Vietnam Travel Notes

by Anh Tu

A relaxing holiday with my co-workers to central Quang Binh Province would have ended perfectly  had it not been for the miserable 12-hour train journey back home. We were all famished and would have settled for almost anything. We weren’t expecting haute cuisine. A simple meal would have rounded off a spectacular holiday. What we got was more cordon off than cordon bleu.

We waited nearly an hour for the food trolley to arrive – we were in the seventh coach so weren’t expecting to be served first. But an hour! And to add insult to injury, when the steward finally arrived, a passenger from the eighth coach jumped in and ordered 26 dishes. The tiredness, the hunger, and the anger got the better of us and we protested loudly. But was the waiter contrite? Instead of ignoring the interloper he served the man first.

“He has reserved his food. Can’t you wait a sec?” the steward said fretfully. We reasoned that we’d waited for him to trundle down six coaches, so why should we mind waiting a bit longer?

Yet we were indignant. It was a matter of principle after all. But we were weak from hunger so waited patiently for the crispy deep fried chicken legs that we’d reserved and that we could see on the trolley.

“Omelette or fish balls?” the steward asked gruffly.

“Neither,” we replied in chorus. “Where are our chicken rice dishes?”

“Sorry, they are finished. What do you want?” the steward said in a raised voice.

Frustrated, fed up

The chicken we’d just seen must have been given to the queue jumper. Frustrated and fed up (for want of a better expression) we rejected both the omelette, which came without salt, and the fish balls that came without sauce. As the steward closed the compartment door, he muttered insults under his breath.

I remember my parents once complaining that in the good old days the carriages had no lights or fans or food. And that it was not uncommon to have to share your carriage with livestock. Now we have food served to us – if you can call it food, or service – in air-conditioned splendour. Hmm. Were we right to be upset?

Vo Chi Thanh, deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that the service industry in Viet Nam had improved markedly since the Doi moi (Renewal) process was introduced in 1986.

“Customer service involves all sectors,” he said, not just catering.

According to Thanh, the service sector used to make up more than 40 per cent of the country’s GDP. “However, from the mid-90s, it has reduced due to service providers’ lack of awareness of its significance,” he said. “The most important factor is not finance but attitude.”

When I arrived home I asked my parents if they thought firms should be fined for providing bad customer service.”They should be,” they said without hesitation. But I don’t think that’s the answer. Customers should vote with their feet as is done in the West. If they don’t like the service, they should go elsewhere in future.

“But what happens if they are the sole service provider,” my parents said. “As long as the catering firm holds a monopoly on that route, customers will have to lump it.”

My anger over the poor service we’d received refused to abate and I decided to phone the Administrative Office of Viet Nam Railways Corporation (VNR). I rang (04) 39423883 and was told to ring the Transport Business Division on (04) 38222709. I rang the number numerous times before the phone was answered.

“Our division only deals with general issues, not a tiny problem like a complaint about poor service,” a guy answered gruffly before listening to my grievance. “If you want to make a complaint, put it in writing,” he said and hung up. He didn’t even give me an address to write to.

A senior official at the VNR said our train experience had no been typical. He said poor customer service was a thing of the past and seemed to suggest I was making a mountain out of a mole hill, or as the idiom goes, “Con sau lam rau noi canh” (A fly in the ointment). To be fair, I ought to add that after we rejected the steward’s paltry offerings, we went to the buffet car and were served instant noodles (rice and chicken was not available) by a lovely lady with a ready smile. Will I travel by train again? Of course, I will, as her smile is still on my mind.

Source – VNS