I dont know if Canadians notice, but when we go down to the states, no matter what food place we eat in has much higher quality of food, more of it, and excellent customer service...............we could learn something from this in BC,
eh?
em2 wrote:
[div style="font-style: italic;"]I dont know if Canadians notice, but when we go down to the states, no matter what food place we eat in has much higher quality of food, more of it, and excellent customer service...............we could learn something from this in BC,[/div]
Um.... where exactly do you go in the States? Because I can tell you that on a good day you will be lucky to find someone in the American service industry who can form a complete thought, much less deliver quality service. Haven't noticed a difference in quality of products either.
Information, please?
That post is idiotic. You can find all levels of service in the U.S. from amazing to terrible. Unless everything is terrible because you are high maintenence and can't be pleased. Oh yeah, whoever believes in the " the customer is always right" cliche- you have never worked in the service industry.
Yeah, watch out for those $1.99 buffets in the US...there is a reason they are $1.99!
From what I experienced, the US and Canada were not much different in quality of food. When I go camping through the US, I buy food at grocery stores and find I get a lot more groceries for my dollar, and it seems to differ from state to state.
Grocery prices in Canada are insane. As for service levels, speaking as a "professional" myself, I agree that you will get varying degrees at different places. The chains that always give you good service probably use secret shoppers.
Make sure to show your appreciation for good service with a tip (anything helps-especially in counter service)
I go to places like even McD's, Olive Garden.........and a few more that have equals in Vancouver.........but the difference is unreal.......much better in the states
I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in service OR quality. Now quantity is a different story. I've had excellent service with crappy food or crappy service with excellent food in both Canada and the US......and on occasion have had excellent service with excellent food and crappy service with crappy food in both places.
True story from US, edited for brevity, because the back and forth took much longer than indicated below.
We were ordering a pizza (Trollina and myself). Told the young lad as follows:
[span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"]We want pine nuts on the whole thing, then veggie burger on half, and Kalamata olives on the other half.[/span][br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"]
[Stop for a moment and consider how very simple that is.]
His response:
[span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]OK, on the first [/span][span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]half[/span][span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"] you want pine nuts, then on the second [/span][span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]half[/span][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"][span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"] you want veggie burger and olives,...[/span]
[span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"][trying to track with this person's odd syntax and/or maths skills][/span] Yes, but with the veggie burger on one half and the olives on the other...
[span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]Right, and then the pine nuts on the first half.[/span]
No, pine nuts on all of it.
[span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]Right, and then the veggie burger on the second half with the olives.[/span]
[span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"]At this point, we decide that he does have the general idea more or less, despite having no understanding of fractions. Then he gives us a price well beyond what it should be, after which we discover that he has, in addition to the pizza with a veggie burger topping, charged us for a veggie burger that we never ordered. Now Trollina is ready to slay the young lad, when the manager steps in and takes over the order.
Welcome to the USA!
[/span]
[/span]
[span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"]More true stories of the service industry in the US:[/span]
Today we go to a place for lunch. Trollina attempts to order a sandwich on toasted bread, after which the thing employed to take the order responds, "I didn't hear what kind of sandwich you wanted." Fair enough.
The sandwich is repeated, upon which the thing employed calls over the manager to ask how to enter in toasted bread. The manager, demonstrating his stellar intellect, says "OK" and walks off. A drink is ordered without incident.
Then it's your humble correspondent's turn. Using slow, clear and middle class Home Counties English, I order a tuna sandwich, plain, on multi-grain bread, the order delivered in one sentence. After which I am asked "What kind of sandwich?........ What kind of bread?", to which I answer accordingly, emphasising again PLAIN to a seemingly understanding nod. Then I too order a drink.
The thing employed then rings it up, takes the money, and in what literally seemed to be slow motion, proceeded to put the money in the till and return the change.
Then he hands Trollina one cup for the drink. When he is asked for the second cup, he starts to enter in another drink order, until he is stopped abruptly by your humble correspondent. We move off toward our table until the order is ready.
When I go get the order. the bread on her sandwich is not toasted, and my sandwich is not plain.
Welcome to the USA! This happened in a major metropolitan area, and has never happened to me in Canada or in the UK. The fashion in the US these days is apparently to hire any moron who can breathe independently to work in the service industry. No wonder I do 50% of my consumerism online.
[font size="1"]Small note: in the two incidents related in this post and the one above it, the person involved was not an immigrant. We have had horrendous experiences with them as well, but when the home-grown types are that stupid, it makes you wonder if the US will even exist in 50 years.[/font]
That is what you get for $7.50 an hour. A warm body that was squished out of a sub par educational system that has never had to truly work for anything in their lives (much less solve a problem all by themselves).
People wonder why Latinos are taking low skill jobs from lazy well-fed Americans. It's because they give a shit about their jobs! And they are always trying their hardest even if they're just getting minimum wage.
Future Canadian wrote:
That is what you get for $7.50 an hour.
Exactly, which led to a discussion between Trollina and myself about Norway, where a hot dog and drink will cost you $9.00 USD, but who cares when the minimum wage is $15.00 USD?
Good wages get good employees.
*sputter* *cough* Wha-? fuh-fuh-fuh-fifteen dollars an hour is the minimum wage?!?! Wow! Maybe I should be Future Norwegian.
Too late! I already registered the name!
LOL! Okay but I got dibs on Future Icelandian and Future Dutchman.
I love Norway. Never been but I want to study there someday in Bergen, Oslo is not the place to go.
Future Canadian wrote:
LOL! Okay but I got dibs on Future Icelandian and Future Dutchman.
Sure, that's cool. Now I'll have to come up with a new name. Definitely not Svend.
The minimum wage in Alberta is $7.00/hr. But I don't know one person that makes that. Timmy Hortons pays over $12.00/hr.
One restaurant opened up, called Avacado Mexican. There wasn't many applications. They offered people over $20.00 hr. plus $500.00 if you stay 3 months, and a trip to Mexico if you stay one year full time.
Crazy, the labour shortage is getting beyond control, and the baby boomers are just starting to retire.