Prickly Fern

One of the areas New Zealand could improve upon is the service industry. I am frustrated on a regular basis with people I deal with in shops, restaurants, on the phone, basically everywhere you expect to get a good service for your money.

New Zealanders haven't quite come to grips with the idea that service industry actually requires people who "serve" other people. Most people in this industry don't really like what they do, or even try to like what they do. You always get the vibe from the person who's helping you that "this is not where they want to be".

It's not always the workers' fault you are not getting good service. Most places are understaffed, and this puts a strain on the workers. At a medium priced restaurant you are very likely to wait around to get serviced, wait around for your food, and stare at empty dishes and glasses on your table.
At the shops, supermarkets, or hardware chains you won't be bothered by sales staff. That's a good thing. But when you do need help you won't get it either.

Lack of established and knowledgeable staff is one of the reasons for the bad service too.
For one reason or another people don't stay in their jobs for too long. This fast cycle of fresh staff don't leave much room for training. Every time I need to go to my local telecommunication shop I get serviced by someone who is still training, therefore can't really help me.

Of course you have the established restaurants, butchers, plumbing services, garages that give expected quality service and products. But they are very very little in numbers, and you pay a lot more.

Telephone help desk service is something you should not bother with. Most companies outsource their staff from overseas, mainly India. Most times the person on the other end of the phone don't know what the hell you are talking about and try to dictate you from the list of things they are given. And be warned, some technical phone help desks actually charge a ridiculous amount of money per call!
Basically in New Zealand when you buy something you should not expect customer service that should go with it. This is especially true for telecommunications industry.