Today as I failed to get anyone's attention in a Japanese restaurant in Singapore, I realised that the one place in the world (that I've been to) where you can get decent service is Japan. (And I am not talking expensive eateries, but pretty much anywhere. Even if your Japanese language is dodgy!) The flipside of this, I am told by numerous Nihonjin friends, is that it's a total nightmare if you happen to actually have a service-type job in Japan - as there is high pressure to please and your boss can be strict. But for the customer, it's nice.
Restaurants
Incidentally, the staff at today's Japanese restaurant were not Japanese. They all kept saying 'irashaimase!' (welcome) to passersby, but when I asked for the bill in Japanese, I got a blank and slightly annoyed stare! This eaterie, which was not a cheap one, seemed to suffer from a common Singaporean problem: lots of staff, but nobody really knows what to do. I had to ask for everything - menu, tea top-up, my food, the bill - sometimes more than once. There were maybe four staff just standing there in front of me, looking blank and bored, but nobody had the initiative to actually ask the gesticulating, empty-bowled customer if she would like more tea, the dessert menu...
*sigh*
In the UK you might get a similar lack of service but it would normally be because there are no staff around at all. Or occasionally they are all entertaining each other with stories and not interested in the customer. Though some places seem to adopt a 'you must ask your customers if they are OK every ten minutes' policy - which can be annoying and intrusive - moreso if the staff are also not interested in the customer, and so lollop over to your table to shout into your conversation at regular intervals. Of course, normally in Britain, if the price of the venue is higher, so will be the standard of service.
However, I've found in both UK and Singapore that you get fairly good service from local, self-owned cheap eateries such as hawker stalls and greasy spoons. I guess this is a simple matter of pride. And it's noticeable.
Shops
Hugely variable everywhere (except Japan, from my limited experience!) But it's more likely you will get zero service in the UK due to lack of visible staff, or staff are just not interested in customers (even if you are trying to pay!) The exceptions to this in London seem to be John Lewis, Zara Covent Garden, and occasionally Boots.
The exact opposite is true of many Singaporean (and Malaysian) shops, however. If you put one toe through the door an assistant will pounce on you, follow you (as if tagging in a netball match) and continually tell you that the items you are viewing are 20% discount and (if clothing) you should try them on. To a Westerner this is totally weird, and quite annoying. We just want to come and browse - not be harassed and pressured! I've walked out of many stores when ambushed in this way. I am guessing that this approach is preferred by local shoppers (?) But if a Westerner wants, we ask. And it doesn't help that if an assistant follows you around a store in Europe, it means they think you are a shoplifter! The good, mid-priced service I've here was at m)phosis in Bugis.
Oddly I also find that some chain stores in Singapore (partic Guardian pharmacy - what's all that about?) seem to employ 'guides' who do not know what is in stock or where anything is. It's good to have somebody to ask; even in a smart suit. But not if they've had no training! At least on the rare occasions you can find someone in the UK, they will know roughly what's in-store, or have the initiative to ask someone who does.
Supermarket checkouts
A world all their own. And definitely friendlier in Singapore than Britain! Didn't try them in Japan. In Singapore, you will queue, but the staff will bag the items for you and might even say hello.
In most UK supermarkets, you will queue, then the cashier will fling your items off the conveyor belt, leaving you lunging through the air like Jonny Wilkinson to catch them and bag them at ultra speed, while the huge queue behind you waits impatiently. If you have something complex like *gasp!* a rucksack or own bags, forget it, you won't have time. You can try to make time. But you won't be loved for it.
There are exceptions, of course, where individual staff might be friendly or helpful. And the upmarket stores are often better, as is the Co-op (where staff share in profits). But the training for most day-to-day supermarkets seems to be - chuck the items, don't bag, take the cash, period.
Anyway, I'm not sure I'll go back to today's restaurant. In actual fact, the evening service, for a large group of us recently, was pretty good. Lunchtime - not so! And I can think of better ways of encouraging people to part with decent amounts of cash.
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