à la carte Sucks!

Heard of the discount card from à la carte? It really sucks! My mum got one because her student gave it to her for teachers' day and ever since, she has spent more money than gotten discounts.

Why it sucks:

1. Priced at almost S$400 (I think). Promises great discounts of up to 50% on expensive food but let me just say that expensive food is not equal to good food. We went to Orchard hotel for high tea and despite the 50% discount, we still had to pay about $20 more for meagre servings of food, bad service and looked at empty plates that were not replenished.
2. Bad deals: Mum tried to book a hotel room for end of June and was told by the customer service assistant that all rooms were full in June and the offer would be extended till July (even though her card would expire at the end of June). She had to ask FIVE times before the same woman told her that she would have to top up $120 more to get the room in July. Then she asked for a room on the next day (the last day the card was valid for) and we still would have to top up $40 +++. You must understand that our voucher entitles us FREE stay at the hotel...not $40 +++.
3. Bad service: The customer service agent was at lunch so my mum left a msg for her. It happens that she is at lunch and a colleague told us to leave a message. So far, we have received no return call from her. My mum called back to say that she would not be renewing her membership as the service was so bad and the woman was quite bochup about it.

My mum has since canceled the membership. It seems that companies in Singapore (maybe the whole of Asia) have little regard for after sales service. All they concentrate on is selling the product. Why are there no refunds and few instances of exchanges allowed at departmental stores? If you make noise about bad service, why does no one listen to your complaints?

I wonder what happens if you go to an upscale restaurant but you find that the food sucks? Will the chef come out and find out why you are unhappy with the food? Will the restaurant give you free dessert and truffles to bring home? This is precisely what happened in Chicago. Chiat and I decided to splurge on some upscale French food and noted that a couple at the next table didn't finish their food. Soon enough a French chef came scuttling out of the kitchen and looked very concerned. Free dessert and takeaway truffles followed. Chiat and I were very tempted to do that but couldn't bring ourselves to NOT finish the extremely expensive food. Who pays US$6 for a scallop??!!!Anyway, the point is that I think the US has more emphasis on after sales service.

So, why am I kao pehing so much? The fact is that I am still not used to life in Singapore!!!