Why does customer service here suck?

[dani28]

I can honestly say that one of the very few things that is really starting to get to me about this lovely country and wonderful city that are Argentina and Buenos Aires, is the absolutely apalling level of customer service. I have honestly never seen anything like it, and I have travelled.
I would like to preface by saying that I am used to it all; everything from pushy, too much at times, levels in the US to slow, but polite and normally efficient service levels in Europe.
I am NOT used to rudeness, wait staff arguing loudly with you, and just a general feel of disdain for you in the air from people who work in service related jobs.

A few recent examples:

The bar/lounge of a pretty nice hotel, where you would think service would be at a bit more international scale

I ordered dinner and with it had 2 glasses of the house Malbec, I wanted to have a third glass, but the waiter informed me that the house Malbec was no longer available and that there was only a more expensive wine at this point. I decided what the heck, and got it anyway for my 3rd glass.
Check comes and I notice that I have been charged for numerous bits and pieces things which I did not order (a soup, a coffee, and 1 additional cubierto) I question the waiter about this and he acts like I'm being cheap to question it and instead of printing me a fresh new check, apparently goes in and gives me a grocery store long receipt with these items simply subtracted off.
I then notice that I was charged the price of the more expensive Malbec three times (38 as opposed to 24) and question the waiter again, he holds up his hands and starts arguing with me loudly saying, ¨well, if you dont want to pay you dont want to pay¨ and then his buddy waiter who had absolutely nothing to do with my table chimes in and says that I did indeed have the more expensive Malbec, I tell him that I understand this but that it was only 1 glass of the more expensive and 2 of the house.
I guess ¨the customer is always right¨ does not apply here and instead its ¨shout loudly, accuse the customer of ´not wanting to pay´when a charge is questioned, and gesture wildly to cause a scene for the customer¨

A pretty posh restaurant in Puerto Madero

I wanted to ask the maitre (who was out and about socializing with other patrons) a question about making a future group reservation at this place, by the time he got to my table, he opens his mouth to start speaking and then sees a couple arrive which he apparently is friends with, darts away from my table without any explanation leaving me as we say in spanish ¨con la palabra en la boca¨ and then doesnt bother to come back.

Also, what is with waiters trying to con you into getting the most expensive wine bottles? I dont even bother to ask for suggestions anymore as you would think my question was, ¨What is your most expensive label?¨

Now I am not a very nitpicky person, and like I said, I have travelled extensively and I eat out almost all of the time, I tip well, very well by Argentine standards, I am a typical Spanish-American guy in my late 20s, and have a fairly laid back and flexible attitude 9 times out of 10, but this is something that has honestly left me flabbergasted.

The consensus that I have gotten and the notion that most of my Argentine friends have suggested is that by hearing my accent (Spanish from Spain) the waiters assume I am on vacation and that I am on a Euro plan and thus everything should seem dirt cheap to me and that I should burn money on every single thing I do here, and that building a long term service rapport isnt important as they will probably never see me again since I'm supposedly on vacation.

 

[Davidglen77]

Honestly my explanation is the following. Most of the things you describe are "porteño" and NOT "Argentino". Porteños by nature are pushy, rude and the majority of them will do everything in their power to steal from you any chance they get. They are also notorious liars. Everybody knows this. When this happens just yell back and threaten them, they back off like alley dogs since they are generally cowards as well.

 

[irina]

I agree, I´ve adjusted to the poor service in restaurants and it doesn't really bother me anymore. But my fiance gave me a gorgeous engagement ring and the service from "one of the best jewelry stores in the country" has been appalling. When we got it back from being resized one of the diamonds was missing (it is a setting with multiple tiny diamonds). When they "fixed the problem" they made it worse by putting the diamond in so deep it might as well not have been there, when we brought the ring back for the 3rd time they just kept it in the back for 2 weeks before calling us back and it was obvious they had not even sent it to the taller (the taller always returns it secured in plastic and this time it was still in the envelope we brought it in!).

After 3 months of dealing with them they tell us they can't do anything because the necessary tool doesnt even exist in argentina (only in Italy). So we speak with the owner who only accuses us of a string of things that make the entire problem our fault. It's upsetting how nothing can be easy but everything needs to be a fight.

 

[dani28]

LOL. I will start yelling back perhaps. No really, It doesnt upset me to that extent, it just leaves me pretty speechless at times. I also dont understand the snobishness, but thats another post I guess?

 

[perry]

Being calm and diplomatic does not work in Buenos Aires and I and many long term expats have learnt that the best way of getting anyones attention is screaming and being louder than anyone else . This is the only thing that works with Porteños as they in the main react from crisis only..

 

[Doctor_Stupid]

Yep this is what I used to hate about buenos aires the most when I first started coming here. Now I think I'm almost immune to it, also seems the more expensive and high class place you go, the worse the customer service gets

 

[canut]

customer service her sucks in order to protect the high profit margin per unit. If you are illhumoured and shoot dirty glances at the customer, do not interpret this as what have I done wrong, though this is definitely what they want you to believe. Why? Because as long as the customer thinks that, he will adjust to the provider´s needs and to his enormous benefit, which basically means I will sell you this for ten or twenty times the price it should be under a relatively normal economy.

Some of these tricks and tactics are embedded in the national psyche from as far back as immigration days, when, short of having a West to colonize since it was already taken by a few landholders, had to remain in the city and had to be subject to a Residence Law which made them deportable under any unfounded suspicion. The fact that they lived in ¨conventillos¨ with deplorable conditions did not help. If you listen to some of the tango lyrics, you can see how the figure of the policeman recurs almost as a subject of study. He is the man with power. The immigrant who wants to improve his condition observes his gestures and demeanor and sets out to imitate him. To look at people as if they had done something wrong, to never apologize or give in, is a matter of learned instinct as well as detecting others´weaknesses when they are not looking. As it stands, 150 years later, the common retailer or service provider shares the same worldview, namely, to stay put until the customer absolutely needs to buy, is almost on the verge of despair, at which point, he will change hats and become solicitous but, of course, at exorbitant prices. To destroy the customer´s critical thinking being the most important precondition, after which all else follows.

To a large extent, these are behaviors that are passed on from people who saw no way out, who could not move away and create their own conditions, better and more liveable, and who finally went stale as the prospect of something relatively good became a cloud of evaporating reality and later on a joke macabre, the subject of parody and laughs.

 

[Philsword]

I have to agree that service is pretty bad. My theory as to why is the fact that labor unions or the mentality thereof is very strong. The union or workers are in as much control of a business as the manager or owners. Overtime this seems to have developed into attitudes where the workers seem to be thinking that they are doing you a favor by even being there. Perhaps with the low tips offered in Argentina the reason for these attitudes might be partially explained. But it really goes beyond eateries and bars, just about every business seems to have the same problem. There are some exceptions like health care, which for some reason in my experience isn't as infected by this disease. Change would have to come from the top, but given the strongly entrenched labor union mentality and culture I doubt this will occur anytime in the near future.

 

[starlucia]

I chalk it up to good old falta de voluntad, with a good dose of the famous Argentine arrogance. Labor laws here protect employees, no matter how surly or incompetent they may be. In the U.S., servers are motivated by 1) the promise of a good tip and 2) wanting to keep customers happy so that they don't complain to the manager. Here, no one tips more than 10% and employees are practically immune to being fired. So where's the motivation to give 100% instead of 50-60%?

 

[BAFinance]

I couldn't agree how annoying the customer service is here.......But two recommendations for good service are: 1) San Juanino in Recoleta (Libertad and Callao), and 2) Kansas (a couple locations, closest in Palermo on Libertador).