Boy, I wish I could find a decent image for this article! Oh well!

Japan really stands out to me as having amazing customer service. Some people say that Canadians are supposed to be a polite people, but we don’t have anything on the overwhelming politeness that is Japanese customer service. Here is just a little bit about what I’ve experienced so far.

Deliveries and services

Having things delivered to your door is very common in Japan. This probably has something to do with the fact that many people in the city do not own or have access to a car, making hauling anything bigger than a shopping bag a bit difficult. However, in contrast to the delivery service I’m used to, this seems much more convienent.

When making a purchase of a larger item, whether online or in-store, you are given the ability to not only select a delivery day for your purchase, but often a delivery time – usually a 2 or 3 hour window. You are then called the day before to confirm the time. This is also true for other services, such as having an appointment with the gas company or the internet company. The people that show up always seem to be polite and professional. They even seemed amazed and thankful when I gave a hand helping hold something when I had the AC installed, or the furniture delivered. In addition, most places accept Cash on Delivery to be a standard option, which can be convenient, and of course, you don’t have to tip the delivery guy.

Stores and restaurants

When an employee notices you entering a store, you are always acknowledged with an Irasshaimase! from one (or all) of the employees. The servers in restaurants generally get you seated and maybe check on you once, but otherwise leave you alone unless you flag them down. Many places have buttons for calling someone over, or you can just call ‘Sumimasen’ when a you see someone and they will help you. The fact that they don’t work for tips is amazing in it’s own right, and is really great for the customer but there are also other knock-on effects of this. First, the waiters generally don’t try to be chatty and overly friendly, just polite. They are mostly just there to get their job done. Secondly, and I keep forgetting this one, you don’t have to keep getting waited on by the same server. They can have a shift change and it doesn’t matter because one server wasn’t waiting on your tip since they don’t have specific tables to look after.

Cashiers always seem friendly and polite as well. Generally, in stores, there isn’t any small talk. Like restaurants, they are very polite in taking your purchases, bagging them up, and carefully counting out your change. Sometimes there are some small exchanges like asking if you have points cards or if you need a bag, but otherwise as the customer, its normal to not really say anything at all.

Other things worth noting

Some other things I’ve noticed are that uniforms are worn pretty universally. They are also generally fairly nice uniforms, not just a polo with a name tag clipped on like I’m used to seeing.

Also all employees you talk to will be speaking to you in Keigo, which is honorific Japanese. It’s not something that’s easy to translate but it certainly feels like there is always a level of respect for the customer there, even if Keigo is a bit more difficult to understand.

Another interesting thing is if the employee makes a mistake, they will give you something to the inconvenience. This has happened to me twice so far. Once, on my bank account application they requested that I write my name as it appears in my residence card, in all capital letters, however it turned out that was incorrect so they had me come back in to the bank to sign a revised copy. They also gave me a pack of Winnie the Pooh branded ‘Kitchen Paper’, which appears to be paper towels except in a kleenex-like box and a package of Monsters Inc. branded wet wipes. When I had my rental furniture delivered, there was a big gouge out of the TV stand, which was supposed to be a new item. When they brought the replacement, they also gave me a big bath towel to go along with it. It’s nice when they at least do something to try to make good on their mistakes. It’s kind of a shame that I’m happy and surprised to receive this kind of treatment, and it speaks volumes about how poor the customer service I’m used to is.

This is my first general ‘musings’ article, please leave any comments if you have any similar experiences!