Never say no
TV Terry was taking a disconcertingly long time in the Burj Al Arab bathroom. Could the elf-sized sandwiches be disagreeing with his undelicate British stomach? The mystery is revealed when he finally emerges from the marbled-lined, gold-plated luxury lav:
"I had to take some snaps of the hand-towels - they've got them all rolled up and arranged into a big pyramid thing strewn with flowers - amazing!"
Such is Terry's reverence for Burj bathroom beauty that he couldn't even bear to unroll one and destroy the sculpted cloth monolith, so he dries his hands on the tablecloth instead.
Another matter of intrigue is found on the "comments card" handed out at the end of Afternoon Tea, which asks: "Did we ever say no as a first response?"
According to the waiter, this means that whatever the enquiry, the answer will always be "yes, you may have four more gallons of Darjeeling" or "we can offer you some strawberry jam instead of moonfruit", but never "no, no more tea you guzzling fool" or "no, we don't serve food from Mars."
But what happens, for (a completely unlikely certainly-never-happened-before) example, where a male guest asks a female staff member if she could visit in his room?
"In that case we won't give him the comments card."
"I had to take some snaps of the hand-towels - they've got them all rolled up and arranged into a big pyramid thing strewn with flowers - amazing!"
Such is Terry's reverence for Burj bathroom beauty that he couldn't even bear to unroll one and destroy the sculpted cloth monolith, so he dries his hands on the tablecloth instead.
Another matter of intrigue is found on the "comments card" handed out at the end of Afternoon Tea, which asks: "Did we ever say no as a first response?"
According to the waiter, this means that whatever the enquiry, the answer will always be "yes, you may have four more gallons of Darjeeling" or "we can offer you some strawberry jam instead of moonfruit", but never "no, no more tea you guzzling fool" or "no, we don't serve food from Mars."
But what happens, for (a completely unlikely certainly-never-happened-before) example, where a male guest asks a female staff member if she could visit in his room?
"In that case we won't give him the comments card."
Labels: burj al arab, terry
3 Comments:
Then he is given the "PREFERENCES" card or the "WILD" card! LOL!
This is prevalent throughout Dubai anyway from certain ethnic groups. Ask for something to be done for a specific time or ask for a particular service and even if there is no way in hell that it's feasibly possible, you get a 'yes' answer. Half the time they haven't even heard you correctly (this is no one's fault simply a language or communication issue) but rather than seek clarification, they just go off and do what they *think* you asked them to do.
I have this problem with some of my employees and when I ask for external services - I now double check and ask them to repeat back to me what I asked for. Sometimes they can't reply and others they say something similar, but ultimately wrong that would have caused my clients delays or to receive the wrong service which is not on.
I believe it’s a deep routed cultural thing where they don’t wish to be disrespectful and have to ask you what you said or they find it difficult to say no. They should. It would allow everyone to build in adequate safety margins so that the end client does not become disappointed.
ur so new dubai.
there;s no such thing as customer service here - just look at the fools at Dubai Airport.
Why do you expect Snow in the Desert?
Why do you expect customer service in the Middle East?
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