Havana Times

Cuba’s Renowned Ice-Cream Parlor & its Notorious “Hollow Scoops”

Jimmy Roque Martinez

Waiting to get in to the Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor. Photo: Caridad

HAVANA TIMES – Cuba’s official press and blogs have published several articles dealing with product thefts at Havana’s Coppelia ice-cream parlor. Specificially, there are reports of so-called “hollow scoops.”

A “hollow scoop” is a scoop of ice-cream that’s round and full on the outside but hollow on the inside.

My boyfriend and I go to this ice-cream parlor regularly and we always have to ask to be served again, because we always get hollow scoops.

This week, I decided to go see an official and hear, first hand, what those responsible had to say, why this happens and what the managers of Coppelia are doing to prevent such bad service.

I couldn’t see the manager, so I spoke with a Customers Service representative and the Secretary for the ice-cream parlor’s Communist Party core group.

These officials told me that, when a customer experiences this or any other kind of mistreatment, they should approach the area manager or the Customer Services Office. When I specifically asked how the company’s control mechanisms worked and what they did to prevent bad service, they mentioned a number of things.

According to them, the issue is brought up every morning with the workers and managers (they have a manager for every wing or area). The area manager is the person responsible for ensuring the quality of the service.

The Party Secretary also told me that they are open to any suggestion as to how to improve services from the population.

I stressed that customers have the right to demand good service and to get full scoops of ice-cream, but that it was the ice cream parlor’s responsibility to ensure that happens. In principle, the customer should not have to worry about being conned.

I left that office convinced we would continue to see hollow scoops of ice-cream, that I would be back to tell them the service had not improved and to demand they assume responsibility for this. I hope to be able to go back with suggestions and a printed copy of this post.

We, the customers, must work to stop this practice once and for all. I did not get the impression that the officials at Coppelia are committed to offering a quality service.