Poor customer service experiences in Munich

What no mention of T-com

This is my favourite involvement with their wonderful service.

Decided to get T-online (yes I know - that was my first mistake) and go wireless seeing that both me and the missus have laptops with wireless cards. However, during setup of the wireless modem I couldn't get it working (wouldn't assign IP addresses) so I got the missus to call T-Online and she not being the most computer literate asked if there was someone who spoke english. They said yes and they would call back between 6pm and 10pm. So we waited... and shock, horror our Friday evening was not interupted. So the missus calls back Sat morning and says we were waiting for an English speaking person to call back. The response - oh we don't make call backs that is not our policy so we wouldn't have said that - so the missus asks if she is being called a liar - no response - can she get an English speaking person now - response: why do want an English speaker, your German is perfect? The missus thanks her saying she hoped that was the case seeing as she has been here for 27 years! However, unless she wanted us to have a conversation in which she had to translate things then it would be best to have an english speaker. So she says 'ok will go get someone, do you mind holding for a minute'...30 MINUTES LATER WE ARE STILL HOLDING! Don't have to mention how much that cost... to cut the story short I never got help from them and fixed it myself.

Do have to say though that the guy at the T-punkt who organised everything to start with was great... that really shocked the missus in the first place.

wonder what the chances of British Telecom supplying a German speaker would be

Its not their inabilit to supply the english speaker on demand it was the promise to do so and not, then the indirect accusation my girl was a liar and then the 30 mins on hold. If they said sorry we have no English speaker we would have tried the translation route.

In England we have the "Civil Service". In Germany they don't call it that because they're not civil and there is no service!

What annoys me at the checkout is when you forget to take one of the 300 carrier bags with you from home and have to buy some more, then, the person at the checkout puts them thro nearly last so you can't pack your stuff up and have to hurry before the next customer. I'm sure they're taking the piss or are they just stupid?

Let's not mention queue jumpers and people that stand so close next to you in a queue. That really gets my goat up

No, I absolutely cannot top that BMW story. However, I was at the BMW dealership about 6 weeks ago because the handle came off the glove compartment and I wanted to also get something checked out(as the car was going off warranty in less than a month). So I made the appointment for the car to be left at the dealership one week later, the next Thursday. When I spoke to the 'quick service' about the handle to the GC, he said (really) 'Ich habe kein zeit heute, kannst du morgen zuruck kommen?' to which I responded nicely that I have an appt for the following Thursday and could he just fix it then. He said no, come back tomorrow and that's when I lost it. I said in my best German 'no, I will not come back tomorrow or the next day when YOU have time. I will be back here next Thursday, the 18th and you WILL fix it then - not when it is convenient for you.' The the guy standing next to him leaned over and says in German (again) 'she says you can fix it next Thursday'. I was so pissed off. I hate that dealership and so does my boyfriend who has, by the way, lodged a formal complaint with BMW (as an internal employee) about the service there. As well as the service you get (or don't get) when you pick up your new car at the European delivery place. It boggles the mind sometimes - how do they get away with this?

@Boomtown rat. None whatsoever. Whilst on holiday in Germany and finances in UK, I have had to ask for a German speaker on 5 occasions.
1st Access (twice)
2nd HSBC (twice)
3rd AMEX (once)

No problem at all, each occasion was left holding for less than 2 or 3 mins and all problems solved

Errrrrr, next question please

You should have purchased a proper German car (Mercedes) and take it to Schreiner in Moosburg or Landshut. Service is faultless and if ever it wasnt, your husband wont mind as they have Frau Schaumberger...my wife hates her!!!(I dont!!)

This one time a sales girl was helping me with a pair of banana-hammock undies, and when she started stroking my member, my wife got visibly upset. She explained she needed to feel how >ehem< large it was to be able to sell me the correct fit.

wait...

You said customer service fantasy, right?

Probably a bit off the track of this post, but my brother just got back from new york where he had a similar story to tell. He wanted to catch a ferry and went to the Customer information counter where the nice young lady asked, "Can I help you sir?" He asked for some directions - (must be added he is Australian - but definitely without the strong twang). She doesn't understand and says "I beg your pardon, sir". He asks again, she still doesn't understand and so she just looks down at her papers, ignores him and does something else. Anyway he found it a pretty funny cultural experience and then went and got on the wrong ferry.

ah, ok, I thought we were talking telecoms.

Access - that was a while ago - brings back memories

Customer service in Germany:

1. We got quotes from a couple of firms to install a scrolling sunblind on our patio. The supplier in our village quoted almost twice the price of another nearby firm (we're talking a couple of grand more). So we chose the other quote, and when local firm rang to follow-up, we told him we accepted an alternative quote - he slams us for not keeping our business local, and for wasting his time in getting a quote when we clearly didn't want to buy from him. The "cheap" blind we bought is now four years old and works perfectly.

2. BayWa checkout staff. No manners, no training, no customer care. The usual routine is for them simply to shout out the total - no please, no eye contact, no smile. I'm used to this by now. But last visit, after I hand over some cash, she snaps "Postleitzahl?" - to which I ask "wie bitte?" - she repeats herself, I ask "warum, bitte", she rolls her eyes and says something about how it's needed for a survey. My innocent response of "12345" sends her over the edge into a load of muttering about how some people are so rude.

I feel I must add to this thread after just getting off the phone (for 3/4 hour) with a my German car insurance company (Victoria). I do appologise as it is a bit of rant, but I need to get it out of my system.

I was given a quote 3 months ago for my new car, Euro 58/month. Nice I thought, not a bd price. This took my 7 years UK No Claims Bonus into account. The insurance salesman (to been known as Dipshit from now on) asked me to provide him with the proof of my 7 years no claims.

I gave Dipshit my cancleation document from my UK insurance which gave my name, stated 7 years no claims and had the start and end dates of my UK insurance on it. "Cheers" says Dipshit and off he trots after i have signed all the forms and given him my German Bank account details.

1 week later I get a letter telling me that my insurance will be Euro 156/month. I phone Dipshit and he says it is a mistake at head office and he will recify it. 1 week later still they take Euro 156 from my account, agin Dipshit says he will sort it out.

Next month still nothing heard and another Euro 156 goes out of my account. This time Dipshit says that head office are not accepting my No Claims because the the document I gave him does not expressly say that my UK insurance is now cancled. I point out that the Telephone and Policy numbers are on the form and 1 quick call will alay their fears. "No probs" says Dipshit "I will sort it out".

Guess what happened the next month?? Euro 156 out of my account again!!! After calling Dipshit again and getting the same "I will sort it, but not in this lifetime" reception, I decided to go straight to the Head Office.

After asking for "Customer Service" and waiting for 15 mins, then being passed around 3 people, I finally spoke to a woman (To be known as Bitchface from now on) who seemed to grasp that "Customer Service" ment I would like to speak to somebody who could help me.

Another 30 mins later and after being put on hold for 10 of that whilst they re-looked at my document Bitchface said they needed another document from my UK insures that specifically said "I was no longer insured with them". Again I said "But that what it says on the form... the insurance expired 1 week before I took out the insurance with you!!! It says 7 years No Claims Bonus!!! "

After getting off the phone (with no luck) with Bitch face, I dicided to call my UK insurance company (Admiral).

I did not have my policy number and could not remember my old car reg and I am no longer a customer of the company.

End result, direct call to customer services, very helpful guy finds all my details and a letter saying "I do not have insurance with them any more and I have 7 years No Claims Bonus", in the post to Germany, for no charge!!!

When the letter arrives (Assuming the German post office don't do a return to sender!!!) I intend to ram it down Dipshits throat and force him to shit it into Bitchfaces mouth!!!

ouch Hope things get better. This sounds pretty typical for any country though. reminds me of when I had to call BT customer services back in the UK years ago.. or even la Redoute, they illegally cashed a cheque of mine which they'd swore they'd already disposed of. Bah

@Bing****Bang

I hope you went to your bank and told them to recall the payments you made...If not, then recall your next couple of payments until the total payments are correct

From what I can understand, BMW is completely revamping this and moving the whole operation to a new building as delivery should be part of the "BMW experience"...

at the minimal on the weekend, I paid my grocery bill with EC card, and the cashier was giving out to me as my signature was not as on the card, She had the card upside down, and that was somehow my fault!

"Giving out" to you? Is that the same as putting out?

I have had my share of excellent service here and bad service but there is one that I so need to get OFF my chest as it has been driving me nuts for so many months. My girlfriend and I are both from Asia (s´pore & M´sia) and one day she suggested we go to this Thai restaurant near the Ottobrunn S Bahn station as they had these nice buffets! We got there early and the owner (she is Thai not German by the way) was not too happy to sit us down 5 minutes before the buffet started and she grudgingly did so! My friend and I helped ourselves to the starters and sat down. I grabbed the bowl of chilli from the condiment tray and put it in front of me and was told off my the owner for doing that! After our starters, we left our empty plates on the table (it´s a BUFFET) and took two new plates and put the main courses and went back to the table. At the end of the meal, she scolded us for 1. using new plates and 2. Me for not eating my bamboo shoots (which are not a favourite of mine to begin with). But with all the other customers who were German, she was an absolute customer service person´s dream!!! Finally, to top things off, when the German customers asked for their bills, they got receipts, but for us, she just looked away and told us how much our meal was!!! And here we all think the Asians are just so hospitable, to foreigners maybe, but sure as hell not to their own kind when they are all abroad! She deserved to be shot, that one!!!

I have to admit that at my local Tengelmanns the service from the Germans is shoddy although the foreigners they have are actually a lot better. What surprised me today was an Aussie asking me how to respond in German to people asking her if they could help her. This evening I was shopping at the Karstadt Oberpollinger and the guy came up to me and asked me if he could help, when I said yes, he gave me the whole rundown on everything I needed to know in the friendliest tone. I think Germany is changing, at present, you'll find they're helpful in town. It'll take a bit more time before they're more helpful further from the centre and in the countryside.

Walked into Saturn Therisienhohe yesterday and a fellow came up and asked if I needed any help.

Maybe BMW shoul dtry that approach.

BTW, on the car dealer thing - is it a German thing NOT to provide service at a car dealer? I have been into BMW, Mercedes and Porsche MANY times, and have never once been inconvenienced by a salesman. What's with that?

It is already a lot better out in the country than in the city. One of the reasons I go into munich less and less.

this didn't happen to me, but to a gal in front of me:

cashier rang up her goods, then girl paid with ec-card. she noticed right away that there was a mistake on the receipt and asked to be reimbursed the money. the cashier, looking dumb-founded said, uh, we can't do that, it's technically impossible. manager came out, said sorry, we cannot do that, you have to go back into the store and buy something, we cannot refund your money. girl went back in store, got some things and was told she had come back with goods that were over the amount she was overcharged, that she must pay the difference or get something else!
belive it or not, i have observed this twice!

a coupla weeks ago i went to Karstadt to buy a bread knife and could not find one for less than EUR25. so i went to a salesperson and said what i wanted, but not a ferrari model please. he smiled at me and said he knew what i meant and secretely led me to the hidden sortiment of breadknives for EUR3 a piece, which no normal shopper would have found. pleasant man.

I'm sorry if this was a friend of yours but you have to be a serious dumbfuck to put up with that kind of behaviour.

Perhaps it's just because I am confrontational (or arrogant or something ) but if they make a mistake you simply stand there and demand your money back. You don't just say "Uh ok" and go off and get something else for that amount. May as well bend over the conveyor belt and take one up the ass at the same time.

Last week I got some stuff that was reduced at the supermarket. The till caught my eye as it went through and I thought it was the original higher price so I checked the till receipt.

I went back to the till and pointed out the mistake.

A lot of huffing and puffing from the cashier who made a BIG carry on about having to get a supervisor, re-scan the stuff and pay me the difference in cash when I had paid by card. Then proceeded to tell me it was all my fault that the till hadn't picked up their mistake.



And the shop, yeah, you've guessed it, the WORST shop I have EVER been in:

Tesco, Bristol, UK.

Agree.

@Elfenstar

It's easy. Don't shop at Karstadt! Karstadt in Berlin is able to book back stuff, Karstadt in Munich isn't. I don't understand why it shouldn't be possible here as well. Karstadt is overpriced, the products aren't fresh and the serve is lousy (Karstadt @ Münchner Freiheit).

Actually, it was Karstadt whose customer friendliness I was happy with yesterday.

Sheez Ulysses, must we agree on everything? So your branch of Karstadt is ok, that doesn't mean the rest of them are. Try out the one at Münchner Freiheit, you'll see what I mean. I'll go check out your branch as well, just to keep you happy and be fair, like.
Ciaomychina,
MB

I was at Postbank yesterday and the lady actually helped me fill out a form instead of shooing me off into a corner.

I almost fainted!

@Silva

The postoffice at Münchner Freiheit and at Angererstr. (or something like that) has very friendly and competent people working there. I was just as surprised when greeted with a smile and treated in a fast and efficient manner!

no this wasn't a friend of mine, but this is germany! to her credit she did argue with the casier, but capitulated and went back into the shop. and like you, i would have laughed at the cashier and demanded my money. simple as that.


it wasn't Karstadt that couldn't book back, they were the friendly knife people.

the groceries thing was actually the Sparmarkt on balanstr./mittlerring (chiemseestr.)

@elfenstar

Excuse the equivocation on my behalf, I listened with one ear only it seems.

They were friendly because all the customers around them were handling massive sharp knives!

@ Tim. Having worked in the car industry for a number of years I can tell you exactly what is going on. The big boys (Merc, Audi, BMW etc) started actually asking customer what they liked and disliked. The result was the the single most hated thing was walking into a showroom to be approached by a salesman/woman and being asked if they needed to be helped. The customers said if they needed help they would ask for it. Dealers then put sales staff behind desks or glass walls and told them not to approach customers as they dont like it. What happens, the odd customer walks in and shouts loudly..."does anyone actually want to sell me a car??!"...Cant please everyone all the time!!

VW in the UK actually supply a list of biscuits that you have to supply free to customers in the showroom (and showrooms may only supply what is on the list and absolutely nothing else!!??)

Karstadt Münchner Freiheit has changed in the last year. Before their staff was never very helpfull, but thei changed totally in the last half year - helpfull, giving rebates, helping me finding things that they don't stock in other Karstadts and so on. The prices for normal goods are okay - the food department is quite overpriced.

Yes, but aren't department stores generally more pricy for food like EVERYWHERE ?

Well, my wife wrote a letter to Segmuller and received a phone call from the manager of the kitchen department where they have 40 sales staff!! He said that he had spoken to the salesman and he actually admitted that it had happened just as my wife had said in her letter. He went through her letter point by point and apologised for each complaint. He was really disappointed that we had ordered our kitchen from another retailer and he will use our complaints as an example in the next sales meeting. (He realises that if every sales person loses one 20,000 euro customer per week, it will be...er...well not good). He hopes we will use Segmuller in future and will actually send us a cheque in the post as way of apology.!!! Well, AMAZING, we cannot believe how good the response has been to a complaint!!! We will give them a second chance in future but they have lost the kitchen order. I am impressed with their response, maybe things are changing over here!!!

Just wanted to have a whinge about Elixia.. if I didn't have a dicount through my work I'd be paying 92 Euros. That said, you'd expect everything else to be a luxury.. the trainers are nice and I like working out there, but the solarium is really expensive and the other day the girl behind the counter wanted to charge me €1,20 for using a bath towel.

When I told her she can forget that, I'll just use my hand towel, she gave me one for free..

If I'm paying close to 1200 Euro a year I expect some friggin treatment

Surprising story about German bureaucracy,

We had to re register out in the sticks so off we go to the local countryside Meldeamt. No queue. Great! get in and show all the documents. She asks for our marriage certificate which we hadn't brought as it was in English. Told her this and she said, Oh it doesnt matter! So husband drives back to get it and meanwhile sge processes all of our details incl new tax cards on faith! Certificate arrives and she glances at it and says great! So now we don't have to pay for the translation! We were astonished at how easy and fast the whole process was!

True story:

We just went to the Getränkemarkt to get a case of Augustiner. It was almost closing time and we were returning an old Kasten. I go to pay and the guy says that the EC (well actually the Bankverbindung) is kaputt. So we have no cash and no way to pay. He says to go to Stadtsparkasse across the street but we decline as it isn't our bank and will cost silly money to take money out. So we say we live in the neighbourhood and will be back in the morning to buy it. He says 'OK take it and pay me tomorrow before 1 p.m.'. We were really shocked! He was like 'don't forget' but was quite happy to let us take the crate without paying.

That is true customer service!

After the better part of a year away from Germany I had almost forgotten what a fabulous place it is. I thought I would share one story:

Tengelmann, corner Augustenstrasse and Gabelsbergerstrasse. I had bought a few things and was about to walk out the door when the cashier leapt from his cubicle and accosted me at the door, demanding that I show him what I had in my pocket. I pulled out the offending article, a book, and observed "Es nennt sich sogar Taschenbuch". Smile? No. Apology? No. He just returned to his cash register without a word as if it were the most normal thing in the world to accuse me of being a thief. I would have called for the manager, but for the fact that HE was the manager. I never went back there again, and the branch has since been closed down. No connection, but a certain "Genugtuung" nevertheless.

Tengelmann is the shittiest place I have the misfortune of being stuck with. I have to frequent this one in our neighbourhood since the closest other option is also a Tengelmann and at least 15 minutes walk away.

At the local one then we have this 60+ platinum blond haired *itch from hell. She has always thrown groceries over the counter and been generally rude. During my first couple months, I was just intimidated and did my darndest best to pack all my groceries as fast as I could. Once she forgets to give me my EC card back and in my hurry to get the hell out of there I walkd out without realizing I didn't have it. In trying to locate the card next day, I went back to all the places I had been to including Tengelmann. There another cashier told me that their manager was not around so I'd have to come back later. Went back later and now he wasn't 'available' so was told to come back next day. Tired of games, I went to HVB, had them cancel the old card and ordered another one. Three weeks later (mind you 3, and I had been back to the damned place a few times already including at the ho's till), the ho looks at me and starts yelling at me as to why hadn't I picked up my card? She gave the card back to manager weeks ago she says. Didn't I care for my own things? Then she finishes her rant with 'go, go, go already!' plus some murmurings under the breath. Behind me is a row of stunned silent Germans.

F****n' wench!

Now I avoid her till scrupulously because whenever I see her I have this irrepressible urge to ram something sharp down her throat.

@snow05.. next time you catch her getting up from her seat, put a whoopie cushion on it and have a laugh.

Actually, you should just laugh at her.. that's what I do when people are being ridiculous.

I think Tengelmann employees have been told to pay more attention to possible shoplifiting lately, because they have started asking to check peoples bags lately and look into backpacks.
I blame the Ostbahnhof junkies (again)
If I was a cashier at tengelmann (heaven's forbid) I wouldn't give a flying fuck if someone was nicking something.

This must be a Munich thing.. I have never had any problems with my local Tengelmann, and the people are usually quite friendly..

Does anyone know exactly what the law is regarding them checking your rucksack/bags? Can one refuse/tell them to "go away"/poke them in the eye?

Bad customer service in Munich? Oh yeah. I mean, I live here. I must have bought something at least once right?

ba-doom-boom.

Is there such a thing as good (or even acceptable) service here. That was a rhetorical question

While we are still shopping at Tengelmanns, thought I would share my wonderful service I had.
I go to the same shop and tend to go to the same assistants but to-day the meat counter had a new young girl working there. Well I always take my kids with me and the older one (2) now knows to hold out his hand for his slice of cold meat (normally Gelbwurst) She never gave him a piece. He went apeshit. I had to drag a screaming kid around the place funny that no-one gave me dirty looks. I couldn't ask for anything that you normally get free, it was a weird situation.

It seems really silly now, do I say no to his freebie in the future? Is it their way of getting me to buy Gelbwurst?

I have actually asked for it before but I don't make a rule of it. And if they say no, they say no - wait till your kids are older and they can deal with not getting the goodies like that anymore.

And if the salespeople are really snitty, I have been known to explain loudly to my children how the sales people are being horribly rude.

I guess no one tops me for my life changing worst service in Munich.

Two months ago before my trip to Asia, my partner and i had requested (infact we did) booked an appointment @ 7.30 am Monday with a sanitary company here for fixing up our Jacuzzi for business purpose.

After the trip, we arrived in munich hoping that this coming monday we would have our Jacuzzi done.So we waited for 45 minutes and decided that we called that shit company. We have decided to speak to the boss of the company and as usual the secretary kept saying he is not available at the moment blah blah. Then finally, we decided to call every 10 minutes to look for that bastard and eventually he managed to speak to us.

So he apologised and had arranged two days later for another new appointment for us but this time it is at 1400 hours. Since my german is not that fluent i have requested my german neighbour (who speaks fluent english) for help. On that very day, we both sat in the garden since 1330 hours and waited till 1600 hours before my neighbour got so pissed off! She called and questioned the secretary about the technicians's whereabout. The secretary later said that this guy will be here in 30 minutes.

Finally...he arrived and it is normal for the first visit that the technician inspects the situation then follow up by a next appointment. That technician later told my neighbour to sign on his office invoice claiming that he did come for the appointment and had arranged the next appointment for the next day at 0745 am.

Next day arrived, he never return and we waited for him for almost 30 minutes before we decided to call again and this time THE SECRETARY SAID THAT WE DID NOT SENT ANYONE TO YOUR PLACE AND SHE DO NOT KNOW WHO THAT GUY WAS!!!

Enough is enough we said tata to tthe following shit company

Hofheinz & Janda
80999 Kirsch 12
C/34
Tel: 81 896630

Thanks to all these rotten repair/maintenance service people in germany, i have learnt to do DIY and even discovering the artistic side of me!

We never call that company again and at one time (being such a devil) i almost wanted to pack a bag of dog shit into a ziplock and place it into their business mail box with a nice little note saying thanks for the shit service! LOL

Om Suasti Astu
Peace in your heart and in the world.