I just did some minor renovation works to the blog. The blog now look wider, in preparation for my jiao photos. Jiao is a Hokkien word for Bird(s).

But of course I would have to do some editing to my bird photos before I can post them. So hang on and wait. Akan Datang. By the way the photos are taken during my trip to Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve last Saturday.
Seriously, you guys should make your way there and see the real wildlife in action. I bet it is the tourist attraction site with the cheapest entrance fee.
$1 for Adults.
$0.50 for Senior Citizens/Students.

For now, I shall talk about service quality in Singapore. I just read about a customer's bad experience at a particular shop in Funan IT mall, which sells photographic equipment. It is not the first time I have read negative comments about that shop and I would urge people to refrain from visiting it. For all shopper's convenience, the shop is Bally Photo Electronics, #02-03B.

This post is not about a complaint, rather I question whether if service standards in Singapore has improved and if there is anything we can do, to put a stop to poor service, bad sales tactics and cheating. The talk on service quality appears on the papers on a regular basis, but poor service is still evident, if not rampant. Bally is just one of the many shops that I have heard of and come across.

The push for better service has been ongoing for a couple of years. Many campaigns have been launched. So many that I've forgotten their names. The most recent one, I believe, is the Singapore Service Star, launched by Singapore Tourism Board. You would be able to see their advertisments on TV. It is a label and sticker given to retailers with good service. Today major shops/companies/retailers have indeed improved their service quality. More effort is put into training their staff and there is more emphasis on meeting customers' needs, as well as giving a good general shopping experience to customers.

While there is no fixed way of rating service quality, it can be easily felt by the customers. From what I have felt, branded retailers and departmental stores have made the largest improvement. Places such as Courts, Metro, John Little, Cold Storage, McDonalds were able to give me satisfactory service quality. Most restaurants also tend to give good service. Some retailers have gone the extra mile to provide a more comfortable shopping experience. Ikea, for instance, has made shopping easier, by providing lifts and ramps for the physically disabled. Maps and signboards can be found everywhere to help you navigate through the mall. Better still, Ikea has set aside some space as playground for kids, so that their parents could shop, while the kids are looked after by Ikea staff. This I believe, is part of a movement by the government to urge business to become Pro-Family Businesses.

However, the majority of retailers/companies/entreprises in Singapore, are Small & Medium sized Entreprises, or SMEs. Those retailers I have mentioned above, are large sized corporations. Unfortunately, SMEs on the other hand, have made little, or no improvement to their service standards. This is surprising as SMEs have few staff to control and training schemes should have been easily conducted for the entire company. Given the small size of SMEs, staff management would been simpler and moving the company forward as whole, towards better service quality, would have been far easier than large, sluggish corporations.

That being said, there is of course a limit to how much SMEs can do self-improvement, as they might not have enough funding. You wouldn't expect the staff in stationary shop under your HDB block to wear uniforms. Or having staff to enquire if you need any help as you search for your stationary, like in a pharmacy. These implementations are obviously not feasible for small entreprises, but it can be done for slightly larger, medium sized companies. But a simple smile and courteous staff would be good. Honest and tolerant salespersons would be very much appreciated. Having knowledgable salespersons would also count under good service, since the salesperson can give accurate advice to clueless customers. These things are not difficult to achieve, for all companies, regardless of their size.

And not forgetting cheating, pressurising and hardsell tactics. These acts are highly undesirable and must be eradicated. Consumers have CASE to rely on, but it is hardly effective. Most people don't bother to report citing lack of time, troublesome, and lack of action even when cases are reported. Recently, there was an incident written on the papers, where a guy bought something at $X. Then he realised at some other shops, he could buy the same thing, at a price cheaper than $X by a few hundred. Feeling that he was cheated, he went to CASE. CASE replied him saying that the 'cheating' was not founded, because $X is lower than the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) set by the manufacturer.

As you can see, the guy is not being cheated, because he did get a discount, since $X is lower than RRP. Hence there is a limit to how much CASE can do. Consumers themselves MUST do their homework prior to purchase. If a shop charges you $1 below RRP, or even at RRP, cheating is not established. The guy didn't do his homework in finding the shop with the cheapest price and best deals, and so he has only own himself to be blamed.

What I propose, is a grading/ranking/rating scheme of all shops throughout Singapore. The National Environment Agency (NEA) did a pretty good job in ranking the hygiene standards of all food outlets using stickers, carrying letters A B C D E. With A being the cleanest of the lot. I think we should adopt this scheme in rating the service quality and honesty of retailers. Slap on a fine if the shop refuses to publicly display the stickers. In this way, consumers readily know which shop to visit, and which not to. Besides, we are praising shops with excellent service standards, and at the same time, punishing, through humiliation, of shops that consistently provide poor service or even cheat consumers. A fall in sales, since consumers won't enter the shop, will be an adequate wake up call to improve service quality or face closure.

After all, many consumers, local and abroad, have commented that they hope to see clear and understandable ranking of service standards. This gives consumers more knowledge and more power in making stand on poor service quality. Currently, there are far too many schemes or campaigns promoting good service, leaving consumers confused. While some shoppers don't even know they exist. Plus, the current schemes only serve to highlight and praise the good ones, and do nothing against the bad ones. Thus I call for a standardised rating system, based on feedback by consumers, to really push for service excellence in Singapore.

G.Y.