One of the things that never ceases to amaze us is the lack of good customer service in Australia. Whilst we whinge constantly (ok I whinge constantly and Rheanna does sometimes), I feel it is not without good reason.

Recently we went to Blue Smoke BBQ, an American style barbeque restaurant. We had a voucher to get one main free, mind you it still cost way more than we would normally spend eating out!

We had buffalo chicken wings as an entree. There were three sauce options, one was mild, the next spicy, and the last level they have to warn you about. Obviously we wanted to go the really spicy level, but weren’t quite sure after the warning. The waitress said we could get the really spicy sauce on the side. That sounded like a good idea.

The wings were really hot! Not like an Indian tasty spicy. Just a burn your mouth type of hot! It was nice and spicy but could have had more flavour.

For mains I had a steak and Rheanna had wings. There was no bowl of water offered to wash her hands afterward either. Who does that?

The worst part was when we left and we were charged extra for the spicy sauce that came with the chicken wings. Whilst it seems to be par for the course in Australia, I was very surprised. It’s a measly small bowl of sauce, and why can’t they tell you beforehand you will be charged. They offer it like they are doing you a favour! It’s something you have to be very careful of in Australia, you are charged for every little thing.

When we went to Sydney recently for the APPA trade show, Rheanna purchased 2 hot chocolate’s and they asked if we’d like marshmallows. She said ‘yes’ to one and they charged us 70c! It’s not the amount so much as the fact you don’t expect to be charged for every little thing!

On Thursday I went out for lunch with Preetesh to a place called rush lounge. Preetesh said he chose it because the menu looked well priced. Lunch mains were $26-30 dollars! And Sandwiches on the menu were $18! That’s crazy. It’s two bits of bread and some filling. I guess it’s $15 of customer service!

I decided on the special of Tandoori pizza. Only to be told they’d run out. At 1pm? Ridiculous. Instead I had Barramundi risotto cakes which equated to 4 bites. Still at $13 it was more reasonable than most things on the menu!

Recently I was dealing with a Promotional Products supplier and was so surprised to get exceptional customer service (it is not the norm!) so I wrote an email stating how impressed I was. In this country if someone does something remotely good, you notice it!

Not much else going on other than trying to look for a new place to live. Saturday we viewed 2 places, the second was quite nice, but it was a pigsty! There was dust inside from the recent dust storms, dishes everywhere, we couldn’t go into the bedroom because someone was sleeping. Do they not even think if there’s an inspection they had better be ready?

Although it was an ok place, seeing it like that turned us off a bit. Even with professional cleaners coming, it makes it hard to imagine living there…Oh well we have a month or so to look and find somewhere. Not desperate yet!