Hartley Neita, Contributor

There was a time when one of the biggest complaints about the public sector was that the various ministries and departments showed little concern for the comforts of the public. Is it so today, and how does it compare with private sector organisations?

As a former public servant and having to deal with public sector agencies from the outside, as well as having to deal more often with the private sector than before, I have been mentally assessing the quality of service I obtain from these two groups, and I thought I would share some of it with you.

First, I find it most convenient to pay my bills for light, telephone and water at Paymaster. It is a one-stop service centre and reduces the time it takes to travel from company to company and standing in long lines to pay these bills each month. So, Paymaster is a welcome institution. The staff are very pleasant, kind and helpful.

Negatives

However, the branch in Liguanea which I use has a number of negatives. To begin, the public area is extremely narrow. Each time I go there I mentally compare myself to a sardine in a can full of my comrades. If they were not comatose, they would smell each other.

The management also needs to do a study of the times the branch is most heavily used, and provide adequate staff to deal with these times of pressure.

I was once told that I was the longest living customer at the branch I use. The then assistant manager, Mrs. Louise Alcock, called me at the time saying that no member of the staff knew me and invited me to her office. It has been a wonderful relationship since. Thanks, FICB, Halfway Tree.

Then there is the Mayor of Kingston's office. I have been complaining for two years about the terrible condition of the road I live on. It is getting worse. The name of the road is Washington, but it is speltWASHINTON on the road sign. Maybe that's why the engineers cannot find it. And by the way, Mr. Mayor, the street light in front of my home has been blown for two years! Saving money?

The two supermarkets I now use are Mega Mart and HiLo, Barbican. It has been a pleasure shopping at both. There is always someone available to direct me to find what I am looking for. And each time I reach the cashiers, they greet me with a smile - no matter how tired and harassed they are - and wish me a good day

Is it so today, and how does it compare with private sector organisations?

Automated telephone answering service

Another of my grouses is the increasing number of Government departments and private sector firms who use the automated telephone answering service.

"Hello," the voice says. "We thank you for calling us and we want to be of service to you. (pause). Now if you know the extension of the person you wish to speak to, dial that number. If you know his or her name, dial their name. If you know the department or section you want, dial the number 3 ..."

And so on, until the voice says, "if you are not familiar with any of thes dial zero and an operator will attend to you."

Now that is a minute of time which is added to my telephone bill. The phone then rings for another half a minute (which I have to pay for) before the operator comes on the line.

All you organisations that are now using this automated service, please ask Cable and Wireless to remove it. My time is being wasted every day because of it.