Service in Singapore - the two ends of the spectrum

As you may or may not know, Singapore is not renowned for its excellent standards of service. In fact, quite the opposite; it is well-known for its really terrible service - in restaurants, shops, banks, petrol stations, insurance companies, cable companies, IT support centres...anywhere you might visit or call as a customer to be served by someone. In many cases, the person serving you simply does not want to be there and shows it (this is typical in cafes and restaurants, banks, large shops, etc.) Or, they might very well be quite happy to be there and are grateful for the job - but just don't know what they are doing or are unable to deviate from the 'script' or 'think outside the box' (most other places and all call centres).

This is largely the fault, I believe, of the school system. That is worth another whole blog post (or several) so I won't go into it here. Suffice to say that Singaporean children are a) expected to excel at everything, with no exceptions (and beaten if they don't, in many cases) and b) taught by rote learning - there is no problem solving. This results in the local population's 'kiasu' (me first) attitude and a total lack of flexibility when young people join the world of work.

It IS possible to get great service here and when you do get it, it really stands out. I have come to expect bad service these days so I laugh it off or let it wash over me. But I applaud great service because it's so unusual! It's sad, because Singaporeans are really quite pleasant people, in general. I love living here, as you will know if you read my post about National Day. But the service standards in Singapore, however much you try to excuse it, are, quite simply, appalling.

Two examples of service, at opposite ends of the spectrum, have arisen in the last few days. I'll start with the frustrating, exasperating, mind-bogglingly incredible example of total inflexibility (because it gets it out of the way, and actually it's quite funny. Then I can move on to the more positive experience and end on a high note.) In this case the bad service wasn't a result of rudeness (although many are), it was simply due to bad processes, the right arm not knowing what the left arm is doing, and a total inability on the part of the call centre agent or her manager to 'think outside the box'.

Background: I bought a phone from M1, one of the 3 major mobile phone operators here, the day before the kids went back to school, so that Isabel could have a working phone with her at school. She had one last year but it died on me as I was getting their back-to-school kit ready. So I popped out and bought a new phone and signed up for a contract (the old one was a pre-paid SIM card) on the most basic package possible and brought the phone home, happy with the friendly service I'd received from the girl in the M1 store, who seemed very efficient. It all seemed too good to be true. Yep - too good to be true.....

A week or so later, I got the first phone bill with the connection charge and the charges pro rata to 31 August. I set up a new payee on our online banking website and paid the bill online. The money left our account and I assumed that all was OK.

A few days later, I hadn't heard from Isabel's teacher with a BG number on her arrival at school at 8.30am, so I called, and the number would not connect. I thought maybe she'd forgotten to charge it and it was switched off, so I assumed 'no news is good news' and got on with my day. No text with snack time BG either - so I texted the teacher to see if everything was OK. No answer - most unlike her. So after a while I called the school office and asked the teacher to call me, which she did, from her own phone - most apologetic. She had texted me but hadn't realised the 8.30am text hadn't gone through until she went to text me at 10.40am (snack), at which point she sent the 8.30am one again plus the 10.40 one but didn't realise THOSE hadn't gone through until I called! She said that she could not make any calls on Isabel's phone so I said I would call the company as soon as I got home. I thought maybe the bill hadn't been paid - perhaps I'd entered wrong data when I set the payee up online.

So I called the company. The first question the bright, cheerful, very young (by the sound of it) call centre agent asked me was whether I had provided proof of the billing address when I took the phone contract out. I said no - it wasn't requested. She was silent for a moment and said "well, it should have been....." Pause. I asked her if the phone had been deactivated? Yes, it had. Was this because I hadn't paid the bill? No, the bill had been paid. So, why was the phone deactivated? Because I hadn't provided a proof of the billing address.

Flabbergasted, I said "But it wasn't requested!" "Well, it should have been...." "But nobody told me.... so you are telling me you cut the phone off with no notice because I didn't provide something that I wasn't asked to provide?" "Yes."

Then it struck me. Ah, clever. "But I've received the first bill, and I've paid it. Does that not count as proof that the billing address was correct?" "Ummmm.....I don't know. I'll check with my manager, please hold the line."

Music.

"Hello, ma'am? No, you should have returned the welcome letter." "What welcome letter?" "The one welcoming you to M1." "But I haven't received a welcome letter...." "Well, you should have done."

Starting to get just a teeny bit frustrated here - but I held it together. "What does the welcome letter say?" "Simply it welcomes you to M1, ma'am." "Does it ask me to return it to you as proof of my billing address?" "Ummmm.....I don't know. I'll check with my manager, please hold the line."

Music.

"Hello, ma'am? No it doesn't." Pause. "So, you're telling me that you have cut the phone off for not providing proof of billing address when I took out the contract, which wasn't requested at the time, and not returning a letter that I haven't received, which even if I had received I would probably not have returned to you because it doesn't state that I should do so."

Pause while she digested this question.

"Ummmm.....yes." She still sounded very young but not nearly as bright and cheerful, by now.

Another pause.

"And you're telling me that the fact that I received and paid the bill does not count as proof that the billing address is correct." "Ummmm....yes."

Totally flabbergasted by this time, I asked "So, what can we do about this?" "Well, you need to return the welcome letter." "But I haven't received a welcome letter." "Well, you should have done...."

I was on the point of throwing the phone out of the window at this point - but I still held it together (Note - I am dead proud of myself for not throwing a tantrum here....)

"OK. Let's start again. I haven't received a welcome letter and I need the phone reconnected today. It's important - it is my five-year-old daughter's school phone and the teacher uses it to contact me on a daily basis because she has a medical condition and needs regular monitoring." Silence. "So I need it reconnected today." "Today, ma'am?" "Yes. As I explained, my little girl has a medical condition and her teacher needs to contact me several times a day. So, how can we get this sorted out? Can you take the fact that I paid the bill as proof of billing address?" "No, ma'am. We cannot do that." "Why?" "Ummmmm.....I don't know, ma'am. Please hold the line."

Music.

"Ma'am, I'm very sorry but we cannot do that." "Why?" "Ma'am, I'm very sorry but we cannot do that." "OK, so what can you do?" "Ummmmm.....please hold the line, ma'am."

Music. Extreme frustration at my end. Smoke starting to come from my ears. Gnashing of teeth. But I held it together....just.

"Ma'am, you need to fax us the copy of your bill." "I don't have a fax machine." "Ummmm.....please hold the line....." "Can't I just speak to your manager?"

Clearly not......music.

"Ma'am, you need to scan in the copy of your bill and email it to this address [address]. Then I can reactivate the phone for you after three working days."

At this point I lost it.

"NO. NO. Don't even GO there. You are lucky I have a scanner - many people do not. So I will scan the bill and you will reactivate the phone today." "Ma'am, I'm sorry but we cannot do that. It's not our procedure." "I'm sorry, but screw your procedure. Tell me this. Technically, is it possible?" "But ma'am, it's not......" "IS IT TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE?" "Yes, ma'am." "Right. I have explained why this is important. I will not go through that again. Is this phone call being recorded?" "Yes, ma'am, for quality purposes. So that we can improve our service to you." "Good. Well, this is how it is going to be. You will receive my email in a few minutes. I expect you to call me back within 2 hours to tell me that you have reactivated the phone. I should NOT have had to go through this in the first place. You need to get your procedures sorted out and you need to get them sorted FAST. None of this should have been necessary. And I expect this issue to be escalated to your manager, and to your manager's manager, and I expect an apology." Silence. "Did you hear me?" "Yes, ma'am." "OK, I'll get that bill scanned right now and you will call me back." Silence. "Did you hear me?" "Yes, ma'am."

The poor girl sounded quite scared at this point...... so I let her go. I snarkily said "Goodbye and thank you VERY much for your help...." and ended the call. Went into the garden and screamed out loud (well, I didn't, but I felt like it!) and poured myself a large G&T (OK, I didn't do that either but only because we didn't have either in the house). I scanned in the bill and emailed it to the address I had been given. Sure enough, within 30 minutes I got a call back telling me the phone had been reactivated. End of story. There it is - a classic example of Singapore service, sadly.

Now, the other extreme. Today's example fully restored my faith in human nature. Isabel's BG meter failed. Actually, it's been playing up for about a week but yesterday evening it was really driving me mad and when it took me 20 minutes to get it to dispense a strip, after midnight, I decided I needed to take it in as soon as possible. And then, today, the finger-pricker on the school meter broke. Snapped in two - totally useless. I was in school anyway for swimming so I used a spare lancet to prick her finger manually (that went down like the proverbial lead balloon) and brought the meter home with me. I put the working pricker on the working meter and took the failing meter and the broken pricker off to the supplier, Roche Diagnostics. On the way home from school I had called Peggy, my main contact at Roche, and explained the problem. "No problem, Mrs Cracknell. Just bring the broken pieces in and we'll see what we can do." "Thank you, Peggy, I'll see you shortly...."

When I got there, she was waiting for me with a smile. "Now, Mrs Cracknell, I have a new meter for you. Here you go...." "How much do I owe you?" "Oh, nothing. It's nothing, please. You can't manage with a broken meter." She didn't even ask to try out the failing one to see what was wrong. No questions asked. All smiles, efficiency and great service. I mean, we spend silly amounts of money with them on strips so we should perhaps expect a free meter or two, now and then, but it was still a very pleasant surprise and she was so friendly and chatty. She asked how Isabel and Bob were doing, listened to and responded appropriately to my answers, commented on my "very nice skirt" and saw me to the door with a pat on the arm, a big smile and a "Lovely to see you, Mrs Cracknell. You take care now and say hello to those cute kids of yours!"

Now, this lady is a middle-aged Singaporean. Typically, middle-aged Singaporean ladies are the most inflexible, unsmiling, unable to 'think outside the box' people when it comes to service - more so than the youngsters and more so than middle-aged men (although not nearly as downright rude as men can be, here). They are lovely ladies if you meet them in a non-customer service context but generally, behind the counter or over the phone, they are difficult to deal with. But Peggy is delightful. Simply delightful. Every time I have any contact with her, she is helpful, friendly and gets my problem resolved, to my satisfaction (not hers) as quickly as she can. In fact, everyone at Roche is great. I have had nothing but good service from them. That's as it should be, from a company providing pharmaceutical products (and it's worth noting that everyone at Medtronic is great too) but still, in Singapore, it deserves a mention because it IS unusual.

Wow, this was a long one! If you have reached this point you are probably thinking that Singaporeans are all rude, inflexible and unable to solve problems creatively. That's not actually true. Most individual Singaporeans that I have met in a social context are lovely people and can be very creative, warm, fun-loving and generous. And hopefully, as the world grows smaller, different cultures get to know each other better and expectations evolve, these standards of service will improve.

In the meantime, I need to get some gin and tonic in, don't I?