1. Freon, what you "expect" from service is from your conditioning. Saying "Thank you" and "Sorry" is a very UK thing. Theres nothing wrong with that, except that it is not the universal norm and so please don't expect it everywhere. Some cultures don't really believe in overt expressions of courtesy (although they may be great on the inside), while some do.
2. Scarlett, you may have been "taught" retail but I will be surprised if any of the sales people behind the counters here have studies beyond high school, let alone retail. Plus the local management may not be stressing the importance of customer service simply because its not part of their culture. (Actually customer service would be a huge competitive advantage should one choose to exploit it here - while in some other cultures its now a given")
3. Kerrie, your saying "they have a choice" is so off the mark. Not even ONE of the lowly paid worker here is for the fun. They are here for the money that they could not earn back home because there are simply not enough jobs to go around. If they were back home they would probably get a job paying them a tenth of what they get here (if they found a job at all). Then you might argue, so they ARE getting paid here so that should be a motivation. Well, they are paid enough to leave their countries, but far below what will qualify to maintaining a basic standard of living. These people stay at 2 people to a room, 10 to a flat (if its a 5 room apartment) and cannot afford to bring their families here. They are surviving here so their wives/husbands/children can live back home.
Its a complex network of reasons, ranging from cultural differences to language barriers to lack of training to lack of motivation. In an ideal world, I would expect that........but under all the petrodollar blanket, theres an ugly underbelly which makes Qatar far removed from being an "ideal world".
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it"
1. Freon, what you "expect" from service is from your conditioning. Saying "Thank you" and "Sorry" is a very UK thing. Theres nothing wrong with that, except that it is not the universal norm and so please don't expect it everywhere. Some cultures don't really believe in overt expressions of courtesy (although they may be great on the inside), while some do.
2. Scarlett, you may have been "taught" retail but I will be surprised if any of the sales people behind the counters here have studies beyond high school, let alone retail. Plus the local management may not be stressing the importance of customer service simply because its not part of their culture. (Actually customer service would be a huge competitive advantage should one choose to exploit it here - while in some other cultures its now a given")
3. Kerrie, your saying "they have a choice" is so off the mark. Not even ONE of the lowly paid worker here is for the fun. They are here for the money that they could not earn back home because there are simply not enough jobs to go around. If they were back home they would probably get a job paying them a tenth of what they get here (if they found a job at all). Then you might argue, so they ARE getting paid here so that should be a motivation. Well, they are paid enough to leave their countries, but far below what will qualify to maintaining a basic standard of living. These people stay at 2 people to a room, 10 to a flat (if its a 5 room apartment) and cannot afford to bring their families here. They are surviving here so their wives/husbands/children can live back home.
Its a complex network of reasons, ranging from cultural differences to language barriers to lack of training to lack of motivation. In an ideal world, I would expect that........but under all the petrodollar blanket, theres an ugly underbelly which makes Qatar far removed from being an "ideal world".
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it"