CANADIAN SERVICE -- ANOTHER LOSER? 

Since the end of World War II, Canada has dropped from third place on the world economic totem pole to its present position as twelfth or sixteenth, depending on your measuring criteria. This has, in the main, been caused by our non-competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. We are now in the "service age". How are we doing there? During the past few weeks I experienced the following: The cuff on a pair of very expensive trousers purchased from Harry Rosen Ltd. in Vancouver came unstitched after no more than six wearings. I went into that store because I got fed up waiting for 15 minutes each in both the Bay and Eaton's when I was unable to locate any sales staff in their mens clothing departments.

A rivet on the shoulder-strap on a top-of-the-line Samsonite carry-on case sold by Eaton's pulled out within six months. A five cent washer around that rivet could have prevented the failure. Poor engineering.

I waited in the rain for nearly two hours for the B.C. Automobile Club to come to start my car. No one showed up. After two phone calls. They had tried to get to my office via the address in the phone book in spite of my instructions on the phone. Can't get there that way. Two days later I tried again. They came in 10 minutes.

I spend well over 100 nights a year in hotel rooms. Two month's ago I waited 20 minutes to check into the Coast Bastion Hotel in Nanaimo. What appeared to be the check-in clerk was on the phone and stayed there. And stayed there. Meanwhile the number of customers waiting for service increased to five (Frank Ney the Mayor walked by and smiled. He probably thought the line-up was another convention coming to town). After 10 minutes a young lady appeared carrying a pile of accounting books. She saw us and slowly filed away her books and left. It seems she did see us and went to another office and told them there was quite a crowd out front. A young man then appeared and dealt with us all in a very effiicient and rapid manner.

Seems like they had temporarily made the back room reservations phone clerk the receptionist. Guess where everyone was? At "a meeting (with the manager) trying to figure out ways to give customers better service". His words, not mine.

Later in my hotel room that night I pulled out a Kleenex from the bathroom holder. It was the last one. I told the assistant manager. It was never refilled.

I just returned from a speaking tour. At the Banff Springs Hotel they charge $10 for valet parking. At check-out I phoned down for my car giving the ticket number. Thirty minutes later I was still waiting for my car. A word with the manager got my $10 back. In Medicine Hat I left a wake-up call for 6 a.m. My back-up personal travelling alarm buzzed at 6:15. When I enquired about my hotel wake-up call a not very pleasant voice said "well it rings three times and if no one answers it just hangs up. They get a print-out of what rings but no indication if it was received or acknowledged. The Manager tells me that that is the Alberta Government Telephone system. I told him if their service was so lousy why doesn't he go to Radio Shack and spend $50 on something that works.

This poor service may explain why Asians are buying so many hotels in B.C. and our other provinces. They see the present service inefficiencies and realize that with their type of improved service, occupancy rates would go up dramatically, thus easily covering the high premium purchase price they are offering for our hotels. They have purchased four during the last six months in Whistler alone.

Some people, myself included, must buy top quality to avoid delays. That makes me really feel for the average working person who has to put up with run-of-the-mill products that are not always put together with the same care as the more expensive products.

I am sending my faulty purchases back. The hotels I won't go to again. As all goods were purchased on my American Express card I am going to let them stick-handle this through the bureaucratic maze of excuses you get from those who run these lousy services. If this ever happens to you I suggest you do the same. Send it back, refuse to pay, take them to court and make noise. Politeness and $1 will get you a cup of coffee.

Canadians have become tolerant to a fault. We put up with this because we are too timid to complain. Hence, our production and services have fallen to third world levels. Unless we want to see our standard of living equal that of a Zairean resident we'd better let those who service us know that "We are mad as hell and won't take it any more". We can no longer afford to have everything operate like the post office!

Can this only be happening to me?

If it isn't, will you help? Write me care of your local paper and tell me if you have experienced trouble with service in Canada.

I will need your name and address, date and complaint facts and your permission to use your details in whatever manner I find most advantageous. It could end up in a book. I intend to name names.

I also want to know where you have found good service. I intend to publicize them also. Like I have had excellent service at Canadian Tire on Cambie and at Pleasant Dry CLeaners on Robson at Denman, from the Camnet phone service and Apple Computers.

North American car manufacturers were shocked six years ago when foreign cars took a 30 percent bite out of their market. They couldn't understand it. Up until that time they didn't know what they did wrong. Now they know.

A great deal of the problem has to do with attitude and training. Are you aware that in B.C., our provincial training school for the hospitality industry, the Vancouver Vocational Insititute can only train 100 waiters a year! We have 1350 restaurants in Vancouver alone and we should be training at least a thousand annually. I want to get that message across now to those that provide any type of service to the public and government that we have to do far more if we intend to survive.

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