Friday, September 24, 2010

Customer Service in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a great vacation destination with kids. We went for two weeks in 2006 and relaxed on its warm, beautiful beaches; explored the flora and fauna of the cloud forest at Monteverde and the area near the Arenal volcano: and enjoyed thrilling adventures such as zip lining through the jungle canopy.  
Hotel California in Quepos, Costa Rica

With many businesses accepting payment in American dollars and many people in the tourist industry speaking flawless English, the country was quite welcoming to Westerners. This made it harder, however, to reconcile the fact that Costa Rica has a very different idea of customer service than the “customer is always right” philosophy that we take for granted in the U.S.