Service contrasts and discriminatory norms

Last night I was out with friends for dinner when we decided to go have a drink or two at Marina Bay Sands. More specifically, we decided to go to Ku De Ta, as one of those friends was visiting from out of country.

Having been to Ku De Ta many times before, I had a feeling of what to expect. Their service hasn’t been great. They’ve indicated to me before that they won’t accept my credit card, because it’s associated with a bank account (I tell no lies!) and they won’t accept $500 in cash as a deposit toward a bar tab. I haven’t been impressed. However it’s hard to replicate the experience at Ku De Ta, and so we still went.

This time, however, I was going as an injured person. Boy, was I in for a surprise. First, they would not let me enter without signing an indemnity form. The indemnity form basically meant that I was releasing them of any liability due to my injury/pregnancy. Yes, pregnancy. No – I am not pregnant. But apparently if I were, it’s equivalent to a disability.

They made a bit of a fuss about us wanting to sit down. It’s obvious that I have a broken leg. However, they insisted that if we wanted to sit we would have to pay $3000 and would need a reservation. Even when I insisted that we were not staying long and that I did not want the table –really just a place to sit, because of my leg– they told us we could sit at a reserved table, but only until the reserved party arrived. Fine. And then of course was the case of the bill, which needed to be paid upfront. Fine. But that was enough for me. I left after one drink. It was all a bit too complicated and inhospitable.

Today, however, I had a completely different experience. I had signed up for a coffee roasting tour at Papa Palheta’s Chye Seng Huat Hardware coffee bar several weeks ago. I was looking forward to it and didn’t want to miss it, but I’ll admit that when I woke up this morning and thought about it, I wondered what it would be like with The Boot. Last night’s incident was fresh in my mind.

I arrived and the tour began shortly afterwards. I was concerned about moving around the tour space (roasters, etc.) and hoped that maybe I would be able to lean against something. However I knew the tour was only an hour and after all it was the morning — early enough in the day that my leg didn’t ache yet.

Well, I had nothing to worry about! Within five minutes a lovely gentleman was following me around with a stool so that I could sit at each part of the tour. I was not only surprised — and I offered to carry it myself — but also extremely grateful. This graciousness in the form of service continued throughout the tour. The staff were extremely accommodating in ways unexpected and appreciated. Within a very short amount of time, they had completely won me over.

I realize that Marina Bay Sands has a particular clientele, and that clientele is not really a local one. They are much more interested in wowing flashy tourists than they are developing consistent relationships with people who live in this city.

But I can tell you by way of the brief experience I had, that if I had a more permanent disability, I certainly would be making much more noise about the crap service situation at Marina Bay Sands. Their apparent disregard for anyone who is “outside the norm” is reprehensible. They deserve much more criticism than this blog post allows, and I should really follow up on that. When I finally do get around to writing my scathing letter to the MBS management, I’ll make sure I’m sitting at Chye Seng Huat Hardware while I type it out, sipping a home brew single origin.