AS regular users of the Discovery Centre cafeteria at the Boating Lake, at least once a week, 52 weeks of the year, my wife and I would like to register our protest at the ridiculous table service scheme.
They are not overseeing a branch of Langham's or the restaurant at the Savoy, this is a seaside cafe/snack bar where the public can go for a coffee or a quick bite to eat.
The Discovery Centre has neither the facilities nor staff numbers to do a table service successfully.
If any member of staff does not report for work one day – and let's be perfectly honest, what business does not have staffing problems on a day-to- day basis – the hare-brained scheme puts more pressure on the staff there, who are doing a perfectly good job without cack-handed interference. Before long you will have no regular clients.
I hope that they realise that there is no way to check if people walk out without paying because:
1. There are two entrance/exits from the cafeteria and
2. The person taking the orders are not taking the money.
This becomes more of a problem with this scheme being extended to the outside tables.
This cafe is owned by the council, who need every penny the cafe generates, apart from the fact that as a council tax payer I object to any scheme that has the potential to lose money, never mind give it away in freebies to people who don't pay for their food and drink.
Finally the Discovery Centre cafe runs and has run in the past quite smoothly and does not need any tweaking or interference from some meddler.
They should remember the old saying, if it ain't broken, don't fix it.
David McIntyre, Mallard Close, Healing.
In response, Sue Marshall, operations manager at the centre, said waitress service had been introduced due to customer demand and was proving popular with the growing number of visitors.
She added: "Our regular customers have told us they are very happy with the new service and feel it has made it a more comfortable and relaxed environment for them .
"The majority of cafes in and around the area use waitress service and the new operation has also increased visitor numbers to the cafe and our takings are up."
I READ with interest the Viewpoint on the Discovery Centre on March 19.
My friend and I went for lunch today. We arrived at 12.20pm and at 1.15pm were still waiting for our food.
The toilets were dirty with paper over the floor and one of the toilet seats was broken.
Other customers appeared to be unhappy about the service and in many cases had to clear dirty crockery to sit at a table.
Details supplied
Sue Marshall said customers regularly feedback on how impressed they are with the service and the facilities provided, but as the customer hadn't provided contact details, it was impossible to verify the length they'd had to wait.
"We pride ourselves on serving customers as soon as we're able, but on the day in question we had a staff member ring in ill at late notice, so that had a knock-on effect for which we apologised to customers on the day," she added.
"With regards to the toilets, they are cleaned daily and the reported broken seat was, in fact, just wobbly and was repaired the following day."
