Lesson on bad customer service: Man pays 200,000 Yuan hotel bill in singles

[MarrickG]

STOMPer Alex sent in this incredible story of a Chinese mine owner who ran up a 200,000 Yuan bill at a hotel before learning that they did not accept credit card payments. Angered by the incident, the mine owner had 200,000 single bills delivered to the hotel.

This is a lesson to all on bad customer service, says the STOMPer, who describes the incident in an email to STOMP.

"A coal mine owner in Shanxi, China brought along RMB 100,000 cash to spend in a local hotel.

"It turned out the bill came up to RMB 200,000.

"The coal mine owner asked the hotel to let him pay by credit card.

"The hotel refused and insisted cash payment only followed by a heated argument between the hotel and the coal mine owner.

"In order to teach them a lesson, the mine owner made a phone call.

"After a while two cars carrying 200,000 pieces of RMB 1 notes in sacks arrived in front of the hotel.

"Hotel staff had to waste time and effort counting the single bills.

"This man showed us all how to manage bad customer service. So, who is the winner in the end?"

 

[Devil Within]

Can't really blame the hotel for not accepting credit cards in China. With so many credit card frauds and cheats, the hotel has to protect itself from the many China crooks.

 

[po2wq]

me tink ze hotel wud not let dat burger leave until dey have completed counting ze moni n confirmed dat ze amt paid was correct ...

dat burger wud have 2 sit there n wait until dey finished counting! ...

so, did dat burger win? ...

 

[Teo Kok Eng]

In order to teach them a lesson, the mine owner made a phone call.

"After a while two cars carrying 200,000 pieces of RMB 1 notes in sacks arrived in front of the hotel.

"Hotel staff had to waste time and effort counting the single bills.

This PRC is actually cool! He is really somebody.

And the stomper is cool too, he has these photos

 

[cooleo]

So next time, the bank tries to screw around with me, i will make sure i bring along one bag of 1cent coins!

 

[NoNewsGood]

I don't quite believe this story.

Payment by credit card (which in China is usually a debit card) is not so common in China, until the last few years.

If the customer is a PRC in a PRC hotel, he would normally have preferred to pay cash.

 

[middaydog]

So next time, the bank tries to screw around with me, i will make sure i bring along one bag of 1cent coins!

1 cent coin has a legal limitation of how much you can pay

 

[cooleo]

1 cent coin has a legal limitation of how much you can pay

MEDIA RELEASE
BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF CURRENCY, SINGAPORE

NO MORE 1-CENT COINS FROM BCCS

The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore ("BCCS") will stop issuing 1-cent coins from 1 April 2002. However, the public can continue to use their 1-cent coins, as the coins will remain legal tender.

2 The 1-cent coin is not actively used by the public. Every year, more than 50 million pieces of new 1-cent coins are issued but only 3 million of these coins are returned to BCCS.

SRA and CASE Support the Move

3 BCCS has consulted the Singapore Retailers Association ('SRA') and the Consumer Association of Singapore ('CASE'). Both SRA and CASE support the move.

4 The Executive Director of SRA, Ms Lau Chuen Wei, said that businesses will have to make initial pricing adjustments, but the move should benefit both consumers and retailers in the long run. She encouraged retailers to round off their prices to make it easier for the consumer.

5 The incoming President of CASE, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, said that consumers find it inconvenient to handle 1-cent coins. He urged businesses to round off the odd cents to the benefit of consumers.

Where does it say there is a limit on the usage of 1cent coins?

 

[Logisex]

This guy did the right thing in teaching those CCB China hotels. Who the fark carries $200,000 cash around and which decent hotel doesn't accept credit cards now?

Most of these China hotels grant the "stars" themselves. They will tell you they are a 5 star hotel but in fact its 3 star at best. Customer service sucks big time and some of them will only accept China credit cards.

Even the CS at those famous international hotels like Hyatt, Shangrila, Renaissance etc in China are not that good because those PRCs are either not very well trained or simply bochup.

 

[SneeringTree]

MEDIA RELEASE
BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF CURRENCY, SINGAPORE


Where does it say there is a limit on the usage of 1cent coins?

There is a legal tender limit for 1 cent. not sure why this was not revealed in the press release (maybe it was not the point of the media release); but the limit is $2 per transaction.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Can't really blame the hotel for not accepting credit cards in China. With so many credit card frauds and cheats, the hotel has to protect itself from the many China crooks.

Wouldn't a simple call to the issuing bank confirm validity of the card?

 

[cooleo]

Wouldn't a simple call to the issuing bank confirm validity of the card?

China buggers can be extremely lazy and poor in customer service. They will rather offend the customer than make the extra effort. No joke. This is somewhat similar to the customer service level shown by the PRC assholes working in Sinkapore.

 

[jw5]

China buggers can be extremely lazy and poor in customer service. They will rather offend the customer than make the extra effort. No joke. This is somewhat similar to the customer service level shown by the PRC assholes working in Sinkapore.

They can be extremely lazy and poor in customer service, but that's not always the case.
China is the land of extremes. You can go into one restaurant today and meet the best waitress in the world, who patiently describes each and every item on the menu clearly. The next day, you go to another restaurant and meet the worst waitress ever, who throws the menu and the wet napkin at you.

Unfortunately, we get more of the latter in SG than the former.

 

[Rogue Trader]

I agree with Cooleo that the customer service in PRC is atrocious cos I've been a recipient of it. There was once the hotel receptionist even asked me why loudly I couldn't read Chinese. I promptly gave it back to her. Wah piang eh. This is service standard you can only expect in a socialist country. And we are importing them into the country.

 

[Watchman]

China buggers can be extremely lazy and poor in customer service. They will rather offend the customer than make the extra effort. No joke. This is somewhat similar to the customer service level shown by the PRC assholes working in Sinkapore.

Where do we begin and where do we put a stop ?

People once complain Singaporeans are a lazy lot and end up hiring foreigners with PRCs. So the PRCs here live to a certain standard . They will naturally demand more .

Are we really solving anything ?

 

[shelltox]

over ourside if you pay in coins you have to pay service and theres a limit on the amt you can pay in coins