My friend and I were at the Peninsula lobby having our chamomile tea to cap the evening. When it was served, I noticed that there were too much tea leaves in the cup that were choking me. I told the waitress that Peninsula should change the tea strainer as it has always been like that. I asked her if I could express my concern to the supervisor so that this long time issue can be addressed. She nodded and left.
Twenty minutes after, there was still no supervisor on hand. I was complaining to my friend about it and he told me that he saw the waitress talking to the supervisor and motioning him to go and talk to me but he simply brushed it off. Since the supervisor was too busy to attend to me, I stood up, went to the service station and asked for the food and beverage manager.
When Mr. Testa came to our table, I started complaining about the tea. I was a bit agitated after being ignored for more than twenty minutes, but his manner of talking to me was not in any way helping to calm me down. While talking about the tea, in a high-strung and arrogant manner, he said to me, "You calm down!"
He said - Calm down! (3 or 4 times)
I said - I am!
No, you're not!
I am!
No, you're not!
I am!
No, you're not!
I was surprised by his brazenness - how can anyone keep cool when the one asking for it was himself high-strung and rude? I felt early on that his purpose was to irk me more than to help me. Why? Because he wouldn't want to listen and allow me to talk. How would anyone calm down that way? He was butting in and raising his voice. He was fighting with me!
Granting for the sake of argument that I wasn't as calm as Mr. Testa wanted it - should a guest be subjected to such arrogance? Mr. Testa being at the frontline should have at least apologized and sympathized with me first so that I would calm down and relax, and not talked to me in a manner that would aggravate an already tense situation. What he did was a big no-no in customer handling - no way to treat an irate (loyal) hotel guest.
Based on this incident, I believe that Manila Peninsula's Food and Beverage Manager, Javier Barenguer-Testa, needs to develop his skills in handling customer complaints. I rest my case!
what's the kwento behind this story?
ReplyDeleteFP just posted the real story behind it. So sad to know about this. No wonder, hindi masyadong matunog ang Pen for so long na. Parang mat PR problem ba ang mga ito?
DeleteI prefer Sofitel Hotel than Manila Pen. my Gosh, super ganda ng Sofitel plus very kind pa ang manager. I hate to hear this kind of story but this really happens. Tsk tsk tsk
DeleteWhat happened?
ReplyDeleteKaya hindi ako nagMmla Pen eh, dun lang ako sa Sofitel. Spiral. Hehehe.
ReplyDeleteAgree! There was one time when James Harden was there and Spiral was jam-packed, the French manager even helped the staff and cleaned some tables!
DeleteYeah! Sofitel is much better. Ung manila pen parang ewan. Mas okay pa nga dun sa hotel ni mother lily na Imperial Palace kesa dyan sa Manila Pen. Pramis!
DeleteI am not sure kung may Buffet ba ang MlaPen, pero sa Spiral kasi grabe. Feels like heaven, ang lawak ng choices of food. Kung pwede nga lang tumira don sa Spiral. Hehehe. Kaso after kainan parang tinadyakan tiyan ko. Hehehe.
DeleteWhat did he do? details pls
ReplyDeleteDeport!
ReplyDeletehe is a filipino married to lexi schulze
DeleteShame on you!
ReplyDeleteGo back to your country!
ReplyDeleteAnong nangyari FP? Chika mo pls. Anyway Filipinos are partly to be blamed. Others put foreigners on a pedestal at dahil sa wala sa lugar na hospitality kaya tayo minamaliit ng mga yan. Those Filipino traits should be changed/adjusted.
ReplyDeletemay point
Deleteagree. kaya sa ofc namin, binabatas ko ang mga expat, eh ano ngayon kung foreigner sila. doesnt make them any better creature than i am
DeleteTUHMUH!!! Most of the time companies give them higher salaries than more competent Pinoy employees just because they are foreigners! We should reverse that. Pinoys deserve higher pay than them . . . LOVE our own so that they will respect us.
Deleteat 8:32. Hindi nman din kailangan bastusin ang expats. Just treat them civilly. tapos pag na brand tayong bastos, masasaktan na naman tayo.
Deletehaller idedeport ang isang Pinoy. Javier Berenguer-Testa is a Filipino.
DeleteActually hindi lang naman sa Pinas uso ung pagbbigay ng extra ordinary treatment sa mga foreigners na puti. Most Asian countries are like that. Iba talaga ang treatment pag sa mga puti nagsserve.
DeleteWhat that man did is terrible. If he doesnt like to be receiving negative feedback from guests, then better do your job as a manager. If there is something wrong, fix it. Tsk tsk tsk. Nakakasira lalo ng name ng hotel.
-JL
@7:20AM sad nga kasi sa ibang bansa like sa Middle East mas mababa ang sahod ng expat kesa sa local naku sa Pinas naman baligtad mas pinapasahod ng malaki mga expat kesa sa pinoy.
DeleteJ*rk!
ReplyDeletePaano naging?
ReplyDeleteSakit ng pinoy... huwag masyadong tingalain ang ibang lahi. Kapantay din natin sila.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened?
ReplyDeleteHubby of ANC's Lexi Schulze?
ReplyDeleteYes. Also used to be with Mandarin Oriental.
DeleteAsawa ni Lexi Schulze yan, 'di ba?
ReplyDeletelol he's spanish-filipino anuveh
ReplyDeleteFP, what happened here?
ReplyDeleteThis is very surprising. People from Peninsula are very accommodating and the former F&B Manager was really nice and his service was exceptional. I hope they'll fix this.
ReplyDeleteKalbo!!!
ReplyDeleteKelan naging pang insulto
DeleteAng kalbo..... Sa yo lang ata...
@August 1, 2013 at 9:53 PM: Kelan ka ba ipinanganak at di mo alam na pwedeng pang-insulto ang "kalbo"?
DeleteSpeaking of "ipinanganak", nung ipinanganak ka ba di ka kalbo?
Deletehindi na siguro naabutan ni anon 9:53pm yung "pendong"
Deletenaku kakahiya naman siya. as someone who took hrm hirap talaga mag deal with guests. kailangan mo lunukin pride mo...so sad lang mali atang industriya na pasok mo mister!
ReplyDeleteHe is the husband of Lexi Revilla Schultz (of ANC news)
ReplyDeleteWag tayong magpa discriminate sa mga yan. Kaya ang asawa kung puti, hindi niya ako binabasta basta lang. Bakit, sila lang ba ang matatalino at magagaling? Kiber kung puti sila, eh ano ngayon.
ReplyDeleteGo girl! Lol!
DeleteMatapobre ang Manila Pen. Di sila maabot. Sila na.
ReplyDeleteThen let's not patronize them . . . go to Makati Shang or other posh hotels instead.
DeleteUy hindi naman. Pantay pantay naman ang service namin.
DeletemaniLa pen,.mandarin hotel,e2 ang pnka matapobreng hotels,yes!even their supervisors etc.not so like these 2 f**kn hotel...
DeleteSofitel is much better!
Deleteif he's rude to me, then i'll be rude to him as well...the customer is always friggin right!
ReplyDeleteMasama talaga ugali ng mga taga-Manila Pen. Pati yung nasa HR nila, ibang klase ugali, kaya siguro yung mga nakukuha nila, masama ugali.
ReplyDeleteNot those from Engineering and Linen depts.
DeleteThere are a lot of hotels esp the new ones far better than manila pen. Boycott manila pen..oh di kaya palusubin ulit ang magdalo.
ReplyDeleteKasalanan ng TEA ang lahat ng ito. Sana puro peace sa mundo...
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it's not just about the tea complaint, guys. But it's the principle. Mr. Testa should have been diplomatic in treating irate guests. Di sila dapat pinapatulan, unless minumura na sila.
Deletesosyal nmn ni FP, manila pen pa nagte-tea... loyal cx pa ha.. hehe
ReplyDeletedahil sa tyaa!
ReplyDeletegood it took you a while to write your piece, otherwise, you would had written an angrier one. good maturity, FP.
ReplyDeleteNow I know how to answer when someone says to me, "CALM DOWN!": I AM. wahahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteI think you should make an official complaint to the Manager of Manila Pen about this, so that he will be reprimanded. Otherwise, it could pass up and go unnoticed. Everyone should be treated with respect and what he did, to deliberately be rude to you is just unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteSo eto pala ang nangyari.. At buti naman hndi blind item ha.. Very good
ReplyDeletecalm down fp calm down... ang freshness...
ReplyDeleteis fp the letter sender?
ReplyDeleteS l o w
Deletethat person also has his boss. he is the one who can act on it.
ReplyDeleteahh yan ba story.. e di pauwiin sa bansa nya.. hahaha
ReplyDeleteActually, letter sender, calm down! It's just a tea. If I were in your position, I'll walk out. It's just a tea. I'll blog about the poor customer service or tell everyone I know about it. That' all pero to wait for more than 20 mins for a tea?
ReplyDeleteHey you! Obviously you're poor at comprehension. Read again, he did not wait for 20 mins for the tea! FP waited for 20 mins for a supervisor to talk to him who never came.
DeleteAnd what do you mean "it's just a tea?" The bigger issue is the manager's mishandling of an irate hotel guest, that is the principle, and not the tea! Goodness!
Puso mo ate!
Delete5:22 walang letter sender ate/kuya!!! Si FP mismo yan...experience nya sa manila pen! Basa basa ng mabuti!
DeleteFP... dahil dyan i will boycott the Manila Pen kahit love ko mag tea time dun, and i love their palabok... pero mas love kita FP.. i like TWG in shang also.. dun ka nalang mag night cap.
ReplyDeletethey shud fix this!
ReplyDeleteGrabe naman
ReplyDeleteI think you need to stop drinking tea at that hotel. Maybe they're arrogant because people "tolerate" their attitude and continue to patronize their services.
ReplyDeleteNakakainis lang ha dahil hotel yan. Ako nga pag kumakain sa fast-food Tas nagreklamo sa unusual quality ng food apologize then palit agad. Well nakakapag init talaga ng ulo yung mga ganyan. I even cancel my order sa mga restaurant kahit served and bawas na pag ganyan for them to learn.
ReplyDeleteBaka di lang po kayo nagkaintindihan. Bago lang po yata sya sa Manila Pen.
ReplyDeleteManila pen merun naman diskriminasyom dyan e. mas priority nila un puti. I have friends nag stay dyan they felt very discriminated.
ReplyDeleteHe sounds arrogant and ignorant. His attitude is bad for business.
ReplyDeletethe manager of Shang Edsa is so rude as well. kala kasi nila porket ex pat sila, they are superior over us. Buti pa ang Makati Shang mabait ang foreigner doon.
ReplyDeleteTsk Tsk... Kung tutuusin nga napaka simple lang attendan sana nung concern. Being a customer sevice staff myself, first thing to make sure is to attend to the customer immediately and LISTEN, not yell at him to calm down.
ReplyDeleteWala na ang tinatawag na "customer service" sa mga panahon na 'to. Sad fact. Kung meron man, kakaunti nalang.
ReplyDelete