Customer service, what's that?

A little rant here, I forgot to mention whilst I was in Austria I had the worst customer service experience ever. Ignored, shouted at and insulted, I had to laugh and walk away otherwise I would've burst into tears after I asked a simple question about which train to take. After calmly asking her not to talk to me like a child she growled I was 'too sensitive'. Well, yes I am but that's not the point! I would never have dreamed of saying such things to anyone, let alone a customer I am supposed to be doing my best to help. In fact, they all seemed to go out of their way NOT to help me... Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right'?

What is the worst customer service you've experienced? And let's weigh it out with the best?

I remember when I was working in retail, an elderly woman was so happy with my job she gave me a hug and a kiss... the person next in the queue asked if they should do the same!

Innsbruck 2012

Back from my interpreting post at the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck! I was so lucky to have had this experience as interpreting opportunites often seem unattainable for us students! The past two weeks have been brilliant in every way; thrown in at the deep end with medical interpreting, getting to know a range of people from all backgrounds, ages with various experiences and fascinating stories, watching the best young athletes compete, learning Russian with my fellow interpreters, getting an insight into how the Games work from a behind-the-scenes perspective, exploring the wonderful city of Innsbruck and getting to grips with the dialect ;) and, cheesy as it might sound... the feeling of being part of history!

I am now back in Heidelberg and have had four exams. Only one more to go, a gruelling four hour German exam on Friday morning!

I can't believe January is nearly over, what have you been up to this month?

Beth.

out with the old, in with the new

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good one wherever you are and all I wish for is health and happiness as well as lots of nice times with my family and friends and some good food as well!

Had a bit of a shock when I got a bill (which I couldn't understand, nice way to dent my German language confidence!) from the bank and then realised I am running extremely low on funds. Thank goodness for my student loan which will come in next week. I need it to actually pay rent, let alone do anything else! I can't believe that from this year student fees are doubling, or in some cases trebling...