The customer service here puts Vancouver to shame. At a normal coffee shop here, you get service reserved for the best restaurants in Vancouver. However I really feel uncomfortable with the shouted "Welcome" and "Come again" when you go into a store. When my wife went to have her hair done, anytime a customer entered or left the store every employee in the store started chanting a 10 second long welcome or parting message in unison. This became problematic because I had to return to the salon several times to get directions to a coffee shop where I was supposed to wait for her. Each time I prompted this chanting welcome... then parting. After the second time I returned there was some confusion amongst the staff as to whether I should get the welcome or not. I felt bad for causing so much trouble. Then when I finally found the coffee shop, I entered, hearing another "Welcome!" greeting. Only then did I realise that I had no Japanese Yen on me, so back to hair salon yet again to get money from my wife, then back to the coffee shop. I think people were getting really tired of me by then.
Japan Observations, Customer Service in Japan
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