GEMS & Companies That Have Signed Up

In a report published in the Straits Times Online dated 09/03/2009, it states that more firms have signed up for GEMS (Go the Extra Mile for Service). Some of these firms include mega shoe & bag retailer Charles & Keith, Capitaland Retail and Raffles Medical.

It is encouraging to see companies take up these initiatives in wanting to improve their service levels.

There is however, one segment that really can do with sending their staff for such initiatives. Blacklisted shops that have had numerous complaints made against them, CASE (Consumers Association of Singapore) can recommend to the government that these blacklisted shops MUST send their staff for training or their business license get revoked, and the cost of the training is borne in full by the establishments or companies. Upon successful completion of the course and after a probationary period, these establishments can get taken off the blacklist if there are no complaints made against them.

Then again, these shops may just go back to their old ways once they are taken off the blacklist. Afterall, even with so many complaints, some of these shops do little to right those wrongs.

What do you guys think? Answers on a postcard....

P/S - This entry should be taken in jest.

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Sim Lim Square Complaints

I am an avid amateur photographer and, in some ways, a tech geek. I love nothing more than to spend some free time during my lunch hour break looking through the various tech gadgets on sale at Sim Lim Square, a local electronics mall, quite like Japan's Akihabara district albeit on a smaller scale.

I was looking through this Singapore photography website, Clubsnap and came across a thread which sums up many users' experience with Sim Lim Square and their rude salesmen.

The thread about rude salesmen in Sim Lim Square can be found here.

A little background on Sim Lim Square (or commonly known as SLS). It is a mall that is packed with electronics, computers, accessories for computers, cameras and almost anything related to IT. There are shops selling such things as CCTVs, games, game consoles, peripherals and the like. Some shops in Sim Lim Square have been blacklisted by the Consumers' Association of Singapore (CASE).

Having said that, if you have done your homework (ie research on prices, quality of the product you are keen on etc), good deals can be had there. There are also, several shops that are just there to make an honest living, where their staff are generally polite and helpful. Sadly, it is a handful of black sheep that give the whole mall a bad name.

In any case, I will still buy some of my IT gear from Sim Lim Square. I just go to a handful of shops I have done business with and although they do not sell at rock bottom prices, do offer me good service and a fair deal. Considering how prices at most shops in Sim Lim Square aren't that competitive anyway, the other option would be Funan the IT Mall.

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.