Now this eternal thinker was privileged to sit in on a high-powered meeting the other day. He was one of only two males in a room filled with typically very beautiful and lovely Virgin Islanders: women at the highest professional level.
One of the beauties stated that while she was on a cruise sometime back, a list was posted that advised passengers about the quality of customer service in the Caribbean. Guess who came last? Right! Service in the Virgin Islands was described as poor, despite the majestic beauty of the territory. Waitresses were deemed to be miserable and grumpy. That cannot be good.
At a recent sit-down dinner, a British sales executive and friend of this simpleton singled out the local taxi industry as one example of customer service that requires drastic improvement. Mr. Englishman alerted this commentator to the fact that some taxi drivers behaved in such a manner as to turn off guests and visitors. Despite all of the attractions of a pristine destination, he said, poor customer service often remains the most vivid memory of the territory in the mind of a foreign traveller.
Now, why was this not a huge surprise? This investigator has many taxi driver friends, and they accept the assertion that some of their colleagues are letting down the good name and excellent work of the majority of VI taxi drivers.
In any case, a small number of taxi drivers may give this territory a bad name, but they are certainly not the only purveyors of a poor customer service model. And know this: All the talk and discussion about development of physical infrastructure, and ensuring the destination is clean, spick and span — plus the hard work of marketing the VI to the outside world — is in vain when one taxi driver, waitress or retail assistant behaves rudely to a visitor. Worse still is when a resident steals from a tourist or assaults and harasses a visitor!
Yes, this globalist will assert here and now that excellent customer service and a VI global model are synonymous. Excellent customer service will give the edge in a highly competitive international industry.
Dining out
Some weeks ago, this connoisseur of life was seated at a table at a well-known and exquisitely located establishment first thing in the morning. He ordered breakfast in the company of a very well known Virgin Islander.
To say that the service from the waitress was poor would be an understatement: It was horrific! This woman made this perennial observer and his associate understand that she was doing them a favour serving breakfast.
What a thing! One would have thought the two men were having breakfast for free the way this woman carried on! Her weary disposition, her rude manner and her ignorant attitude said it all.
The breakfast may have been delicious, but the poor service was tantamount to throwing dirt over the exquisite pancakes.
Apparently, this poor customer service was not a one-off. This lobster lover visited another establishment the same day for lunch. The service at this other location was actually worse.
The waitress was not as rudely behaved as the woman at breakfast, but her demeanor and attitude said it all: that she was only in this profession for the money; that she could not be bothered to meet a special request to prepare a certain side dish, a favourite of this layman’s famous colleague.
Her dress code was also very poor for such a pristinely located restaurant, and it took ages before the meal was served. Had it not been for the intervention, friendliness and bonhomie of the very well known local proprietor, one wonders whether lunch that afternoon would have actually been poisoned. This woman would surely have been sacked had she been waitress in a more discerning establishment.
Valentine’s Day is an evening of dining, among other things. This Valentino visited another establishment by a pristine marina on the evening of Feb. 14. He ordered a pecan salad, a well-done sirloin steak, and, for dessert, an ice cream sundae. Champagne was on the house. Very nice!
The food was magnificent, the service excellent. Just one hiccup: On average, guests had to wait about 90 minutes to get their dinner. Ridiculous! The chef, whoever he or she was, needed to review his or her working methods. Guests sat there most of the evening twiddling their thumbs and grinning.
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