It’s not often that Armenian bloggers write on the same subject at the same time, but once in a while it does happen. Even then, when the same conversation does occur in the Armenian blogosphere, it’s usually about the same thing — Genocide Recognition or (drum roll, please…) customer service in Hayastan. Blogian set the ball rolling in August.

While in Armenia earlier this month I could not but dislike the bad customer service almost in all cafes and restaurants […]. In the gorgeous Astral cafe, for example, during our third visit my friends and I had to leave it because no one approached us to help in 30 minutes. In Jazzve, another famous place, I had to ask the manager to send a waiter to help us. And on Princess Marianna, a ship-cafe in the Hrazdan gorge, I had to give “tips” on how to be nice to customers to their waiter. And I’d better not talk about the funny waiters in Harsnaqar resort at the lake Sevan.

It feels like waiters in cafes are about to start a fight with you.

At the beginning of September, Shoosh at Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia had the same experience. Armenia is not a tourist’s paradise given the high costs incurred compared to neighbouring countries, and also the lack of hospitality. In recent months, for example, a number of tourists who came to Armenia from Georgia said that the latter was not only more affordable, but also that the people were far friendlier and happier.

Anyway, the most telling part of Shoosh’s post were the comments.

George said…

[…]

Anyway, I had heard all this stuff about hospitality of the locals and we didn’t feel any of that. On the contrary, we felt spit on in almost every sphere. That includes restaurants and cafes like Jazzve.

[…]

The general mentality I understood was that I was a chore as a tourist and I was wasting their time. And I always tried my best to speak Hyeren and blend in, but nobody helped me or appreciated the effort.

[…]

I talked to other spyurkahyes and they had the same story. Another spyurkahye I talked to mentioned this to his hotel receptionist and she said she hears these complaints all the time.

Is it that Hayastantsis give bad service in general, or is there some kind of backlash against diasporans and/or tourists these days?

Why did you have to wait half an hour for a desert? This happened to me regularly at the cafes. And again, with no smile, no reaction, no warmth or hospitality whatsoever.

[…]

shooosh said…

I don’t think it is pride or anything of the sort. There is one thing LACKING in Armenia… “consideration for others”. NOBODY is considerate for anyone else. This is why people don’t know how to stand in line (and a football game turns into a disaster), or why elevators have ice cream wrappers and trash in them, or why littering is ok, or why it is an utter disaster if a stoplight stops working… etc.

Actually, the comment about rubbish in Armenia is very relevant. Yerevan and the country is pretty much considered something akin to a giant trash can by most residents. One explanation for this was put to me by a local scientist unhappy with the way Armenia is progressing. “There is no concept of citizenship or country,” he said. “Visit any Armenian home and everything is spotless, but see how we treat our back yards, our cities and towns. We throw rubbish everywhere because we have no connection to our country or our communities.”

Such a reality is clearly shown by the post and photographs over at Life Around Me. Such sights are commonplace throughout Yerevan and the country on a daily basis.

And here we have the picture: our kind neighbors from all adjacent houses of adjacent streets (I’d count more than 100 people) keep on throwing their garbage right under the general balcony and it’s piling, piling, piling… until the day when the garbage truck feels like coming to take it away. Whereas we can’t open our windows, because you imagine how it should stink. Besides cats and dogs and some poors are constantly rummaging through the garbage and scattering it around, whereas children of the block are playing in that area. Not mentioning the fact that in order to go to the yard of the building one has to pass by that terrific scene and feel the “odor”. Sometimes the garbage is stretching to the sidewalk making it nearly impossible for cars to drive into the yard.

[…] there is only one truth and reason to all this fuss: we – Armenians - are pigs!!! We don’t like when everything is clean around, no, rather we like when everything is clean around us up to the threshold of our houses. Beyond that boundary we sweep our dust to the doorside of our neighbors, we empty our waste-bins under somebody’s window, away from our place. We eat sunflower seeds and throw them to nowhere, we eat ice cream and throw its waste under our feet or out of the window of the car in motion. Then we talk about economy and environmental protection, but when we go to the country we forget what we had been preaching of, and leave a pile of bottles and other stuff after us, or in better cases cast them into the river.

And what am I babbling about?! This whole city is one huge landfill now!!

Anyway, a few days later, Nareg, another blogger at Cilicia.com, also weighed in with the continuing conversation on customer service by recounting an experience he had at the same time. All of us have experienced the same, and whereas in the West it’s normal to act surprised and outraged when experiencing bad customer service, in Armenia it’s the other way around. It’s a surprise when you actually get treated normally.

There’s always tons of surreal and surprising incidents in Armenia, not the least of which with members of the “service community”, i.e., waiters, waitresses, public servants, anyone dealing with a member of the general public but not quite knowing how to deal with people… etc. Often they end up being unbelievable or simply amusing, as the past few entries on “conversations with the waiter” have shown.

Again, what’s more interesting, however, is some of the comments that are made on the post. In particular, they once again raise an issue that is often discussed on this blog. That is, the friction and differences between Armenians from the Diaspora and those born, raised and living here in a former Soviet country experiencing transition in the South Caucasus. Everyone is out for themselves and the only thing that unites Armenians is money.

Anonymous said…

Diasporans are right to hold locals to high standards. Locals will only benefit in terms of tourism and how they treat each other. There is a lack of civility in Armenia that makes everbody’s life difficult. From standing in lines (or trying to create a line to stand in) to ordering a burger, one encounters rudeness. It does not cost a local anything to be polite and smile. It seems like the poor locals are always sad (somewhat understandable) and the rich ones are angry (not understandable). […]

On the other hand, Diasporans should not expect to be welcomed like liberating heros and receive warm pats on the back for being of Armenian descent. Everybody in Armenia is Armenian and it is the locals who have to fight the wars, pay the taxes and live day-to-day with all of the issues mentioned above.

That issue is also raised on another post on one of Cilicia.com’s other blogs, Life in the Armenian Diaspora. Many would disagree with Lori’s remarks that it is only Armenians in the Diaspora that have the right to consider themselves the victims of Genocide, but she’s right when she says that most of the problems encountered by Diasporans and tourists in terms of service and courtesy are to be found in Yerevan.

A reader of the Repat blogs commented that service and hospitality in Yerevan are lacking and sadly, he’s right. Yerevan is NOT an accurate representation of Armenia and Armenian hospitality. If you’re looking to meet some friendly Armenians and experience true Armenian hospitality you need to get out of Yerevan.

[…]

What I don’t find acceptable in Yerevan is the local people’s attitude of entitlement. On more than one occasion I have felt unwelcome and made to feel like I’m intruding in THEIR country. I find that unacceptable! Unlike their relatives who voluntarily fled and moved away my family didn’t choose to leave! My Grandfather was a genocide survivor who tried to move back in the 40’s and was denied. His dream was to return to Armenia and see it independent again. Although my medzhayrig didn’t get to live his dream, I think his soul is probably at peace with it because his son moved back and lived his dream for him and his grandchildren have been to Armenia numerous times. I don’t think Hayastanci’s realize what a BIG deal it is for some Diasporan’s to be able to come to Armenia. I don’t think they realize what it means to be the descendant of a Genocide survivor who lost their home, their family and was pushed out and I find it utterly sad that they don’t see it.

To end on a more positive note, however, a local blogger, Zarchka at Life Around Me, recognizes the lack of customer service in Armenia, but also notes that it can be found. This was her experience when recently shopping for a new mobile phone.

My brother suggested going to “Petak” trade center in search of a new mobile. I was looking around, didn’t know what to buy, wanted something cute and with a nice design. And finally. This phone caught my eye from the first glance. However, unfortunately I didn’t manage to find out much about it as this conversation happened between the salesgirl and me:

Me: Will you show us this phone? ….(she ignores)… please, will you show me this phone.
She: Here it is. (reluctantly taking it out from the showcase as if that’s not her job)

Me: Can you turn it on so that we see how it works?
She: Will you buy it?

Me: Well, I have such intention.
She: If you are not going to buy it I will not turn it on.

Me: (What??) How can I say that I’m going to buy it if I don’t know how it functions??
She : (raising her shoulders as if she doesn’t care about it) ……

Me: (really fed up with her arrogant air) Fine! No need, I don’t buy it !!! (to my brother) Let’s get out of here…

What to say? I’m already used to these tactless and impolite people who always think high of themselves and look down on you with such an impudence, not bothering that what you ask them to do is nothing but their responsibility as they work there. One thing for sure now – the client is always wrong here! So many examples to bring, but it’s not what I intended to blog about.

However, I left that place as soon as possible and we headed to a shop on Khanjyan Tumanyan intersection, not the Nokia one, but the one behind it. There I found what I needed, we were well served and the salesgirl was kind enough to answer to all of my questions, provide necessary information and show me how the phone functions. Probably for me being properly served was more important than paying more $20. Now I kind of understand those people who choose VIP places at restaurants and cafes, where the difference is in chairs being softer and prices higher and waiters running to your call because the VIP clients are supposed to leave more tips. I always hated that division into “very important” and “ordinary”, anyways.

Coincidentally, a few weeks earlier I had to buy a new mobile phone after my old one decided to malfunction. After experiencing bad customer service, and sometimes none at all, in every other phone shop I went to, I also stumbled upon the same shop that Zarchka bought hers from. It appears to be the same girl that served me, and I also paid a little extra too. However, being treated like a human being let alone a customer was enough for me to reward them for their service and politeness.

Basically, when I’m not happy with customer service I take my custom elsewhere. It’s for that reason why I steer clear of places such as Poplavok, Jazzve and Marco Polo like a plague. Besides, they’re always full of pretentious customers who care more about being seen than what they’re actually consuming. None of them have an appealing atmosphere anyway, and I dislike pretty much all of the cafes opened illegally by corrupt officials and their relatives in what used to be the park overlooking Liberty Square.