I’ve been a little surprised by the lack of customer service I’ve had while on my business trip. Not once have I encountered a server who’s been friendly and chatted with me (or the other people I’m with) about anything. I’ve also encountered an outright lack of service: once when a server refused to give us separate cheques, even though we asked about it when we sat down instead of springing it sometime afterwards, and once when a different server refused to let us pay a bill with two different credit cards (even though I know perfectly well that this is a technically easy procedure). In short, while I may have been impressed by the food on this trip, my customer service encounters so far have been less than stellar.

(Ironically, one of the people who came with me on the trip is from the States – and he’s not surprised. He says that this lack of friendliness / eagerness to accomodate customer requests is not at all uncommon in various parts of the States, with California being one of them. In fact, he told me how pleasantly surprised he’s been by the friendly / helpful service he’s received in Toronto.)