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>taxi drivers in many western countries have set the bar so extremely low in terms of service >In Japan meanwhile... you literally get the white glove treatmen

by magduf 7y ago

>taxi drivers in many western countries have set the bar so extremely low in terms of service >In Japan meanwhile... you literally get the white glove treatment in any run-of-the mill taxi and screwing people over totally goes against the grain of the local culture This is the stuff that the anti-Uber crowd just didn't seem to understand. Taxis in America will routinely screw you over and drive you in circles, knowing that you probably don't know any better, just to increase your fare, and the customer service level is abominable. Japan just isn't like this: screwing customers over is just something they don't do there, and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores. Uber got where it did in America because the taxi industry was absolutely horrible, so all it took was someone competing with them and not being as horrible and offering decent service to become wildly popular. The same situation never existed in Japan.

astrange 7y ago
> Japan just isn't like this: screwing customers over is just something they don't do there, and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores. There are a few scam stores in Tokyo, there's one that sells paintings to tourists, another one with monks that go around pushing things into your hands, and supposedly some ripoff girls bars. But not many. Oh, but you can't get food substitutes in any restaurants and they'll deal with allergies by kicking you out of the store. > and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores. https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-stores-manual-keigo-customer-service/579988/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store...
- magduf 7y ago
  >Oh, but you can't get food substitutes in any restaurants and they'll deal with allergies by kicking you out of the store. Yes, I saw several restaurants that warned that they don't change their recipe. It makes sense: they've optimized their process in the kitchen for those particular dishes, and aren't going to just change things around for one customer. It didn't seem to be a big problem there. So I just have to wonder: why do so many Americans these days have food allergies? This wasn't a problem decades ago. From a little bit of Googling, it seems that Japanese just don't have problems with food allergies the way Americans do. Honestly, they're right to kick you out of the store: you're too much of a liability, and they just aren't prepared to deal with people with such problems. >https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store.. https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store.... I have no idea what your point is here. This is an article about the level of politeness to be used by retain employees (the Japanese language has several levels of politeness built-in). I wasn't talking about any details about the usage of the language by employees, I was just talking about them being polite in general, something you don't see in American stores much.

by magduf 7y ago

astrange 7y ago

> Japan just isn't like this: screwing customers over is just something they don't do there, and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores. There are a few scam stores in Tokyo, there's one that sells paintings to tourists, another one with monks that go around pushing things into your hands, and supposedly some ripoff girls bars. But not many. Oh, but you can't get food substitutes in any restaurants and they'll deal with allergies by kicking you out of the store. > and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores. https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-stores-manual-keigo-customer-service/579988/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store...

magduf 7y ago
>Oh, but you can't get food substitutes in any restaurants and they'll deal with allergies by kicking you out of the store. Yes, I saw several restaurants that warned that they don't change their recipe. It makes sense: they've optimized their process in the kitchen for those particular dishes, and aren't going to just change things around for one customer. It didn't seem to be a big problem there. So I just have to wonder: why do so many Americans these days have food allergies? This wasn't a problem decades ago. From a little bit of Googling, it seems that Japanese just don't have problems with food allergies the way Americans do. Honestly, they're right to kick you out of the store: you're too much of a liability, and they just aren't prepared to deal with people with such problems. >https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store.. https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store.... I have no idea what your point is here. This is an article about the level of politeness to be used by retain employees (the Japanese language has several levels of politeness built-in). I wasn't talking about any details about the usage of the language by employees, I was just talking about them being polite in general, something you don't see in American stores much.