Ravi S. Narasimhan

A few tips on good service: whisky comes minus lemon

By Ravi s. narasimhan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-13 05:56

The size of China's economy in 2004 was about 15 per cent higher than previously estimated, it was announced last month mainly because the contribution of the robust services sector had been largely underestimated.

That's good news for a country trying to raise the share of consumption in the economy whose growth cannot indefinitely be sustained by fixed-asset investment and exports.

As any economist would tell you, spending is a key component of a healthy economy; China, where the figure is hovering at around 40 per cent, would like to see the figure higher; and closer to the two-thirds in the United States.

Therein lies the rub. I presume that the services sector, by its very definition, is mainly about service of which I find little to salute in Beijing with some honourable exceptions.

Let me elucidate with two personal run-ins I've had with this booming segment of China's economy; and let me make clear that I don't expect the waitress at the local Niudawan to be the paragon of service, especially at 2 am when I finish work.

One was in a five-star hotel in Beijing, part of a global chain. I was there with some friends and ordered a scotch-and-soda, my favourite tipple. It came with a slice of lemon (just not done, you know, that's for the gin-and-tonic) which I quickly extricated.

When I ordered a refill, I told the waiter clearly (for good measure, my friend explained in Chinese): No lemon with whisky.

I was sitting only a few feet away from the bar counter and the next thing I know, another waiter is pushing a wedge of lemon into my whisky glass. Sure that it was my drink (all the others around me were drinking either fancy beers or fancier cocktails), I went up and told him what I ordered or ordered what I didn't want. He thought just plucking it out of the glass would do fine. He was wrong. I held the glass tightly, stood my ground and made sure a proper drink was poured in another glass before I returned the tainted one.

High-handed? Wait till you hear the next.

Two of us were at the Thai restaurant at another five-star hotel, part of another global chain. We had just ordered when a friend called up and said he'd like to join us.

Since this was a mnage a trois of the most innocent kind (just three guys, actually, with no dates), I told him to come over and asked the waitress to find a table bigger than the tiny one we had.

She had the gall to tell us that she would move us there only after making sure that we order extra dishes.

To put it mildly, I made my displeasure felt (and on the receiving end were her supervisor, the supervisor's supervisor and the boss). Suffice to say that we got the best table.

But the point is, I'm not out to spend my meagre earnings for the pleasure of telling bartenders what to mix or waitresses how to wait.

Surely there are better people qualified to do so. But are they? If they aren't, let me offer a few tips.

Since there is a Beijing Western Cuisine Association, I presume there is some trade body for high-priced restaurants and hotels. Shouldn't it take the lead to set some service standards with suitable training, especially where they have the audacity to include service charge in the bill?

Is there an association for small- and medium-sized restaurants (the ones I frequent)? Is there some way they could inculcate basic service norms instead of someone who looks like a drill sergeant hectoring cowering waiters and waitresses in front of guests?

Ditto bars. Remember, the basic rule is: No lemon with whisky.

Ditto hospitals, taxis (especially at the airport), car dealers, supermarkets and renovation contractors.

And last, why not let waiters accept personal tips (not the service-charge variety) for a job well done?

Hong Kong in the 90s, when everyone thought that the only way property prices could go was up and the good times would never end, was notorious for its poor service. It took a recession to change that mindset.

Surely, we don't need a recession for service to improve? Or the next revision of GDP figures to reflect a lower share of services?

Email: ravi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/13/2006 page4)