FatManSeoul

There’s been quite a bit of controversy in the Korean expat blogosphere about bad service, particularly at Western restaurants in Seoul. Zen Kimchi has taken some swings at Itaewon favorites, while both the Metropolitician and Expat Jane have something to say about another venerable institution of the foreigner enclave. So what gives? Is service in Seoul doomed to be less than stellar?

Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia

James Watson’s illuminating book, Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia, examines the spread of the fast food chain throughout Asia, and Sangmee Bak’s contribution, McDonald’s in Seoul: Food Choices, Identity, and Nationalism, touches on something pertinent. Mainly, what customers think they’re paying for when they go out to eat isn’t consistent across cultures. Sure, everybody who forks over their hard earned cash for a meal somebody else has cooked knows they’re paying for the food. But what else is your money paying for?
Foreigners, particularly Westerners, think of cost of their meal as including the food first, and ambiance and service as secondary but important points. One reason McD’s or Lotteria costs less than Ape with Pipe, we reason, is that we’re not getting waited on when we eat fast food. Any place we sit down to enjoy our meal, the cost of having our plates plated and our places set costs more – and rightly so. After all, we’re paying for the service. This line of reasoning holds even in countries where people give gratuities to wait staff. In America, for example, servers are paid less than the legal minimum wage with the expectation that they’ll make up the difference in tips from patrons (anyone who doesn’t must be paid the difference by the restaurant that employs them.) So on top of whatever portion of your bill went towards service, you pay another 10-20% depending on the area and the quality of service you feel you got. North Americans especially have a complex set of social rules and etiquette that govern tipping, and not tipping or tipping poorly is seen as poor manners.

Korea works a little differently. Here, servers are paid a basic wage, and no tipping is expected (just try it sometime and enjoy the confused look your server will give you!) Some upscale hotels and restaurants will add a service charge, but this isn’t the same as the gratuity you would pay directly to your wait staff in another country. Servers here are wage employees only. That said, the service industry in Korea is low on the totem pole.  Waiting tables is a very low prestige and low paying job (figure that if he’s lucky, the average worker at Lotteria is earning just over 2000 won per hour.) The people who do this work, even at a fancy restaurant or hotel,  aren’t being given much respect by the patrons. This isn’t Europe, where working as a waiter can be seen as a perfectly legit job – this is Korea, and it’s one step above DDD work. And without tips, there’s not much incentive to improve the quality of their service. “After all,” reasons your server quite logically, “they already look down on me, and they’re not giving me incentive, financial or otherwise, to simper and cater to their crazy whims.”

The other larger issue at hand is that the Korean customer isn’t placing a priority on service. That’s not what their hard-earned won is going for. For Koreans, the physical space they occupy in a restaurant or cafe is nearly as important as the actual food and drink they imbibe. Space in Seoul is at a premium, and Seoulites are willing to pay beau coup bucks for it. That’s why a cafe in Samcheong-dong or Apkujeong can get away with charging 8000 won for a glass of watered-down coffee and ice: the coffee costs the customer 3000 won, and the rest is so the customer can park their butt in a comfy chair by some nice scenery for the next four hours. Small, cramped living spaces mean that Koreans don’t entertain much at home, so meeting friends and associates in restaurants, bars, and cafes is much more important. Cooking oil greases the wheels of society.

Bak’s article recalls the time when McDonald’s was new to Korea. Ah, back in the day when there wasn’t an 오곡 (ogok: five grain) shake to be had! Nowadays Mickey D’s is a shining example of successful integration into the Korean fast food scene, but in the beginnings were troubled times. Cash was flowing out, but not back in and it was all because of those pesky kids! And college students. And office workers. And pretty much every patron who came in the door.

You see, long ago Korean people weren’t yet trained in the ways of the fast food warrior, and they thought you could just come into McDonald’s and sit for hours chatting with your friends as you linger over fries. Because to Koreans, the 500원 ice cream cone wasn’t just money for ice cream, but a ticket to a place to sit and hang out. Which they did. But McDonald’s revenues depend on fast turnover, and every customer taking up space is costing the corporate headquarters moola. Something had to be done!

Back in the day, McDonald’s had to hire young women to act as greeters – but the job description didn’t end there. According to Bak, a major part of the womens’ role was to subtly (or overtly) pressure customers to get the hell out of Dodge by standing behind them, pointedly asking them if everything was ok, and even seating customers at tables that were already occupied. Koreans eventually learned different eating behaviors for fast food restaurants, but at the time it was a major battle with the future profitability of the company at stake! The idea of eat-and-run in any place that wasn’t serving off the streets is a relatively new one.

Even now, Koreans conceptualize their bill as not just a payment for food, but also for time and space. Service is way down on that list.

FatMan doesn’t think we should all just sit around and accept bad service. Indeed, just like McDonald’s retrained people to eat and give up their seat, so can patrons of all backgrounds train restaurants in the benefits of good service. By insisting on good service, and bringing it to managements attention that we think it’s part of the deal (and that servers are worth the investment) things will start to change for the better. In the meantime, service isn’t yet . . .well, “service”.