Survey says customer service in Taiwan is dismal

Are you fed up with lousy customer service when trying to call for simple information about restaurants or hotels in Taiwan? Don't be upset, because you're not alone.

According to a survey released yesterday by the Chinese-language monthly magazine Global Views (遠見雜誌), nearly 90 percent of operators -- even those working at well-known five-star hotels -- nationwide failed to provide proper service when customers called for help.

The survey showed a lower-than-expected result, considering that the production value of the service sector -- 65 percent of Taiwan's GDP -- is such an important segment of the economy, Global Views chief editor Tiao Ming-fang (刁明芳) told a press conference yesterday.

"We were very surprised to see the result ? This is a warning to the industry since customers usually make their first contact with companies via phone," Tiao said.

The magazine made phone calls to 58 stores in five service categories -- department stores, hotels, supermarkets, chain restaurants and convenience stores -- during Oct. 3 to Oct. 10. It rated the surveyed stores by the time it took them to answer calls, the employees' politeness, their knowledge of products and their efficiency in handling complaints.

The results showed that although 87.7 percent polled were able to answer the phone within three rings, only 40.1 percent immediately identified their companies and their names. The survey also found that up to 71.1 percent of operators were incapable of providing complete product information, while 83.1 percent were incompetent when handling customer complaints.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store (新光三越), the nation's largest department store chain, ranked first in this survey -- with a score of 66.3 points out of 100 possible, followed by the nation's largest supermarket chain, Wellcome Supermarket (頂好超市), as well as Mercuries & Associates Department Store (三商行百貨), Core Pacific City Mall (京華城) and Pacific Sogo Department Stores (太平洋崇光百貨).

As for hoteliers, Landis Hotel (亞都麗緻) had the highest score among its competitors, although it attained an under-average score of 57.8 points, despite its reputation for quality service.

"I felt ashamed when I learned the results," said Landis Hotel Assistant General Manager Terri Wang (王慈恩). "We conduct an internal evaluation every week, but it seems that the program fails to reflect customers' needs and experiences with us."

To improve service, Wang said the hotel has started to offer cross-division training.

Brett Lin (林昱宏), senior vice general manager of TGI Friday's (Taiwan) Inc, said netting staff who are suitable for the job and committed to the industry is a better solution.

"The technique of serving is easy to learn, while putting your heart into serving is the difficult part," Lin said.

One human-resource expert agreed, adding that although phone assistance is just a small part of customer service compared to face-to-face and after-sale service, it is still important.

"It may decide whether customers are willing to step into the stores or not," said Horng Shun-ching (洪順慶), business administration professor at National Chengchi University.

The poor service ratings, however, do not surprise foreigners.

"I often have to call large companies and locate key personnel, but operators seem to lack basic training in politeness, or even knowledge about who works in their office," Liam Ross, a freelance writer from Ireland told the Taipei Times. "A simple request is often met with a grunt or simply an unprofessional response ... it does not matter if I speak Chinese or English."