Face

We had our first cultural stop-gap moment of the trip. After staying in three incredibly good and affordable hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hue, and being pretty much pampered on the boat, our place in Hoi An was just OK. We have stayed in much, much worse places in southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America (and for that matter, in Indiana). It wasn't by most accounts a bad place considering what we paid, but it was just a little grubbier, and a little more threadbare, that we were becoming accustomed to, entitled jerks that we are.

Example? The computer in the room (hey, a nice bonus!) needed two plug-ins, one for CPU, one for the monitor. Only one plug in the wall worked. This came a surprise to the staff, although in every outlet in the room, only the bottom spot worked. The air conditioner also didn't work - again, not a big deal, as it was cool and comfy enough without it, except that the fan in the AC was the best white noise to block out the noise of the lobby activity a floor below and the dog outside barking through the night. It also provided enough positive pressure to push the second-hand hallway smoke away. Much like everything else, the functioning of the bikes for rent was at about 50%. The coffee here was remarkably bad, perhaps the worst coffee I have had in my life (and I have been to trucks stops in Arkansas and the little booth at the Mayne Island ferry terminal - so this is no light statement!), which is very unusual for Vietnam - they know how to make coffee in this country.

These are all little complaints, some outside of the control of the hotel, and in their defense, the Hotel addressed the issues when we raised them as best they could. However, there was enough frustration on our part after three days, that we decided to just check out a day early, take a car to Da Nang, and spend a night there prior to our very early flight to Nha Trang. We let them know a day in advance about our change of plans, and even had them arrange the car.

The counter staff were very concerned about this turn of events, though. They were very curious about where we were going next, and why. Being polite Canadians not interested in making a fuss, we basically say it is time for us to move on, and we were just wanting to make the airport run easier and all... we did not want to tell them we were not particularly attracted to spending another night at their place, we just wanted to move on.

When it came time to pay the bill in the morning, we found that the bill did not reflect the rates we agreed to when we checked in. The difference was minor in real dollars, but about a 20% premium on our last two nights. When Tig asked about this, they tried, kind of, to explain it away, but it never really made much sense. At some point, We just agreed to pay the extra, but we made it clear we were not happy about it. That might have been our mistake.

It's not like we made a scene, they just asked if we were ok, and Tig said, in a bit of an exasperated voice, "No, but I just don't want to argue about it. I just want to pay and go." It immediately became very important to the staff that we were happy with the result. It seemed clear that it was not about the money (although, they were not about to fix the bill), but it was about not letting us leave with an unhappy experience.

We paid and sat in the front lobby waiting for our car to arrive. We saw a car there, but (wary of driver scams - not those trying to scam us, but trying to scam drivers of each others' fares, as we had already paid for our ride) we were not sure if it was for us. Eventually, the hotel staff came up and told us that was our car, but they would like us to wait 5 more minutes so they could clear up the issue with the bill. We had already paid the full bill, so it was this point when I realized (perhaps later than a smarter person would have) that we were in a bit of a cultural conflict here. The east Asian concept of "face" was at play here. The way we expressed our displeasure with the bill, after several small issues with the room and us checking out a day early, was causing them some existential grief. They really wanted us to be happy, to the extent that they were not going to let us get into that waiting car until we admitted to some level of happiness.

Once this occurred to us, it was easy to smile, say thank you, and get the hell out of Dodge (and into the Hyundai).

Customer service in Vietnam is almost always exceptional, in the Stepford Wives over-the-top anythin-to-make-you-happy sense. This sometimes has unintentionally comedic results, as in long, super friendly but slightly aggressive conversations between a guest and a porter if the guest suggests he might choose to carry his own bag the 50 feet to his room.

In touristic areas, this expresses itself differently. Any eye contact with a host/hostess in front of a store, restaurant, bar or coffee shop will result in an invitation for you to enter. The staff wants to make sure you do not walk by without at least a cursory glance at their menu, and if you are enticed to enter, they will make sure you are seated and comfortable and have a drink ordered. Then, as often as not, they will ignore you for the rest of your visit. Ordering a second drink and paying your bill can sometimes be paradoxically difficult.

The overall impression is that people genuinely want you to be happy as a customer, even if they are sometimes a little too aggressive about it. Our cynical North American impression is that they just want to hustle more money from you, or are too much "in your space", but that may say more about us than about them...

All cultural apprehensions aside, we hope all of our family and friends reason this have a nice next couple of days, doing what makes them happiest and fills them with joy. Merry Christmas!

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