During my first visit to Hong Kong, I found that Hong Kong salespersons are rude beyond belief.
They don't only quietly give you a once-over and then proceeded to look down on you...some even tell you not to touch the stuff they're selling and wouldn't hesitate asking you to f*ck off.
Some are rude to people of certain race (sadly, while aiming to be Asia's world city and all...), some don't discriminate and are rude to everyone :p
These days, I find that sales services here get much better.
Shops which belong to big chains, such as Baleno, Giordano, etc...provide impeccable service. The sales staff always exceeded my expectations...and they make it look really sincere (Let's face it. Some customers are royal pain in the ass....and salespersons are human too!
My recent experience was really....interesting, to say the least.
This is a small shop within a mall in Kowloon, selling boys clothing. It was almost closing time, but the sales girl welcomed my sister and me with all smiles. In smaller, no-brand shopping malls, not every salesperson/shop owner speak fluent English. Our girl, however, could communicate with us really well. We love her for that. We asked for things in giant sizes (yes, according to Hong Kong sizes, we are giant) and we sent our poor girl running to and from shop-warehouse a few times. She did it without complaint, always with a big smile, and she was even apologetic for having us wait for her a few times.
We were very happy.
Then we started negotiating some prices...
When we asked for lower prices...her reply was...
"Noooo....my boss will f*ck me!"
We thought she said "fired", but she repeated her sentence a few times.
"I don't wanna be f*cked, you know..."
"If I sold to you at HK$xxx, ohhhh....I am so f*cked!"
"My boss is gonna f*ck me"
OK, we started imagining her being f*cked by her boss...and depending on how the boss looks, it could be one heck of a scene.
Were we offended?
Funnily, we weren't. We were totally amused and fascinated. She said the word "f*ck" as if it was the most natural thing in the world. My sis and I started to wonder if she really knew what f*ck means.
We were joking and chatting...until the moment we were paying, and she didn't have enough change for us. Naturally, she went..."SHIT! I have no change!"
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!!!!! Would you mind waiting? I'll go get some change, so sorry to keep you waiting."
Of course we didn't mind. My sis and I almost laughed out loud....what did we think of the service? It's excellent! One of the best we've experienced, despite the Fs and the Ss.
I contemplated taking her picture with us, but decided not to, and I had to blur the name of the shop....cos we don't want her to get f*cked now, don't we?
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4 comments:
I know what you mean about rude sales people in Hong Kong. I've never felt so bad about myself when I first had that type of experience. Other places, they'll just say, you're too fat to wear my clothes. But I've also been to places where they were the kindest individuals I've ever met, and I ended up spending a lot in their stores. :)
Not to mention...I love it when they try to speak English to me. My cantonese is good, but not great and I love seeing them make an effort in trying to communicate.
That's hilarious. I went to Hong Kong last February and basically had the same experience. My size 9 shoe was unheard of and I couldn't get anything. hehe. Keep up the good blogging!
ROFL this has got to be the most fascinating shopping story I've ever read! That poor girl, she must be really exhausted being f*cked over by her boss every now and then when the sales don't meet his expectations!
hahaha! this is freaking funny! yup, my 1st shopping trip to hk left me with a very very very bad impression of hk. the sales people were rude beyond my imagination and i swore i would never step foot in hk ever again. and now i am living in hk! LMAO! but i agree that the service level has improved tremendously after the SARS. i love shopping in hk now :)
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