Mayor Drew Dilkens said he’s fielding an unprecedented volume of complaints from people upset with the service — or lack thereof — from the food concessions at the city’s arenas and downtown aquatic centre.

The big complaint is they aren’t open when they should be, the mayor said Monday, as he put the brakes on a new deal with the operator, CGC Concessions, which was seeking a reduction in the fees it pays the city — from a total of $80,000 annually to $36,000.  CGC was citing lower-than-expected revenues due to a surprising lack of foot traffic at the four arenas and the aquatic centre, and was threatening to walk away without a new deal.

But Dilkens said if CGC wants to re-open the contract because of its concerns, the city has concerns it wants addressed as well. Council voted to send staff back to renegotiate the deal to ensure the concessions are open when they should be.

The mayor said he’s heard complaints from staff, the public, Windsor Minor Hockey officials and other heavy users of the arenas and aquatic centre, “telling me the concessions aren’t open at times when people are there.”

On one occasion, he said, there were 300 high school students at Adventure Bay water park, and the concession wasn’t open. When someone finally did get there to open, there was only a single worker who was overwhelmed by the demands of 300 hungry teens. 

“We need to do better and we’re hearing from residents like I never have in 11 years,” Dilkens said. 

He said the contract with CGC doesn’t spell out when the concessions must be open. “We expect the concessions will be there when people are there,” he said. 

“If our guests receive poor service from a concession, it reflects on us,” he said, explaining that customers don’t know the concessions are run by a private company.

bcross@postmedia.com