Answer

Satisfactory Service Provision- Yan Toh Heen

Description

Yan Toh Heen is a famous Cantonese restaurant on 18 Salisbury Road, Hong Kong. It provides a wide range of Cantonese foods to the many visitors who go there every year. The restaurant’s location is with a harbour view of the Intercontinental. The Cantonese cuisine is provided in a jade-themed setting. Customers have an access to extensive menu offers (Michelin Guide, n.d.). The restaurant opened its doors in 1984 and has been in operation ever since. The restaurant has been listed before as one of the go-to places with modifications on cuisines from all over the world with a Cantonese touch.

Customer Experience

Why did I go there?

Somewhere in late February, I went to pick up a parcel from a business premise opposite Yan Toh Heen. The delivery of the parcel delayed, and I had to stay longer than already planned. Being that I had longed to have a Cantonese delicacy which my friend had once recommended to me, I felt that Yan Toh Heen was the best choice.

Experience within the Restaurant

On entering the restaurant, there were many tables set being around midday when many have their lunch in the restaurant. I was first hesitant that perhaps there would be too much delay and little attention following the sheer number of people. I had thought of leaving altogether when an employee saw me and led me to an empty table by a window. I was struck by her sheer politeness and patience even as I took my seat. She smiled at me and welcomed me. She asked whether I needed instant attention or if she would go for a while and return later. I had little time anyway, so I told her to serve me straight away. She excused herself politely and promised to return after a minute.

True to her words, she was back in less than a minute, a bold menu in her hands. She handed me the foods menu and flipping through, I saw a wide range of Cantonese cuisines. I had never been in such a restaurant before, and the name of the dish that had been recommended was also a hazy memory. I wanted to experiment with the most popular dish the restaurant served. It was a good choice for she informed me that the Peking duck was ready and would be served in a matter of minutes. It is the dish shown in Appendix 2. She slowly and deliberately took me through the components of the dish and once I was sure that it was a safe bet, I had my order. The service was swift, professional and the waitress was not only a keen listener but also a lover of her job. When I told her that the food was wonderful though with a little seasoning, she was extremely pleased at the compliment but also promised to relay my reservations. I left Yan Toh Heen an extremely satisfied customer.

Sources of satisfaction

The satisfaction of service in Yan Toh Heen came right from the attitude of the staff, the quality of service and the perceived superiority of their cuisines. This superiority is clearly shown in Appendix 1. In this analysis, I will use the sources of pleasure in common themes and the SERVQUAL model to explain the level of satisfaction.

Sources of Pleasure in Common Themes

Adaptability

The nature of the cuisines in the restaurant is that they can be made to suit the customer’s demands. I did not for instance want much salt or pepper in my dish. The waiter asked other specifications that could be changed in the meal and delivered just what I had ordered for

Spontaneity

When the waiter realized that I had no idea what the name of the dish was, she was understanding of my plight. I had never been in such a restaurant before. Her quick thinking and decision on the most popular dish in the restaurant worked for this moment. The waitress shared similar stories like mine of those in the past who had come in with no idea which cuisine they needed. Their recommendations always worked.

SERVQUAL Model

1: Extremely Satisfied                                                5: Extremely Dissatisfied

Unsatisfactory Service: Jetstar Japan

Description

Jetstar Japan is a Japanese airline that prides itself in its low-cost operations across destinations in the expansive Asia-Pacific region. It is an airline headquartered in Narita, Chiba. The airline, founded in 2011 with operations beginning in 2012 has a fleet size of 25 and often operates flights between Japan and Hong Kong (About Us, n.d.).

Customer Experience

The nightmare that was my flight from Hong Kong to Japan did not start mid-air. The trouble started way before we left. Usually, the flight between the two destinations take about four and a half hours, but on this day, there was a delay of over an hour, and I found myself staring at a late arrival in a place I had never been to before. However, this was just the beginning. 2,500 feet above the ground, the full extent of the low quality of service would rear its head once more. The pane, priding itself in the lower costs compared to other airlines in the same route, was naturally full. Every seat was occupied. In the air, it looked like the Jetstar airline had not prepared to serve each of the 146 passengers crammed within the airplane. The three crew outside the cockpit looked at sea with calls coming their way from all sides. They were not only outnumbered but also seemed incompetent when they did offer the service. There were more people complaining of sheer low quality than there were getting the services they needed. They did not take these complaints kindly and were often irritable and erratic. This simply added to the problems rather than offer any real relief. When some were not complaining of bad food, others needed their headphones ten minutes after they first asked. Some customers received the wrong things and did not receive the right one for the entire period of the flight. Overall, the customer service was below par in my view. I do not believe I would trust the airline again without major reforms.

Application of Course Concepts

The experience within Jetstar would be assessed from the perspective of the 4Ps model and the GAPS model. The unconvincing service that was delivered within the airline can be seen in light of these two models.

The 4Ps concept

In terms of the four Ps, Jetstar failed to show any noticeable positive.

Product

The product that Jetstar offers is the flight services that they provide to the various customers who use the airline within the Asia-Pacific region. The fact that the flight delayed to begin with is a downside of the service delivery. The services while on flight were not great either. The packaging and provision of this “product” is therefore overall questionable (Bruskova, 2019).

Process

The process of the service delivery has been described as being low quality. The speed of service delivery was slow. When the services did come, they were often below-par. Sometimes too, customers totally failed to get what they ordered for. The communication mechanism between the staff and the customers was not good either as the crew showed irritability often.

People

The provision of the services in Jetstar squarely falls on the shoulders of the crew who offer services to the packed passengers. In great contrast to what would be expected, the crew do not act professionally. It almost looked like they needed better training to handle the pressure that comes with services many people over a short distance. More specifically, they needed skills on handling feedback and using it as a source of improvement of service rather than a source of animosity (Afthanorhan, Awang, Rashid, Foziah, & Ghazali, 2019).

Physical Evidence

It has to be admitted that the plane looks new from the outside. Once inside, one realizes that it needs some work in the interior to make it cleaner and perhaps a facelift in terms of painting.  The crew could also not be easily distinguishable in their crew uniform. Appendix 4 shows an example of the Jetstar crew in their official uniform. It was not as appealing. The spacing could also be looked at in future aircrafts to improve services.

Application of the GAPS Model

In terms of service delivery, this model is used to find the difference between the expectation of the customers and the performance of the company itself.

Service Design and Standards

With a relatively late entry into the aviation business, the expectation would be that Jetstar makes use of the latest state of the art technology in planes used. The interior has to be designed in a more spacious fashion. Appendix 4 shows the interior of the Jetstar plane. They have taken the path of prioritizing reduced costs. Perhaps this is why the crew were fewer and did not look to possess the service skills they ought to display. The cost could be increased if it would lead to better services

Service Performance Gap

The airline cannot afford to make some service mistakes like lateness in flights. There indeed were no convincing reasons why the flight delayed. The overall performance of the airline in terms of sticking to schedule and responding to the needs of their many customers ought to be a priority if they are to keep the demographic they serve. The standards of service were markedly low, and this portends disaster in future for Jetstar.

Communication Gap

As already mentioned, the communication on why the flight had to delay was not convincingly provided. This left passengers guessing on what exactly could have caused the delay. Such communication has to be made clear in case inevitable delays happen. Within the plan, the crew did not act in line with the feedback that they received. Proper communication would include appropriate response to the needs of all customers.

Satisfaction Levels

1: Extremely Satisfied                                                5: Extremely Dissatisfied