It's not the first time that I feel the need to compare the Netherlands customer service to that of ... let's say... anywhere else...
Actually today it wasn't so much about the service - as the product itself. Here in Amstelveen there are now 2 places to get 'real Italian' ice cream. The place we stopped by today was on Amsterdamseweg - I think it's called "Gelato"... (guess that means ice cream? :)). Anyway, a hot day, me and my two darling kids - and an ice cream shop - what could go wrong?
Well, the first problem is the line - a not too long line, but only one man behind the counter. And of course, no air conditioning in the store - although there was a little fan...On the upside you could say it gave us time to choose our flavors...
And my son asks for his ice cream, "Strawberry, and um... snickers." The man starts with the snickers and then put the strawberry on top. My son is too polite to say anything but afterwards tells me that he wanted the snickers on top. That's why he pointed to the strawberry first.
But what was amazing to me was the size of the scoop itself. The scoop of ice cream is so small that it falls neatly into the very small cone. Oops - there it goes - oops - nearly disappears - lucky the kids ordered 2 scoops so they actually got something. I have to say - although the flavor was good - the size was so small that I think I'll just go somewhere else next time.
I wonder if people actually stopped going places where the service or products were unsatisfactory - if we could make a change?
Happy to hear comments - or other dissatisfied by customer service thoughts...
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| This is the size of a normal (not tiny) scoop! |
Well, the first problem is the line - a not too long line, but only one man behind the counter. And of course, no air conditioning in the store - although there was a little fan...On the upside you could say it gave us time to choose our flavors...
And my son asks for his ice cream, "Strawberry, and um... snickers." The man starts with the snickers and then put the strawberry on top. My son is too polite to say anything but afterwards tells me that he wanted the snickers on top. That's why he pointed to the strawberry first.
But what was amazing to me was the size of the scoop itself. The scoop of ice cream is so small that it falls neatly into the very small cone. Oops - there it goes - oops - nearly disappears - lucky the kids ordered 2 scoops so they actually got something. I have to say - although the flavor was good - the size was so small that I think I'll just go somewhere else next time.
I wonder if people actually stopped going places where the service or products were unsatisfactory - if we could make a change?
Happy to hear comments - or other dissatisfied by customer service thoughts...
Hillarious! Maybe they forgot to tell you about a shortage of milk in your area.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of customer service (and customers), I told you about my jeans fiasco yesterday - I went into a well known branch to try on a pair and the very helpful teenage salesgirl came over to the fitting booth to see how I was doing. She asked how the fit was and I replied that it was fine but that the legs were a little long. She replied: "No they aren't! They're standard length!"
I am 1.64 meters which is standard height for women here in Israel but not tall and I had tucked about 10 cm under. I was having a particularly tense day, dentist and all and in my typically aggitated manner on days like this, I lunged towards the poor girl and replied:
"I wasn't insulting the jeans! Maybe I'm not STANDARD SIZE!". Needless to say, she ran away and refused any eye contact with me. I am the type of customer they are trained to ignore. Here in Israel, the customer is NEVER right.
Hi Audrey,
ReplyDeleteI know you're a pretty polite lady not even intending to make any tiny kind remark on the size of the bolletjes. Next time maybe just say something to protest in a little scale, since we're living in this country of straight-fwd people.
You should try the ice cream place in Weesp,good portions and yummy ice cream and I would have said something like "Excuse me, I did not order a kid portion":)
ReplyDeleteIBL Insider
Ice cream update: At the old Columbus (now de Vinci) ice cream parlor - they have bigger ice creams for less money! :) And plenty of flavors - nice service - ! So, all is not lost in Amstelveen. Also, I heard, (but this is 2nd hand info) that the ice cream place on Lindelaan (near the Thai take away and the bike shop) is also very good...
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