There are bad service and there are BAD service. I can be exacting in my expectations of certain things pertaining to customer service but usually I am pretty laidback and easy-going. If it is not a do-or-die matter, I do not really expect much from Singapore service staff (which is usually mediocre).
E.g. At Decleor Institute at Raffles Hotel, a staff spilled my cup of warm tea when she placed a paper bag containing magazine on the table. The tea got to the magazine and my newspapers and all over the table. I did not scream at her or anything and she was extremely apologetic about it. No harm done, except for the papers. I was not scalded or splashed with tea, so I told her it was alright. It was not intentional and was just an accident.
The staff from Aivonda Spa Resort in Chinatown absolutely took the cake in providing atrocious customer service.
There was a complimentary voucher for Aivonda Spa Resort in the Shape Run 2008 Goody bag, so I decided to utilize it for a 30 minutes back massage. The other option was for a 60 minutes facial. So I rushed down to Aivonda Spa Resort at 15A Temple Street from Raffles Hotel and actually got to the area 15 minutes before my appointment.
Unfortunately I could not find the place. I walked down from Chinatown MRT along Temple Street. I saw #16 and continued walking when I realized it became 33 Trengganu Street. That was strange as it was the same street and I did not turn anywhere even though I saw Trengganu Street which intersected it.
I called up Aivonda Spa Resort and asked the staff for directions. The first girl was unable to direct me and passed the phone to another girl. She too was not able to give proper directions. They just told me it is diagonally across from the Indian temple. I did not see any Indian temple and being such a HOT day, I did not want to traipse up and down the street just looking for a temple.
I gave her my location - intersection of Temple and Trengganu - and that I could see Yum Cha Restaurant and Oasis Spa. The staff kept insisting I should be able to see their signboard. But frankly, I saw nothing. Maybe I am blind. Then she said since I am at Yum Cha area, I should keep walking. I asked where? Which direction? She just kept saying it's further down. Just walk down. But I did that before and it became Trengganu even though I did not turn left or right.
Finally I asked her for some shop front or which shop is next to Aivonda Spa Resort since I could see #16, but not #15A, and they are on the 2nd level. Then she said go into the area where they are many shops selling souvenirs. I was like...errr...which side? Since both sides and basically everywhere in Chinatown are selling souvenirs. She said the shop selling pots and pans, but I didn't see that either. By then, I was irritated with this bad giving of directions and asked her if this was the kind of customer service they provided. She had the cheek to reply yes, and since I refused to walk down, she cannot direct me further. WTH?!? Then she just hung up on me.
She was totally unapologetic and was happy to lose a potential customer. With such attitude in our service staff, it is not a wonder that the government keeps stressing on gracious living. No doubt they printed a map of Aivonda Spa Resort on the voucher, it was totally not helpful at all as there were no proper street names on all the roads, only Temple and the Chinatown MRT and a temple. And seriously, I wonder who actually went to the spa since it was so well hidden that I did not see any signages at all. Plus what if I was a foreigner living here? How would I know all the nooks and crannies of Chinatown?
Bottomline - forget about trying out Aivonda Spa Resort. Or rather, try it at your own risk. They are totally not pro-customer at all.
Their "supposed" location:
Aivonda Spa & Resort
China Town
15A Temple St #02-02
Singapore 058562
Tel: 6226 0023
2 comments:
Oh, a friend of mine passed me a shape voucher which was that avionda spa you mentioned...was going to try it but realised it was pass the expiry date I think...oh dear..this is bad, very bad service. Do you want to report to Case or a main forum to let people know? I think it's their loss really. Hope you managed to have a good weekend to salvage the bad experience!
I may post on some forums when I have time :p But after this incident, I really want nothing to do with them. I googled for the map location after the incident and saw that it was nearer to South Bridge Road. If they had told me that, to walk towards South Bridge Road, I might have found it eventually. It is clearly a case of not being trained to give proper directions, plus the rudeness of hanging up the phone. That was a real shock.
Case doesn't really work, and I think you need to sign up as a Case member before you can make complaints? I read about that somewhere.
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