Bandos, Maldives, nice diving but discrimination from restaurant staff

I have hesitated in posting my Maldives experience in August, 2010. I spent a week on Bandos. I just returned from another dive trip in the Carribean and the Maldives trip came back to my memory. I feel that it is time to post my experience.
I went to Bandos, Maldives. It was a short transfer (15 minutes). It was my first time diving in Asia although I am Asian. All of my dives have been in the Carribean, Hawaii and Florida.
First, the resort ground was nice, the beach and view breathtaking. Diving was out of this world. The dive op was fantastic. Dive masters Sivad and Hassan were awesome!! I saw many eels, sharks, and best of all, gigantic manta rays. It was one of those dives that you waited on the sandy bottom for the manta rays to come.

In general, most of the resort staffs (housleeping, front desk) were accomodating and friendly. However, mealtime was a horrible experience for me. I bought the meal plan so I ate at the same place every day. The food was fine, neither too good nor too bad. The service to me was horrible. I emphasize "to me". There were at least 2-3 waiters that displayed blatant discriminative behaviors towards me. It is discriminatory because European guests (which were the majority) were treated very well compared to me. They were consistently greeted upon arrival and led to the table, served drinks etc. I, on the other hand, was ignored every single time. The discrimination was blatant with very cold and unfriendly service towards me but extremely friendly with other guests, from the SAME waiter!! I am not kidding. One of my dive buddies was from Germany and it was her first time to bandos also but she was being treated like royalty compared to me!! We were both first time visitors. After a couple of days of this observation, I made peace and try to ignore this behavior, basically not to let it ruin my trip. It was difficult as I ate there 3x/day. Based on this experience, I would never return to Bandos. There, I have never posted anything like this before, hence my hesitation of posting. Again, this happened last August, things have may changed already now. Thanks for reading.

Did you tip? Do Asians have a reputation when it comes to tipping?

Diverreefer:

Did you tip? Do Asians have a reputation when it comes to tipping?

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Doubt it's that. Europeans generally don't/aren't used to tipping, unless it's just rounding up to the next Euro or whatever.

That sort of behavior is very unusual in the service industry ... people usually try to treat their clients respectfully because doing so means better tips. I wonder if it wasn't, at least partly, due to perception.

An example, if I may ... I work with an Hispanic gentleman who is very defensive about his ethnicity. He's a nice man, a hard worker, and someone who is generally respected for his expertise. But it's also difficult to have a conversation with him because he will sometimes take something someone says as an insult against him even when it never occurred to the speaker that it could be taken that way. The result is that, over time, people tend to avoid the man out of fear of accidentally insulting him.

I'm not saying this was the case ... but it is often true that if someone is avoiding you, it's because they're afraid of offending you, and avoidance is preferable to confrontation. It's a defensive response. Perhaps it isn't your race that created the issue at all ... but something you might have said or done that caused them to treat you that way ... possibly without you even realizing it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Well did you take this up with the resort management? I havent seen this in particular with the resort I was at and there were lots of German and Japanese divers. But then again different people and resorts yield many different experiences in this large country of resort islands.

Thanks for your response.
Tipping, hmm, totally didn't think of that.

Perception-May be, then other staff were really friendly with me, especially housekeeping (very accomodating) and staff from other restaurants. I have never really encountered anything like that and i travelled quite a bit. Like you said, Bob, it is unusual for Service Industry. What strikes me is the discrepancy of the services between clients.

The front desk was not very helpful, on our last day I received a call at 11am that I have to leave at that moment!! I had requested late check-out because i won't depart until 6-7pm. I asumed that's all set, never assume anything.

thanks all for your responses..

Actually, I can understand where you're coming from, and how you felt, Fish10. The same attitude and behavior was carried out when I was working at a resort in the Maldives called Ayada. The resort didn't offer much when it came to food, service, etc, so they targeted primarily the Asian market because they know Asians don't tend to complain, at least, not as much as the European or American guests.

Even the dive center owner, Udo Goergen, was blatantly racist against the Asian divers, saying that they're not "5 Star quality" and that these guys don't know what 5 star is. As an Asian instructor, I took offense to this. Moreover, the receptionist, Darina, and her husband, Raidh Manik, another one of the instructors working for Dolphin Base were BLATANTLY racist against Asians. Always making fun of Asian eyes, how they talk, eat, behave.

If possible, I would definitely avoid diving with DOLPHN BASE or going to AYADA. Check tripadvisor yourself. The reviews speak for themselves.

Fish10.... I don't know you.... so why exactly do you think you were discriminated against? What factors?

Another old thread revived to grind an axe

DevonDiver:

Fish10.... I don't know you.... so why exactly do you think you were discriminated against? What factors?

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This is an old thread, Andy, just resurrected today—Fish10 hasn't logged on in 9 months. I bet that's typical of people who post primarily to complain. That aside, he was reasonably specific in his complaint:

fish10:

It is discriminatory because European guests (which were the majority) were treated very well compared to me. They were consistently greeted upon arrival and led to the table, served drinks etc. I, on the other hand, was ignored every single time. The discrimination was blatant with very cold and unfriendly service towards me but extremely friendly with other guests, from the SAME waiter!!

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fish10:

What strikes me is the discrepancy of the services between clients.

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