I’ve lived in Ukraine since the day I was born. I really love my country and its people. But there are some things here that drive me crazy or shock me every time.
I’m not sure whether it’s our mentality or just our way to do business. Every time I use any kind of service in Ukraine it feels like I owe something to the person providing the service. Their attitude is usually terrible: salespeople are rude, and you can’t get a useful word out of an assistant’s mouth.
For example, in response to my question in a café “What kind of juices do you have?”, a waitress said curtly: “Many kinds”. After that I had no desire to stay a minute longer in that café. When you ask to look at the expiry date on a candy bar, what kind of reply do you usually hear? It’s either a rude “It’s fresh” or something like this: “First buy it, then look at the package”. When you go to the post office, you know you might end up standing by a closed door for an hour, waiting for the cashier to finish her tea with a co-worker and discussing the latest gossip. What kind of attitude it that?
In a bank I had a tough time trying to wring out of its workers the list of documents I needed to make a certain payment. Each person I talked to gave me a different list. Many Ukrainians have moved on to use Internet money, but the banks are yet to catch up and start providing a service to cash in your electronic money.
Internet providers charge crazy fees for slow connections, then something goes wrong and you stay off line for two days, while the support office telephones are dead. The maintenance team is too busy enjoying themselves at home, drinking beer and watching TV. But it’s not their fault, of course, but the employer’s, who fails to train them because they think business is just to keep the client paying regularly, and forget about the client the moment they have paid.
What’s the matter with you people? I’m you client, I am the one paying you money. Why can’t I get a minimum standard of service in return?
On a recent trip to Italy I was observing a different kind of attitude to clients. I thought about the reasons behind this difference. In the Soviet Union we had no idea what business was, so, perhaps, we’re only just learning to do it well. But it’s already been 18 years since independence and we still can’t figure it out.
My second guess was it’s in our mindset. Maybe we’re a badly educated nation, and therefore cannot treat a client well? We grow too big-headed when we manage to open a small shop in a school yard, and think we’re capable of anything. Maybe seeing so much corruption around has made us believe that money rules the world.
But the thing is you won’t get the money unless you have clients. And the clients are educated and clever people who read magazines, surf the web and know how they should be treated as clients. If you wait on me badly in a restaurant today, I won’t come tomorrow! Why should I spend my money in the place that does not appreciate its visitors?
The real question here is why we don’t want to change our behavior. Every customer coming to a shoe shop and asking about the origin of the footwear should get a truthful answer. If sales assistants behave like they own the world, their supervisors should fine them for being rude. Supervisors should spend more time training and less learning new techniques of wringing money out of clients. Other wise, they will soon be losing clients to the Internet where things are cheaper and efficient.
Hopefully, the number of clients will grow who will demand good service for their money from the service providers. They should pressure for skilled, helpful assistants, and full warrantee on the goods they buy. They should only tip those waiters who do their job well. This is the only way to build a mature society where people make money by doing their work professionally and with dignity.
Angelina Overchuk is a student at the International Economic Department of the Kyiv National Vadym Hetman Economic University. She also works in Kyiv as a translator and copywriter She can be reached at [email protected].
