Biggest Culture Shock?

[SNH]

Customer service! Its terrible here! People are soooo rude in stores and restaurants compared to North America, you might not notice it after you have been here for a while, but I went back home recently for a few months and wow what a difference, people actually ask how you are and even if its fake at least they try! Im sure a big reason is to do with tipping but sometimes it just drives me nuts, because when you are paying double for food at a restaurant, and the girl behind the counter is making $16 an hour rather than $6 in the US, I expect to be treated at least decently. I find the qaulity of things a lot poorer, cheap clothes are just that - cheap and rip within the first few times you wear them. Food is not as fresh, if you go to a cafe expect to pay at least $3 for a muffin that might be a day or two old, or even more..

Actually, you will find a lot of Australians DESPISE North American customer service. It is false and you get hassled constantly through your meals - you just want to enjoy yourself but there are always people hovering over your shoulder, asking if 'everything is okay' - just so they get a bigger tip at the end. Australians believe it is better to be genuine than to bombard your customers with attention because they're angling to get more money out of you.
However, I think customer service – in a number of places – IS getting worse in Australia. In some places you won’t be acknowledged until ten minutes after you have arrived.

But then English customer service is even worse. Buy a trolley full of groceries and you will go through the entire supermarket transaction without a word from the person behind the counter - they won't even make eye contact with you!!


The quality of Australian goods has been going rapidly downhill. We used to pride ourselves on our fresh food, but these days when you go to a supermarket you will encounter trays of mouldy fruits and vegetables, and poor quality seafood imported from Asia (and Australia is supposed to be a seafood nation).

The clothing is shocking. Because almost all of it is made in China, it is made for Asian bodies - a common complaint from customers. Clothes are too long in the body, too short in the leg. Plus things are made to last about two minutes. I have European clothes I've been wearing for ten years, but my Australian clothes last about a couple of months.

Originally Posted by Tiffani

I think there's some truth to that in most countries though. I can't count the number of times I've seen a newscast in the US that said "plane crashed in XYZ. 2 Americans were killed". What?! What about the other 250 passengers?

It's the same in Britain too. I remember noticing when I lived there.

The thing that really did surprise me though was during the Olympics, I realised just how biased the announcers were toward Australia! I'm sure this is the case everywhere, but I have always been in the US during the Olympics so never really noticed before. I was so bemused by watching Michael Phelps win 8 gold medals but if Grant Hackett got silver THAT was what all the fuss was about! I also, for all the golds that the US brought home, never once saw a ceremony where my anthem was played (I probably missed some though). And I did notice that the medal ceremonies were generally only shown when an Aussie was on one of the podiums (even for bronze or silver).

Yes, England is similar to Australia in that respect. I lived there for a number of years, and I noticed that about the media. And I remember when I lived in Korea they stopped reporting the football World Cup the second Korea was eliminated - they actually pretended the World Cup finished when Korea finished!!

I've been in about four different countries during the Olympics, and it's the same everywhere. You can't show everything, and in Australia of course it is the priority to show Australians winning medals.

(Though, these Games had the worst coverage I have ever seen - out of the ten or so Winter and Summer Games I have seen in Australia.)

I actually think there was far too much emphasis placed on Michael Phelps. I am self-employed and so literally saw every minute of the coverage. Even in the second week we were seeing Michael Phelps montages and replays of his races - and he has nothing to do with Australia!!

But if I hear the name 'Stephanie Rice' one more time I might do something I'll regret.

[Tiffani]

I agree about the customer service in North America, although in good restaurants, servers have the ability to understand when they are needed and when they are not.. but your average American restaurant is full of waiters and waitresses who are paying their way through college and you're right, we don't need their life story.

With that said, when I was living in the UK, the falsity of American customer service that I had come to resent in the past, I really started to miss in England. At least they would speak to you in the US! (as you mentioned). In Australia, in the restaurants I frequent, there's sort of a happy medium. if the service isn't good enough, I don't go back.

I have given up on clothes here. I have bought some when I first arrived (not much though) and I haven't been very satisfied with the quality or the price. I ended up just ordering a bunch of clothes from Victoria's Secret -- they have fabulous clothing, not just lingerie, available online -- and since it was their big semi-annual sale, I ended up getting 9 shirts (including four sweaters, one of which is silk and cashmere) for $130 including shipping. I am not generally a fan of the fashion sensibility here, either, although I do occasionally see a lovely outfit in a window (which is prohibitively expensive, of course)

Stephanie Rice? who's she? hahah. Oh, the one who kissed Michael Phelps??? I am shocked that for all the accomplishments at the Olympics, the one thing the media won't leave her alone about it whether or not she hooked up with Michael.

[donselma]

Originally Posted by SNH

Actually, you will find a lot of Australians DESPISE North American customer service. It is false and you get hassled constantly through your meals - you just want to enjoy yourself but there are always people hovering over your shoulder, asking if 'everything is okay' - just so they get a bigger tip at the end.:

I don't know what you guys are talking about, but it's pretty judgmental. Did you ever think it's a cultural difference that Americans like a lot of attention and like to have the server check in from time-to-time. In America, if you ever have to call the server over for anything other than the check, it's is the biggest insult to the customer, which is why you are going to constantly have them checking on you. Also, it would be considered downright rude if the server was not personable like that. I can't speak for Australia, but Americans do not like social distance that Brits maintain in their interaction.

I would respect you just saying you don't like it, but you don't just say that.; you presume to know all. Maybe what's false in Australian culture isn't false in American culture. If you look around, most people will still give this same level of service regardless of the amount of money the customer will be able to tip, and EVEN in non-tipping situations (i.e. Subway or Borders). All anglophones are going to be on this forum and not all of them are going to take kindly to a foreigner criticizing their country's customer service standards and more outrageously, presuming that the people are doing it for nothing more than "filthy lucre."

[Tiffani]

donselma, I've found the entire thread to be judgmental, but that's sort of the point... We talk about our differing points of view and how we have a hard time adjusting to different aspects of the culture we're now living in.

For my part, having been in Melbourne for 9 months now, iffy customer service compared to back home is about the least of my culture shock concerns

[donselma]

Originally Posted by Tiffani

donselma, I've found the entire thread to be judgmental, but that's sort of the point... We talk about our differing points of view and how we have a hard time adjusting to different aspects of the culture we're now living in.

it definetly has therapeutic value . . . it was the cynicism--not from you I'm saying--but just as expressed earlier, that was a little over the top . . .