One evening, I had dinner with my family at a prominent Chinese restaurant in KL. We’ve always had our dinner there occasionally because we believe in the quality of the food.
Obviously things change after a while. The combination of roast cuts of duck, barbecued pork (char siew) and piglet (skin) actually came last, after the vegetable and bean curd dishes. Very strange, don’t you think?
At the end of dinner, my dad called for the bill, and a waitress went to bring it over. Along with it, she brought a plastic sign to put on the table, signalling that the bill has been paid. The sign read “Thank you” and “Terima Kasih”. She came back with the change after a while.
Instead of leaving the tab (in that black folder) on the table for my dad to collect his change and leave a tip, she stood beside him, holding the folder open.
My dad stared at her. She stared back. I stared at both of them.
Reluctantly, he picked up his change and left a tip. The waitress left with the tab without uttering a single word.
First, the quality of food decreased – it was oily as hell. What’s the point of ordering vegetable dishes if the oil is enough to give you a heart attack on the spot? Even the roast cuts weren’t crispy, the char siew kept sticking to my teeth because of the carbon/burnt ‘outsides’ and the piglet skin oozed oil/grease.
Secondly, the lack of personal touch and manners from the waitress:
(a) she never smiled;
(b) she never said “Thank you”; and
(c) she tried to be polite by holding the folder open for my dad to pick up his change.
VERY BAD!
Even if she is a foreigner, surely the management must train or educate their staff in basic courtesy? Why eye a customer’s wallet to insist on a tip when you’ve hardly spoken a word?
My dad shouldn’t have left a tip! I wouldn’t have left a tip if it were me. I’d probably have told her off if I had been in a bitchy mood: “Leave the damn thing here! I want to take my own sweet time picking up the 10 sen coins you left me as change !”
Waitressing requires a certain etiquette. I think there are do’s and don’t’s to follow. One thing I hate is when the waiter or waitress is standing beside you refilling everyone’s cup of tea, instead of moving and standing beside the person sitting 2 or 3 seats away from you, their arm reaches out across your face to pour tea into his or her cup, that your nose is almost buried deep into his/her armpit. F*cking rude, ain’t it? One day when I’m in a bitchy mood, I’m going to hold my nose and remark, “HMMMFH. DATANG DEKAT SIKIT, SAYA MAU CIUM BAU TU!” (translation: “HMMFH. COME NEARER, I WANT TO SMELL THAT!”)
ZOMG FIRST!!!
*muax iv’N* ;P
How about sharing which restaurant is that? 😀
somewhere near jalan imbi ;P i’d love to name the restaurant but what if i’m sued for being malicious? hehe, will xes save me then? ;P
Mine if I drop a few lines?
I wouldn’t give a tip if the services are poor. Afterall, the bill already included service tax.
BTW, the waitress is hinting something to you izzit??
well, i couldn’t tell my dad not to tip her right in front of her leh.. ;P
aiyo~ waitress nowadays liddat wan la…the last time i had dinner with my gf at some restaurant the same thing happens wut…i jus stared at her and asked her “is there anything else? is there a prob?”,i haven’t take my change as sh hold it up..after a while she left the folder on the table…but then i decided not to leave any tip oso cause she hasn’t been very kind, my gf likes to choose slowly while ordering food, i guess the waitress got impatient then left, after tat i called for anyone, then she came back again with those face, i simply let her stand summore again tat time….ehhehe…damn bad….i mean from the way i picture it…ahah
owh..neva should have tipped if they didn’t give good service…
hehe. i also can be lansi sometimes la. but depends on mood. ;P
the correct way to do it is to leave the black folder thinggy on the table until the customers leave the table.
service now a days damn lousy la
sometimes i wonder why some names also can’t be revealed…. kapal naga emas ?
endroo: close. opposite it. ;P
maybe im used to foreign customs..or perhaps i dont care, im used to initiate my manners first before anyone does. that perhaps could change a person little? like i will say hi, how are you when i am inquiring something, or even say thank you to those people who give me back changes. yes yes we give them money and all we deserve to expect something off them, but as long as we carry this mentality of ‘u treat me like that, i treat you back like that or even worse’, our community will never improve on our civic manners. But then again it all depends la..dont say something that will offend me that is, or i’ll sonic boom him/her to the end of the room.
Wah so rude! What do you guys think if this type of people is in western country….!!??
pokai & Amos: what to do. in western countries the waiters & waitresses make sure they are nice to get big tips!
pokai, i agree that customers must be polite too, but in the service industry… no matter what, the “server” has to be polite. i think last time we complained about the mentality of customer service departments in malaysia? ;P
bimbo: oh.. the corner lot one. Hmm… haha.
Sometime we be polite but turns out the customer is the one fussy, rubbish, talk kok, boasting, rude etc… what do you do?
endroo: heh i thought the scenario u described happens more in msia. especially rich people.
bimbo..true also..hmm…i think unless the whole customer relations department in msia are taken over by japanese people..i dont think it will improve in near future…in fact i dont think it will improve at all…heh..so no tips! service charge enough liao..unless the girl preety only i will give tips!heh ;P
endroo: shhhhhh ;P
pokai: haha. good one! they must learn from countries where being courteous and polite is of utmost importance.
oh, i hear that sometimes the service charge does not go to the restaurant, so i’m not sure about it. but 15% tax paid for a meal is quite sakit hati, anyway.
can we actually tell the waiter/waitress to smile because we don’t want to see their sour face? or our food will be given extra taste from their saliva?
bimbo: u must tell them..don’t make your problem my problem..who cares la we dont pay the waiter/waitress their salary. haha one good suggestions thou…always bring your paperbag along la…draw a bloody big wide smile and throw some arrows with annotation that says ‘always smile’ wahaha i think it would work thou..kakaka but then they’d probably spit on ur paperbag thou. ;P
i will be going Overseas next week. I will see if their waiters/waitresses there are also like this. Compare them with our locals.
pokai: i don’t look rich enough to tell them off like that. hehe. bring my paperbag and draw? like Win, Lose or Draw ni!
endroo: hehe. counter review ah? ;P