(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-14 06:55

It's all about service

Comment on Li Xing's column "Good services also key to the success of Games" (China Daily, August 9)

I agree with Li Xing wholeheartedly about levels of service. It would be a terrible shame for visitors, whether they are from other parts of China or from overseas, to have their experience of this event tainted by some bad customer service experience.

Service in banks is a big problem here in China. I have spent many unhappy hours waiting in banks and trying to get the information and services I need from them.

The total number of foreign visitors to Beijing (during the Olympic Games) might not be much more than usual but Beijing has the opportunity with this event to tackle customer service issues and provide a model, which could later echo throughout the rest of China.

Siburtron

On China Daily website

It is not really very important (how many foreigners will come to see the Games live) when the issue here is better service. Everyone deserves that, especially the Chinese that live here day in and day out. There should not just be special service for foreigners and then after the Olympics it drops back down to the usual bad service.

Let's hope the Olympics raises the bar. I think Chinese are sometimes too tolerant of a low level of service and bear too many bad conditions as part of their life.

Len

On China Daily website

On the morning of August 6, I called a well-known club and restaurant in Dongsi Jiutiao, Beijing, to book a table for dinner that same evening at 8:30 pm to celebrate my daughter's birthday. The restaurant made my reservation and noted my telephone number.

When we arrived at the restaurant (at 8:20 pm), the manager confirmed we had made a reservation but told us he had already allocated all the tables to other people without reservations and that we would have to wait for a minimum of one hour. He did not even apologize!

I have been living in Beijing for 11 years and have been happy to see the restaurant sector has made outstanding progress in that time. However, there are still the black sheep, like this club, which may tarnish the great image of Beijing, just one year ahead of the Olympic Games.

I draw your attention to this case. I hope you will have some possibility to get this restaurant to correct its bad behavior, so it does not continue to treat customers in an unprofessional way, with total lack of respect.

Thierry Vapperau

Time to save us all

Comment on the news "48 dead, 65 missing in Northwest China floods" (China Daily website)

This year, a lot of tragedies have happened in China and many people have lost their lives. It isn't just a natural disaster, it is nature's warning. It may be caused by the El Nino phenomenon. The climate has also changed a lot. We human beings should review what we have done to nature in the past 100 years.

Xiaoping Zhang

On China Daily website

What makes the weather so unpredictable? What has made the global climate so disastrous? And what should we, the whole world, do to prevent more disasters from happening? Should we pay attention only to our own small interests and be ignorant of the others? Human greed has, to a great extent, damaged our only home. If the world goes on in this cancerous way, we will have to wait for death to come. Let's join hands to save ourselves.

Lan Genshen

On China Daily website

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(China Daily 08/14/2007 page11)