La Sirena still disappointing

Now the hubbub has died down, it�s easier to be more positive about the new La Sirena supermarket in Puerto Plata. If you pick your time carefully, you can avoid the queues. The range of produce is overall better than other supermarkets and the prices slightly better.

It�s not without its own problems though.

If you�ve been here a while, you�ve probably got used to the checkout boys packing your bags and then transporting them to your car. Not at La Sirena. The checkout girl places each item in a bag after she has run it through the till. You then have to place all the bags into a trolley and transport it to your car. While I don�t mind taking it to the car, the fact that the checkout girl has to pack your items slows the whole process down to the slowest possible. Again, I don�t understand why the Ramos Group don�t just copy the models laid down by other countries. They seem to want to reinvent the wheel - but badly. �A circular wheel is no good for the Dominican Republic � we prefer it triangular.�
In other countries, supermarkets either have dedicated packers, or they allow you to pack your own stuff, which means the process is much, much quicker.

The �customer is always wrong� mentality as is seen in most Dominican stores also still prevails in this new store.

After selecting some Yucca from a clearly marked pile with a clear price of 5 pesos per pound, and taking it to the weighing/pricing counter, we were told that the price was 15 pesos per pound and it wasn�t yucca. No amount of telling them the price is clearly written on a placard, and even though we are foreigners we do know exactly what a yucca is, was of any use. You are the customer and a foreigner � therefore you are wrong.

So we left the yucca there, much to the amusement of the staff who as usual really do not give a fig�s arse whether anything is sold or not.

And still loads of items un-priced � why? If you can�t get the staff to price the products, how do you expect to sell them? I make a point of never buying anything from a store where the price is not marked.

Oddly enough for such a large store, they are still missing some basic items, reasonably priced tea-bags, tuna chunks and a few other items were not in evidence.

Tropical � all is forgiven!!

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