Customer service at Chinese restaurants

Gaki · 23 Aug 2003

Re: Chinese are hardworkers, I agree!

Originally posted by doudesuka
The secret of more success in the restaurant business is friendly service!:

OOH! I hate to think how food is handled in the kitchen at that restaurant if the owner was not concerned or surprised. I wonder how many people contracted food posioning.

This can also be true to any restaurant owned by any ethnic group !

I can agree to an extent about bad service in Chinese restaurants, but when people start stereotyping, it really annoys me...

It's kinda like saying all Japanese people cant cook because they eat raw fish, or all American people are fat because they eat so much unhealthy food !

Erik · 23 Aug 2003

Re: Re: Chinese are hardworkers, I agree!

Originally posted by Gaki
This can also be true to any restaurant owned by any ethnic group !

I can agree to an extent about bad service in Chinese restaurants, but when people start stereotyping, it really annoys me...

It's kinda like saying all Japanese people cant cook because they eat raw fish, or all American people are fat because they eat so much unhealthy food !

It's not stereotyping when 4 out of 5 vists is a bad experience. I'm sure any ethnic group can take the spotlight of providing bad service if they earn it. =)

doudesuka · 24 Aug 2003

In North Carolina where I lived before, my family has friends that own a piece of commercial real estate and a chinese resturant was in that building, The Chinese restaurant closed down and left a huge disgusting mess of maggots behind.
They didn't even clean after themselves. It didn't leave a good feeling for my friend. This is the scary thought, that place was popular among the people in town. Now, I know why I got food poisoning off their sweet and sour chicken. I always thought I just happened to get the flu. maybe that wasn't it or the combination of both. Who knows? By the way, I hate sweet and sour chicken.

doudesuka · 24 Aug 2003

There is this great chinese place in that town now.
They have the best egg drop/wanton soup and all their dishes are excellent.. There are about 3 chinese resturants and 3 japanese that just serve the fried rice and hibachi style meats.
One Japanese resturant is owned by vietnamese. They are not too friendly. Which explains their low level of business.
When I was there( in town) just recently, it looks like the building is falling apart.
#1 China is the most popular in town. They are most friendly and they are a less formal place. Their szehuan is excellent for being fast food.

doudesuka · 24 Aug 2003

Erik,

Thanks for the picture. The air looks very clean. I hope I can visit Vancouver sometime in the future.
You have a beautiful view of the mountains.

Erik · 24 Aug 2003

Originally posted by doudesuka
Erik,

Thanks for the picture. The air looks very clean. I hope I can visit Vancouver sometime in the future.
You have a beautiful view of the mountains.

It's nice here. Anyone can get a great view of the mountains here... which is nice... but my apartments view is nothing compared to some of the ones I've seen right in the heart of downtown Vancouver... *drool*

doudesuka · 24 Aug 2003

Gaki,

Your right to say any ethnic group can have bad sanitation.
But, there was no stereo-typing as I had more experiences
with a certain ethnic resturant. stereo-typing is just talking
out of the mouth without any substance to back it up.
I have been to plenty of good chinese resturants that have been
very good! I have been to plenty of McDonald's that I had to walk out after entering as the lobby was filthy and the trash cans outside where overflowing with trash. Look out for Tacos bells too. If they are making your taco or whatever on a dirty surface, who knows what is crawling around?

doudesuka · 24 Aug 2003

What is the job market like? The cost of living ?

My husband and I want to move out of Japan. Vancouver looks really nice. I am putting it on my list of possible places.

Thanks in advance!

Erik · 24 Aug 2003

Check out this thread;

Quality of life in Japan: does it suck?

I've just returned to Japan after spending a month in Canada. It had been over two years since my last visit home and it was my Japanese wife's first visit. I'd forgotten how beautiful a country Canada is, and the visit so impressed my wife that we have just decided that we will be...

jref.com

Someone else is discussing the idea of moving from Japan to Vancouver in more detail.. =)

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

cultural difference. westerners take customer service as an important part of their dinning experience. chinese don't care about it that much. chinese people just want good, cheap and fresh food. chinese people go where it's cheap. service is not important.

or perhaps some chinese restaurants have prejudice against westerners cuz the vast majority of their customers are chinese. and these westerner customers always complain about service to them while the chinese usually don't.

food in japan is overly priced. so in a sense, the tip is already included in the price of the meal.

personally, no matter how good the service is. if the food is not good, i would never go back to that restaurant. but if the food is good and cheap, i'd always go back even if the servcive may be lacking. just cultural differences between the chinese and westerners (yes, that includes japanese.)

if a restaurant has good business with chinese customers, it wouldn't give a damn if a few westerners complain to them once in a while threatening the restaurant with things like "you've lost one customer." it just doesn't make any business sense to re-vamp a restaurant's policies in order to satisfy the need of a few customers.

after all, chinese people are born capitalists. they know how to do business.

in taiwan, no tiping is required, yet the food is much cheaper than that in japan....yes, even when 'purchasing power' is taken into consideration.

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

as someone already made the observation. chinese restaurants in redneck small towns don't have service problems. while the services in big cities with huge immigrant chinese presence usually pose a problem to westerners.

another way to look at this is this. to the chinese (real chinese, not "chinese-americans"), the chinese restaurants in redneck areas are crap...not chinese food at all. these people can only get real chinese food in major cities like vancouver, toronto, SF, etc..

so what is worse? poor services or ****** food?

does it really matter whether the waiters smile or not? it's all cultural differences. it has nothing to do with being "commie chinese." hong kong people was never under communist control (in fact, under 100 years of WESTERN british control), yet they still, according to some westerners, provide "rude" services in north america or elsewhere.

you must keep in mind that it's not easy for new chinese immigrants to do business in a foreign, western land. it seems that opening restaurants is one of the few choices they have. they have fierce competition with other chinese restaurants. there's simply no room to deal with the 'service' bullsheeyit.

you should be grateful that there's authentic chinese food available in a western land. you shouldn't come into a chinese restaurant and act as if you're the king of england.

relax, be more open minded and try to understand chinese people more. obssessing in anime, listening to japanese pop music, idolizing AV stars just won't do.

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Re: Re: Customer service at chinese restaurants

In Japan, I (and anybody) immediately know if the staff is Japanese or Chinese from the politeness and courtesy (and accent). I have studied 5 months in Tokyo in a class of where 90% of the students were Chinese (out of about 25 people). I have a few friends among them, but it's clear that they are more brusque, direct, noisy and much less careful about other people's feelings than Japanese, or even the average Westerners (some Germans can be tough too, from my Berlin experience).

whoa! making such generalization based on knowing a few chinese. you haven't met noisy japanese, have you?

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by Erik
That doesn't excuse them for setting up shop in somewhere other than china. If I opened up a western resteraunt in japan, I would more than likely adapt to that of japanese culture to increase business.

*cough* noth america is supposed to be a multicultural society. *cough*

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by Gaki
Well that's the difference between Chinese and Western culture, Chinese dont really like to compromise ~

u don't know what ya talkin' about.

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by doudesuka
In North Carolina where I lived before, my family has friends that own a piece of commercial real estate and a chinese resturant was in that building, The Chinese restaurant closed down and left a huge disgusting mess of maggots behind.
They didn't even clean after themselves. It didn't leave a good feeling for my friend. This is the scary thought, that place was popular among the people in town. Now, I know why I got food poisoning off their sweet and sour chicken. I always thought I just happened to get the flu. maybe that wasn't it or the combination of both. Who knows? By the way, I hate sweet and sour chicken.

I got food poisoning from a Greek restaurant, never from a Chinese restaurant.

Erik · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by Chinaman
*cough* noth america is supposed to be a multicultural society. *cough*

That's a good generalization to hide behind, but I still believe in the expression "when in rome...act like the romans..."

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by Erik
That's a good generalization to hide behind, but I still believe in the expression "when in rome...act like the romans..."

no, that 'rome' phrase is the generalization.

here's the reality of things. tourists don't have to come back to rome if they didn't like it there. same thing for customers eating at restaurants. chinese restaurants will operate in ways that would maintain their business. if they know bad customer service is ruining their business, i'm sure they would try to improve.

doudesuka · 25 Aug 2003

I still don't like the attitudes towards westerners when they move to the western country. I believe it's all business.
My friend, who worked for this chinese man told me that the man hated Americans. That made me mad! Yes, he has a right to hate Americans. But , at the same time, these Americans are what supports his business and keeps him going in business.
I guess that's their business sense and the way they think.
Not all of them of course but quite a few.

doudesuka · 25 Aug 2003

You can only reach a judgement by repeated experience.

doudesuka · 25 Aug 2003

Chinaman, you seem quite offended by simple observations that people have made from their experiences.

Who do you think walks into chinese resturants thinking their royals from england? Sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder.

Is it too hard to ask for friendly service? These people are down right cold sometimes. I guess they forget that the customers are the ones who keep them struggling over the competition from other chinese resturants. See it takes friendly service and good food most of the time to keep people coming in.
It might not mean anything to you being " Authentic" chinese but it does to those customers who would like to have a pleasant meal and service.

You need to understand the observations that people make from the interactions that they have had and accept that. Don't get offended. It's a well know fact that Chinese are cold and proudful people. ooops! say all you want about americans. It won't hurt me. It's probably true. haha! I can name one for you already. Americans are the fattest people in the world .
See!

P.S. And who cares if the food is crappy! They are still of chinese origin and I don't think the one's that live in the country are chinese americans because they can't speak much english.
And also, North Carolina has big cities too in case you haven't heard. And many chinese immigrants have moved there too just recently. Big City Boy! :clap

Erik · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by Chinaman
no, that 'rome' phrase is the generalization.

here's the reality of things. tourists don't have to come back to rome if they didn't like it there. same thing for customers eating at restaurants. chinese restaurants will operate in ways that would maintain their business. if they know bad customer service is ruining their business, i'm sure they would try to improve.

I think you missed the point of what I was saying. If I was a resident of china, I would be acting and mimicing the way everyone else does in china. I would probably even dress similar to them. If that means giving poor customer service, I'd probably act in the same manner as my co-workers. Doesn't matter where I go in the world, I would try to adapt to that countries standards. Do you understand?

Erik · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by doudesuka
Chinaman, you seem quite offended by simple observations that people have made from their experiences.

Who do you think walks into chinese resturants thinking their royals from england? Sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder.

Is it too hard to ask for friendly service? These people are down right cold sometimes. I guess they forget that the customers are the ones who keep them struggling over the competition from other chinese resturants. See it takes friendly service and good food most of the time to keep people coming in.
It might not mean anything to you being " Authentic" chinese but it does to those customers who would like to have a pleasant meal and service.

You need to understand the observations that people make from the interactions that they have had and accept that. Don't get offended. It's a well know fact that Chinese are cold and proudful people. ooops! say all you want about americans. It won't hurt me. It's probably true. haha! I can name one for you already. Americans are the fattest people in the world .
See!

P.S. And who cares if the food is crappy! They are still of chinese origin and I don't think the one's that live in the country are chinese americans because they can't speak much english.
And also, North Carolina has big cities too in case you haven't heard. And many chinese immigrants have moved there too just recently. Big City Boy! :clap

To be honest, I can understand what chinaman is trying to say but I don't quite understand why he brought up the whole perspective of chinese communist and english nobles. Sounds like he is a proud patriot on the defensive. I believe he took the original message out of context.

jeisan · 25 Aug 2003

chinaman, i have very few complaints about chinese restraunts myself. in fact the best service ive ever had was in one. ok say the wait staff at the chinese restraunt doest smile or whatever thats no big deal but the problem, as i can see from the other posts, like dreamtimes and doudesukas, is what if the food is rotten or the person ordered mongolian beef but got chicken chow mein instead, and while this is pointed out the waiter/manager they still dont want to do anything about it or take responsiblitly. here you say:

cultural difference. westerners take customer service as an important part of their dinning experience. chinese don't care about it that much. chinese people just want good, cheap and fresh food. chinese people go where it's cheap. service is not important.

or perhaps some chinese restaurants have prejudice against westerners cuz the vast majority of their customers are chinese. and these westerner customers always complain about service to them while the chinese usually don't.

so am i to infer from your statement that a chinese customer wouldnt complain about rotten food and they would just happily munch away not expecting anything to be done? that chinese people would eat what they didnt want or order, and not say its the wrong food?

as someone already made the observation. chinese restaurants in redneck small towns don't have service problems. while the services in big cities with huge immigrant chinese presence usually pose a problem to westerners.

another way to look at this is this. to the chinese (real chinese, not "chinese-americans"), the chinese restaurants in redneck areas are crap...not chinese food at all. these people can only get real chinese food in major cities like vancouver, toronto, SF, etc..

all small towns arent redneck. you arent one to be talking about others making generalizations. do you even know what the term redneck means?

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

Originally posted by doudesuka
I still don't like the attitudes towards westerners when they move to the western country. I believe it's all business.
My friend, who worked for this chinese man told me that the man hated Americans. That made me mad! Yes, he has a right to hate Americans. But , at the same time, these Americans are what supports his business and keeps him going in business.
I guess that's their business sense and the way they think.
Not all of them of course but quite a few.

we have to know why does he hate americans. also, i'm sure he pays taxes to the government which means he is contributing to america. (much of the money that the chinese customers pay with at his restaurant comes directly from HK, china, etc..) he is also contributing to the chinese-american community by providing food services to them.

if he just sits around doing nothing and receives government welfare, then that's a different story.

Chinaman · 25 Aug 2003

I don't think the one's that live in the country are chinese americans because they can't speak much english.

if they NEED to be accepted by the "real" americans (i.e. working in a "real" american company), i'm sure they would try to learn english if they haven't already. But if they can survive and be happy in their own chinese community and wouldn't be bothered with the "perpetual foreigner" label, i guess they wouldn't have any incentive to learn to speak english.

of course, we are talking about older people here. we all know that their kids that go to locals schools can speak and write fluent english, some even do better than the "white" natives.

also, in toronto, the second most spoken language is now chinese. perhaps in 50 yrs, the "official language" in toronto may be chinese. note that french is also canada's official language in addition to english. french-canadians are fully accepted as canadians even when they are not able to speak any english.

there's no point in trying to force the chinese to become assimilated into another group of people. chinese history has proven that it wouldn't work. the mongols tried it. the manchus tried it. the japanese tried it (in taiwan). they all failed. in fact, the mongols and manchus ended up becoming sinized. chinese culture is just too strong.

of course, a chinese kid raised by a western family would be another story. we'd be talking about "bananas" here.

Customer service at Chinese restaurants

Emperor Gakihito

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