myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

I must recount a true story told to me by someone who recently returned from Tobago. I would mention the names of the establishment concerned, but must respect my contact's wishes not to cause embarrassment. However, every restaurant owner/manager reading this would do well to consider whether it might have been their establishment.

My contact and family visited a popular and well-established Crown Point restaurant for dinner. The po-faced restaurant receptionist coldly asked if they had a reservation. They admitted that they didn't. She tut-tutted and said that they were fully booked. The restaurant was clearly only half full. Perplexed and somewhat annoyed, my contact asked for a card so that he could book in advance in future.

Returning to his car, my contact telephoned the establishment. He introduced himself as the owner of a guest house further up-island (true) and said that he had some late arrival guests who would like to take dinner before travelling to the accommodation. Could they oblige? "Yes, sir, we would be delighted to reserve a table for them. When will they arrive?". "In about five minutes" he replied.

Imagine the surprise of the restaurant receptionist when the family re-appeared at the dining room door and announced that they had a reservation. I am delighted to confirm that they enjoyed their subsequent meal.

As much as I love Tobago and found great amusement at this story, I cannot hide the frustration I feel at the continued failure of so many Tobagonians to appreciate the importance of a friendly greeting and good service. When, oh when, will they learn to appreciate the difference between service and servitude? Tobago's tourism industry is in terminal decline. Staff like this are simply hammering nails into the coffin.

I had a good laugh, Steve, you are so right with your statements.

A good friend of mine from Europe recently gave me a good joke:
"What makes the difference between a tourist and a racist ?"
"Two weeks vacation in the Caribbean"

One has to really wonder wheather or not Tobago already turned it's view away from tourism.
The new industrial compound on the way to Canoo Bay, including a new power station, more planned gas rigs
and other infrastructure and the beginning of a pipeline project between Trinidad and Tobago may be early
warnings for an industrial development.

In a few years the said receptionist will likely have a chance to laze around in the office of a gas company
and will no longer have to greet friggin' tourists.
Isn't that a desirable development ?

Cheers,

Andy

That has made me laugh

I, too, have been turned away from a number of 'empty' establishments because they are either fully booked or are having a private party ... but I never thought of that trick.

Nice one.

Regards

Now I know there is no hope for you guys !!

Sussed that ruse out PDQ. Do keep up.

I have to be honest ... and I don't mean offence ... I just don't understand why some people come up with these ruses to get into a place where they know they are not welcome ... as I said, I would not have thought of it and just walked away.

Should we be trying that hard to support businesses that turn us away?

There is a bit of an 'Odd Factor' about it, even though I found Steve's post very funny

But Steve is right, it's just hammering more nails in the coffin and I sincerely hope that there are no Tobago businesses profiting from such disrespect of visitors that love their Island.

Regards

The thing here particuarly, is that people do get turned away - not just from restaurants, but from various businesses. The staff still get paid, irrespective of how much work they have to do, so it makes no odds to them if you don't come back, nor if you take your money elsewhere. It's the business owners that get hit in the pocket, and most of the time, they just assume they've never HAD the clients, unless they catch the staff red-handed. If you asked the staff why your prospective client just left, you're given a shrug, or at best an 'I don't know (me-nah-know)' and it's not until you read a report on the 'net, or someone else TELLS you, that you even become suspicious. It's not the staff that suffer from the clients walking away - far from it, in fact. It's a win-win for them - they get paid, but don't have to do anything! I've also seen the same when I've tried to sort out bills, made telephone enquiries.... it's basically a case of 'come back later, because I might not be here and then I don't have to do anything'. It's laziness, and the ones least affected by it are those doing it!

Rant over!!

Lisa.

Hi Lisa,

How do the staff think they get paid and keep their job, if they have no customers? Whilst it is laziness, it is also a lack of understanding of basic economics. Perhaps it is the business owners that need to tell the staff "Me-nah-know how to pay you cos you turn customer away?" I would say that those doing it are far being from the least affected, not in a win-win situation and education is in order, all round it seems!

Kevin.

Well this has started a discussion !!

Our first trip to Tobago , totally green and not a clue. Brits. generally being polite we accepted the total lack of service as that is the way it is - not my culture so adapt.

Now, having friends there we have a totally different attitude ! As they have taught us you don't ask - you demand. Horrible I know but it works.

At Pigeon Point we used to wait to be served at the bar, could be 20mins. Now I am quite happy to shout "Anybody here " and you are quickly served. OK, maybe sullen but you get a beer !

On our last trip went to the "Blue Food Festival" in Bloody Bay. As was sensible, considering the location we parked and took the complimentary bus to the site. Bus stops . Nobody but our party move to alight. Why not ? Because you had to walk at least 2 minutes and it seemed just too far for them. After much grumbling they did get off but the poor driver was given a real hard time. The local family we went with just smiled and said " They are all bl..dy lazy !"

Says it all i feel

Hiya all,

Indeed - a can of worms in the making, I think!!

To be honest, Kevin, the answer is because there are very few choices! Laziness isn't limited to shop staff, or restaurant staff. A lot of - though by no means all - staff are lazy, and that's not going to change any time soon, so unless you're only hiring family (and I can think of several businesses on Tobago that DO only hire family), you put up with a certain amount of laziness as it's preferable to other character traits! For the longest while, I accepted it as being Caribbean mentality - why do today what you can put off indefinitely? - but I feel for the business owners, who, in the main, work hard. A hotel that I know on the island, when doing a feasibility study on how they could improve their star ratings, were told 'It doesn't matter whether you put five star facilities in, make every room deluxe, and install a Michelin-Rated Chef. If you can only employ 2 star staff, you'll only have a 2 star hotel!'. Sadly the government make you jump through hoops to employ non-nationals - which I can understand in many positions - but just because you can find people capable of doing the job, doesn't mean you're employing people who WANT to do the job - and that makes all the difference in the world, especially in the Tourism Industry. As Steve said... there are people working in the industry who just don't differentiate between service and servitude. It's sad, but it's not going to change any time soon. It's just the way of things! Don't get me wrong - I have a very hard time accepting it, but it's not going to change. At least not this week...

Lisa.

Lisa,

i do business in Trinidad and a (smaller) part of my customers are foreigners with their expectation of
service from Europe, USA etc.
We can't afford to operate how it was described above. Those who do, or better to say, did, are not longer
in business.
I had to let all non-performers go and replace them. Admittedly, this is not very easy and even more
difficult in Tobago. But we mustn't be complaicent and take that s..t, make up for losses created by our
employees, apologize for poor behaviour etc etc.
At least this is my approach. I can't see myself operate differently. No patience.

Andy

Hi all,
I don´t think that it is the typical Caribbean mentality. I´ve visited a lot of other islands in the Caribbean, met a lot of different restaurants with national and also non-national mangment. But the worst I found definitely in Tobago.
That´s the reason why I prefer self-catering when I´m in bago. That does not mean that all bago restaurants has a poor service, but a lot of them. I kow that´s not easy to find there a good staff for a restaurant, but sometimes it´s also the owner/managment who don´t know how to handle the business.
My last experience I had in February in a Crown Point restaurant, the staff was friendly an we made our orders, after more than 1 hour and 3 drinks she served us everything cold.
I´ve talking to the manager inside the climated (cold) bar. The kitchen is directly behind the bar and the food comes outside this way.
He told me that he saw the food comes out from the kitchen, but the staff had forgot to serve.
What kind of managment is this ? ....I asked him.... You saw it and don´t do anything. Why you don´t serve the food ?
That´s not a restaurant, that´s a joke.
I don´t like to spend my hard earned money for this kind of bullsh..(sorry)
I think that they have to change a lot in the Tourism industry in Tobago.
THA....please take a bit from the oil-money, open a special school and give the young people a chance to learn there job well.
This money is well invested !

@Lisa ...I know it´s not changing in the next weeks, but I hope in this live

Peter

I imagine that every business owner on Tobago feels like you, Andy and Lisa. And those who don't are not likely to last long. Sad as it may be, the best way for a business to be successful on Tobago is to avoid having to employ local staff. Trouble is, it isn't always possible to do everything yourself and impossible in larger businesses like hotels - or even most restaurants. What a difference the Filipino staff have made to several establishments in recent years. How sad that employing foreign staff has proved to be necessary though.

Tobago's special magic is its people. Once you unleash their special magic they are the warmest most endearing people I have come across. With the utmost respect, I just wouldn't want to work with, or employ, them! Those business owners that do find that they have to be 'on' the job 24/7. The moment they owner is out of sight, things start to slip. There is more to life than work to the average Tobagonian. Perhaps they are right, but when waiting for my breakfast or dinner the delays are not guaranteed to improve my humour.

The situation puts tremendous strain on business owners. They can never truly relax. Having a day/night off is a constant worry. Don't even mention holidays! Worse still, it means that owners have to be policing their staff all the time, rather than 'getting on with the job'. Ill feeling is created because the staff feel that they are working in an oppressive regime, being watched over constantly. This is particularly galling for the "good" members of staff who could otherwise be relied upon to do a proper job. It is a wholly unsatisfactory environment for any business. It is also one of the prime reasons that as much as I love Tobago, I would never consider living or working there.

Of course this problem is common throughout the world and particularly in the Caribbean, as I know all too well from my childhood in the region. However, it seems to be many times worse in Tobago than other islands. There is a huge difference between Trinidad and Tobago. Trinis will be the first to point this out to you. I have always tended to assume that the problem on Tobago has much to do with generations of subsistence living, with no industry or employment. The island survived on paltry handouts from Britain until 1889, and has been reliant on Trinidad ever since. The sad thing is that Tobagonians are now pinning their hope on emerging commercial/industrial projects on the island. Get real guys! Those businesses are not dealing with a captive tourism market; they exist in the real world and if they are to survive and prosper on an international or even regional basis, they won't be relying on local labour.

Peter Kuhn wrote:THA....please take a bit from the oil-money, open a special school and give the young people a chance to learn there job well.
This money is well invested !

Peter,

such a school does exist.
In fact it is a branch of the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute.
Check out

http://www.tthtitobago.com

Well, not everybody who we meet serving us in a restaurant or hotel, went there and graduated

Steve,

congratulations to your very precise description of the situation in Tobago.

I would like to add some aspects from my perspective though.

One being the over-policing done by some business owners, for whatever reason, mostly because of bad
experiences which were not resolved properly. This indeed spoils any reasonable relationship between
manager and employees.
Very few small-business owners ever make an effort to attend to management training,
with of course sometimes disasterous effects.

But even proper management training leaves certain situations absolutely untouched and open for
any mistake whatsoever, when it comes to dealing with employees in T&T.
There are for instance sentiments between the ethnicities, which are sometimes latent but more often
quite open when it comes to loyalty to the business and it's owner.
One result may be petty theft, where the employee thinks the (white) business owner "ows" him/her something
because of the history (slavery) and just takes what he/she thinks is deserved beyond the salary.

One other stereotype behaviour is the lack of responsibility taken up by even well qualified employees,
just for the sake of convenience. Report the damage to the supervisor / manager / business owner and
you are out of trouble. Well, it is up the the superior to let that happen.

I can tell you, Trinidad and Tobago are very similar, just Trinidad is much bigger and it is easier to find
replacement for a worker you definately had to fire.

My concept was to sort out all the rotten apples in order for the othes not to catch the rot and i show zero
tolerance to any criminal action or repeatedly shown slack or indisciplined behaviour whatsoever. For instance,
theft, attempted fraud, drug abuse during business hours etc. ARE a reasons for termination of employment
without prior notice and that is what i unfortunately had to do twice already. Surprisingly both cases were female employees.

Incentive systems for cutting down on sick and casual days as well as delegation of management tasks
to certain well trained and loyal employees, appreciation of private / family situations and a general
friendly and warm atmosphere contribute a lot to the success of the business and is generally well
accepted by the employees i have now. After years of "sorting apples".

I see businesses florishing in Tobago and everytime i go there, i meet the same employees.
I have seen quite the opposite as well, of course. One T&T concept seems to be, to have the business hopelessly
over-staffed with very low paid, basically untrained workers. I was never able to find out how this could
ever economically work out.

In other words, there is a lot of room for improvement in the entire business world in T&T.
Unfortunately, it gets obvious and impacts negatively especially the hospitality industry.

Also rather unfortunate is the fact that unemployment is curbed by the government to a greater extend with
programs like CEPEP and URP. Those progams "employ" people for light construction or maintenance work like
cutting bush on the road side etc. Those worker typically work for 3 hours per day and get pay for 8 hours.
The "salary" is quite the same as the pay for a waitress in a restaurant or bar who has to serve food and drinks
for 6 to 8 hours. Where for Christ's sake is the incentive to work hard in the private sector if one could get the same
salary for doing much less ?

I wish our leaders would see the problems and do more to support the private sector accordingly.
And i also wish my fellow business owners / managers would be more open to learn from their mistakes.

Well done Andy,

I can´t understand why the restaurant/hotel owners pay the same money like the gouverment for the poor 3 hours jobs.
In this situation I would also not happy with a restaurant/hotel job.
Good money for a good work is the best way and a fair situation at work.
Especially in the ''better'' restaurants, sometimes I felt that the staff are under the pressure of the disabled mannagement.
A good service, I don´t mean 5 star, mixed with the typical Tobagonion way of humor and respect would give a good atmosphere for a hotel/guesthouse/restaurant.

Peter

Too true Peter

I sense that this is all about attitude ... our attitude and every Tobagonian's attitude, depending on the circumstances.

I remember being in a Supermarket and queuing at the checkout ... the lady at the checkout seemed to be in mourning, the misery was so evident and infectious that everyone, including regular Tobagonian customers, became very withdrawn and morose ... I have never, before or since, seen several customers have their shopping checked out without a single word spoken ... she even turned the till display to show the price rather than say the price, no eye contact ... customers had to wave the money in her face to get her to take it.

Slashing my wrists was an option when it came to my turn ... it seemed so depressing ... but I am on holiday and I am supposed to be happy ... so I puffed out my chest in a proud manner and smiled and said Hello.

Everyone nearly hit the floor when her face lit up and she smiled back and said Hello.

She said 'goodbye' too.

I never saw her again but I will never forget it.

I hope this can possibly explain something

Regards

Most smiles start with another smile.

Peter Kuhn wrote:Well done Andy,

I can´t understand why the restaurant/hotel owners pay the same money like the gouverment for the poor 3 hours jobs.

It is the other way around. I can't understand, why the government pays unskilled labourers for cutting bush for 3 hours per day (Monday to Friday) TT$ 3500.00 / month and more.
THAT srews up the whole scenario.


Paul,
i had similar experiences more than once. And mostly with cashiers in Penny Savers.


And here is one from Trinidad.
Venue: Calypso Revue in Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Calypso "Tent" Carnival Season 2009

Suddenly, during the show, i started to feel thirsty. My wife likewise.
I went to the bar to purchase a small bottle of Coke and a Rum & Soda.
There, at the bar, were 4 bar tenders, chatting away in the back and completely ignoring their only customer. Me.
Me:<Banging on the counter> "Can i please get something to drink here ?!"
Bar Tender, female, fat: <Steupse>. "Just now".
The woman, in her 30s, drags her overweight to the counter.
Woman: "Whey you want ?"
Me: "A small Cokes and a Rum & Soda, please".
Woman: "Hae ?"
Me: "A Rum & Soda and a small bottle of Coca Cola".
Woman: "Yuh eh getting small Cokes".
Me: "Ok, give me the 20 ounce Cokes".
Woman: "Hae?"
Me: "The large Cokes nah, for Christ's sake !!"
The fat woman goes in the back to dig up in a bin with ice water to find a 20 ounces bottle of Coca Cola.
That exhausts her energy to an extend. Back in front, the dripping wet bottle is thrown on the wet counter, splashing
water around within 5 yards radius.
Woman: "5 dallas".
Me: "And a Rum & Soda".
Woman: "Just now". <Steups, Longer Version>
"Which Rum?"
Me: "Black Label"
The fat woman goes in the back again, puts some ice in a styrofoam cup and attemps to pour White Oak.
Me: "NOT this one. BLACK LABEL !.
Woman: <Steups. Extended Version>
The woman now pours FERNANDES BLACK LABEL RUM in the cup, and attempts to add Coca Cola.
Me: "NOT COKES. I want CLUB SODA !!!"
Woman: "So why don't you tell me ?" <Steups. Mega-Version>
Me: "Well, i keep telling yuh dat since ah reach here".
Woman: "Doh get on so wid me !"
Woman pours Club Soda, at last.
Me: "Never mind. How much for the drinks nah ?"
Woman: "Ahem. 5 for the Cokes and 10 for the Rum, is ---- ahem---- <uses calculator>--- ahem--- 15 dallas"

I returned to my wife and my seat, the two drinks in my hand, slightly groutchy.
Having missed a whole tune, and from the laugh of the crowd obviously a good one, i deeply regretted not to be
a Calypsonian and therefore unable to use the experience just made to write a tune with some sharp lyrics about
"GOOD SERVICE".

Even though, the story above belongs more in a comedy show than at a bar, i promise i did not add, leave out or alter any important parts.

I want to honour the effort of the place described above (Calypso Revue, Wrightson Rd., Port of Spain),
to significantly improve the service at the bar.

Ealier this week i visited the same Calypso Revue, now with new programme for Carnival 2010.

To my surprise i found several friendly faces at the bar, new chillers well stocked with drinks, bar tenders who understand what the customer wants to drink and who are able and willing to do their job in a reasonable speed.


It looks like somebody was listening to the customer's complaints, had common sense and possibly even read this thread

Unfortunately, the quality of most of the 2010 calypsos is terrible (at least those performed in "Revue").
It seems that we can't have everything at the same time ...

Cheers from Trinidad,

Andy

I'm in Hospitaly myself - Australian and Swiss Hotel Schools, working F&B and Front Office for five star resorts and hotels as well as classic restaurants in Oz, England and Sweden as well as an F&B and FO practical teacher at a hotel school - and when I arrived I got so stressed out from the pace in which we were checked in, the response (or lack there of) and speed we were aknowledged and served by service staff etc.

My entire training and experience tells me this way is soooooo wrong.

However, after just a day or two I got into the flow - or maybe I just accepted it as a fact of life - and when I left Tobago on the 28th of January I realized I've never been this relaxed before.

And looking back I also realize that I'd rather have service the Tobago way than the glued-on-smile way I had it in Thailand.

It's actually quite refreshing with people who don't bend over backwards to please every single wish a tourist has.