Dubai: Regular customers at the new fish market in Deira have complained of poor service and delays in cutting and cleaning of fish.
The Waterfront Market, which replaced the now demolished Deira Fish Market, has a centralised and modernised fish cutting and cleaning section with paper tokens and a public announcement system, but the buyers are unhappy with the service.
Mohammad Hussain, an Indian trader based in Deira who visits the market regularly, claimed that he faces long delays everytime he gives his purchase for cleaning.
“I gave my fish for cleaning and cutting, but more than 45 minutes later, the guys at the counter had no idea where my fish was. After a lot of searching they found the fish, but the job wasn’t done. I have faced this situation before,” Hussain said.
Another expatriate, who wished to remain anonymous, said the waiting time ranges from 20 to 30 minutes.
“I miss the service we used to get at the old market. I agree the place was not modern and clean, but at least as a regular customer I knew the people there and I had the choice of working with only those I knew. It’s a different story here. It’s a centralised system and you give your fish at the counter and you don’t get personalised service anymore,” said a Filipino expatriate.
Apart from delays, the poor quality of cleaning and cutting also bothers many.
Ahmad Shamsuddin complained that most of the time the fish is not cut the way he wants.
“The staff in the cutting section are mostly in a hurry and do a poor job. People at the counter don’t pass on proper information about the way a customer wants the fish to be cut. I have had this issue several times and I have seen several others arguing about this,” Shamsuddin said.
Those who buy big fish like King Fish, Lemon Fish, Marlin and Hammour face the issue more than others.
“In the old market, those who sold big fish used to sell it loose on a per kg basis and we would have them cut it the way we want like slices, or fillets, or big pieces. These big fish sellers are now not allowed to cut their fish, so we have to take the whole fish to the cutters, who don’t seem to have an idea how to cut big fish,” said Salem Ali, another regular buyer.
Responding to the concerns, the operator of the fish cutting section, Abdur Raheem, said that the fish cutting process will see an upgrade soon, with more staff and more counters which will help reduce the delays.
“We have only four counters now, three for receiving and one for deliveries, which I guess are not enough. We are currently working adding four more counters which will open in two weeks and I hope that will help a bit,” said Abdur Raheem, who has a staff of 200 people working at the cutting and cleaning section.
Raheem added that the upgrade will also include new token system that will allow customers to choose from a range of cutting styles available.
“We will introduce a menu with different cutting styles and customers will be able to choose any style they like. Once a style is chose a tag will be printed and stuck on the customer’s shopping that will indicate to the cutter what style of cut is required. This will remove the communication issue we are facing currently,” he added.
Adding to the convenience of customers, a SMS notification system will also be introduced shortly.
“We are working on introducing the SMS notification system in the next two weeks. We will take down the mobile number when we receive the fish and upon completion of the job the customers will be notified via SMS. This will give customer freedom to continue their shopping at other sections of the market rather than waiting,” said Raheem.
He said that the new machinery will be set up shortly and expedite the process.
Fish cutting at the Waterfront Market costs Dh2, while cleaning of prawns, shrimps and crabs costs Dh3.
