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Ridiculous that fast-food outlet charges me for sauce

According to Singapore Seen:

A STOMPer was infuriated by the lousy service she experienced during her recent visit to the Long John Silver’s outlet in Novena Square. What made it worse was the inconsistent pricing, as she was charged for tartar sauce there but not in other outlets.

She says:

“I am a regular customer at Long John Silver’s.

“My visit to Long John Silver’s at Novena Square last week was a disappointment and an unpleasant experience.

“While queueing for my turn with one counter serving six customers, I noticed that the staff was very impatient and rude.

“When it was my turn to place orders, I presented my coupon for grilled fish.

“I was appalled by the staff’s reaction towards my coupon when she muttered ‘again’. I asked if the coupon came with a drink, and received a rude reply, ‘No drink. You want to buy or not?’

“What came next was even more appalling. I had my change thrown on the tray with my drink! Is this the correct way of serving customers with such attitude?

“When I requested for two packets of tartar sauce, I was told, ‘You have to pay 40 cents, you want or not?’ I merely paid for it and was not surprised to have my tartar sauce thrown on the tray as well.

“Out of curiosity I asked, ‘Why is your shop charging for the tartar sauce, whereas my visit to Long John Silver’s Junction 8 proved otherwise?’ Her reply? ‘Don’t know, company policy lah’.

Read the full article at Singapore Seen:

- This is something out of those television drama where disgruntle workers got so crazy that they no longer care or love their jobs to be actually friendly to their customers.

Sometimes it may be the training given by the fast food chain is insufficient or simply non-existence…most may be “on the job training” and get lot’s of customers jumping in anger.

Recently, there had been a influx of “foreign talents” merging into the work force as food servers or counter cashier who do not care much “quality of their service”.

However, I had seen a good combination of services by staff at the food stall at bukit gombak MRT that employ both Chinese & Malay workers that can communicate well to all races due to their sweet combination of nationalities.

For Long Jon Silver, they had once been the forefront of service provider in the fast food chain…remember the “ring the bell if you think there are good service provided” and they will shout “thank you” whenever the bell was strucked.

I am not sure if this is a case of a minority black sheep that tarnished the reputation of Long Jon Silver but I do hope the PR spokesman can tackle these accusation accordingly and investigate the situation by using “mystery shopper” method.

Sometimes it’s better to reward the employee for good service rather than sacking or punishment hence don’t be too harsh on these workers….REWARD those really good ones and SHOW to all employees what they stand to get or achieve.

  1. Discount Cupons for best workers?
  2. Shopping Vouchers for best workers?
  3. Free oversea trips and extra “off day” for best workers?
  4. Increase monthly pay + promotion to manager role?

For the “cannot make it” employee that refuse to change their attitude towards service rendered to customers….pluck them out from reaching customers and put behind the cooking area instead.

For the dangerous employees, better send them for training and give ample warnings before final “decision” of their fate.

Sometimes people does need second chances “lah”.

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Categories: Complaints - Singapore
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24 March 2009 at 15:18 - Comments
  • gary lim
    service customer can be a tough job sometimes especially if you meet nasty customers who are demanding. Must always smile and be nice to customer as they are always right.
  • juicy fruit
    This was send to me by one of my close friend and I am sure it will encourage the people who frequents this SGComplain blog.


    this is really good stuff.



    See what the former President of India (2002 – 2007) Dr APJ Abdul has to say about confession.

    So don’t tell anyone “try” next time. The truth shall set us free.You are actually telling your brain that it is ok to fail. Wow! Powerful! Just get on with it.



    I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age. Not only did my dad understand that specific words affect our mental pictures, but he understood words are a powerful programming factor in lifelong success. One particularly interesting event occurred when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and literally hanging around upside down from the rafters of our lake house.. So, it came to no surprise for my dad to find me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-year-old brain didn’t realize the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up so high.

    My older cousin, Tammy, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big limb, about ten feet below me. Tammy’s mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I remember my dad’s voice over the wind yell, “Bart, Hold on tightly.” So I did. The next thing I know, I heard Tammy screaming at the top of her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree.. I scampered down the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when Tammy’s mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, “Tammy, don’t fall!” And Tammy did. Fall.

    My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. In fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all. In order for Tammy to process the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to first imagine falling, then try to tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image of me hanging on tightly.

    This concept is especially useful when you are attempting to break a habit or set a goal. You can’t visualize not doing something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually find a word for what you want to do and visualize that. For example, when I was thirteen years old, I played for my junior high school football team. I tried so hard to be good, but I just couldn’t get it together at that age. I remember hearing the words run through my head as I was running out for a pass, “Don’t drop it!” Naturally, I dropped the ball.

    My coaches were not skilled enough to teach us proper “self-talk.” They just thought some kids could catch and others couldn’t. I’ll never make it pro, but I’m now a pretty good Sunday afternoon football player, because all my internal dialogue is positive and encourages me to win. I wish my dad had coached me playing football instead of just climbing trees. I might have had a longer football career.

    Here is a very easy demonstration to teach your kids and your friends the power of a toxic vocabulary. Ask them to hold a pen or pencil. Hand it to them. Now, follow my instructions carefully. Say to them, “Okay, try to drop the pencil.” Observe what they do.. Most people release their hands and watch the pencil hit the floor. You respond, “You weren’t paying attention. I said TRY to drop the pencil. Now please do it again.” Most people then pick up the pencil and pretend to be in excruciating pain while their hand tries but fails to drop the pencil. The point is made.

    If you tell your brain you will “give it a try,” you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a “no try” rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they won’t. Either they will be at the party or they won’t. I’m brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try. Do they think I don’t know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words “I’ll try” come out of my mouth unless I’m teaching this concept in a seminar.

    If you “try” and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly can’t make a decision I will tell the truth. “Sorry John. I’m not sure if I will be at your party or not. I’ve got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for the invite.” People respect honesty. So remove the word “try” from your vocabulary.

    My dad also told me that psychologists claim it takes seventeen positive statements to offset one negative statement. I have no idea if it is true, but the logic holds true. It might take up to seventeen compliments to offset the emotional damage of one harsh criticism. These are concepts that are especially useful when raising children.

    Ask yourself how many compliments you give yourself daily versus how many criticisms. Heck, I know you are talking to yourself all day long. We all have internal voices that give us direction. So, are you giving yourself the 17:1 ratio or are you shortchanging yourself with toxic self-talk like, ” I’m fat. Nobody will like me. I’ll try this diet. I’m not good enough. I’m so stupid. I’m broke, etc. etc.”

    If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue.

    Here is a list of Toxic Vocabulary words.

    Notice when you or other people use them.

    Ø But: Negates any words that are stated before it.

    Ø Try: Presupposes failure.

    Ø If: Presupposes that you may not.

    Ø Might: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener..

    Ø Would Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn’t actually happen.

    Ø Should Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn’t actually happen (and implies guilt.)

    Ø Could Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn’t actually happen but the person tries to take credit as if it did happen.

    Ø Can’t/Don’t: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you want. This is a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the damage of this linguistic error.

    Examples:

    Toxic phrase: “Don’t drop the ball!”

    Likely result: Drops the ball

    Better language: “Catch the ball!”

    Toxic phrase: “You shouldn’t watch so much television.”

    Likely result: Watches more television.

    Better language: “I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!”

    Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them.
  • nono
    I like the part about ‘trying’ to do something or ‘trying’ to attend something. When you have the mentality of trying to do something or attend something, chances are it won’t happen. This happens to me many times and this article really motivates me to drop the attitude of saying ‘I try’ and instead, just do it or don’t do it. Please share with me your feelings after reading this article.
  • larry
    hey simon, agree with you on sending the people for training and giving them incentives if they perform. I like to introduce you and your friends to a great place to dine in Vivo City. Please check the website below,
    http://www.soshiok.com/articles/12141

    The food is really good, reasonable price and the service is top notch.
  • Simon Tay
    @Larry,

    Nice for the invite haa but recently on diet competition until end of March, looking down for any six pecs only to find one big country hehe.

    @No No,

    Muahaha trying and doing is something to think about.

    When someone ask me to do something I won’t say “I try” but I will say “give me the dateline” or “Can I make it by xxx day”…

    But that’s when you are very confident to do hence most of the time we aren’t.

    The best is to motivate ourselves by self fulfilling prophesy, to tell yourself that “I can do it, even failure means I can learn something, let’s do it now and not analyze till paralyze”.

    Unless of course the “thing to do” is something undesirable or too troublesome that makes no “sense of achievement” to even start.
  • anna