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My Two Cents on Three Little Ducks

May 15, 2007 By Dana 9 Comments

Back in December, this blog post by Jesse really hit home. It is about what I have referred to as the “exact change obssession” that you so often run into at the cash registers of Czech stores. Using cash is still the most common way to pay for your shopping in the Czech Republic. Credit cards are not that popular here yet and checks just never made it to this country. You may think that paying by cash is a quick way to conclude a transaction. No waiting for the card to be processed and the bill to be signed, no waiting for the lady ahead of you in line to dig through her purse to find her checkbook and then leisurely fill out a check. When you’re paying by cash, you simply hand over a bill, get your change and off you go. Well, not in this country.

In the Czech Republic, paying by cash can be a complicated business. For a reason that I have not yet figured out, Czech stores seem to be constantly desperate for change. If you use a 1000 CZK bill (roughly 35 EUR/50 USD) to pay for 174 CZK worth of groceries, you will likely put the cash register person in a difficult situation or at least get yourself into an unwanted discussion. If you don’t have 174 crowns, you should at least be decent enough and offer 204. Only someone inconsiderate or grossly unprepared will offer a thousand crown bill. Such a troublemaker will receive a sigh and a question “Nemáte menší?” (Do you have anything smaller?). If you don’t, they’ll plead for at least four crowns.

I was at a drugstore and it was one of those days when all I had in my wallet were a few thousand crown bills that I had just gotten out of the ATM. That’s already bad enough to even enter the store, I thought. Let alone in the morning before the store has been able to collect enough change from the customers. On the other hand, I thought it would be ridiculous for me to just go home without making the purchases I needed to make and to return to the store when I had smaller bills on hand. I don’t remember what my shopping came to but it wasn’t much. Probably a couple hundred crowns. Of course I ran into trouble when I handed over my thousand crown bill. After some discussion and my assurances that it’s really all I have, the cash register woman got up and went into the back of the store to discuss the situation with her colleagues. The line behind me started getting longer and I started feeling like an offender who’s creating trouble for the cash register people, the other customers waiting in line, the whole store… Finally, the lady brought some change and I was rescued. I don’t know where she got it but it is not uncommon for desperate shop employees or their colleagues to search through their own wallets to break a large bill, or to go hunting for change in neighboring shops.

Another situation that “tought me a lesson” happened on a train once. I had bought a ticket for second class but after boarding the train, I found the second class cars to be pretty full, so I decided to move to first class and pay the supplement directly to the conductor. This is a normal thing to do, at least according to the Czech Railways rules of train travel. The supplement came to some 120 CZK and when I handed the conductor my 500 CZK bill, he looked at me like I was crazy and announced that he’s not able to make change because he doesn’t have any. I stared at him, not knowing quite how to react. Do I have to go back to second class then? Do I get to ride on first class for free? Why is this my problem anyway? I want to pay you, I have the money, here you go, please just give me my ticket. I waited for the conductor to solve what I considered to be his problem. All he did was insist that there is nothing he can do and he casually suggested that I go check with some other passengers to see if they can break my “large” bill. Of course I was extremely excited at the idea of bothering complete strangers and asking them for money. I finally understood that there was no other way if I wanted to keep my seat. So I went from compartment to compartment, asking for change, feeling like an idiot. I wondered two things: Why does the conductor have no money on him when one of his jobs is to sell tickets and supplements? And why was it me and not the conductor who had to go look for change?

I have almost become paranoid about having small change whenever I need to buy something. I check my wallet sometimes before going out and get change from Jeff if I think I’ll need it. I carefully plan where I’m going to break my large bills (imagine my concern when all that the ATM spits out are 2000 CZK notes!). I know that it’s good to pay with a large bill at a restaurant and save the change for my evening trip to the grocery store. I try to be good and proactively search through my wallet when paying so that I can come up with the exact amount and earn some gratitude at the cash register.

Cash register employees in the United States have neat little packages of coins stacked next to the register, so they can dump a new set of quarters or dimes or nickles into their little change drawer every time they run out. The customer is not bothered, the employee is free of worries. Why is it that no store owner in the Czech Republic has ever thought of this brilliant solution?

To Jesse: In my opinion, the word “kačka” as in “a crown” comes from the abbreviation “Kč”, which is pronounced as “ká čé”.

Permanence Guaranteed! For Four Months.

January 22, 2007 By Dana Leave a Comment

It seems that the dm drogerie markt drugstore has an unusual perception of permanence. If you pass by one of their storefronts these days, you may notice large signs plastered over the doors and windows that boldly proclaim:

“500 products now permanently discounted! For at least 4 months. Guaranteed!”

According to dm’s website, the lowered prices themselves are referred to as trvalé ceny (permanent prices), which again are guaranteed for a minimum of 4 months. So if you want to get your favorite brand of shampoo at that wonderful new price, remember to run to the store by May 2007, the month that marks the end of guaranteed permanence.

DM Discounted Product Sign Storefront

DM Discounted Product Sign

From Tesco with Love

October 27, 2006 By Dana Leave a Comment

I can’t help but point out another one of Kamal’s articles that we published on My Czech Republic this week. This one describes Kamal’s recent experience with the customer disservice – as I like to call the type of “service” that is still too easy to run into in the Czech Republic – at a Prague Tesco. Lo and behold, Kamal received a bouquet of flowers from Tesco the next day, with an apology and a dinner invitation. She sent it back with a note that said: “Prove that you have sent every single customer the same things.” Good job, girl!

Everything Is Possible. Absolutely Everything.

May 26, 2006 By Dana 6 Comments

Gas HeaterOur gas heater gave us a scare last night, so we decided to call the service place first thing in the morning. This morning, we pulled out the warranty booklet, which listed the name of the store where the heater was purchased, and the name, phone number, stamp and signature of the servisní mechanik who personally installed the heater in our apartment on March 21, 2005 and who was listed under the Important Numbers/Service Center. I’ll call him Mr. Vácha. Below is an abridged version of my phone conversation with him from this morning.

I dial.
On the other end: “Hello?”
It is common for private Czech service providers to answer the phone with a mere “Hello”.
Me: “Is this Mr. Vácha?”
Mr. Vácha: “Yes.”
I introduce myself and continue.
Me: “We bought a gas heater from you a year ago and something happened with it last night. There was a small explosion and we could smell that something had burned. We were wondering if we could get someone to come and take a look at it.”
Mr. Vácha: “You didn’t buy it from me.”
Not a good start. I’m annoyed but keep my cool.
Me: “Proheat on Moskevská.”
Mr. Vácha: “Oh yeah, Proheat. What’s the model?”
I read the model number off to him.
Mr. Vácha: “And what is the heater doing? Are any lights lit on it?”
Me: “The light on the left is lit orange. The other lights are off because we haven’t been using the heater since last night.”
Mr. Vácha: “It’s fine then. If it was broken, all the lights would be off.”
Me: “Yes, but last night the heater made a loud noise and we could smell something burning.”
Mr. Vácha: “What were you doing when it happened?”
Me: “I ran hot water.”
Mr. Vácha: “So run hot water.”
I run hot water.
Me: “The heater’s behaving normally and a light turned green.”
Mr. Vácha: “So it works.”
Me: “Yes, it seems to work, but I’m saying that it looks like something burned inside last night.”
Mr. Vácha: “It must be dirty.”
Me: “Dirty?”
We bought the heater 14 months ago and still consider it new.
Mr. Vácha: “Yes, it may be dusty inside and some dust may have burned.”
Me: “So a gas heater needs to be cleaned yearly?”
Mr. Vácha: “Maybe yearly, yeah.”
Pause.
Me: “I see… Do we need to clean it?”
Mr. Vácha: “Well, I don’t know if YOU should clean it.”
Pause.
Me: “Should we call someone to clean it?”
Mr. Vácha: “I can come on Tuesday and clean it.”
Pause.
Me: “So do you think that it was just some dust that burned and not a wire or some connector inside the heater?”
Mr. Vácha: “Everything is possible.”
Pause.
Mr. Vácha: “Everything is possible.”
Pause.
Mr. Vácha: “Absolutely everything is possible.”
Pause.
I’m starting to feel like Alice in Wonderland.

Me: “Ok, so in your opinion, can we continue to use the heater or not?”
Mr. Vácha: “Well, it works, doesn’t it?”
Me: “Yes, it works, but is it safe to use it?”
Mr. Vácha: “I don’t know. It’s as if you asked me if it’s safe to drive a car.”
Me: “I mean, is it safe to use the heater in the next few days?”
Mr. Vácha: “I said, it’s as if you asked me if it’s safe to drive a car.”
I feel I’m losing it. I start speaking slowly and clearly.
Me: “Based on what I have described to you that has happened, can you tell me if we can use the heater before you come on Tuesday, or do we have to shower somewhere else? We don’t want the heater to blow up on us or something. I’m just trying to understand…”
Mr. Vácha: “I’m trying to explain it to you! It’s as if you asked me if it’s safe to drive a car! I don’t know if you can use it or not. The heater is secured. If something should go terribly wrong with it, it’ll just break. It’s not broken, is it? If all you need to do is draw a bath or take a shower, maybe it’s fine to use it for short times like that. But if you have a five-year old kid, maybe you should turn it off.”
Me: “We don’t have a kid. So I guess we’ll just keep an eye on it and continue to use it and if something happens, we’ll stop.”
Mr. Vácha: “Yeah.”

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