like human beings you will find that you get a lot more done...and that if you need their help in the future you will be better served...if you call and start bitching you are only the 100th person of many who have taken that same tact...if you treat them like a person, well those calls are few and far between and always remembered...and pay someone to do your taxes...you'll make more money in the long run...the irs is hell...

i think there are good and bad things on both sides of the ocean...and as someone here said...different countries/cultures...different definitions of customer service...

[Frankey-eh]

rika - i don't know how you are approaching these people when you call and complain about things...but maybe that's just it...if you start off confrontational or the guy on the other end of the line THINKS you are being confrontational...then chances are he/she will shut down on you...i would do that when i worked in a bookstore...and when i have to call these people i always keep in the back of my mind that they are people...they have the same crappy job as everyone else...if you treat them like human beings you will find that you get a lot more done...and that if you need their help in the future you will be better served...if you call and start bitching you are only the 100th person of many who have taken that same tact...if you treat them like a person, well those calls are few and far between and always remembered...and pay someone to do your taxes...you'll make more money in the long run...the irs is hell...
I don't think you are getting the fact that... it's the BUSINESS who's at wrong here. Why should I NOT be confrontational? It's not like someone's example where I bought the wrong shoe size and I want to return it. The product is faulty, and the service is incomplete. Okay, tell me what you would do if you've paid Sears 20 thousand bucks, and then they come and do a half-ass job of installing a heating system? Do you realize, we've gone from winter to spring to summer to fall back to winter, and they've still not done an inspection, given us our warrenty NOR our manual? Do you realize, we've called the salesperson nonstop until he came all the way to our house, and had him promise us he'd take care of things... only to find out it was an empty promise? Then we called his company directly, got told to go somewhere else, and then getting told to go back to where we first called? We got pushed here and there, and yet no one was helping us. Did you realize what our new installer told us? The previous guy had made a mistake in installing--he had to take out all the pipes in the house and reinstall everything. Tell me, how would you act?

[alansmithee]

I don't think you are getting the fact that... it's the BUSINESS who's at wrong here. Why should I NOT be confrontational? It's not like someone's example where I bought the wrong shoe size and I want to return it. The product is faulty, and the service is incomplete. Okay, tell me what you would do if you've paid Sears 20 thousand bucks, and then they come and do a half-ass job of installing a heating system? Do you realize, we've gone from winter to spring to summer to fall back to winter, and they've still not done an inspection, given us our warrenty NOR our manual? Do you realize, we've called the salesperson nonstop until he came all the way to our house, and had him promise us he'd take care of things... only to find out it was an empty promise? Then we called his company directly, got told to go somewhere else, and then getting told to go back to where we first called? We got pushed here and there, and yet no one was helping us. Did you realize what our new installer told us? The previous guy had made a mistake in installing--he had to take out all the pipes in the house and reinstall everything. Tell me, how would you act?

I tried telling you (which you immediately dismissed) that that was an UNUSUAL situation-not the $20,000 purchase (when I was a "kid" working there, I woud sell generators around $10,000. My friend, another "kid", would sell electronic systems $25,000+.) but the horrible service. You had every right to be totally angry in this situation. But you can't take one bad situation and extrapolate that to be how things are normally. It sounds like your salesman was a jerk, and the people you talked to in the office were jerks. If I were in your situation, I probably would've gone more balistic. At the very least, you should've had some of the costs refunded, in my opinion. But from my experience, this wasn't the norm, it was a (admittedly bad) exception.

[koku]

I dunno. I'd give him a hug. :D

[dude500]

A few points:

I find that in America there is a cooperative relationship between customer and employees. Employee serves customer, customer gives feedback, employee makes things better if need be. It's similar to a working environment and if you were coworkers of the same team. The relationship also lasts well beyond the point of sale. In Japan (and in general for Asia) there is a very distinct group that is the customer and another distinct group that is the service provider. The customer is expected to provide $ and nothing more, the service provider is expected to provide the service exactly as written and nothing more. If this covenant is broken by the customer, then too bad for the customer; if the covenant is broken by the service provider, then the provider has to atone for it (like honor?).

In the end, I really don't think you can consolidate the view that either American or Japanese service is better than the other. I think that contrary to popular belief, Japanese service varies with each establishment, just like in America.

Case in point: A Japanese friend of mine, in Japan, was going to mail a package. The first time around at the window, the postman said that "there is not enough glue on the stamp". The postman didn't actually offer to put more glue, so my friend had to go find some and put it on. The second time at the window, the postman said "the stamp is in the wrong area of the box, you'll have to put it here". Needless to say my friend was super pissed enough to write me a long email about it. Another Japanese friend said that Japanese are lazy =p

Second case in point: I've had awesome service at several restaurants, especially sushi places. I was able to talk on a more personal level with the people running the store and I got some "sabisu" in the process (I wrote about this experience in another thread.. don't remember which one).

On the side, I think that company executives resigning when something goes wrong is silly. I'd rather have someone who has learned from errors in processes running a company rather than an inexperienced person. To me it's cowardly to resign (like escaping) than to go through the criticism and implement better procedures so the mistake doesn't happen again. Honestly, I don't expect the top executive of a company to micro-manage to such a level that he has direct responsibility for mistakes made by the bottom rung, but I do expect him to resolve such issues from not happening again.

[jingi893]

I don't think you are getting the fact that... it's the BUSINESS who's at wrong here.Why should I NOT be confrontational? It's not like someone's example where I bought the wrong shoe size and I want to return it. The product is faulty, and the service is incomplete.
no you'r right i'm not getting the facts...you never them to us nor did you explain the situation in detail...just one ambiguous line about $20,000...sorry i can't read you mind...i'm not japanese/chinese...so no isshiin denshiin here...and given the FULL extent of your circumstances...i'd be a little pissed too...

Okay, tell me what you would do if you've paid Sears 20 thousand bucks, and then they come and do a half-ass job of installing a heating system?
if i had paid $20,000 and the installed it wrong?...i would stop payment until they rectified the problem...and i would also have had my lawyer talk to them...besides...i live in california so my question would be...why do you need a heating system?

Do you realize, we've gone from winter to spring to summer to fall back to winter, and they've still not done an inspection, given us our warrenty NOR our manual? Do you realize, we've called the salesperson nonstop until he came all the way to our house, and had him promise us he'd take care of things... only to find out it was an empty promise? Then we called his company directly, got told to go somewhere else, and then getting told to go back to where we first called? We got pushed here and there, and yet no one was helping us. Did you realize what our new installer told us? The previous guy had made a mistake in installing--he had to take out all the pipes in the house and reinstall everything.
again...if you put a person's back up against a wall they will do everything possible to thwart you...it's called passive aggressiveness...and like i said above...i would stop payment and called a lawyer...and if you can't afford a lawyer you call the company and tell them you are talking to a lawyer...there is a difference between being pushy/bossy/aggressive/confrontational/whiny and firm/confident...

[Frankey-eh]

so no isshiin denshiin here
LOL all my anger just dissipated with that. I love that song. ^__^

i live in california so my question would be...why do you need a heating system? I'm weird that way... You know, I should be able to withstand cold, seeing as I was born in the winter, but my body is strange. Over thanksgiving break, I was sitting at home with a long-sleeve shirt, sweater, jacket, two layers of pants, and two layers of socks. It was 53 F with storm outside. *shrugs*

[Kamakiri]

i'd have to agree with jingi893 on the whole food service issue. my american friends and i would constantly go to the sanzeria and coco's by my apartment, and we always ran into problems. "can i have extra sauce on the pizza?" "can i have extra cheese on the pizza?" "can i have something something instead of something something?". it never, ever worked. one time i was ordering an oden set at a bar (it was may - i was soo surprised they had it), but i wanted to switch the foods, and i said i would pay the extra money if it was more. the guy said it was no problem, and then brought out the original oden from the menu. (i was confused but at the time i had had a few beers and didn't care too much).

another instance - i was always hassled by the local post office. in my year living in Japan i sent home over 60 boxes of stuff (i really like Japanese things). many of these boxes were over 20kg. they would always give me a hard time, sometimes arbitrarily asking if i wanted insurrance (it was arbitrary), sometimes other questions that i didn't get why they were asking. and then one time i was told by the man that he refused to send my boxes if he didn't open them to ensure that i didn't lie about how i wanted to send them (2x20kg boxes of books at the media rate). i mean - what else but books would be that heavy in a small box? bricks? i said i had just sent one 2 days before but he didn't care - ripped open my boxes, and then gave me some tape so i could re-tape them. yeah, thanks jack-ass...do it for me next time.

i'm gonna have to vote for the american side this time. i currently work for min. wage at a book store (barnes & noble...not a small one) and everyone, and i mean every person that works there does whatever they can to help the customer. i'm always tempted to tell people "i'm just going on my break, i can't help you" but i do it anyways because no one ever wants to hear that response. i bet they wouldn't do that in Japan. just today someone said they lost thier gift card and wanted another one (they had the original receipt). our manager gave them a brand new card with no problem whatsoever. i couldn't believe it! where else but america could this happen?

edit - one thing i absolutely LOVE about america. if i go into a place at least once or twice a week for a while they will learn who i am and greet me in a way that shows it, or at a bar they will get me my "usual" without having to ask. at banks they are encouraged to call you by your name. it feels so wonderful to have someone acknowledge you warmly rather than as "okyaku-sama". i went to the post office almost every day for one thing or another for my last three months in Japan (it was on campus so it was convenient), and they never, ever showed that they remembered me. there aren't many white girls around - i do stand out!!
(sorry for the long post...)

[alansmithee]

edit - one thing i absolutely LOVE about america. if i go into a place at least once or twice a week for a while they will learn who i am and greet me in a way that shows it, or at a bar they will get me my "usual" without having to ask. at banks they are encouraged to call you by your name. it feels so wonderful to have someone acknowledge you warmly rather than as "okyaku-sama". i went to the post office almost every day for one thing or another for my last three months in Japan (it was on campus so it was convenient), and they never, ever showed that they remembered me. there aren't many white girls around - i do stand out!!
(sorry for the long post...)

I actually dislike that. When I start going somewhere enough where they recongize me, and start acknowledging that recognition, I usually start going somewhere else. I don't like people who I don't know being so familiar with me.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I do have a local bar in Japan, and a local convenient store, and both give me what I want generally without me having to ask. If it's one of the regular workers, I just ask for cigarettes, and they give me my brand. If I ask for a gin and tonic at my bar, they know to use the bombay sapphire. Then again I'm pretty talkative with workers at places I go a lot, and most people in Japan don't seem to be.

[jingi893]

i like it when i go into a place and they know me...i find that i get better service that way...sometimes i get comped for things...just because you're friendly doesn't mean you're friends...i just don't tell people what i don't want them to know...but still...i get better customer service when they know me...

[Frankey-eh]

i like it when i go into a place and they know me...i find that i get better service that way...sometimes i get comped for things...just because you're friendly doesn't mean you're friends...i just don't tell people what i don't want them to know...but still...i get better customer service when they know me...
Won't you say that's a difference between city vs rural life? If you lived in a rural place in US, and then move to a city in Japan... can you really say the differences are between US and Japan?

[Pookie42]

^ unless i'm getting it wrong (not too unlikely haha) i dun think ur pointabout rural adn city is exactly right cuz i go to the same starbucks 3 or so times a week nad they've long gotten to know me (i live in teh city btw) n usualyl someone'll start my regular before i order or ask what i want even if i'm behind a couple people in line if i look like i gotta run etc.

[羽之助]

I do have a local bar in Japan, and a local convenient store, and both give me what I want generally without me having to ask. If it's one of the regular workers, I just ask for cigarettes, and they give me my brand. If I ask for a gin and tonic at my bar, they know to use the bombay sapphire. Then again I'm pretty talkative with workers at places I go a lot, and most people in Japan don't seem to be.

Nice. I walked into a very small alcohol store (right across from my Board of Ed - whee!), which is run by a family with a very small family. It's so cute, baby on the back while she operates the register. I bought Bailey's with my Kahlua this time, and she smiled and said 'Oh, you're getting them together this time'.

[jingi893]

Won't you say that's a difference between city vs rural life? If you lived in a rural place in US, and then move to a city in Japan... can you really say the differences are between US and Japan?
only in the sense that different cultures = different expectations of service...my experiences that i related from when i was in japan, i feel, are humorous...i grew up in a rural area...the biggest farming community in jersey...and i've been around cities as well...i'm pretty friendly and outgoing...i'll talk to anybody...and people tend to feel comfortable around me...in america and every other place i've visited...i've been to japan and while there are differences...i really try hard to leave my "cultural expectations" at home...i don't expect the same kind of service in countries that i travel to that i do in america...to compare the two is like comparing apples to carbeurators...so i don't think it's urban vs. rural...i think it's more a "cultural expectation" and flexibility/inflexibility than anything else...and also...i think that what happened to you and your family is not the norm...there are unscrupulous people that would look at you and your family and say "cool...these guys aren't american...i can take advantage/blow them off a little more"...as an english teacher i try to look out for my students as much as possible...it's part of my customer service...in l.a. there are a lot of people who love to take advantage of foreigners...so for me...even at the local level of having a place that "knows" me...i've not been to japan for an extended period of time...i am planning to though...so i'll be able to make a better evaluations...but i think i will find that it's not any different than here in the u.s...at least for me...again...that's based on my outgoing"ness"

[Asperitas]

I hope it's better than the customer services over here in Holland. because you really REALLY need patience!


ME: hello my name is ... from the ... company, I ordered some simcards, but they have wrong information on it, I know exactly what is going on so please change it for me.
HER: ahhh well, what's wrong then?
ME: the dialstring is wrong from the gprs, these sim cards dont need to go to internet but to our net work.
HER: sir gprs is a function, it is not the internet itself...
ME: i know I know, and the dialstring of the connection is wrong and I need it changed because I want to do gprs to our network
HER: you can't DO gprs, it's a function, not something you can do. it is a name of the connection etc etc.
ME: I KNOW, that is not what I ask you, I ask you to change my dialstring, I called some time ago too, and it was exactly the same, and someone changed it for me.
HER: what the heck is a dial string?
ME (pissed off because of her long stories and not listening to what I ask): just give me your superior, I can handle it with him or her.
HER: I can't do that, you are not a customer.
ME: yes I am
HER: no you are not, you are not in our database
ME: Is .. from my company in the list, because if it is I just let him talk on the phone then
HER: No I cant help you, good bye sir! *hung up the phone*

this is 30 minutes later, and I'm still not helped while I know the stupid problem. So I called the sales manager of that company and let him take care of it, which took a day. If that girl just changed it on the phone (I know she can because someone on the same helpdesk did the same thing for me a while ago) I would have had the results just 10 minutes later!

So I really hope for those japanese people they don't have the same way of serving their customers like they do over here!