So on Thursday I witnessed a situation at the Heart of Darkness Craft Brewery here in Ho Chi Minh. A patron was shocked that the beer prices did not include taxes and brought that up a with the pseudo-manager. I call her the pseudo manager as she then went and tattled to a man who I'm guessing is the real manager. Before running to tell daddy/hubby/whoever about what happened she decides not to provide a basic customer service answer and tells the patron this is how it is done in Vietnam.....as if he has never lived here before and is too stupid to know how things are done. She also said that there are bigger problems in the world to worry about.
Interesting answer...shitty customer service begins
So the patron sits down at the the table...still clearly frustrated, but not with the taxes any more, just with the condescending way he was treated. Then this woman brings over the man in charge. He continues to be condescending and as they both stand there drinking their beers proceeds to tell the patron that this is how it goes because the Vietnamese do not understand pricing and will not buy the beer if the taxes were included. Right...this asshole goes on to say that other places include the tax because they do not brew on site.
Whatever buddy.
Now I'm used to patronising and condescending white people and have learnt to accept that they still do not understand their invisible knapsack. However, I've also taught customer service for over 20 yrs and I was offended by this pompous pairs' approach. They could have simply said "ya sorry, but that is what our management prefers to do. Thanks for coming out though!"..but no. They needed to have the upper hand and seem smarter than customer (the woman even talked about the guy after he left as if he was worthless). Ridiculous.
Then it brought me to thinking about the new craft beer asshole manager system. The people that actually know the science behind the beer are not who I am referring to. I've met a lot of brew-masters and they are proud of their work and happy to talk about it with manners and glee. I am referring to the assholes hired to manage the bottle shops and the restaurants. The ones who clearly think they are so special they can talk down to customers and give stupid answers to issues such as "this is how it is done around the world (or here)" ..when it is not ...or "there are bigger issues in the world to think about"... ya, because deflecting is a good idea....idiots.
I've experienced the same in Toronto. I remember going to Indie Ale House to eat and then buy a growler. The staff had no social skills. Well they had skills since they spent the time talking to each other and not the single lady eating at the bar. Then when I went to buy the growler the guy acted as if I was disturbing him in trying to find out about the beers they offered.
Needless to say I never went back. I turned the growler bottle into a vase.
These privileged, overconfident, know it all hipsters are worse in Vietnam. They are paid more than local staff, and treated like they belong on the first place podium looking down at losers. Its a new colonialism. They do not have treat customers with respect because they are the kings of the castle. People have to come to their brewery because...well.. there aren't that many.....in their minds. There are a lot of craft places here...and a lot of bars. People actually have choices.
Let's face it, there are only so many beer styles and the rest are just variations. There is nothing special about craft except that is it not mass produced in the way the main brews are, but those started as craft...all beer was craft beer at some point!!!
You're not special and the only thing that matters is how you connect with your patrons. That's it.
Oh well. I really liked going there. The last manager was cool guy, but he's moved on. I guess I can connect with other places now. There are so many brewery's and bars to choose from. I don't have to give my money to jerks. (I was only at Heart for my friend's trivia night anyway).
The moral of the story: relationships are the important aspect of craft beer; the beer is just a beverage.
