The pizza parlour also regrets that its goodwill gesture in giving 10 free pizza vouchers has been misunderstood by the complaining customer.
PETALING JAYA: Popular pizza delivery company Domino’s Pizza today said it took immediate steps to terminate the services of a trainee staff who had uttered a derogatory racial remark to a customer.
The company has also issued a memo to all its staff to remind them of the company guidelines and the consequences of contravening actions.
It is also monitoring its Customer Service Centre operations more closely, said Shamsul Amree Ab Rahman, the deputy general manager of Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd, the operators of Domino’s Pizza.
He was referring to a FMT report yesterday in which former IT consultant C Kuna had complained that she was referred to as ‘keling’ by a staff at Domino’s when she had called to order a pizza on March 26. ‘Keling’ is considered a derogatory term by Indians.
Kuna had further said that while the operators apologised for the incident through a letter, she however felt insulted when they offered her 10 free Domino’s vouchers.
“This is ridiculous. Domino’s is an international brand and it is now obvious that they have a low opinion of the Indian community. An apology letter is not enough.
“They’ve insulted me by attaching 10 free pizza vouchers to the letter. They said it was a token of appreciation because I complained, but I’m insulted…they want to settle with 10 vouchers?” she had said yesterday. She also threatened to sue Domino’s Pizza over the incident.
Goodwill gesture In a statement issued to FMT today, Dommal Food Services once again issued an apology to Kuna over the rude remark made by the trainee staff.
“Domino’s Pizza does not condone the use of any racist remarks by our staff nor do we discriminate based on creed, colour, national origin, or sex.
“To demonstrate how seriously we view this situation, within 24 hours of the said incident taking place, we took strict remedial action and terminated the services of the trainee involved and blacklisted this individual from future employment at Domino’s Pizza Malaysia,” said Shamsul Amree.
He added that its head of customer service K Atchuthan had contacted Kuna to personally apologise and explain all the remedial action that was being taken to ensure that such an incident was not repeated.
He also said that the 10 free pizza vouchers were given as a goodwill gesture, adding that the pizza company regretted any misunderstanding caused by this gesture.
“The gift was given as an indication of our goodwill. It was never our intention to treat the incident lightly or be insensitive to Kuna’s feelings,” he said.
He further clarified that based on the recording of the telephone conversation between Kuna and the trainee staff, Domino’s discovered that the staff had not uttered the word ‘lazy’ as claimed by the customer.
All calls through the company’s call centre are recorded for training and audit purposes.
“We recognize that it is Kuna’s right to proceed with any action she may decide to take.
“However, this incident is deeply and sincerely regretted by all at Domino’s Pizza as we believe that we have taken every step possible to effectively address the situation,” he added.