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cyndy22
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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 Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:42 am Post subject: Attitudes toward Service |
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I just returned from New York City spending the week end there. It was interesting to experience the differences between NYC attitudes toward tourists and Russia's attitudes, specifically St. Petersburg. My husband booked the hotel in NYC online and apparently the hotel never received the info. that we requested and needed a wheelchair accessible room. Thus upon arrival we saw that our reserved room was not accessible, specifically the bathroom. So we went back to the lobby and spoke with the two clerks and concierge. Unlike my previous experience in St. Pete with this issue, the hotel staff showed genuine concern. The concierge told us "we must be accommodated." At no extra charge he gave us the pent house suite which consisted of two extremely large bedrooms, two large bathrooms, a huge living room, din9ng room and small kitchen. It was bigger than most two bedroom apartments anywhere. Not only that, the entire hotel staff including reception, bell boys, custodian, cleaning women and breakfast staff showed nothing but a polite and friendly attitude. They smiled, provided information and in essence were 100% service oriented. Virtually every where we went in NYC was the same. At Yankee Stadium they allowed us all to sit together despite having reserved ticketsd in different areas. In restaurants they allowed us to choose where we wanted to be seated. Even at the toystore in Times Square, when I attempted to take a photo of my husband and son riding in the indoor ferris wheel, a clerk came up to me and said,"Please let me take a photo closer up". Not only that, she put my husband and son to the head of the line because she did not want me to have to wait so long.
These may seem like small things but as they say, it is the small things in life? Today, being 9-11 it was rather strange to be in NYC. We had a fabulous weekend and I am looking forward to returning to see the Russia exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum. God I love NY! |
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overseas_expat
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Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 741
Location: Moscow
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| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:57 am Post subject: |
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Just for starters, Russia has no ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), so no, I'm not surprised that the St. Pete hotel didn't offer to compensate you with a fully equipped penthouse.....
Glad you love New York. Traveling with a person with disabilities must be difficult. Russia has a long way to go in recognizing that disabled persons are citizens and people like everyone else. Don't expect this to change anytime soon. |
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Rick
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 854
Location: Касабланка
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| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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Whereas in Italy they take such good care of people with disabilities in some places, that they place braille signs at touristic sights. So that the blind will be able to read what they are missing.
It's not just legislation, but also public awareness and will in society to support people with disabilities to function fully. As a student I worked in a shop for a while. The upper floor was not accessible by wheelchair for the public in a normal way. We used the lift for goods transport though to bring people in wheelchairs upstairs.
Cyndy, I believe that you have been in Paris.. I always thought that that city must be quite bad for people with wheelchairs as well? |
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cyndy22
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Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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I was in Paris and other regions of France in 1993. It was a fabulous trip! We were able to get around pretty well with a wheelchair. The museumswere accessible that we visited incluyding the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay. The Eiffel Tower is accessible. We went on a dinner cruise on the Seine River which was wonderful and accessible. We stayed in a hotel on the left bank that was fairly accessible. The bathroom wasn't perefect but I atleast could access it. We saw a show that was accessible. We took taxis or walked to get around. The taxis accommodated us and stored my fold up wheelchair in the trunk. Many shops and restaurants were accessible and if there were a few stairs, my husband with or without help was able to haul me up or down the stairs. I found the French to be very open minded people and helpful. Iam sure that access has improved also since 1993. I am sure I will return to France. I love the country.
While the US does have laws that provide persons with disabilities civil rights, as Rick stated, there must be a will and a mind set. Laws by themselves without the spirit behind them mean little. Besides the fact that Russia obviously does not have laws in place like the ADA, it seems to be that the service industry lacks the will, spirit, and mind set to provide excellent customer service. There are of course exceptions but I am speaking generally. I believe the industry needs a campaign to transform service from bad/mediocre to good/excellent. This will make people want to return to Russia and bring in more 1st time visitors as well. |
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overseas_expat
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Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 741
Location: Moscow
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| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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As I recall, Americans weren't really concerned about the comfort and accessability of disabled people either. It wasn't altogether a public spirit that brought about the changes we saw in disabled accommodations in America.
Ya'll may be a little too young to remember, but it was a late blooming attachment to the civil rights movement, which originally focused on people of color, but later came to embrace womens rights and gay rights and the lack of opportunity for the disabled. That later turned into the ADA.
Legislation backed up with government willingness and a well functioning legal system really brought the rights of the disabled to the forefront.
In Russia you have none of those elements working. |
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MrSpice
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Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| overseas_expat makes one great point after another. Obviously, Russia's travel industry is very immature and the service level has a lot of room for improvement, especially when it comes to people with disabilities. |
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MrSpice
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| cyndy: So have you visit our version of Russia (Brighton Beach)? I assume not, because you did not mention it in any of the posts. This is NY's major attraction, forget Guggenheim :) |
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cyndy22
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Joined: 15 Oct 2004
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Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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No I didn't make it to Brighton Beach as I hoped to do on Sunday. My son had his heart set to go to the big Toy store in Times Square and we went to ahuge block festival before we drove back. I still want to visit but sorry, the Russia exhibit at the Guggenheim is higher on my interest list. I don't understand that you don't think this is an incredible exhibit Mr. Spice.
And you can make any excuse you want for the poor level of service in Russia. |
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mediashark
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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Simply said, there cannot be a service industry in Russia before the primary and secondary industries (resource-extraction and processing/manufacturing respectively) have been sorted out. There is nothing "wrong" about Russia's economy with not having a well-developed service industry--you simply can't have the top heavier than the bottom, especially with a country of that size and is still rebuilding its economy. It takes time for a service industry to develop. These are reasons, not excuses. It has started growing in Russia, which is encouraging, and it is still possible time to time to be impressed with good customer service served with a sincere smile.
Also, I find that Russians love to complain about service only amongst themselves, not to the manager or to the top. If they don't ask for it, I wonder why they complain why they don't get good service. |
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MrSpice
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| cyndy22: Please keep in mind that while some of the concern for disability you heard from hotel employees is genuine, some of it comes from enormous competition and the fact that the travel industry in New York has been in place for over a hundred years. The hotels have to compete to attract all travellers to make ends meet. In Russia, the travel industry is not developed enough and the competitive pressure is not as strong. Secondly, you cannot simply generalize that the hotel you stayed in in Russia necessarilly represents the level of service at other hotels. I am sure that if you stayed at a high end hotel in St Petersburg - like Radisson SAS for example- you would get western level of service in all respects. So, like in many other developing countries, if you want to get western level of serivice, you have to pay more. |
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cyndy22
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Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| With all due respect I do not buy your arguments Mediashark and Mr. Spice concerning Russia's weaknesses with the service sector. Treating customers with respect, sensitivity and fairness is more likely based on cultural attitudes more than money, a young tourism industry or other industries. Russians are not known for good service, plain and simple and if you are a tourist, specifically an American, the service is even worse. Add another dimension such as disability and seervice goes out the window. Even Vitalsigns noticed this during his return home to Russia. |
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mediashark
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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These are not arguments, these are facts.
Tell me one country with a developing service industry who would treat you the same way as the NYC hotel did. I would like to hear about that. |
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MrSpice
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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cyndy: As I said previously, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of service I received this time in St Petersburg compare to what it was 10 years ago. You can throw all the arguments you want about Russian service and how bad it is just because "Russians don't provide good service". But you can go to other socialist countries and see some of the same issues. I just visited Prague which was much more developed than any russian city even in socialist times and since 89, has been enjoying a fast pased turnaround where private sector expanded and many new hotels were opened and the borders were open. And I still felt some of the issues with the service there - in the way waiters react to some of the basic sertvice request, any time you ask for something special or extra you get attitude. I think it is part of the socialist culture where no one owned anything and no one cared about the service. It's not part of the russian culture, I think. It's part of the soviet/socialist/government owns everything culture.
Since I can compare the current state of affairs with the "good old" times I can tell you that service at private shops, restaurants and hotels (I am talking about the hotel I was staying at) has improved dramatically.
I had to do many things in St Petersburg - I took taxis, I set up a cell phone account with my American passport - not a common thing to do, I went to many restaurants and other establishements, and I requested many things at the hotel for many different reasons and felt the service was pretty decent. Again, I am not disabled so I am sure you had a totally different experience since most mid-range hotels as well as museums and other places don't accomodate well for disabled tourists.
This is something that will come once the tourist industry there matures and the quality of life and the level of competition rises. It will take time.
Last edited by MrSpice on Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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cyndy22
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I agree that former socialist eastern European countries do not provide high quality service for the most part. It is not only Russia of course. But I still think the Socialist mentality has more to do with this than anything else. |
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mediashark
Moderator
Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Sure Soviet habits die hard... so what were you expecting from the soviet-style hotel in SPb?? |
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