Poor service? We're used to it!

I was having after-dinner dessert with some friends at the Coffee Club in Ngee Ann City on a weekday evening. To start with, we sat there for pretty long without anyone coming to take our orders until we finally managed to flag down a passing waiter. I ordered a New York Cheesecake, but it didn't come after 20 minutes, so I had to flag down the waiter again to remind him. 10 minutes later, when my friends had already finished their food, I was told that they had run out of Cheesecake. The waiter apologised and gave a lame excuse: he didn't know they had run out of Cheesecake. Cheesecakes are placed right at the counter, so can it possibly take half an hour to realise that there are no Cheesecakes left?
My friend, who is currently studying in the United States, asked me, "Why is it that this cafe is still so crowded with well-dressed customers despite its poor service?" Indeed, a similar cafe in New York City, Boston, or San Francisco would be completely empty if it had such pathetic service standards, even if it had excellent food. Apparently poor customer service is so prevalent that it doesn't even bother the "well-heeled" Singaporean diner anymore. Coffee Club in Ngee Ann City serves excellent food, but I will never go there again. A Cheesecake is not worth 6 dollars if there is no service.