Customer service in Trinidad is an oxymoron, for whatever reason local culture has an idea of acceptable that is so far into crazy it is intolerable to me and I have made it a point to not put up with it. I have experienced it so far and wide and been so chastised by locals for not accepting it I think it is clear I’m dealing with a local cultural issue and not a isolated rude employee.
I will not even bother to type up all the times I have been burned before parting with cash because it is too much to mention, everything from a clerk saying they don’t know the price and they aren’t going to bother to find out to waiting in line 30 minutes at a grocery with a loaded cart when the clerk unceremoniously announces she is closed and please go get in a new line before she dashes, where I can wait ANOHTER 40 minutes before actually checking out.
I have learned in case of any retail purchase of large value to verbally confirm every tiny step of the way before handing over cash, do you have the AC adapter in the box? Are all included cables present and accounted for etc
Pizza for delivery, ordered a an xtra large pepperoni and had no issue raised over the phone. When delivery guy arrives I open pizza box and discover dun dun dun a cheese xtra large with no pepperoni. I say excuse me but WHAT? he tells me they were out of pepperoni the total is $XXX(price of xtra large pepperoni) and I say wait a plain cheese xtra large is $XXX(cheaper than a pepperoni) and he says yes but you ordered a pepperoni so it will be $XXX. I say I ordered with the expectation of receiving what I ordered, not a xtra large cheese. I say I will pay for an xtra large cheese, but I’m not paying for pepperoni I did not receive and maybe next time the place should inform me they are out.
Ended up with no pizza and a pissed off spouse.
Pharmacy, I purchase an expensive children’s cough syrup for my sick toddler. The clerk rings it up and I pay, she hands it to me in a plastic bag and I turn to leave the store and the bottom of the bag rips open and cough syrup bottle breaks on the floor and all other stuff falls out as well. I am expecting apologies and replacements, but instead I am berated for making a mess they will have to clean up. I ask for a replacement and am referred to the pharmacist behind the dispensary, he tells me ?I can buy another bottle and they don’t make the bags. I ask the checkout clerk and she refuses too, saying they should charge me for cleanup. At this point I refuse to leave the fucking store until satisfaction comes my way(I would feel like a fool leaving with nothing) until the clerk decides she can call the store owner on the phone. After about twenty minutes the owner agrees to replace my bottle of cough syrup free of charge, both the pharmacist and clerk loudly verbalize their disgust with this situation and how it is only because I’m white that the owner did that and that they would not have received this treatment.(everyone jumps to race on everything).
(If the syrup was not behind the pharmacy counter I would have just grabbed a new bottle at around the 5 minute mark, I had missed one night sleep at this point)
KFC had a special chicken tenders with special ginger something dipping sauce, I ordered and paid without issue and was then given chicken tenders…without special ginger something dipping sauce. I complain and am told they have run out of this special sauce, so I ask for another flavor and am REFUSED with them saying I ordered and paid for ginger strips not regular strips. At this point I realize regular strips are cheaper by five dollars, and request to return my ginger strips and purchase a regular strips with one of its included sauces which is accepted after I get a manager and much arguing.
KFC again I was sent to purchase a bucket of chicken and inquire what mix of pieces I can receive(our group mostly prefers breast and wings) so I ask if thighs can be excluded. The clerk tells me no I will get wings, I say ok that is fine if you can do 50/50 breast and wing and she goes no you only get wings.
I go excuse me? And I am informed that they only have wings…I ask don’t you think maybe you should mention that before I spend a lot of money on a chicken bucket? She says if they tell people they just leave. HUH!
Subway I order a meal deal which comes with a sandwich and drink, after I have paid I am informed the soda fountain doesn’t work so I will not get a drink. I request a bottled water and am laughed at, so I say uh you need to give me something. Employees are baffled at my chutpazh.
This isn’t even the whole list but every occurrence embarrass my wife beyond belief, no matter how outrageous it seems to me she thinks it is no biggie.
Amazingly this absurdly bad customer service isn’t present in expat areas, there you can expect USA/Europe style customer service.
She is like people don’t tell you about being out or whatever until after you have paid because they are hoping at that point you won’t fuss because you will appear cheap(a local taboo) and if they tell you before hand you won’t be afraid to fuss or leave. When she worked jobs dealing with customers she said people warned her to watch out for white people(AKA foreigners) because they are racist and will make a fuss over nothing and get you fired. She now realizes this is just because the culture of dealing with customers is very different in other countries. And she tells me this is why local people say white people are assholes, because they complain about customer service related issues a local person would be too inhibited to. And she tells me I am probably getting people fired or reprimanded.
My lonely war 
