Good service

I'd like you to read this carefully. Otherwise, you might easily get the wrong impression.

As I've said here before, I love being in America. I love the cities, the countryside and the friendliness of the people. Yes, give me superficial friendliness — if, indeed, it is superficial — over superficial grumpiness.

A colleague recently came back from a holiday in the US and was eulogizing about the friendliness, helpfulness and openness of the people — and the great customer service.

I know what she means about great customer service. Here's an experience that I had recently.

I bought an item for 49.99 and then four days later saw it at the same store (as one says in US English) reduced to just 29.99. My first reaction was to be a bit annoyed. My second reaction was to tell myself not to get upset; this was bad luck but hardly the end of the world.

My third reaction was to contact the store to see if they would refund me the difference between the price I had paid and the sale price.

They agreed immediately on the phone and 30 minutes later I visited the store and picked up the refund. What brilliant customer service! And how typically American!

Except that this incident didn't take place in the US. It took place in Germering, Germany. The item in question was a washing stand. The shop was the DIY superstore Obi. And the currency was euros.

Customer service has traditionally been seen as a weak point in Germany's economy. Things are improving, but they still have a long way to go to reach American standards.

Reputations also take a long time to change. Prejudices and stereotypes influence the way we see things. If we expect bad customer service in Germany, that's what we'll see. If we expect good service in the US, we'll see that too (even though I've experienced awful service in New York).

For more about cultural differences and prejudices, see the blog by my colleague and intercultural expert Robert Gibson.