Dear Editor,
I have decided to write this letter after months of in-depth contemplation about the cost and benefits to the Demico chain of fast-food outlets – mainly those in Georgetown – and to the buying public.
Firstly, I would like to focus on the food-handling and sanitation aspect as my experiences and observations cut across all the outlets. The most glaring of all is the fact that the cashiers are the same people who handle money and also serve customers with their unwashed hands.
Indeed, this should never be the modus operandi of food handlers, but this has become the norm at most Demico outlets, once highly regarded for their exceptionally excellent quality of products and service.
In one particular instance, I had the misfortune of being given the key to the toilet at the Demico Kitty Qik Serv by the cashier cum food-handler.
Rather than washing her hands after having given me the key, she continued to serve other customers with her hands already polluted by the handling of money.
Across at Camp Site on Camp Street, I would advise all patrons never to allow themselves to be served in the trays if they decide to consume the food at that location. This is because whenever people have finished eating and leave their disposable cups, bottles, wrappers, tissue, spoons, forks, etc, the sanitation workers dispose of the waste by pushing the trays into the stained, polluted and sometimes over-flowing bin located inside the building. When this is done, the trays become polluted with bacteria that are ready and waiting for the next patron to be served in that tray.
At Demico Qik Serv on Croal Street, Stabroek, the customer service attendants at times, especially at nights, are busy mopping, sweeping or washing. Without properly washing and drying their hands, they eagerly take the chits and proceed to serve people. The fact of the matter is that Banks DIH Demico should be employing separate staff as cashiers, customer service attendants to serve food and beverages only, and sanitation workers to clean and handle the toilet keys only.
The general quality of service has depreciated considerably to the point where customers have to wait very long to both pay for their orders and receive them, That is because Demico has few customer service attendants. This means that when the cashier finishes taking an order or two, she has to leave other customers in the cashier-line to go and serve those who have paid and have chits in their possession. On the other hand, those who have chits have to await the return of the customer service attendant who leaves to function as cashier again.
Another case in point was on the evening of Saturday, September 22, at the Sheriff Street branch where the cash-registers were malfunctioning and customers were being asked to shuttle from the register, whenever it decided to work, to another section of the counter where an old book was used as the source of poorly written and torn chits. Another observation was the fact that branch was advertising black and white puddings on pieces of paper that became smudgy. Whatever happened to standard menu board notices?
Yours faithfully,
M. Alphonso
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Banks DIH Limited for any comments they may wish to make and received the following response from their Human Resources Director, Mr P.A. Carto:
“Many thanks for your recent faxed letter of Friday 28 September 2007. Please be advised that Mr. Hercules is out of the country hence the letter was sent to me for response.
With reference to the issues raised by the writer, our Customer Sales Staff deal directly with each customer. The order is taken, filled and delivered. There are no food items delivered to customers which are handled by the sales staff which are not wrapped, bagged or boxed. There is never any direct contact with the local items sold over the counter.
* The trays used for food service are cleaned and sanitized before use by our customers.
* It is our policy that staff members assigned sanitation duties do not serve behind the counters.
* We do ensure that service to our customers remains a priority. There are occasions when scheduling becomes problematic as a result of absenteeism of one sort or another and sick leave taken by staff. In such cases we do respond as promptly as possible to ameliorate the issues in the respective areas.
* The computerized registers in all the departments function well, but are subject to malfunctioning which may not be anticipated.”
