Why do service staff acknowledge male presence more than female

I (30M) noticed that most male service staff acknowledge me and talk to me nicer than my wife (30F).

My wife is the nicest person to service staff and smiles and greets them. She has clear communication and speaks perfectly fine.

However I notice they are usually curt and impatient with their response to her while they call me “sir” and would only engage with me when we both are infront of them. We also noticed that when my wife leads the conversation with service staff or grab drivers, they would reply to me instead of to her.

This happens with f&b staff, grab drivers etc. And it is always male staff/drivers. She also notices this and we are both frustrated about this. Does anyone else experience this as well?

Netizens’ comments

They assume you are the one paying. Almost similar to restaurants when asking for the bill, the staff would typically present it to the guy.

My guess is that the service staff tend to assume that you are the one footing the bill based on your gender and that your wife is just tagging along

There may not be anything to say because it depends on context. Sometimes staff make assumptions on who is going to make the purchase decision based on whether they’re working in male/female targeted retail outlets. Some staff may feel comfortable talking to men, and you just lucked out. But it’s hard to prove.