Rude, Bad Attitude Service Staff @ Vivocity Giant Supermarket Seafood Section

(Complaint sent to Giant customer service e-mail)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to bring your attention to the rude staff at the seafood section of Vivocity Giant.

This is not the first time it has happened, and previous customers have also been upset by the bad attitude and rude behavior of the fishmongers there. The staff there are very sullen, treat customers badly and work grudgingly.

At around noon today (15 Aug), I chose some tiger prawns and held out the bag to be weighed.

The guy facing me in front saw me, ignored me and continued doing something. So, I looked at another guy who was free standing around, and showed him my bag of prawns to be weighed. And he just looked away.

The first guy in front still continued ignoring me, even though I was holding out the prawns for a while already. So, I looked at the guy who was standing around again, and he saw me a second time, but again looked away. My brother who was with me even called to him and he still looked away, pretending not to see.

I waved my bag of prawns and said, "Where is your manager?". And none of the four or five staff even cared.

The guy in front of me still continued as if he hadn't heard.

A young lady staff who was standing at the Halal meat section saw me and came over.  It was obvious she didn't belong in the seafood section. Even though she didn't know how to use the weighing machine to dispense the price label, she still helped me.

After thanking her, I went to the Customer Service counter to ask for the manager. Mr. Francis came and I explained to him. He gave these excuses: "But you got it weighed, right?" and "Maybe they were busy".

Come now. How can a manager create such excuses for the staff?

Who weighed the item for me? Not the seafood section staff who should have done it.  And what about the man who stood around and saw me, but looked away twice even though he was called?

How long does it take to weigh an item? Not even needing to process anything. Just weighing it takes just a few seconds. Yet the staff completely ignore the customer standing there holding out the bag.

Additionally, on the occasions when they do weigh a bag, they never hand it to the customer, even though I am stretching to take it from them. They just drop it near to themselves.

Giant should not keep such rude and undeserving staff on its payroll. With such inherently bad attitude, such staff cannot be trained. It would be better to acquire new staff who can be trained, and have better attitude in interacting with customers.

After talking to Mr Francis, I put back the prawns at the seafood section. Why should customers pay for receiving unhappy and grudging service? 

(zine ed's note: According to bro, recently, there was a man who was so angry with their service that he exploded with anger at them. When I asked for the manager today, the customer service counter staff told me Mr George Ingris was no longer working there. Andy Yuen, the other manager was not around and would come in at lunch. So, there left Francis.). 

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Update: Received e-mail reply from Giant on Aug 21.  When I sent my e-mail complaint, their auto-reply said:  "We thank you for your feedback! It has been forwarded to our staff who will be in touch within 3 working days.".

Counting 16th, 17th, 18th (Sat), 19th (Sun), 20th (public holiday for Hari Raya), 21st reply, it is 3 working days.

2 attachments: 

1) Specimen gift voucher. "Great gift ideas for all occasions". 

2) Logo pic "Dairy Farm Cares. Do our part for the community we serve". 

At first, I thought it was a gift voucher as compensation/apology. But saw the big "Specimen" stamped across it.  

So, the reply was just words that's free to say. Whether anything was really done, I don't know. I doubt "counselled" has any effect.  Nevertheless,  it was well replied and I appreciate there being a reply.  The purpose of my complaint was to let them know what's going on, what their staff are doing.

Additional info: Giant is operated by Dairy Farm Singapore.

Dear Sxxxxxxx,

Thank you for your feedback.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.  We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us as well as the opportunity to address your concerns.

Upon receiving your notification, an investigation was conducted.  We have since counselled the team members and reminded them to be mindful of their conduct and interactions with customers and to always maintain professional and ethical standards of service.  We take a serious view of negative behaviour and will not hesitate to discipline any team member found in violation of operational and service standards.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your feedback and assure you of our commitment to service, as we strive to deliver a delightful and ambient service experience to you, always.

Do let us know if we can be of further assistance.  We can be reached at 1800 891 8100, available Mondays-Fridays  9am to 5.30pm or in reply to this email.

Warm Regards,

Angelia Tan
Customer Service Executive
Dairy Farm Singapore
(Co. Reg. No. 38562800E)
21, Tampines North Drive 2, #03-01
Singapore 528765  

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Update 4 April Fri 2014: Giant took swift action after my complaint. A few days later, I noticed those rude fishmongers were gone. Either fired or they quit.