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Are you getting good service from companies in Ireland?

by | Jul 13, 2010 | Ireland

With the recession it seems that certain businesses and certain companies in Ireland are reducing levels of service in order to save costs.

The boom is over and prices have fallen, but have levels of service also been reduced – getting poor service is something which is creeping in here in there. From Restaurants and Bars to Travel Services and the general Service industry. I have seen many examples in the past year where I feel that customer support and client relations especially in interpersonal transactions such as retail cashiers, just was not up to scratch … not going to name any places (just yet) , but I’m just wondering if I’m alone. In one establishment, I held out my hand to get change and while looking me in the eye, the girl at the till plonked the coins onto the counter, another incident involved going to a till and the cashier just saying “20” … not “Thats €20 please”, just “20” – no please and when I was finished, no thank you. There are other areas where companies in Ireland are just skimping on quality.
Small things but I haven’t returned there!

I do a lot of training with regards to Customer Service and giving good levels of help  is something that some companies don’t do enough work on. There are certain companies that have in the past been criticized when it comes to good customer service, but who, in recent years have improved their services and actually gone on to repair past issues. There are certain companies, who I will not name, who I have more respect for now because they have dealt with service issues, improved on them and then gone on to excel in areas of customer service and customer expectations. If you own a business or run a company it is worth focusing on the customer and making sure that their needs are met and their expectations are exceeded. 

This is an old post on shanemcdonald.ie left here for retrospect and review purposes. 

 

Rant: Why do people clap when a plane lands?

Rant: Why do people clap when a plane lands?

by | Sep 25, 2009 | Ireland, Travel

Why do passengers always clap when a plane lands at its destination?

This may be just an Irish thing or it may just be on Summer flights to popular holiday destinations such as the Canaries… Either way, it’s pretty strange when you think about it! Passengers on board wanting to clap when a plane lands. The pilot’s job is to land the plane. Therefore why is he clapped?

If an 84-year-old granny landed the Boeing 737-800 in a stiff 30-knot crosswind with one functioning engine and a hydraulics leak – I would certainly applaud that!!! If you are on a local bus between your house and the shopping center… Do you clap the driver? Do you get clapped at work? (Unless of course, you are an actor or comedian on stage)

I don’t get applauded for every advert or website I design or every web script or app I write. The next time you are dealing with the service industry – in the bank, at the library, or in the restaurant – you get good service; give them a rousing round of applause to thank them and tell them you learned about it on your last flight.

Is it just an Irish or European Phenomenon?

I have traveled extensively in the USA, Canada, Asia, and Eastern Europe and I have rarely found this happening in those locations. In fact, I don’t recall any US or Canadian flights applauding at all. Now you could argue that applause is a way of saying thanks, but it seems strange that it is one of the only forms of transport that does this. I have been in taxis, busses, ferries, cable cars, and aircraft seems to be the only place where people clap on arrival. Remember when a place lands, the cabin crew and the flight team have a lot to do. The pilots are getting instructions on routing via taxiways so they can get the plane to the gate and the cabin crew are getting instructions from the pilots / other cabin crew who may be on all-call also. 

What do you think? Is it just a way of saying thank you or is it just in us as Irish people, that we clap when a plane lands?