Search Q&A
Was I in the wrong?
I was having brunch with one of my friends at one of the more chic places in Brussels(privately operated) - I don't want to put them in a bad light, so never mind where. The final bill came to 33 EUR which I think was a decent size order for the establishment, eg. 2 full meals. In the breakfast menu it was listed that coffee was included, but when I asked the waitress if we could have a refill of the coffee(after the small cup was emptied) or we would have to pay extra for that, eg. standard rate for a coffee 3.20 EUR, she said, we would have to pay extra. I complained and said I found that a bit unreasonable if the menu says coffee is included and that I thought it was a bit cheap to refuse a refill of something that came out from a coffee dispensing machine, but she said, it is not me who makes the rules, etc, go speak to my boss etc etc. I mentioned then I actually, I had some time back been given a free refill of coffee by that very boss at this place(who was not in she said)
Anyhow the bill was settled and we left without leaving a tip. Who was reasonable here? I think that to pay 3.20 Eur for an extra cup of coffee when you have already paid for 2 full fairly expensive meals and the menu says coffee is included is petty. Any views?
PS: Fee free to flame me
In Belgium, there is no customer service. Full stop. Shop assistants get confused very easily and few of them try to remain polite right through the confusion (which most of the time is something easy to understand) but the tone of their voice betrays them ! Stay indoors as much as you can and you avoid getting upset over petty things ;-) Trying to squeeze sense into small minds is waste of time and energy. In countries where people are hospitable and giving, another cup of coffee is given wholeheartedly because the customer will return. Here whether he returns or not, they don't give a shet. It's all about good marketing and even though they were in the right, had they been more business oriented, they would have given you another cup of coffee. Have a great day.
When you live in a different country, you live in that country and not in another, and unless you develop a different attitude, you will be very unhappy here or possibly anywhere else except the US.
The problem is that you expect the same services in Europe that you have in the U.S. You will not get a free coffee re-fill in europe so you are in the wrong. You would probably have the same issue in Asia and South america.
At the same time you have to remember that customer service, especially in Belgium is awful but on the plus side you won't get waiters chasing you when you leave the restaurant because your tip is not big enough or waitresses who introduce themselves as if they are your best friend.
Also remember that if you did not have this refill system for soft drinks in the U.S it would help with the obesity and diabetes issues in America.
Customer service in Belgium? Does not exist, it really and truly sucks. it is what it is - my wife and i have got used to it - part and parcel of living in belgium.
In 6 years in Belgium i have not come across any place other than Ikea that offers unlimited/free refills.
Most places in Belgium also serve decent to good coffee as compared to Ikea as well as i must say most american establishments with cheap unlimited coffee
In Belgium, there are certain standards of politeness and good manners. If you conform to those, then you will find that customer service is good to excllent in most places you go to.
If you treat people like sh!te, or present yourselves as loud, arrogant, condescending elitists, don't be surprised if you're not made to feel welcome. You're not.
It really doesn't matter if you present yourself with better manners or politeness than you would show to the Queen, you'll still be treated like shit by Belgian service personnel. I understand that coming from America, one would have quite a warped view of what customer service should be, but anyone who can say that customer service is "good to excellent" in Belgium obviously doesn't get out much.
My solution is to stick to small shops and markets where customer service is great. Carrefour, Delhaize etc forget it. I'm sick of being made to feel like dirt there; however I had fantastic service in the Rue de Stalle IHPO last week.
"Europeans should learn from Americans"
you speak for the whole country? I hope not. I think some of my American friends would be a bit embarrassed to read that sentence.
You asked for something for free, yet was this restaurant not a business? It does have to make a profit. It might make good business sense to comply with someone asking for something for nothing sometimes, but you were served by a waitress, not the owner, she probably has rules to say no to customers asking for extra things for free and for all you know, if she'd complied with your request and her boss had found out, she might have been in trouble. You really don't know and you shouldn't blame her.
Customer Service can indeed be lousy here, but wouldn't see this as an example of it necessarily. You DO have to be polite here and respectful. Kindness is rewarded by kindness. I wouldn't have dreamed of asking for a free cup of coffee, I couldn't be arrogant and keep a straight face.
Bad Customer Service I have experienced here is people ignoring me when trying to pay in shops, being tutted at when trying to get refunds for STIB tickets I've paid for but not received out of the machines, being overcharged. If I'd been charged for coffee which is mentioned as included on a menu, then I'd see it as bad Customer Service, but you weren't overcharged, you were asking for something for free off a menu. That strikes me as somewhat rude.
It's clear that you come from the US where service is ALWAYS perfect and no workman would ever, ever be late for an appointment.
Is 'BELGIAN service is lousy' based on your wide experience from Oostende on the coast to Arlen in the south to Hamont in the north-east? Or should you actually be saying service in Brussels is lousy?
In 20 years here I've had a couple of run-ins with public servants but, otherwise, my sole experience of poor service was when I once had the misfortune to go to Brussels. On the other hand I can quote many dozens of examples of excellent service.
Visualise the workmen fitting your door. They work on steadily but then tell you that they have run into a problem and it will take at least 2 hours longer than they estimated so that are going to have to leave the job uncompleted as they have to visit kasseistamper. Naturally you would find that perfectly acceptable as you would not want to be the cause of them arriving 2 hours late for their next appointment.................or, just maybe, not?
Kasseistamper, I have been living and working in this country for over a decade and I did travel from Ostende to Arlon, and I have been in many restaurants, bars, shops, used tradesmen, public servants, interacted with Belgian s colleagues or friend etc etc and I can tell you that manners and politeness are not a strong point of this country. And the shortsightness of people dealing with customers is sometimes abysmal. Shopping here is a truly unpleasant experience most of the time, and as a result I go abroad or use online shopping unless strictly necessary.
My country is not much better, so I am objective enough not to compare it to Belgium, but I did experience much better customer service in UK and US and if there is something wrong here why we have to accept it and not try to fix it?
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