Only in Japan? More On Customer Service

July 14th, 2009 | 0 Comments | Customer Service, Public Transportation, Trains |

Yesterday I got in touch with a friend who told me a brief and interesting story that illustrates how helpful Japanese people can be.

On Saturday my friend was going home.  The train she was supposed to ride on was delayed because a man had taken his own life by jumping in front of an oncoming train (nowadays this seems to be one of the most popular ways of committing suicide in this country).

Because it was already in the evening and the next day she had things to do, my friend decided not to wait until some uncertain time for the train service to resume.  She asked for directions on how to get to her destination on foot and got on her way.  She was very much surprised a while later when someone called her name.  It turned out to be the station attendant, who had ran to find her and tell her that the train would be back in service within the next ten minutes.

The station attendant went to find my friend because he felt responsible for having told her there would not be trains anytime soon and thus having caused her to choose a long walk.

My friend, who has lived in Japan for several years, told me that she never ceases to be amazed by Japanese dedication to customer service.  According to her, in her country in Africa customers are made almost to beg for things for which they are paying.  Just like in Costa Rica.