SIR: I can inform Mike Vokes (re. your Letters pages last week) that he is far from alone in waiting in vain for telephone calls to be answered at the new leisure centre.

The reason for the poor service is not extra interest in a new facility, nor teething problems, nor something to be blamed on Covid measures. It is simply that the new operator (Everyone Active) has chosen to perpetuate a bad practice that we endured at River Park for many years i.e. expecting reception staff to also answer the phones. Those staff always seem to be busy enough with face to face customers and they (quite rightly) deal with them first, before taking incoming calls. Consequently, those calls can take several minutes to be answered or often don’t get answered at all. To be fair, Everyone Active is not unique with its attitude to phone calls and many companies today seem to operate on the principle that if you stick to doing business via their website then you are a valued customer, but try to contact them by phone and you become a bit of a pain - and are treated accordingly!

I could make a suggestion that when the 01962 848700 number is not answered within six rings, it automatically diverts to back office staff so that some degree of customer service is maintained, but that obviously depends on levels of staffing elsewhere, knowledge of booking systems etc.

The other situation I was disappointed to see repeated was the under-staffing of the new cafe. Just like over many years at River Park, I saw just one pressured member of staff having to cope with a queue of people and, as some of the drinks took time to prepare, so the queue grew longer and some people walked away. The Centre has created a pleasant cafe setting, so why not staff it properly, give prompt service and thereby maximise the earnings potential?

The new leisure centre has much to commend it and these relatively minor changes would improve the service further to the benefit of customers and staff alike.

C J Ashcroft,

Main Road,

Martyr Worthy