busters mum

Where i work i treat all customers with a smile and am polite, it doesn't come down to if you like them or not, i don't have to live with them and i try to make their evening enjoyable (even the akward buggers) as this keeps me in a job, it's hospitality not hostility.

cricketman

Sure, that is smart financially

I've never experienced bad service myself in Spain, except for having to hang around 30 minutes for a bill which happens frequently when it is busier than they were expecting, but now I just go to the bar/desk to pay myself if I get tired of waiting.

But I have seen and heard bad reactions to tourists/non-Spaniards, normally due to the language. The waiters/attendents just get fed-up sometimes I think.

Rosemary

A different experience for me today. Went to the local small grocery shop for some bits and pieces and the owner noticed that I was enjoying his music so he decided that he and his assistant would dance for me.

Rosemary

busters mum

I won't go that far

Rosemary

There you go then there is one of the differences between the 2 nationalities, possibly we would not because we are Brits and they will because they are Spanish.

Rosemary

busters mum

Or because it's difficult to dance carrying 6 plates, i'll leave that to the Greeks
but that's another thread

goaty

You should come down to Jerez or El Puerto then. It's nothing to do with being English either, I speak with a Spanish accent as I was brought up here the service in some places is very poor. I understand why, the waitress makes next to nothing and instead of hiding her emotions at being pissed off with life, she lets the world know!, Well I prefer that she hides her "pissedoffness" and gets on with her job of serving me a coffee and treating me, the customer with a bit of respect. Saying "¿Qué?" to a customer is not correct, and I told her why.

I have some relatives up in La Coruña, and what a difference. The galegos can be abrupt people, but the customer service in places like Santiago, Vigo is great. I also notice the difference when I go to the UK.

Of course we are speaking in generalisations.

busters mum

We say once the doors are open you are on stage and you leave all your shit at home otherwise very soon YOU will be at home

Rosemary

Come on now surely you owe to your special customers to at least try!!!!!!!

Rosemary

busters mum

O.K. when you come i will, do you want an Irish jig or the Highland fling ?
I'm not doing the dance of the seven tablecloths !!!!

JLFS

Just to clear things up a bit, when I said that money was taboo, I meant that you cannot get the price of anything out of the Spanish easily and notherners are the worst, but there is no holding back when ithey are ASKING the price, the only have the problem when they have to TELL somone the price.

JLFS

Are you trying to say that the Gallegos are grumpy, bad tempered, abrupt old farts.

Well. if so, I would take exception to that comment, but you are quite right.

steviedeluxe

I've generally had good service in shops, bars etc in Spain. There again maybe they appreciate a guiri who can communicate in Spanish. I'm always grateful to the offer to wrap my presents in places like El Corte Ingles - not something you normally get in M&S. The only really grumpy service I've received was in the Estanco when I was processing some paperwork, but that was efficient enough. And despite what other people claim to experience, I generally find bar service is very quick in a Spanish bar, and I can't believe it's just because I observe the greetings etiquette. Well, the paying bit is sometimes a bit slow though. And, for what it's worth, I'm rarely annoyed with service in UK establishments either - although I always wonder why it takes so long to get served in a pub nowadays, especially when so many are going out of business. It's the big corporations like T-Mobile I really can't stand.

JLFS

The question of wrapping is a bit of a sore point with me.

OI hate it in shops that sell cheap things, like screws and such when insteasd of putting the stuff in a small bag, they wrap in up in a farting little piece of paper, and if the person in front want half a dozen such items, then you are in for a long wait.
My wife likes to sew and it often takes ages for her to get served with a ouple of buttons, because of the mania of not gettinglittle paper bags, instead of minute scraps of paper and a yard of cellotape.

johnnyone

Because they are to busy making bloody coffee!