Customer service at global level

Do global firms provide better customer service at home than abroad? Currently I am on a work trip in Saudi Arabia. As with any free market economy, Saudi Arabia hosts many global firms in various industries.

During my stay here, I had to ship some work materials to the United States, so I went to this US based mail carrier to ship my package. I was expecting speedy and friendly service as I had come to expect from this carrier in the US, but I was disappointed with the level of service I received. Some of the issues that arose were:

1- Not everyone on staff was wearing the company uniform - so it was difficult to know who was who
2- The staff were really intimidating in the way they approached the customer
3- Complete lack of knowledge on shipping terms and regulations, they refused to take my package on the basis of “not fit for shipping.”

I tried to talk to the store manager, but he insisted that my package would be sent back to me since it’s not fit to ship to the US, I asked him where it stated that on their company website and he failed to answer.

I was able to ship the package a few days later, but after I did my own research on the company website, and taking the package to a different store of the same company where the store manager seemed more knowledgeable.

Someone may say, well this is an isolated incident and can not be generalized, I would agree with that, but I have seen the same issue with customer service with many global firms working in Saudi Arabia.

Why do we see different levels of customer service at different locations for the same company? Does the company value one market more than the other? As global managers, how can we make sure our clients world wide get the same level of customer service?

I face this dilemma almost on a daily basis, why is there a variation in customer service at different locations - surely the policies and procedures of the same company should be uniform?