Tokyo@thetowers/ET Sushi - Emirates Towers (Excellent)

Sushi is one of my favourite comfort foods. In Dubai treating myself to a sushi lunch or dinner can get pretty pricey but a the Emirates Towers ET Sushi you can get a moderately priced, fresh and tasty meal. The service is a bit hit or miss if you're dinning at their busy lunch time. On the whole the service is always friendly and helpful.

Dean and Deluca - Souq al Bahar - (Excellent)

Dean and Deluca, located at the Souq al Bahar in Downtown Burj Dubai area, is an upscale grocery store based out of the United States. In the UAE however, the company has transfomed into more of a casual dinning experience. Dean and Deluca for me is the perfect place to have a light lunch with friends or pick up a quick late night dinner. Not only is the food at Dean and Deluca very tasty, the service is extreemly helpful and polite. Eventhough the decor of the restaurant is quite sanitary, modern, and cold, the service is warm and welcoming. If a customer would like to make a substitution in their food the staff make helpful suggestions. The team at Dean and Deluca always offer to bring your food out to your table if they think you'll have to wait around. And are always willing to go the extra mile to make their customers happy.

Al Fresco - Crown Plaza - (Mediocre)

One of my favourite laid back Italian restaurants in Dubai is Al Fresco, located at the Crown Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road. The menu selection is great and the food quality has never disapointed. The only problem at Al Fresco is the speed at which the staff work.
I have dinned there on many occations and have noticed that if you sit outside you're likely not to see a server for a good 15 minutes at a time. And if you do decide to sit inside you're likely to have to hail down a waiter or waitress. No one will come ask if you are enjoying your food. But someone will always come to see if you would like to order more wine or another bottle of sparkling water.

Fonestatic - (Excellent)

Fonetastic is a phone repair company that provides amazing service for those customers who are on the go or just in a rush to repair their mobile phones. Earlier this week, the monitor on my cellular phone broke. I took the phone to a certified Nokia store, where they informed me that they have centralised their repair shop and are asking all clients to drop off their phones to a repair centre in Karama. Annoyed at the prospect of having to find a random shop in the middle of a very busy area of Dubai, I called my sister in law who had had very good things to say about Fonetastic a few months back. She had told me about their amazing delivery service, where they pick up your broken handset and delivery it to you after repair. Upon calling the company I was greeting in a kind manner and was proptly asked for my location and a conveniant time to pick up my phone. My phone was picked up in the afternoon. That evening I was called by one of Fonetastic's employees letting me know the cost of the repair, asking me if I'd like to go ahead with the repair, and the approximate time my phone would be delived to me. I agreed to the cost of the repair and my phone was delivered to me the next day. I was very satisfied with the service Fonetastic provides and I would recommend this company to anyone in the Dubai area.

Meat Co. - Souq Al Bahar - (Very Poor)

Meat Co. has a few branches throughout the UAE. The location I visited a few weeks ago is located at the Souq Al Bahar in Downtown Burj Dubai. Upon arrival at the restaurant I was not greeted. After the maître d' stared at me for a while he asked if I had a reservation to which I answered 'no'. He informed me that they were fully booked on a Monday night at 7:30pm even though the restaurant appeared to be empty. I informed him that I only wanted to have a quick 30 minute dessert but he insisted that he could not seat me if I did not plan on ordering a full meal. At this point I was very displeased with the cold manner in which I was treated and decided to leave. After a five 5 minute breather I decided to call Meat Co. and try and see if I could book a table. The reservation desk took my reservation for 7:45pm and I returned to the maître d' table. At this time the maître d' refused to acknowledge the fact that I had made a reservation which was additionally irritating. Finally after another employee pointed out my reservation, the maître d' repeated his previous statements “we are not allowed to seat customers who are not intending on ordering a full meal”. At this point I asked to speak to a manager. I was promptly informed that a manager was not available but that I was more than welcome to call him on his cell phone. In the end I called the manager of this Meat Co. for several days; on the fifth day he answered and I proceeded to ask him why his maître d' was offering such poor service? Why his restaurant only served people who wanted to order a full three course meal? And why I was never even so much as offered a seat at the bar? The manager could not give me a decent answer to any of these questions. I asked him to kindly revise his customer training methods. He apologized profusely and offered me a free dessert next time I dined at the Meat Co. I politely declined his offer. I cannot comment on the waitstaff at Meat Co. or the quality of their food therefore, I cannot not recommend the restaurant. My overall experience, however at this restaurant was very poor and I do not intend to return any time soon.

Reality of the credit crunch

In the past decade there has been an exponential growth in service oriented businesses all over the UAE. The service industry, however, has been severly unprepared to deal with the influx of clientele and as a result, has become lethargic.
It seems to me that business owners and service providers need to understand that better customer relationships lead to a better bottom line. This is especially true when economic times are as uncertain as they are today. The global "credit crunch" should inspire corporations to improve their customer relations in order to build a loyal clientele base.

Introduction

Customer service in the UAE has been a topic of conversation almost every day since I moved to Dubai two years ago. On the whole, service in restaurants, boutiques, hotels and cafes has been, for lack of a better word, terrible. On the chance occasion where I encounter good service I am pleasantly surprised and make a mental note to return. My frustration with the lack of good service has lead me to start this weekly editorial. The overall goal of this blog is to create a forum where the service industry can be held accountable. It is my hope to eventually help encourage and create first rate customer service in the UAE. My plan is to describe two service experiences each week. I also invite people to comment on any good or bad service they have had in the UAE.