Customer care in Hungary

We've had a bit of a discussion about this in the past.  Generally the experience is poor, even aggressive. They argue with you about everything. The only place I know of with exchange without a fight is Aldi.

I have no answers just yet, just too busy laughing, customer service? What's that?

I have been without electricity at my house since February. It was kind of my fault for signing a document I couldn't read. Two men frem EON came to the house in September 2015 and checked various things on the elecrics. They were mainly at the outside meter box but also went in the bathroom to check wiring and operation of the water heater. I guessed this was some kind of random check to make sure I had not tampered with the meters or whatever. I knew everything was OK in that respect so was not worried. Before they left they got me to sign a document. I thought it was just something to say they did some checks and I was present at the time, so I signed.

I later learned that the document was saying that the wiring was unsafe and I had a certain number of weeks to put it right or I would get cut off. This period of time expired and they cut it off when I was away in Croatia for a few days. I have visited the EON office with an interpreter, I have phoned them and others have phoned them on my behalf and nobody there is willing to give details of why I was cut off. When I visited the office they said that once an electrician was appointed to do the work and certain forms were submitted the supply would be re-connected within 10 days. The electrician put in those forms over 2 months ago but the supply is still not back on. The electrician can't tell by looking at the wiring why they thought it unsafe but assures me that by moving the meter box to a location visible from the road they will do the reconnection. He actually planted the new box in the front lawn and EON have run the new cable down the side of the pole and underground to the box. The part I'm now waiting for is them to run  cables from box to house and move the meters into the new box.

OMG!! What a nightmare, 6 months with no electric!
I really hope they get it together soon before it turns cold.

fidobsa wrote:

I have been without electricity at my house since February. .....When I visited the office they said that once an electrician was appointed to do the work and certain forms were submitted the supply would be re-connected within 10 days. The electrician put in those forms over 2 months ago but the supply is still not back on. The electrician can't tell by looking at the wiring why they thought it unsafe but assures me that by moving the meter box to a location visible from the road they will do the reconnection. He actually planted the new box in the front lawn and EON have run the new cable down the side of the pole and underground to the box. The part I'm now waiting for is them to run  cables from box to house and move the meters into the new box.

Something wrong there.  Bit of an understatement.

As far as I understand it, certain electricians are authorised to install the correct kind of meter boxes - i.e. they are approved by EON or whoever is your supplier (mine is ELMU).   They also probably wanted you to upgrade your meters.   They come around to replace them because they need recalibrating if they are the old type.

The meters should have been installed by EON when they did the cable from the pole to the box and in the presence of your EON approved electrician. The bit from the meter to your internal wiring is the business of your electrician, at least with ELMU.

There are a lot of forms to fill in and papers to sign.  There's no chance to do it without help. 

They should have told you when they were coming or better, told your electrician and he could have sorted it all directly.  I think perhaps you've fallen through some cracks in their system. I would get your interpreter on to them and your electrician asap.  It should only take a few weeks. 

We did this about 2 weeks ago and there was all sorts of nonsense like street plans, ID cards and utter irrelevancies to deal with.  Our meters are all digital now and we have a new thing called Geo or something which is like the old white meters in the UK.  Apparently if we get solar it will run backwards.  Ain't technology grand.

Having said that, if you think electricity is bad, it's 10x worse faffing around with gas and about 3 or 4x more expensive to get connected.   And that's if you've already got it.

The meters were actually renewed about 2 years ago. They are now the sort they read by taking a photo.  When I heard they were saying the wiring was not safe I thought they meant because there is no consumer unit, everything is on one circuit and there is just one circuit breaker plus a main fuse. I had visions of having to rewire the whole house to split the supply off to different rooms. I had already rewired the sockets because some of the old wire was aluminium. This was relatively easy as the wiring is in conduit so I could pull out the old wire whilst pulling in the new. To put in extra live wires to split up the circuit  would mean tearing out the old conduit and putting in bigger bore stuff, then a lot of replastering.
Yes, the electrician had to be selected from a list supplied by EON. I don't know if the delays are down to him or EON as they do have to work together, at least on this final stage of the work.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I have no answers just yet, just too busy laughing, customer service? What's that?

Hard for anyone to improve on the comment. It says it all. 

What a mess, hope it works out very soon.
How lamo of them really you could of been a paying customer for the past 6 months instead of them trying to nickel and dime you for so long with meters etc.
We have to change one of the meters in our flat soon too, think it is the electric meter.
I am lucky, I leave all the BS work to my husband who speaks HU.
Even so, he can not understand what is going on here all the time.
We must change the meter ever 7 years and it has only been 6 years .
At least that is what our paperwork says.
They left a second notice to come in an read our electric meter a couple weeks back.
We were home when they came by the first time.
Just didn't hear them knocking.
It was the yearly readings where they must enter the place and actually see the meters.
When the women came for the second reading, my husband asked her why she hadn't knocked harder or rang the bell a bit longer as the way our flat is set up it is hard to hear the front door, we can shut out the noise from the yard by closing a door.
Her lamo answer was, we only have a few moments to get to each place to read the meters.
Like it makes allot more sense to come by a second time?
Give up trying to figure things out, have to read the fine print. Next time don't sign anything without a translator looking it over first, who knows what you are actually singing if you can't read it.
Good luck must be hard to get by with candles and flashlights.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Generally the experience is poor, even aggressive. They argue with you about everything.

Indeed aggressive. Even after the event. Where the store owner then goes around gossiping about how you are the worst person ever.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The only place I know of with exchange without a fight is Aldi.

Been able to return items at Obi. And of course by EU directive all distance selling sites (i.e. when you buy on-line) must have a return policy. I have not had any problems with returns/exchanges for items I bought on-line for many years now (yes, I have to pay return shipping, but at least I can do a return).

Which is why for items over a set price, I now mostly buy on-line. Would love to support small local stores, but the behavior here often precludes it.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Her lamo answer was, we only have a few moments to get to each place to read the meters.
Like it makes allot more sense to come by a second time?

In Hungary I once ordered a pizza with extra tomato sauce. When it arrived, it had barely any tomato sauce. When I asked the waitress about that she said, and I am not kidding, the garlic bleached out the red color....

That is an example of "customer service" in Hungary. In short, for any complaint you often only get a jaw dropping excuse.

klsallee wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I have no answers just yet, just too busy laughing, customer service? What's that?

Hard for anyone to improve on the comment. It says it all. 

Title of this thread is...."Customer care in Hungary".

With a few additions it could read...."Customer? Care? In Hungary?!!!!!"

I rest my case m'lud

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

What a mess, hope it works out very soon.
How lamo of them really you could of been a paying customer for the past 6 months......

Oh, I still have to pay about 10,000 ft a month for electricity I don't get! I thought at first it was a mistake when the kept on sending me bills but I'm assured it is correct, I have to pay as long as the meters are still on my property!

fidobsa wrote:

....Oh, I still have to pay about 10,000 ft a month for electricity I don't get! I thought at first it was a mistake when the kept on sending me bills but I'm assured it is correct, I have to pay as long as the meters are still on my property!

That seems extraordinarily high.  Sure you aren't paying for some service you don't need or want?

klsallee wrote:

Indeed aggressive. Even after the event. Where the store owner then goes around gossiping about how you are the worst person ever.


Been able to return items at Obi. And of course by EU directive all distance selling sites (i.e. when you buy on-line) must have a return policy. I have not had any problems with returns/exchanges for items I bought on-line for many years now (yes, I have to pay return shipping, but at least I can do a return).

Interesting you should mention OBI as I was in there yesterday, looking for a new light for my porch. The old one was OK but it is quite difficult to remove the shade and it is not an easy place to get to as there are steps up to the entrance door so no level surface for a stepladder. I found some LED lights that seemed suitable but at 20,000 ft (about £50) were a bit pricy. I found some similar lights that were marked on the shelf at 15,000 ft  so I went for that. When I came to pay for my lamp I was charged 20,000 ft so I went back to the display to check. As usual, the items had been placed on a shelf next to a price ticket for a different item. I could not find any price ticket for my lamp so could not ask for a refund. In UK I would have complained but in Hungary I just have to accept it because I don't speak Hungarian and none of the OBI staff speak English. It's funny, this exact situation has happened to me umpteen times but never once has the price been lower than I expected, always higher!

Wowie, 10,000 a month for service is way too much, something is not right there either.
We paid for the "services" of the utility companies while we were on holiday for months .
Husband goes into each co. in person and lets them know the current meter readings and tells them we will not be using their service for X amount of months, when we get back to HU we go in again and let them know to start sending bills again.
We still pay a monthly fee to have meters and for their office fees but it is only a few bucks a month, no way is 10,000 correct, something is off my freind, has to be.
They tell us one reason the charge while we are not in country is that they must still send meter readings out to a contractor service that does the real billing for the utility companies.
I really hope you get this mess figured out and they to my mind, owe you a huge refund.
Yes, it seems a "marketing trick" to advertise something for less only to find out at the register that they either don't have the sale item in stock or the sale didn't start yet or some other excuse to get a few extra bucks out of customers.
We sometimes still make mistakes but most of the time unless we are 100% sure about a price we go to those scanner machines in the markets and double check, with large purchases we ask again at the counter, the clerk makes a big deal about it, calling people, looking mad etc. but we make them go through it because of past rip offs.
Last time was actually at OBI, we were buying just a few cans of outside paint for our window frames, couldn't make out clearly what brand was how much, went through the whole making the clerk work thing before we opened up our wallet.
Got so used to places in the US like Walmart where you can return even a slightly used item
up to 30 days for full refund or full store credits.
Not much fun to shop when you think the deck is stacked against you.
Just 2 days ago a brand of wine I was buying got a price change, they changed the pricing on the merlot and the cabernet , one was moving faster then the other so they did a price switch to get rid of the non mover.
I have gotten wise to most of those grocery store tricks.
I rarely buy clothing, new clothing in Hungary for just those reasons.

I used to have custom made ortho boots made for my casino job in Vegas, made 2 or 3 pairs every 2 years in HU.
I would be able to chose what quality of leather I wanted, what sort of sole, leather or rubber, how high the heels would be and if I wanted a pattern printed on the leather, wing tip style or not. If I wanted the laces to begin here or there, very hard to design your own shoes when there are so many options with details.
I swear, every pair was not exactly how I ordered them when I went to pick them up 2 months later. One pair had a 1 3/4 inch heel put on. I am 5'9" and I only wore ortho boots because I had need of good support, the women told me when I mentioned the heel had been put on a bit high that she thought every women could use a bit of heel? Like standing at 5'9" behind a blackjack table it was important to be taller or attractive. Been awhile since I ordered any boots but they were at least $140. a pair ten years back.
Weird since they are for medical use not for high fashion. Any old excuse will do in shops.
I just got used to not having high expectations as long as the shoe itself fitted well, they did.
One pair is more dressy then another when I ordered them all the same.

fidobsa wrote:

...... none of the OBI staff speak English. It's funny, this exact situation has happened to me umpteen times ...

In the OBI near me, one member of staff speaks English.  I also know English speakers in the car parts place Bardi.   BTW, you can get stuff from Screwfix delivered to HU now. 

I know it's probably not good for you but if English fails, German sometimes works. 

Only yesterday I was at the airport and able to have an argument with the car parking attendant in German (who wanted me to pay twice).   And using the word idiot works quite well in multiple languages.

What stuns me is that it's a basic skill for people working at an airport being able to speak English.   That particular fellow shouldn't be in that job.  Arguing with the PAYING general public is not to be encouraged but then again...Customer? Care? In Hungary????!!!.

I mentioned those issues about the electric being off for 6 months and being charged 10,000 a month for no service to my husband.
He said perhaps you signed some sort of contract with the electric co. and are still responsible to pay even though you have no service.
He said we were given a book with our contract, no one in the world even a HU speaker would want to read through it all, it is so much info.
I wonder if you can go into their offices again and speak to a supervisor. Maybe the best thing would be to cancel service and start a new contract?
Bring in a HU speaker with you so things will be clear to both parties.
My ex pat friend here in HU had some issues with her electric too, she accidentally didn't pay for awhile, just a mix up if I remember correctly.
They shut off her service to her flat.
My husband helped go through her bills,figured everything out, went with her to pay in full and all late fees everything was in order.This was on a Thursday morning.
The office worker told them both that the electric would be turned on within 24 hours.
24 hours came and went, no one came to turn her electric back on, we went to her flat, my husband and well as she had turned on the power several times, tried to connect, got up on a ladder, looked at the wires and realized we needed the electric man to physically show up and do his thing.
Husband called up the electric co. argued for a bit and demanded they send someone over as an emergency straight away, it was a Sat. and he told them she needed it now, her food was going bad in the fridge etc. She had paid extra to have quick turn on within 24 hours time.
They told my husband that the paperwork to have the power turned on was not filed in time, it was more of a case of the office worker not doing her job as she was suppose to.
We later thought she had perhaps been angry because a Foreigner  a single women alone had a nice big flat and the officer worker was jealous.
We called the emergency power man, this was around 10 am he said he couldn't be bothered until after 5!
Seemed to us he was just too lazy to come out or had to get sober first.
In the long run he called out yet another emergency man to turn the power on.
If my HU speaking husband had not pushed the issue my friend would of been without power well into Monday and would of had to go in and argue about it all.
The bad thing was she paid an extra fee to have her power on again within those 24 hours, they didn't  hold up their end of the deal, got the extra fee from her without doing any work.
My husband who is HU is still pretty sure the office worker messed things up on purpose, she because she could.
In the US I swear things do not get that personal with customers and clients. People do their jobs even if they are jealous personally about a customer and how much they have. Gesh, if things got personal everyone with a nice house would be having issues with the power co. , just doesn't happen in the states.
That's the major problem in HU with customer service people take everything like a personal attack when you demand they do their job.

I did wonder if I'm being descriminated against because I'm a foreigner. Nobody else I have spoken to has had this visit from EON to check everything so perhaps someone in the village works for them and wanted to make trouble for me. There are people who have taken against me since I got a dog. I was the only person in the village who walked their dog. My Charlie is harmless enough but when they see him, the guard dogs at the other houses start barking and it is the noise of that barking that some villagers object to. This is one of the reasons I decided to move to Croatia. In my village there most of the dogs are free to roam about so Charlie tends to make friends, not enemies.

I hate to stir up trouble but yes, we sort of feel that often there are different standards for "rich foreigners" and for others.
I can not get into it much, at this time, legally...
My HU husband and I are far from rich by any standard unless we are talking about 3 rd world standards but still we often get different treatment. It is better when I shut up or stay outside a shop or business.
Many outsiders live in a ex-pat world, a bubble where their co. helps them holds their hands the whole time they are here for their jobs.
Those who come  here on their own get a quick lesson in the "thug life".
My husband of course hates to say negative things about his country of birth but he knows things are not right many times,even he has troubles. He left HU 40 some years ago as a young man, his HU language skills are locked into the year 1971, he knows no current slang and never uses "rough words" he was a proper gent growing up and they didn't speak ugly in his parents house.
He is shocked many times when he hears HU on the st. with they way they address even each other, just rude and rough.
If they act that way with each other, what hope do us babes in the woods have?!
My friend we are sure was abused because the young women at the power co. noticed my friend had 2 properties in HU, of course she was mad, she also witnessed my friend paying cash for her bills, about 6 months worth at once, seeing the cash and the deeds on the properties set her off.
She filed the papers in the wrong place, my husband is sure of it and so is my friend.
She paid something like an extra 15,000 for 24 hour turn on, that was a waste since they didn't honor their own rules.
The power co. gave us the phone number for their emergency man, he lived outside of Budapest if you can believe it, since he was for the power co. in Budapest. He didn't want to come out to do his job, tried to talk my husband into waiting until Mon.He then had another guy come instead about 4 hours later. Either the first guy was busy watching tv and drinking or just was lazy. In any case it was bad behavior on his part.
Again, honestly do not want to make anyone paranoid but please keep an eye on Charlie, don't let him wander  from home alone, he may eat "something" that will hurt him. My HU MIL had several animals go ill  and die from a "treat" we suspected one old women who hated everyone and everything. Hard to prove but over 45 years of her being my MIL neighbor my MIL lost at least 6 beloved cats and dogs. Some people are hard to understand but if people see someone like they are not "one of us" then who knows what insanity can happen. Just walk with him and teach him to only eat from his dish or your hand, no others.

fidobsa wrote:

Oh, I still have to pay about 10,000 ft a month for electricity I don't get! I thought at first it was a mistake when the kept on sending me bills but I'm assured it is correct, I have to pay as long as the meters are still on my property!

We have EON. This is actually rather SOP for us. They take your total electrical use last year, divide by 12, and send you a bill each month for that amount. You have to pay even if you use no power this year. Then at the end of this year, when they read your meter, if you used more they will send you a bill for the difference, or if you used less you get either a refund or the over payment subtracted from your next year's monthly payment.

10,000 Forint a month I would expect as rather normal if you heat using electricity. Else, it is a bit much. But EON sends you a monthly statement of your KW usage with your bill so you can check with your meter.

Frankly, I would wait until your next yearly billing cycle ends then review this issue if they do not provide you a refund.

Note: If you have problems in Hungary, just having a translator help is often not enough. You have to hire someone who knows how to deal with government or company issues like this. If you want references, PM me.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I know it's probably not good for you but if English fails, German sometimes works.

Actually this is good advise. Even people who run small stores are required to take a course in Hungary before they can do so, and the course includes basic German (but not English).

klsallee wrote:

.....Even people who run small stores are required to take a course in Hungary before they can do so, and the course includes basic German (but not English).

I didn't know that. 

But as I said once before here, German is free in school but English has to be paid for.

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

.....Even people who run small stores are required to take a course in Hungary before they can do so, and the course includes basic German (but not English).

I didn't know that.

I know because my wife actually took the course in Hungary to run a store.

And... wait for it.... then had to correct the local Hungarian teacher on the German lesson provided because of all the grammatical mistakes (she lived in the German part of Switzerland for over two decades and speaks perfect German and even had a German language certificate to do translations).

Of course, my wife did not win any friends that day, when correcting the instructor, since these courses are quite a lucrative income source in Hungary for those that offer them because they are mandatory.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

She paid something like an extra 15,000 for 24 hour turn on, that was a waste since they didn't honor their own rules.

If one is outside Budapest, those "rules" rarely work.

That is just being realistic.

Even so, I have had rather quick service at times. Had a water main leak, and they came and fixed it within three hours. So it all depends. But one can not count on it.

I once needed to "rush" a letter to the USA. I was told at the post office, if i sent it via normal airmail it might get there in 5 days. If I paid more, and sent it special delivery, it might get there in .... 5 days. Guess which option I selected? If I need real reliable rush service, I have realized I just need to bite the nail, and pay for a UPS pickup of the letter.

I short, in Hungary, do not bother paying more for "rush service". Not worth it. Hungary is a typically "slow" country. Don't stress out about that. Just instead learn to live with it and enjoy that life pace.

klsallee wrote:

.....And... wait for it.... then had to correct the local Hungarian teacher on the German lesson provided because of all the grammatical mistakes (she lived in the German part of Switzerland for over two decades and speaks perfect German and even had a German language certificate to do translations).

Of course, my wife did not win any friends that day, when correcting the instructor, since these courses are quite a lucrative income source in Hungary for those that offer them because they are mandatory.

I can parallel that. 

We've just looked at my son's German textbook and some words appear to be nonsense or definitely not in normal use. 

We also know from my daughter's English textbooks that there are many grammatical errors. My daughter got shouted at for correcting the teacher's use of the wrong text.  And No. 1 Fluffyette gets terribly upset for being corrected when she knows she's right - as one would expect.

Mrs Fluffy knew the teaching was wrong but we had a discussion about how we could tackle it.  The answer was that the teachers are not confident in their subjects and the only way to really get them to do it right would be to change the textbook.  Yup, some hope.

fluffy2560 wrote:

My daughter got shouted at for correcting the teacher's use of the wrong text.

....snip....

The answer was that the teachers are not confident in their subjects and the only way to really get them to do it right would be to change the textbook.

A teacher that shouts at a child has more problems than simply not being confident in their work. That is completely unprofessional behavior, on many levels and for many reasons.

Changing the quality of the book will probably not alter this more fundamental problem.

Teachers that berate children should not teach.
I think I should answer this on another post but...
When my father was a Polish/American immigrant of age 7 his teacher mistreated him and my one armed Polish Grandmother took care of it.
This was in the late 1920's in Conn.
My young father wanted to use the WC, his teacher wouldn't let him leave his seat and go.
He had a embarrassing accident, went home and told his mother.
Next day  at school all of a sudden his mother comes into his class , wearing her headscarf and housedress, only having one arm.
She went to the teacher and in her broken English told her to treat my father better or she would strangle her, she actually did put her hand around the teachers neck and give her a toss.
My father said after that, he pretty much had free reign of the school halls.
Sometimes teachers have to learn things too.

If I thought there would be a market for it, I would do a start-up Secret Shopper program here from a non-Hungarian point of view. It is doubtful most employers or business owners really care.

I am not certain that my Hungarian friends have better experiences than I, but most of mine are not worthy of praise.

When I do have a good experience, I Tweet, Facebook, blog, and write about it to reinforce the service and let others know.

Hate to say it but I really feel it is true, most shop workers don't know or care if you are a English or other non HU speaker.
They may be suffering from some form of xenophobia, they believe you have more money then they do, they are not being paid enough to deal with a spoiled you or me,they may think you are a one time customer, a tourist and that your business doesn't mean much either way.
In other words, S**** You and me.
Sort of upsets me some as I always worked with the public in my work years, total customer service, if we didn't understand a clients language we sort of went overboard trying to make them feel comfortable, might even call another shop or ask someone to come over and explain things in the clients language.
I worked in many hair salons as a one day fill in when someone was ill, one shop was in a mostly Mexican area, I was the only hairdresser in that shop who didn't speak Spanish, I still went out of my way to make sure the clients were happy with their haircuts, not even my normal place of business.
In the US we try to treat every customer the same, not one price or one serivce style depending on if we liked you or not.
I go into a few of the same shops over and over again, they now treat me ok because I go in all the time, often with my HU speaking husband and often by myself. They got used to seeing me every few days so I usually have no problems now.
Still whenever we do business in a shop we have never dealt with before, my husband goes in alone and only speaks in HU.
When we go to a everyday shop and the clerks hear us speaking in English to each other, they try to answer my husband back in English or they just toss his change back into his hand, he then says something in Hu to them and their face changes, like oh no.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Hate to say it but I really feel it is true, most shop workers don't know or care if you are a English or other non HU speaker.
They may be suffering from some form of xenophobia, .....
When we go to a everyday shop and the clerks hear us speaking in English to each other, they try to answer my husband back in English or they just toss his change back into his hand, he then says something in Hu to them and their face changes, like oh no.

Years ago, Mrs Fluffy and I were driving our British car in Budapest and some kids started shouting at us.  One of the kids started shouted "stupid English".   The parents were just silent. Mrs Fluffy started berating the kid and the parents in Hungarian.  Never seen people's faces drop so fast.

I don't want to take this off topic but will just give a link to the equivalent thread in the Croatia forum:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 16#3346538

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

They may be suffering from some form of xenophobia, they believe you have more money then they do, they are not being paid enough to deal with a spoiled you or me,they may think you are a one time customer, a tourist and that your business doesn't mean much either way.

Reply at:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … =5#3346558

Customer care ??

In Hungary ??

Yuh huh !!

Just an anecdote  about the past couple of days.  I had cause to replace the suspension legs/front shocks on my car. On one side, the spring broke so have to replace both springs (and therefore the suspension legs/shocks).  If I don't replace both the alignment will be out of whack. 

The problem with car springs is that they are under considerable compression and a very dangerous object if you mess it up. I have screw type spring compressors but they are a bit rubbish (even dangerous) so Mrs Fluffy took the bits to a local garage on the grounds they might have a hydraulic or air spring compressor which would be far less dangerous  to use.

We got the thing back eventually, took them 2 days which is ludicrous.  Should have taken about 30 mins.     They obviously had used screw type compressors - I could have  done this myself.  I could have bought a hydraulic compressor myself for about 40K HUF.   This fix cost me HUF 5K.

So the main point is the guy in the garage spent the first few minutes berating Mrs Fluffy for "stealing work" from "honest" garage people by asking for them to put the spring on the leg and not asking them to do the other work of getting it into the car (I can do that myself). 

The garage owner's rationalising analogy was - if you buy flowers only or get them out of your garden you don't then take them to the florist to get them arranged.   

IMHO, If they are getting paid and they have the choice, then they should either say, "no thank you, we don't want that work" or they should STFU and do a quality job as requested.

I can only say their work was sufficient - missed out a rust proofing cover on the spring end (might even have been deliberate).   But for the hassle, pfff....bad feelings all around.

Sorry, I just posted on another subject line about how we have just spent the last 3 to 3 1/2 hours on skype helping our son in Vegas do a "simple" brake pad job on his car.
Can't trust mechanics anywhere.
I guess you won't be using that shop again!
Even health coverage takes forever here and in the US too depending on what type of insurance one has.
Safe driving, hope the shocks work well for you.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
I guess you won't be using that shop again!
...

No, totally off my Christmas card list.   Stupid attitude.  But this is what we find here, no thought about repeat business.  We're not finding that (yet) with most of our construction workers but garages and shops, it's just common working practice. Short sighted.

fluffy2560 wrote:

But this is what we find here, no thought about repeat business.

When my wife and I first moved to Hungary (she is Hungarian but lived abroad for almost 30 years) we were interested in starting a local business. So we contacted a local attorney to help us set up the business. She (the attorney) literally screwed up everything so much we ended up not forming the business.

Later, after living her a short time, we learned that many people here (i.e. local Hungarians) had similar experiences with this attorney, who appears to be the most incompetent attorney on the planet. Everything she touched went wrong.

Then one day, my wife was talking to someone (a Hungarian) who was complaining about the third time he went to this attorney, and the attorney, again, screwed up. So my wife asked, why he kept going back to this attorney if this attorney always screwed up his issues, and his reply was "Because I went to school with her".

Bang.

There it is.

The "western" idea about repeat business does not work here like it does in the West, where competence is rewarded. All that matters here is long term relationships. That is, you give the work to your buddy even if your buddy screws you over, time and time again. Because "buddy loyalty" is more important than getting a quality product or value for your money. Very, very tribal. That is the source of "repeat business" here.

Welcome to Hungary. 

klsallee wrote:

....up. So my wife asked, why he kept going back to this attorney if this attorney always screwed up his issues, and his reply was "Because I went to school with her".....All that matters here is long term relationships. That is, you give the work to your buddy even if your buddy screws you over, time and time again. Because "buddy loyalty" is more important than getting a quality product or value for your money. Very, very tribal. That is the source of "repeat business" here.

Welcome to Hungary. 

I think that does not always work.  Mrs Fluffy seeks out people she did not go to school with so there's no question of personal loyalty, however incompetent.  They can be pressured and hassled.  I work on one definition of madness being doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.

And a car fixing update:

BTW, having looked under my car, and having got the replacement suspension leg in by dropping the subframe, I found a number of bolts missing and loose from when the "professionals" fixed the clutch.  Not only that, they stripped off some of the captive nuts inside the body.  Looks like I'll have to get the welder out.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I think that does not always work. 
Mrs Fluffy seeks out people she did not go to school with so there's no question of personal loyalty, however incompetent.  They can be pressured and hassled.  I work on one definition of madness being doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result

You are right, it does not have to always work. But it need not, yet still have the same effect why they may not care about repeat customers.

In game theory, it is a non-coperative game, and having their buddies as guaranteed clients places the local business climate here into a Nash equilibrium where the business does not have to treat customers well since doing so could destroy the equilibrium to there disadvantage (treat a customer nice and do good work and pretty soon all the school chums will expect that too). But getting a new customer via a guilt trip can move the equilibrium in their favor without the business having to change its strategy. So the business is not acting insane, it is in fact acting quite predictably within the local conditions pretty much as expected by game theory.

What is "insane" rather are the local conditions causing this type of equilibrium in a position that allows the business to maintain poor customer service and still have a viable business.