In her article entitled ‘Are you being served?’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, August 19) Anna Marie Galea was scathing about how difficult it is to receive goodservice from many establishments in Malta.

I sympathise greatly with her predicament, having realised years ago, especially after living abroad, that in Malta the provision of a service is usually geared to the convenience of the provider of the service, not of those receiving it.

Furthermore, it is often viewed by the provider’s minions as largesse springing voluntarily from the goodness of their heart, and customers should not be choosy but be grateful for any ‘concessions’ (for they are seen as such) made to them.

Examples of this are widespread. In recent years there has been some improvement in certain areas, much of it due to EU-imposed standards, but we still have a long way to go to catch up with the levels of customer care in many foreign countries.