Waiting for padi to grow might be quicker

It was a nice gesture when a buddy of ours organised a birthday lunch for 3 of us who celebrated our birthdays over the last few weeks at the Padi restaurant in Cyberjaya. Eager to get the celebrations underway, a few of us headed down at 11:45am to ensure we got ourselves a nice long table.

We soon sifted through the menu and made our orders via the self-written form. A waiter came by and verified our orders and went on his merry way. A handful of friends arrived half an hour later and made their orders via the same avenue.

Amiss enjoying the good company, we had let slip the fact that is was 12:30 and none of our food had arrived. A waiter – obviously foreign by the thick accent he possessed – was called and we asked about our order. More anxious minutes passed and half of us got our food in slow batches. In fact the group who came later got some of their food first. Some got what they asked for but others were not so fortunate. Mixed orders, and missed orders continue to cloud what was otherwise a very fun trip.

Long story short, our food was very late, our orders mixed up, and some of us – one of the birthday boys – never got his food. With all the effort to put a system in place I am disappointed to find that Padi still manages to make a farce of what some many others do with no problems. Looks like the ghosts of yesteryear are still alive and kicking in this otherwise decent restaurant.

I hope that the boys at Paid get their act together soon and learn how to make a simple yet effective system work for them. Till then I’ll get my fill elsewhere – where the padi (or rice) grows faster.

Pizza’s arriving from Canada?

My buddy had this not-so-great experience to share:

My complaint is against Canadian Pizza. I called them on the weekend and made my usual order, nothing grandiose, just two large pizzas and was promised an appearance within 45 minutes which is the customary line. An hour and a rumbling stomach later, and I still hadn’t seen light of a crust. So I called them back and asked, very politely, mind you, on the status of my pizzas. To which the guy who had picked up my call asked me to verify which pizzas I had ordered only to tell me the service had crashed and my order showed a 0-0. I don’t know what a ‘zero zero’ means but I figure it roughly translates to me having had to wait for an hour with no pizza in the oven, much less one on its way. He then promised to call me right back, but fifteen minutes later, and still no call back, led to me having to call them back. But it’s okay, it’s not as though I was giving them business or anything.

A third person picked up this time and I went through the whole charade again but this time I think they had gotten the message to which he replied, “Let me put you with the person who took your order ma’am”.

Much shuffling of phones and shouts in the background led to the following conversation (not verbatim of course but roughly what happened – imagine more frustration)

Canadian Pizza: Yes ma’am.
Me: Yes, can someone please explain to me what is going on with my pizzas?
CP: Yes ma’am, we apologise but the server was down and your order shows 0-0.

(again with the zero zero!)

Me: Yes so what’s the status with that now?
CP: Do you wish to make any further orders?
Me: … what happened to my original pizzas?
CP: It will be on the way soon.
Me: It’s been two hours, how long do I have to wait for these?
CP: 45 minutes.
Me: Let me get this straight. I have to wait ANOTHER 45 minutes for pizzas I ordered two hours ago and pay full price for them?
CP: No of course not ma’am. We will give you a ten percent discount for them.

(Ten percent of RM36.90 is a mere RM 3.69 btw).

Me: So I have to pay ten percent less and wait another 45 minutes for pizzas that should come immediately and that I should not have to pay for?
CP: Yes.

Words cannot describe how I felt. I vaguely remember shouting that this is the SECOND time this has happened (that is true, it happened to my brother not long ago) and to cancel CANCEL! the pizzas because if it comes I will not pay for them.

After which I hung up, called McDonalds’ and received my order within fifteen minutes.

I appreciate the fact that she was at least polite, but really, if a customer had to wait longer than 45 minutes for their order, the least they should expect is a better discount than ten percent and pizzas that should ideally be sent as top priority to soothe their fevered brows and rumbling tummies. Something for CP to think about.

Am I overreacting here?

lousyserviceslayer: No!

Not very Malaysian of Malaysia Airlines

This story is one of the founding reasons I started this blog. Flashback 6 months ago:

It was my last day at work before my much awaited flight to Dubai. I had my booking confirmation saved and I wanted to have it printed. Also a good idea to have my ticket confirmation printed. I scoured my email but couldn’t find it. No problem, I thought and called the airlines.

Being put on hold isn’t pleasant on any day. Being put on hold for over 20 mins is worse. Being greeted by someone who can’t speak proper English adds insult to injury. Being put on hold after getting to speak to someone is testing at the very least. Being cut off while being on hold might sound like the limit. And it was – except that all of this happened not once, but 3 times over!

By this time I thought it couldn’t get any worse. With a determination to get this sorted I got behind the wheel and headed MAS bound at KLIA.

At the passenger lounge yet another wait beckoned. Although fed up from all the waiting, I was anxious to get things settled. Once at the counter I was informed that a computer glitch cause my tickets to be cancelled! After some exchanges, calls and pissed off faces at least there was one person who could help me get my tickets back – and did.

When one makes a mistake, the expectation is that they will make up for that mistake. This is not only common sense, but common and professional courtesy. Malaysia Airlines on the other hand was having nothing of it. Repeated requests for compensation proved fruitless. No number of emails to customer service, and the management did any good.

I was reliably informed that this is common for Malaysia’s national airline. In the not so distant past, even scathing complains aired over international publications drew no reaction.

As a Malaysian citizen and a once-supporter of the national airline I can’t help but feel shortchanged. Malaysia Airlines: Your customers deserve better.

Also as far as this writer is concerned, he is not flying MH as long as he can help it.

Grandmother lashes at restaurant staff

After a night of social lubes, it was only natural that I’d be hungry the next morning. A short drive over to K.M. Mani in Lukut was called for, especially given the glowing reviews I heard the night before.

With my appam telur (or what I called “the thing that looks like an oversized egg”) taking longer than it should, my better half’s grandmother got up and went to the kitchen to pester the cook to get a hurry up. It was very amusing how the workers were amused themselves. The sight of a grandmother dishing out a tongue lashing at an indian restaurant was quite a sight indeed.

As funny as it was, my food arrived shortly after. And as the reviews go, it was good. The service thereafter was good too.

Waste of time appointment

The expectation of making an appointment is that you can cut through the wait time and get right down to business to get you on your way as quickly as possible. This however is failing to be the case with one Honda USJ service center.

Having made an appointment over a week ago for a simple lube change and so-called Product Update (this is more of a fix to avoid a lawsuit but more on this in another post), I was told I have to wait for a ghastly 5 and a 1/2 hours to get my car back. Bet the uncle at the local mechanic could turn around in 30 mins.

I wonder what gives? With the appointment in place I ought to get priority service. Allocate the dude to change the oil, allocate the dude to swap the part. There should be no excuse really. How would you like your Domino’s pizza to take 3 hours to arrive because there are too many customers?

Funny thing is that this isn’t the first time it’s happening. I’ve sent my car here a good 6 times before and this situation happens more often that not. Even funnier is the fact that the waiting lounge is filled with others just like me. Blokes who’ve made appointments and forced to wait as they tap away on their blackberries, laptops and what not. There are a few aunties and one uncle who’s also enjoying Desperate Housewives that’s playing on Star World.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. I’ve got tonnes of work to do today so I’ve come in handy with my laptop. There’s free drinks and some pretty decent food right here in the waiting lounge. Service from the staff is pretty great too! I’ve had several issues in the past and they’ve all been attended to with utmost care and concern. Good workmanship too. And I like that – a lot.

But because I like a pepperoni pizza doesn’t mean it should arrive after I’ve died of starvation. Brother, one speed increase please!

Um..aiya – polite but not fast

The time was 11:30am on a bright Saturday morning. I was standing at the door. It was now 11:35 and he came out. He laid the mat and went back in. “Now what,” I thought. “We’re wasting valuable eating time”.

But alas I got in 5 odd mins late but I was determined to make up for lost time. However despite preordering out first round of food, it took another 15 mins for our first round of food to arrive. The next 3 hours was much like a roller coaster ride – long gaps of slow service followed by an avalanche of order deliveries.

On a brighter note, the staff on hand were very polite. I’d score them at a 9/10. They spoke with respect and helped us to sort chicken from the cheese. I don’t speak Japanese, so this surely helped.

Come 2:30pm a punctual rude awakening beckoned. “Sorry we’re closed” was the sound I heard from behind my head. apparently, they close after the afternoon ‘session’ to prepare for the evening crowd. I don’t have a problem with this but this was the only juncture the politeness went out the door. Thankfully I had eaten more than my fair share so this was subliminally a welcome message to tell me to stop eating. I don’t need the extra weight.

Going for a buffet is always an event and this time was no exception. I was with great company, the food was good but the punctuality and timeliness of the service left me wanting. I’ve been to numerous Jap restaurants and this is probably one of the slowest. I’ll stop short at complaining but Umai-ya, a little quicker might make you richer.