There is no such thing as Costumer Service!

In Europe, the concept of "Customer Service" is not exactly the same as we are used to in the US. Don't get me wrong, many things are great in Europe, but they still don't believe that crap of "the client is always right". They KNOW they are doing YOU a favor, even if you are the one PAYING!

The first time I noticed that, was many years ago, when I had a Venezuelan Passport.
I was traveling to Europe with a friend, and we were coming to Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium.

I went to the French Consulate in New York, since France was the only country that required a visa. In there, they asked me where I was traveling, and I told them. Then, they insisted I should ask for the Visa for Germany since I was going to be there the longest. But Germany didn't required Visa for Venezuelan tourists. It took me a good 10 minutes to convince the woman that she was supposed to be the one giving me the visa. And finally, after paying some $40 I got it.


When I moved to Germany I also discover that again, Customer Service was not the "strong" skill of many companies.
For example in January, Deutsche Telecom called to offer me a special deal with my DSL, an upgrade that required a new router, plus free calls in Germany, all for just 1 more Euro a month. So, I said yes. Almost 3 weeks later, one day I didn't have Internet access through DSL. Since my best friend was experiencing the same, I thought maybe it was a thing in Berlin. It was a Wednesday. Thursday, still no DSL. So I called Telecom. And they said that it was because they switched me already to the improved DSL... but Oh! I haven't got the router yet!! And I need the internet, since I WORK on the internet! I was lucky enough that I could call the "English" line where, if you are lucky, someone that speaks English will answer. So, they ordered my old connection re-connected, and I told them that I would call when I got the router.
One week later, finally the router arrives. I try to install it, follow all the instructions, follow everything and then... nothing! No connection was made. In the meantime, my best friend had spent more than a week and a half without internet, because there was a problem with DSL that was provided by Telecom, but her Internet provider was AOL, and they could not help her, because AOL didn't have access to DSL, and Telecom would not help her because she was not a client for their Internet. And by the way, AOL is my internet provider and Telecom provides DSL.
So, I call Telecom, they were very patient, and the guy explained to me for over 20 minutes what I should do for the configuration, since I have a Mac and the instructions were for Windows... After 20 minutes he asked me for my client number, and I gave it to him. He insisted he needed one that was different, which was my internet access client number. When I told him AOL provided my Internet, the patient and nice guy became a completely different person! Oh, then I can't help you! You have to call AOL! But it was Telecom offering me the new service! I just knew there was only one solution: CANCEL THE NEW CONTRACT AND RETURN THE ROUTER! (Which by the way, they offer for free on the phone and then sent me the bill for 58,49€!)

And this week, I spent 5 days trying to get a reservation for 4 tickets from Barcelona to Caracas. It was a complete and total nightmare!!! The Customer Service this time was in Spain. They rejected my credit card twice, requesting a bank transfer instead. I called the US to the Bank that issued my Card and asked what was the problem, and they said they have not received anything! When I told the spaniard company that they can call collect and ask for authorization over the phone, they say: "I'm sorry but we are not used to do that". After coordinating with many people I finally get them the transfer, and 2 hours after the transfer was made, they sent me an e-mail telling me that unfortunately my reservation was canceled, and I would have to make another reservation, which is now almost 400€ more!!
I felt I was becoming THE HULK! I felt like my skin was green and I could break that woman's neck over the phone! But instead I had to be calmed and collected, because of course she might not be as "diligent" as she has been so far! That was terrible!
I'm sorry about ranting, but in cases like the ones above, I really miss the United States Customer Service, where the client is always right!