Newborn don't need these

As a new mom, we get overwhelmed by the preparation to welcome the new baby to the family. We seek advise from our relatives, friends, uncle Google, random voice whispering to us, telling us "WE NEED THIS" when we go to baby shop or worse, when we're at baby expo.

These places are horrible! They have so many baby items under one roof and it feels like we need them all. I too, have got some redundant things that I thought I would need them but ended up I just shove it one side after my baby is born.

In this list are some of the items that I've got but never used.. or just once or twice and some that I seen some parents got them but from my experience, they don't need it.

1. Newborn shoes.

Newborn don't wear shoes. It's fun to buy them, it's nice and all but they can't walk yet. So they really don't need them. What they need are mittens and booties. These guys are to protect your baby from the cold and prevent them from scratching themselves.

2. Baby seat 

Baby don't need this yet. Their backbone isn't strong enough to support themselves. They still need you to support their back and neck. My friends got this for me when my baby was almost 1 month old and I had to keep this in storage until my baby is 6months plus. I think he's about 7 or 8 months when we actually uses this. This comes handy when the baby is much older.

3. Baby blanket

As cute as they are, they could be hazardous. Baby will move their hands and feet up and down, left to right from time to time while they're sleeping and there could be chance that the blanket will fall covering their face. Unless you could keep an eye on your baby for the whole time while they're sleeping (please no, remember the rule that you should sleep when your baby sleeps too, to get enough rest) then MAYBE you can use one. In general, you shouldn't put anything within your baby's arms reach in the crib or on the bed (if you're co sleeping). This may impose SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Anyway, my baby feels uncomfortable when we put blanket on him. He even "kicked" it away by moving his hands and feet. He's still not using any blanket up till now, we just need to regulate the temperature in the room.

4. Baby carrier 

Again, I got this (not particularly this brand) from my sister-in-law, preloved. I never used this until my sone is about 6 months old, which is until he's able to sit up right. We did tried this on him prior to that but his neck was still wobbly and he couldn't support himself to be upright yet. As much as the carrier said it can be used for newborn, it was a struggle for us to put him in and to see him in it even. His head would plop from side to side without proper support.

These are as much as I could think of for now. Let me know if you have any other items you've bought but not used for your newborn!

Part 3: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ

Recap:
Part 1: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ
Part 2: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ

After the wedding reception and all of our guests head for home, the hosts (us and my brothers) sat on one of the table to discuss with the banquet manager about our feedback and dissatisfaction.

We voiced our feedback from most of our guests and what we experienced throughout the night. As usual, the banquet manager has no authority over this and wanted to shove us off by giving diplomatic excuses. "This has never happened before", "We have not seen it happened", "There were too many people". Obviously there are many people, which is why we are able to opt for this bigger ballroom. Shouldn't it be expected before? Where are all the staff training? 

Since he couldn't make decision, we opt to speak to higher authority. He initially wanted to settle this issue there and then so it doesn't alarm his superior. But we insisted. Seriously, we were shocked to see such service being carried out like as if customer's event meant nothing to them. So unprofessional. Such a shame to get high hotel star rating.

He later pass us his superior's name card which is the F&B manager.

We made an appointment to meet up with him and  the F&B manager the next day. Which happens to be a holiday.

We appreciate that he's able to make it over to the hotel discuss the dispute even though it was a holiday. 

We again voiced our experience and complaints of our guests to the manager which he also couldn't make any decision to compensate us on the poor service provided. During the 3 or 4 hours discussion at the lobby's Cafe, there was no solid conclusion. He has heard our complaints, but again, he couldn't make any decision. He called up the sales manager to talk about our compensation or at least until the issue has been resolved, we will hold back the remaining banquet money. Over the phone with the sales manager, he promised us that it will be held first until the issue has been resolved. We wanted someone who can make decision, but it was quite a waste of time since there was no solid verdict that day. We ended up writing a 4 page complaints from most of ours and our guests feedback.

Our mail back and forth lasted for 2 months, from early October until mid of December. With still dissatisfaction on our side.

2 days after our banquet, I again updated the feedback since there was no reply or any sort from the hotel. An email came back one day later:

Meanwhile Management has decided to charge your credit card for the balance amount of RM10000 verified as agreed in our contract to close our account.

What? What about what was promised over the phone conversation between both managers? Now that there's a dispute and all they care about is their account? There was no other saying to this. They've charged it as they sent the email out.

On Oct 5th, you expressed that CCHPJ was going to charge me the remaining MYR 10,000. I replied on the same day, expressing my concerns regarding that.

On Oct 6th, you assured me that you would attempt to convince the management otherwise; and that your previous email was to inform us, the customer before you charge them.

My credit card shows that it was charged on Oct 5th.

 As quoted from our reply.


The said investigation goes on for another week while keeping the customer in the dark. We have to promptly email / message them to find out what's going on.

More than a week after the dispute, we finally came down to another meeting with the managers. This time with both the sales and F&B manager, and the sales person, staff A.

What I remembered clearly from our discussion, we were first shown the CCTV footage. That was a bit waste of time. It's only showing snippet of what was caught on tape and the position of the CCTV was not even overall the hall. Some were blocked by pillar, some were located I don't know where. And more ridiculous, remember the .gif that I posted in my review part 2? Somehow on their interest, it was fast forwarded. All other snippet that was shown to me has no fast forward, why only this snippet? And you've guessed it. "We don't see the issue you were talking about here", that was what claimed by one of the manager. They claimed that they spent 6 hours looking at the footage. Well, if it's only what benefit the hotel that the snippet is showing, then what's the point of showing it to us? Let us be another eye to see the whole 2 hrs of our event. We can point it to you on the customer's perspective. 

Not like we haven't offer ourselves for the help.

In the end, what was promised from the management is to refund 30% of the said amount, with additional 2 room + 10 hi-tea vouchers for feedback which valid for 6 months. 

What makes them think a customer would want to come back to this hotel after such bad experience?  

And only valid for 6 months? That's not even showing that the customer is any importance. I would expect a year long or lifetime no limit kind of voucher if we're going to be offered vouchers for compensation.

It's like getting vouchers for Christmas gift instead.

We negotiated for more since we're still not satisfied. We negotiated for 3 rooms and 15 meal vouchers. From the total compensation we're looking for, this, we have taken much far back.

At the end of the discussion, they promised to get back to us after checking with their management:
- Whether the refund would be in terms of GIRO or credit
- Whether the voucher can be extended instead of 6 months.

What we have agreed upon as compensation before calling it a night:
 - 3 rooms + 15 meal vouchers
- The said money refund

What really came back to us AFTER we reminded them 4 days later (because there was no news from their end):
- 2 rooms + 15 meal
- voucher validity only 6 months 

Well, once again it seems to me that the message was not conveyed properly from the sales manager to her management. Or rather. Did she even convey it at all?

We have already voiced our concern that we will not be around during the first few months of the voucher validity and during then there was so much understanding that it could perhaps be extended. But since it's not what we agreed upon, we wanted to make another meet up discussion. This time, we want to meet the so called "Management" that was always quoted by the sales manager.

That was so happen that their COO was away for business trip until end of November. But if they really want to make things right, shouldn't the COO email to the customer instead? There's unhappy customer with your staff here.. hellooooo. Guess the COO shows no concern to their customer anyway after receiving payment.

One month passed. I sent an email

If you noticed the dates that were sent, they surely take their time to response to us. Even from Whatsapp, there was no update. 

The reply only came a day later with "good news" that the management agrees to extend the voucher period for another 3 more months. 

And that's the end of the saga.

Still I wasn't satisfied. Put your feet into our shoes, it clearly does not make you feel as though customer is important to them. There was suppose to be a meet up with the COO after the COO is back from business trip. That didn't happen. How long will it take for COO to reply an email "okay, we can extend the voucher validation" if a meetup was not even planned at the first place?

I feel the whole "Management" name was made up to prolong the discussion and to protect their benefits. 

I really don't like the service given by the sales department. They don't give me the impression that they place customer in priority. The F&B department (especially the cafe at the lobby), service was good. They were really attentive. If only the same kind of attention and professionalism was given during the banquet that day. I'm sure all of this can be oversee.

Part 2: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ

This post I'm gonna write about "during" the banquet. 

You can read about pre-banquet here: Part 1: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ 

The real day is here, the day that you've been waiting for and all prepared for. This ONE DAY. This big day of yours. Your guests are coming and some are already here.

Yet, during this time is when the staff decided to further hammer the red carpet. On good thoughts, it's for the safety of the people walking in and out of the ballroom but shouldn't this preparation be done way earlier before they deemed that the ballroom is ready to be used? This doesn't seem "ready" for me.

As we need to prepare food for our photographers before the program starts, I've requested for some plates to put the food that we've take out from restaurant. The plates only comes 20 minutes later even when the kitchen is just next door. And they brought us mini plates even when I've already explained what the purpose was for. I'll just oversee that.

As the entrance were quite crowded, the staffs too need to walk around the hall for preparation, they accidentally bump on to the flower stand along the isle. But they choose to ignore even when one of the flower broken and walked away. My expectation was that he picked it up. I don't really mind if the flower is broken, that gotta happen somehow. At least show some regret and pick it up.

During the couple march in, one of the staff decided to walk along on the red carpet. Shouldn't he be already aware that the moment has come? The door was open to indicate that the marching in will begin and he decided to walk slowly on the red carpet as my photographer has to ask him to move away and until one of my guests pulled him away to stand by the side. We even had our emcees repeated in bilingual, a trained staff would have alerted themselves to move aside.

The service of the staff were so slow. When my guests requested for a drink, it only comes 30 minutes later. Or never. Some staff even brought one whole bottle of soft drink to the table where they were actually suppose to serve when needed. Does this mean that my guest have to self-service? Also, this means there is no control of beverage flow. One of my guests requested for hot water and the staff shoved the hot water right next to my guests face without saying excuse me in the first place. Asking the guests first before proceeding is the least they should be trained. "May I clear the plate?" Simple sentences. Simple answer is expected. Yes, no. Yet, the staff did not ask and cleared the plate on the table even before my guests were finish with their food.

Seriously, all these staff shows lack of training especially on their communication skill. They barely could understand the requests. One of my guests spotted that the staff were fooling around before the presentation of the food. Where's the discipline? (and that staff was a high rank one).

One of my guest's door gift were taken away without question asked when the staff accidentally spilled some soup over it. Some staff did not understand the dining culture (which I would expect them to know if they have proper training). They provide spoon to scoop the ice instead of ice thongs. Is this some roadside restaurant? We're in a hotel ballroom for heaven's sake.

I have a few vegetarian guests. I've already told the sales person (whom I liaise with before, whom should be aware of my requests) that there should be a proper marking of who is the vegetarian so that the food may arrive to them correctly. It was promised that they would ask who it was first before putting on the marking on the table to identify them. Yet, the marking were all wrong, and my vegetarian guest were left hungry for a few hours before I have to personally confront the staff myself. Yet, as I've mentioned, the staff pretend to understand my request and walked away and ended up ignoring it. I have to check back again with my guest to find out if they were served. And it was so slow with small portion!

Usually during Chinese wedding, there will be times, especially after "bone-food" or "shell-food' like chicken or prawn, the plates will usually be cleared and new set of plates will be given. Yes, this hotel ballroom do provide this service. But they just stack the whole new plates on the table and expect my guest to distribute among themselves. Then when they were clearing the plates, they took away some of the cutlery and didn't replenish it. What do you expect my guests to eat with? Hands? Also, this coming from my boss' experience from the server that serves his table. The staff placed the dirty dish UNDERNEATH THE TABLE. Why?! WHAT?! Well, given the benefit of thought, my boss is not a Malaysian, you could say he don't understand the culture. But the other 9 members on the table are. They too commented the same. WHAT? For WHAT?! feed the rat? If there is one...

There was some technical problem during the event. The ballroom suddenly got warmer. Guests complained. At 7pm (when the event suppose to start), technical equipment were still not ready for my emcees. Unforeseen technical problem like sudden breakdown, I could still understand. But the excuse they gave after we confront them after the reception, "Well, there were too many guests at that point, so it gets a little hotter". Legit excuse definitely. But shouldn't they already have this experienced and be prepared to adjust the temperature? Or just set them to optimum temperature.

Remember that I mentioned they were hammering the red carpet during the start of the event, well, it wasn't a well done job. The carpet still wasn't rolled out properly. There were wrinkles and few of my guests almost tripped few times!

There were more feedback and dissatisfaction that happens during the event. Too many to list out and overall it just show how unprofessional they were. 3.5 star hotel according to Tripadvisor. I don't see this kind of service being a 3 star at all. I could only compare them to normal restaurants out there. Not a hotel rank service. Much disappointment !

Recap:
Part 1: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ
Part 3: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ

Part 1: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown, PJ

In short: Hell of an experience.

Long story ahead. Spare me some time if you're planning to read ahead and tell me what's your opinion on it if you've ever had experience with Chinese wedding banquet there.

I'll split it to 3 parts. Before, during and post-event.

PART 1:

We signed up with their banquet package at the wedding fair and our person in charge was Sandy.

Regarding the ballroom (review at first sight): It has the capacity to fit 50 tables (so they claimed) - We fit 32 and it seemed quite pack. There are 2 mirrored pillars at the center of the hall. There is upper deck to fit another 5 tables, but we didn't use it. A huge stage in front with 2 sides back room for backstage preparation. Kitchen is at the back of the ballroom (opposite the stage). Audio room is placed is situated at the upper deck. Podium is next to the stage. Not sure if it matters, but the communication with the audio manager would be a little tricky.

All was fine and I'm very very satisfied with Sandy's service. She keep us informed and update us on details and  was very punctual and patient. Our negotiation of wedding preparation and all that we need to know from the hotel side, (obviously it's our first time to have a wedding banquet) we were filled with information. Sandy find out and update us very promptly. We had a few meeting and during the meeting there was some awkward pause for us couple to think of questions to ask about, Sandy would keep smiling and told us to take our time. Plus, she's always by her email and whatsapp.

Unfortunately but good news for her, she's getting married too and her date falls a week or two after ours. So therefore, she no longer able to be in charge of our event since she will be on long leave to prepare for her own.We were passed on to a colleague of hers.

Having the impression that Sandy was such an excellent staff to deal with, we have the same expectation on her colleague. I'll not name this colleague but let's call her "staff A".

The first time I met with staff A was when I'm collecting my wedding card during my lunch time. Minor cookie point minus, staff A seems to be in rush when I was collecting my cards. Obviously, I'll need to double check the cards and quantity when I receive them. Staff A looks uninterested and keep asking if I still have anything needed from her. I told her, "Not at the moment, but I'll need to double check the cards". Yes, there are 100 over pieces of cards. I did not count/check all anyway, I just took some randomly to check the spelling and design. Well, at least a good gesture was that staff A asked if I had my lunch (not sure if she was going to invite me for lunch, though) but I told her I need to head back to work. Staff A asked again if I needed anything from her. Eventually I told her no and she left. Staff A left before the customer. Okay, maybe no biggy but as a customer sales representative, I would expect her to place customer first.

We had a few questions to the management or rather regarding to the event later on where we usually communicate via staff A's corporate email. It took longer time to get back to us and sometimes it doesn't even answer all of our questions. For example, we emailed in the morning at 10am, staff A only gets back to us at 5pm. By the time we responded to the email at 5:30pm, the next reply would be the next day. Which we assume it's because it's already office hours.

Then we have more inquiries to staff A/banquet related.

We could have communicated via Whatsapp too, but we since our questions were quite many, we thought it was easier to have it via email and also for reference later. There was no email reply one week later. When we message staff A via whatsapp, we were only then informed that staff A was on leave and there was no other staff to be in charge meantime. When staff A was back on the next day, staff A claimed that there was no email from us. Well, clearly for us that the email has went through. I checked my sent email. Not sure where the mistake has gone.

Side note, there's no discount rate for room just because you're doing your wedding there. The rates that were given by staff A is similar to what I can find exactly from their hotel webpage. Disappointed.

Few days before our wedding, we have a walkthrough to make sure everything is in place. So we've meet up with staff A again.We've clearly mentioned earlier in one of our discussion that we wanted cream colored chair cover due to probable of old people's superstition that white/black is bad color. 
 

screenshot from our email conversation

On the day of rehearsal, the ballroom was filled with white covered chair. Okay... We can't change from that since there are no more stock for cream covers and we weren't informed earlier? The placement of the tables are also far off from the hall plan that they have provided. 2 of the tables were too close to the kitchen entrance and it perhaps would block the servers' access . Shouldn't they have thought that through?

Plan that was sent to us:

What was the actual plan:

 

Honestly, how can this ballroom fit 50 tables? :x

While we were rehearsing, staff A left before us again. Of course, given the benefit of doubt, staff A let us have our time to do rehearsal as long as we want. (But what if we still have things we want to clarify? That day being a Friday and staff A is off duty on Saturday. Sunday is our reception day already) Regarding the parking, staff A told us that we could verify our tickets over the concierge and we only have to mention staff A's name for reference.

We left at about 8pm plus and head over to concierge as told to verify our tickets.

To our surprise, the staff over the counter rejected our validation. She told us they weren't informed about it and we couldn't do so. I mentioned staff A's name and that we could refer her. Concierge staff called their supervisor/manager then and explained the situation. To our disgust, the manager sounds upset and said "Just give them lah". The tone that he said it was as if we were desperate beggars asking for money and they were forced to validate so that we would stop pestering them. 

What? This is our right as customers and we were even told that we could do so.

Bad customer service of a front counter. I wonder how could they place them as the hotel's front person.

Part 2: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown PJ
Part 3: Review on Wedding Banquet @ Crystal Crown PJ