But whatever is worth doing they say is worth doing well...

Yesterday when I walked into my sister's office, I saw some chinchin (Chin Chin is a fried snack popular in Nigeria. It is a sweet, hard, donut-like fried dough of flour,egg, and other customary baking items ) in a plastic bag, that kind of plastic bag that bread sellers put Agege bread in; in some places they call it eba nylon lol! it is very light and the cheapest form of plastic bag I know. It gets damaged easily and I don't trust it to keep any type of snack crunchy especially if the bag isn't doubled or isn't stored in an air tight container.

I honestly thought the chinchin was a project my nephew did at school but was told that the snack which was coconut flavoured was brought in as samples by a woman whose name sounded very familiar. I tried to remember where I met her, it clicked! she was that woman, who came to market a product a year ago and after talking to her I found out she had a miraculous voice. I remember I made her sing at least two songs on that day, my sister and I couldn't stop marvelling over her voice. We had goose pimples and tears in our eyes as she sang so effortlessly. We asked what she was doing hiding such great talent; she smiled and said she was working on an album. We encouraged her and told her what we knew many others would have told her, I.e. that she had a beautiful voice and was very blessed.

This is why I was surprised when I was told she was the one who brought the unattravtively packaged chinchin as samples. I exclaimed "coconut chinchin again!" and in this form of package(come on woman, its 2013) The packaging was just so so so wrong, she put it in a plastic bag and by plastic bag I am honestly being extremely posh about it, I should really be calling it nylon bag or eba nylon she then folded the bag and stapled it. No way! Only if she supplied it to the aboki's who I am certain would reject it because of the packaging, it wouldn't last long in their kiosk before the bag starts to tear. My sister was very disappointed she said surely this woman must have seen chinchin in thicker plastic bags and even sealed.

I could never buy such, the packaging was a real turn off. Honestly, it doesn't cost that much, even if one cannot afford a sealing machine, which isn't expensive nowadays there are other DIY methods that wouldn't even cost anything. Anyway,the coconut chinchin tasted OK, but it still had a long way to go in order to satisfy consumers I.e. it was very brown and a bit oily. Why bring such product as a sample to potential customers.

Her chinchin didnt match the kind of voice she had. Shouldn't this woman stick to the singing she knows how to do best. But when one considers the unemployment rate and standard of living here in Lagos, I really wouldn't blame her, sometimes anything goes. But whatever is worth doing they say is worth doing well.

3 Cousins and A Crook BBQ

Today after disturbing my dearest several times to treat us to lunch, he finally agreed and we went to a place that my brother talked about a lot last year; 3 Cousins and A Crook(I remember laughing the first time I heard the name).

As we arrived there, I saw something that looked like a pirate's flag in front of a hut like structure. I was already wondering if this little structure would have an air conditioning unit, especially on a sunny day like today. As we got down from the car into the space, we were nicely welcomed by a gentleman who I guessed would be one of the owners. When we were trying to locate the entrance, he told us where it was.

I noticed the beautiful view behind the hut, it was the ocean, I felt the nice breeze touch my neck as we opened the door. It was a small place, very clean and nicely maintained and there was no air-conditioning unit, but it was nicely ventilated and actually cool considering how hot it was outside.

we went to order our food. I ordered a burger and dearest ordered a Philly cheese steak. We were told that we could sit outside, dearest agreed immediately while I complained that I didn't want things biting me. We went to sit outside and I was glad that we did, the view was very beautiful the whole ambiance was nice, it was as if we were on a mini beach but shielded from the water we could see in front of us, the floor was sandy, just like the beach and we sat on a seat that was under a big tree. The wind blew very gently, it was very relaxing as we watched people cruise on their boats.

Just when dearest was about to go and enquire about our food, the food arrived so did the flies. It was as if the flies were patiently waiting for our food to come out. We were offered wipes to wipe our hands! I thought that was soooo cool. Because we were enjoying the view and the beachy feel, we thought we could manage and probably keep driving the flies away, but it got worse, the flies came out in multiplies they were too much for us to handle. The lady who brought our food suggested we went inside, we agreed and she helped us with our trays.

Back inside the hut, it was nice, with John Legend playing on the radio, we tucked into our food, though I was already full, I managed to finish my burger. The potato wedges were heavenly I have never tasted wedges that good. The burger? Delicious, the bun was so fresh I could even eat it on its own. I had a mega amazing experience. It was absolutely gorgeous (if I can use that word). The guy who we met outside on our way in, came to ask if we enjoyed our food and when he heard us talking about the flies outside, he agreed to trying out our "driving away fly" technique lol. He was very friendly.

I would go to this place over and over and over and over again. If it were near my house, I would probably go there every day or just live there lol. Love the food, Love the ambiance too. Oh , I forgot to mention that all over the walls, tables, door, counter and ceiling were scribblings i.e signatures of people and little notes from people who visited in the past. So as we were getting ready to leave, we were offered a pen which I quickly grabbed, dearest suggested I wrote on the ceiling just in front of us, he found me a space and excitedly I wrote "wonderful experience" and I didn't lie :) It was nothing but the truth.

3 Cousins & A Crook BBQ is located BICS Gardens Lekki 1 Off Admiralty Road opposite B20 Wole Olateju Crescent, 08100000899.. Check out their website for their full menu HERE

New Year Resolutions...

Happy New Year everyone!!! I have been MIA for a little, enjoying the holidays :) and experiencing all sort of customer services (I will share them with you soon).
I am sure some people already printed out their new year resolutions. At some point in my life I gave up writing resolutions, I thought it'd be better just to flow with the year instead of feeling disappointed on 31st of December because not even one out of my many goals were accomplished. After trying to do without new year resolutions for a year, I realised that I wasn't complete, there was nothing to look forward to, nothing to work towards or even tick off, so I started again. This year, my resolutions ranges from getting a stomach as flat as the wall (nothing is impossible lol) to encouraging and promoting good customer service whenever and wherever I get the opportunity to.

Are you a business owner or do you deal with customers a lot? It doesn't matter if you are a blogger, a banker, a trader, an entertainer, a writer or even a chewing gum seller, make a conscious effort to create even a better customer service experience for your customers.

Have you thought about this already or do you already have a plan? What are your New Year resolutions regarding customer service and meeting your customers needs?


Happy New Year!!!!!!!! May this year bring you lots of customers :)

Filling Stations...Day Light Roguery!

I feel very sad that this fuel scarcity of a thing in Lagos is still on after several weeks. The amount of traffic this scarcity cause is tremendous. What makes it even more bitter for me is the fact that upon the scarcity and silly queues you end up even paying more for the fuel. You know, its like you are being cheated and you know it but not being able to do anything about it.

It occurred to me one day after buying some fuel, I asked the driver, "the fuel in the car should be more than this ah ah what happened?" He explain that he bought the fuel at N110 per litre instead of the usual N97. Meanwhile the price advertised at the filling station was N97. So I told him to buy from other filling stations that sold at N97 next time.

He got to Total filling station another day and had to pay N200 nozzle fee before the fuel was sold to him. Nozzle Fee? What is Nozzle fee? Wonders shall never end in my lovely Lagos State. So whose pocket is this nozzle fee going into?

Anyway, this morning I discovered this trend going on especially with the filling stations around me, what they do is this: those ones that sell at N97 per litre sell in the mornings a bit into the afternoon, then the rogues open in the afternoons and towards the evening when the N97 per litre ones stop selling. So basically once the N97 per litre ones are not not selling the N110 litre ones start selling. If your tank is almost empty you wouldn't have a choice but to buy from them or if you didn't have the opportunity to leave work ontime. I know that NNPC filling stations don't get involved with that dodgy deal.

Those big eyed attendants will build houses from the illegal money they are making from selling petrol at silly prices. They actually act like its their right. I challanged one lady fuel assistant the other day, she even brought out her calculator to explain to me that they sold at N110(though N97 was advertised on their board) at their own filling station and she had that kind of attitude that said "If you don't want to pay, please step aside, who is next?". I didn't have a choice but to pay, my fuel tank was almost empty and the other customers were busy saying "ah madam, thats how we buy it here o".

So, instead of fighting with fuel attendants, I target filling stations that sell at N97 per litre and don't charge nozzle fee.


How have you all been coping with the fuel scarcity?

You can also read a post I wrote a couple of years ago about my cousin's experience at a filling station here

Christian Louboutin: I don't care if my high heels hurt women

Yesterday night, while searching for something on the internet I stumbled on this contradicting piece below. This article really caught my attention maybe because I would be attending a wedding later today and plan on wearing a pair of Louboutin that I had been dying to wear since May(didn't want to waste the shoes, been waiting for the right event to wear them to).

After reading this article below, I am uncertain of how I feel about the cobler, Mr Louboutin. There is something about his attitude that seems funny.

Please read an extract from the article I found online below to further understand what I am trying to explain. I have also included some comments the article got.

Here we go...


Christian Louboutin, the shoe designer, has said it does not matter to him if women are in pain when they wear his shoes saying: "If you can't walk in them, then don't wear them."

Cobbler, Christian Louboutin Photo: Andrea Klarin

Louboutin said high heels are ''pleasure with pain'' adding that he had no sympathy for women's complain about wearing the shoes because he once saw Tina Turner perform for three hours in Madison Square Garden in New York wearing a pair.


He told Grazia magazine: ''I really have not so much sympathy. If Tina Turner and Prince's back-up band can perform on stage in them for three hours, you can't tell me they are impossible to walk in. High heels are pleasure with pain. If you can't walk in them, don't wear them.''

(I have added some comments that this article got below)

COMMENTS

darrenp

Sack the PR team! Call the medics!


Jaykay25a

If ever there was a reason not to buy this ghastly mans overrated footwear, he has just provided it.


Thomasgoodey

There's a fool born every minute, and that includes the women who buy these things


Romancitizen

I find that when I arrive to referee a rugby match, my pair of silver 4 inch stilettos always creates an impression amongst the players, especially those from Gloucester.


Songe_Marie

I knew I wasn't trippin! Louboutins hurt everyone's feet! Smh and he don't even care lol


http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9210721/Christian-Louboutin-I-dont-care-if-my-high-heels-hurt-women.html

(END)

To be very honest, in as much as those shoes are sometimes eye catching especially because of the red soles, they are sometimes uncomfortable, I have also heard a couple of people complain about how uncomfortable Louboutin's are. But the interesting thing is that we still wear them :)

Could it be that Mr Louboutin is not interested in making efforts towards giving his customers value for money(Value in the sense of finding ways to make the shoes more comfortable since alot of women seem to be complaining, and humility in the sense that if there are no ways to make them comfortable, can he be a little more selective with his choice of words or just keep quiet)? because in my opinon, not all high heeled shoes are uncomforble, there are some that you wear that are actually fit just fine and you wouldn't need to keep taking them off when you sit down.

Anyway, I would love to see you comments. Do you own a pair of Loubutins? are they comfortable? Even if you don't own one, what do you think about Mr Louboutin's statement?

(Shoes I would be wearing later today)


Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose footwear has incorporated shiny, red soles that have become his signature. A pair of Louboutin shoes cost between $500 to $5000 depending on the style.

Intimidating first impressions...

I stepped into the crowded room looking for the unfamiliar face of the hair stylist I didn't know but held on to his name as I looked around asking anyone who looked at me "please can you lead me to Mark?" They told told me to walk straight ahead that I would soon reach him. I got to another room and with a smile I asked a very unfriendly guy, " hello, please are you Mark?" He looked at me with that sort of look that simply said " yesss! and who are you?" Well , I introduced myself and told him that a colleague of his recommended him to me, he asked what I wanted to do to my hair, I told him, he looked at another guy who he nodded at, and the guy offered me a seat and started to do my hair. I was irritated by his gesture.

So Mark's assistant or apprentice started doing my hair, he was the most pleasant person. He listened to every instruction that I gave him and did everything just as I told him I wanted it done. I concluded that Fred was sent to me by God because I didn't think Mark would have been able to dance to my tune like that.

Now, this is where I would add that first impressions really matters as we tend to judge a book by its cover all the time. Just like when we see a dress that looks very decent only to wear it and it appears to be a tempting and seductive attire. That was the case of Mark the Stylist and I

Anyway back to Mark. At the end of the day Mark wasn't as bad as he portrayed himself, in fact by the time I was leaving he gave me his number and told me that I could always call him when next I needed my hair done. But trust me to have quickly built a nice relationship with Fred, he even helped me with my salon bag to my car. I gave him a little tip.

By the time I went back to style my hair the following day, I was glad that I had met Fred and given him that tip the day before. His customer service was exceptional, he got me a nice seat and even offered me a drink while I waited my turn. In my days of going to the salon I cannot remember ever meeting a stylist as nice, well except for my dear friend Abbey who is more like family now( I would write a post about Abbey my fantastic stylist soon).

Okay, to conclude my story, guess who ended up styling my hair? Yes! Fred! When he started styling my hair I was seriously keeping my fingers and even my toes crossed. "I hope I wouldn't get into an argument with this guy" I thought. It was very surprising when he started styling my hair in a nice way and listened to every instruction I gave (well not every, but almost every instruction). He did my hair very very well, I couldn't even ask for more. When he finished and I thanked him, he promised that next time he'd even be more prepared for me.

Here was I smiling and giving a guy who I thought his attitude really sucked a generous tip. I mean, this guy used alot of his energy to make sure my hair turned out good. I left the salon smiling and my hair looking beautiful, couldn't wait to show it off :) But why did he react in such a negative manner when he first met me?

First impressions really matter, have you been put off by first impressions? did you wait to see if it would have a happy ending?

Do you have a customer service experience or a review you would like to share? If so, Contact me by sending a message to spynaija@gmail.com

Sky Lounge....The good life!

Today I lay on my bed dreaming about Sky Lounge. My dreaming session started when my friend called my phone at 8pm and told me she was sipping on a cold glass of Kir royale (Kir Royale is a French cocktail created by mixing champagne with blackcurrant liqueur ‘Crème de Cassis’). As she spoke to me, I felt my mouth watering and could almost taste the Kir Royale she was sipping on at the other end of the phone. It took me back to the memory of my last visit to Sky for drinks…

My last visit to Sky Lounge

We arrived at Sky that evening excited as usual knowing that we couldn’t leave without having a good time. In the elevator after pressing the button that leads to the penthouse, my eyes were fixed on the little screen that displayed the floor numbers. The door opened and we walked out of the lift into the ever so wonderful and beautiful ambiance where a well trained waitress was waiting to receive us. With the piano playing and the street lights reflecting through the windows of the restaurant and lounge, there was definitely nowhere else I did rather be that very night than Sky Lounge (well, after crossing out hanging out with my dearest of course :) )


We chose our sit and sat by the bar. The bar man said hello and placed the menu and little servings of nuts in front of us as he took our orders. A few minutes later he had performed magic and the most lovely Mojito was staring at us.

The Mojito at Sky lounge is actually the best I have had in Nigeria. Wonderfully made, I suck on the straw until no liquid can flow through it, tasting the remains of the brown sugar that sits obediently beneath the glass refusing to dissolve, I sometimes make so much noise with my straw I don't even pay attention to who might be watching. While still struggling to get the last bit of sugar from the bottoms of my glass, I realised Michael Jackson’s "speechless" had been playing on the piano, total bliss!I needed a tap (as usual)to remind me that I was still in Lagos.

The customer service at Sky Lounge is always superb! No unnecessary interruptions from the waiter or bar attendant but somehow they seem to know when to ask “would you like another one of that?" As if it were free. Lol! Drinks at Sky are usually the beginning or the end of a wonderful night out and I am not talking about being drunk. It’s a lovely place anyone who likes sophistication and calmness must visit and don't forget to try the Mojito.

PS: Sky Lounge can be a bit pricey, be sure to look at the menu carefully and of course your wallet before placing your order :)

Situated at Eko Hotel & Suites Victoria Island Lagos, Nigeria


Do you have a customer service experience or a review you would like to share? If so, Contact me by sending a message to spynaija@gmail.com