Swissharley
11/14/2013 05:37 EST
Hi Expats
I am living since nearly 3 years in this lovely country but experienced quite some things which are very much disturbing me since I came from Switzerland to Poland. Some Polish are very unpolite when they call you and you are not speaking polish but ask them to speak in english. They than usually just hang up the phone. Also when you go into a shop and ask for something you do not see than the standard answer is " I don´t know". Friendliness and politeness is something the Polish have to learn very urgently, otherwise no foreigners will stay for a longer period of times. I know you cannot change them in a day or two but shop owners and companies should teach their staff that a happy client is a returning client.
Best regards to all of you from the south of Poland
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Carltanlan
From: France
11/14/2013 05:50 EST
No offense but after 3 years in Poland ,don't you think it is about time to learn Polish ?( Or at least basic communication for shopping etc).
Indeed ,there is no concept of service in businesses in Poland, shop employees and owners are rude and apart from those who have worked and lived in the West ,Poles have no idea of what a good customer service oriented company is but if you speak Polish at least you can complain and tell them to be polite.They are not only unpleasant to expats and foreigners but to everyone!
Therefore most Polish clients prefer to shop in places like Ikea or Carrefour which are foreign companies with better service.
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Swissharley
11/14/2013 06:24 EST
To be honest I speak some Polish for everyday use and I can go along pretty well with it. And I am telling them if I´m not satisfied with the services provided. But sales staff has to learn to be polite and helpful and should not behave like they do now. Customer service needs to be improved but it look like that shop owners are only interested in making fast money without thinking about additional business at a later stage. I give English and German language lessons to some Managers here in the South and I am trying to convince them to hire me for education of their staff. But it seems and as mentioned above, they are not interested that their employees learn how to be polite and helpful.
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julielaura1
11/14/2013 07:08 EST
I am in Rzeszow and have always been treated very well in the shops and restaurants, my Polish is pretty non existent and if the clerk doesn't understand me there is usually someone who can!
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Kasia
11/19/2013 17:53 EST
This type of behavior you see in Poland comes from many years of Communism where people worked for the state and they didn't care about the customer, the service and whether they sold something or not. Even though some years have passed and we have a new type of government you can't change people's culture and the way they have done things during 45 years of socialistic life style. Many more years will have to pass for the new generations to learn and adopt what they see in the capitalistic societies. I spent my first half of life in Poland but now after 23 yrs in the US I come to Poland and I get frustrated with some Polish services and the way they treat a client. Most of these people are good people but they carry the old baggage from the past and they simply don't know that the service should be different. I even thought about how to incorporate some training into Polish restaurants because you have to wait forever for the waiter to bring you your bill, they never check on you once they bring your food :-) Once I went to see a doctor and when I entered he asked me why I was smiling. Polish people are too serious and too formal on the outside but very good hearted, hospitable and loving people on the inside. It just takes time to see that difference. So when they treat you bad just give them the biggest smile, maybe they will learn to smile and be polite next time you come ;-)
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Swissharley
11/20/2013 05:29 EST
Hi Kasia
Thanks for your reply. Its not only the older people who are like that, also a lot of the younger ones. Like you said, it would be useful to educate them urgently not only in Restaurants but also in a lot of shops. Lets open up a business for training these people. Where are you located? I am in Bielsko-Biala. Rgds
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Swissharley
11/20/2013 05:29 EST
Hi Kasia
Thanks for your reply. Its not only the older people who are like that, also a lot of the younger ones. Like you said, it would be useful to educate them urgently not only in Restaurants but also in a lot of shops. Lets open up a business for training these people. Where are you located? I am in Bielsko-Biala. Rgds
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Kasia
11/22/2013 11:10 EST
The young ones learn from their parents and from what they see in the marketplace. It will take time for the culture to change into capitalistic way of doing business. I am in Texas and have no plans to move back to Poland at this time. And from what I know it's hard to start a business in Poland. What do you do in Bielsko Biala and what prompted you to move to Poland?
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fminnich
From: United States
11/25/2013 13:28 EST
The people in Switzerland are very polite and helpful but most of the people I have met in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia were polite and friendly too. The most unfriendly people I have met were Austrians. They seem cold in comparison.
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forinfan
1/30/2014 17:05 EST
Don't be afraid to simply say "dziekuje" (thank you) and walk out without purchasing anything. Most won't care, but sometimes it's just best to not support it. I've left 2-3 stores and never been back and passed on word to those about me to skip them. Does it make a difference? I dont' know, but I do know that one thing is certain in Poland these days, there's always another shop not too far away. Support the ones you like. I have found a number of shops that treat me well, with people who chat with me and treat me well. Just skip the bad ones. And yes, it's just a Polish thing you have to get used to. Krakow is the worst by a mile. It's a mini-Prague in the centre and has a convoluted history that isn't repeated elsewhere. I have found many places in Warsaw and noticed that a lot of small towns that don't many foreign tourists have the best service.
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fminnich
From: United States
1/30/2014 19:07 EST
We stayed in a hotel in Krakow in 2003. We were checked in by a very kind and friendly English-speaking young lady. A couple of days later, my cousin remarked "Have you noticed that nobody in Poland smiles?" and then explained that they all lost relatives in the war. I hadn't noticed but I will say that the shops I saw in Zakopanee (sp?) were not attractive.
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