Soaked in Horse Piss

I had quite an interesting experience last night.  After finishing work I decided to pop down to my regular bar (Gypsy in Changkat Bukit Bintang) for a few drinks and when arriving there the place was quite empty except a few other customers and some people trying to promote a new beer called Stärker.  The beer promoters had brought a couple of girls dressed in something I reckon should look German and these girls explained to me that they were their with their "boss" (a Chinese lady) and they were promoting this new "fresh" beer.  It was sold in some small 5 liter barrels (which they called 10 pints - although it isn't) for RM 330 - which makes it 33 ringgit per half liter (not pint you cheats!).  Anyway - I am not particularly into German beer - especially not when hugely overpriced - so I decided to have my usual Gin & Tonic instead.

So, I was sitting at a table minding my own business when all of a sudden - splash! - me, my cigarettes (which I just bought), my phone and everything around me was completely soaked in beer.  Apparently the staff had been trying to attach a tap on one of those barrels just behind me - and beer just went everywhere.  The unfortunate customer who had decided to give the beer a shot was also completely soaked - but I took the most.

Now the staff was somewhat interested and one of them did hand me a stack of tissue paper, but none were too concerned though.  What's more interesting is that the chinese lady - and her promoters were completely uninterested and immediately went out to the front of the bar, the lady shouting in her mobile phone.

After cleaning the worst of my phone I was getting somewhat annoyed by her complete lack of interest in the situation she was responsible for creating, so I decided to approach her.  She was still on the phone but I tried to explain to her that she should show some concern for the customers instead of babbling on the phone.  Only response was a somewhat rude: "I am talking with my boss" (as if that was a lot more important to her) - after which she turned away from me.  She was speaking in Chinese, and while I am definitely not fluent in any Chinese dialects I have been here long enough to understand what Gweilo means - and that is not really a nice term to use (it would be equivalent of me calling her a yellow monkey - which I wouldn't).  At this point I decided I had enough and need a change of clothes - so I merely informed the staff that I would leave because she showed no interest in the situation and that I had absolutely no intention of paying (the cigarettes had been soaked anyway and I didn't really have time to finish my drink).

I don't know if it just me, but seriously - if I was trying to introduce a new brand of beer in a new outlet - and I accidentally ended up soaking most of their customers in said beer I think my reaction would have been more proactive.  Let me give Stärker a bit of advice:

1. If you want people to drink your beer - serve it in a glass - not spray it at random over your potential customers.  Some might not appreciate it.

2. IF by accident you end up nearly drowning a potential client, the very least you can do is to show some interest and apologize.  It is not that hard.  Apologize and try to compensate the customer (you could at LEAST have offered me a free beer - but no).  My phone STILL got sticky keys and it is a brand new phone.

3. When talking to potential customers do not use racially deprecatory terms even if you think they won't understand.

I can only warn people to keep a wide distance to any place serving those Stärker barrels and avoid the brand like the plague.  You might end up getting yourself and your belongings soaked in beer and if you do, they will show absolutely zero interest in your problem.  Also I hope that Gypsy - which I generally consider the best bar in KL - will have second thoughts marketing this rubbish.  I personally think it is a disgrace!

And at the end of the day I had to walk home smelling of horse piss - hence the title.

Update here.

Update Mar. 29: Reply from Stärker on Facebook:

Christina Tang

On behalf of Starker, we would like to apologize for the unfortunate incident. We are hoping we can meet at Gypsy Bar & explain to you in greater detail. Do let us know when you will be there next.

And my reply:

Lars Bøgild Thomsen

Well, I hope it was clear from my blog entry that the "incident" as such didn't really bother me all that much. Accidents happens and introducing a new concept and/or product is never easy and with an appropriate response it could have been turned into a laugh. That is not my issue at all.

What seriously put me off here was that the lady representing Stärker showed absolutely no interest at all in the fact that I and my belongings were completely soaked and possible damage caused (and damage WAS! caused!), and when I confronted her she even told me off using a rather strongly racially deprecatory term.

The manager of Gypsy was very fast to apologize and he did try to smooth things out a bit by offering a drink - in other words - he showed an appropriate concern for his customers well being.

I appreciate that you do take time to respond here, but explaining the incident in greater detail is really not necessary. The details are quite clear to me and the only person who seriously owe me an apology is the lady that represented Stärker on said evening.

Original post: here