More people should openly demand better products and services

Dear Editor,

Recently, I accompanied a friend to a downtown Church’s outlet. Upon stepping in, the improvement in customer service was immediately noticeable; the cashier smiled at customers and made sure to ask if a customer intended to dine in or take out. After packing the order only the order number was called out aloud (the dignity of the last ounce of privacy remaining in a transaction of that nature was preserved) and customers were served with a smile. This is not a self-lauding attempt to suggest that my complaint (see SN, November 4 2014) may have prompted this change of service. It is obvious that the management of Church’s takes customer complaints seriously and uses them to refine service delivery; this is commendable. I believe that both Mr Campbell and his brands and franchises (held by Camex Restaurants Inc) have a definite future in Guyana and are worthy of our patronage. This is probably why Mr Campbell was considered the most deserving of the awardees among those who received business leadership awards recently.

Guyanese should continue to give constructive criticisms and support to help create a culture of good customer service in Guyana. Mr Campbell, in his response to me (SN, November 5) did concede that poor “customer service is a national problem,” one which stems from a shattered education system, yet he raised objections and views as “suspicious” the publication of my complaint. I did not see a problem highlighting this “national problem” in a national space. But in similar fashion as I have highlighted the failings at Church’s, I took the time to recognize the progress and do commend the management team for owning-up and taking swift steps to improve. There is still some refinement that’s needed and I urge Camex to continue to work at it. I encourage more persons to openly demand better products and services from business entities in Guyana and not to shy away from voicing their criticisms, be it in the press or otherwise, to instil a culture of excellence in service delivery. I also call on educators, family members and friends of persons in the employ of customer service oriented businesses to coach them about good manners, good etiquette and good service delivery; a national effort is needed.

Yours faithfully,

Lenno Craig