My customer service/client response experience in Geneva, Switzerland

With the limited time I have spent in Switzerland, I have had a couple of situations where I need to be a customer or client in a particular business situation. As a background of literature, my situation of being a client started out even since before I set foot in this country when I was still applying for my internship at one of the international organizations in Geneva.

My application was, in other words, I think handled very 'unprofessionally' by the organization I am currently working. I submitted it June, 2006 and a couple of days later, got an email response that they are interested in my application. With this assurance of acceptance from my would-be supervisor, I accepted various Canadian obligations with regards to my academics as to keep my timetable open in time for my anticipated deployment in Geneva come January, 2007.

Days and months passed by and I didn't receive a formal written confirmation of my internship from my organization. I sent emails every now and then to follow up things but still, I was not able to get a timely reply nor a confirmation of the receipt of my email. I actually sent them 33 emails to be exact just to prick their butts a little bit to remind them that I am here waiting for their actions regarding my internship.

Finally, come 8 December 2006, the document I was waiting for arrived after nearly 6 months of waiting. Because of their inaction on my contract, I was not able to find a decent place to stay in Geneva nor was I able to scout the best ticket price available. I was also rushed when I applied for my immigration document to Switzerland.

Fast-forward. Arriving in Geneva, each 'foreigner' as the Swiss immigration calls us, need to obtain a carte de legitimation to prove that we are indeed of legal status in this country. Being law-abiding to the best I could be, I filled up the necessary form and submitted them to the person responsible on my first day of work. I actually felt this document is not that important, as I was thinking that I am already in Switzerland and this is just another ID card and have my identification documents intact with me. Little did I know that I will need this card to apply for visas to visit other European countries.

Time passed by and two months later, the card has not arrived yet. I felt really furious as my immigration document will be expiring by the end of March. All the what if's have been crossing my mind... what if the card did not arrive at the end of my visa term? That means I will be illegal here? I didn't really care about the European travel thing though, what I did care about is getting my card and that I don't violate any immigration laws in this country.

Of course, what did I do during the processing of the document? Every week or two, I sent emails and left phone messages to the person responsible in processing this document in our organization. And everytime I call her office, either she is not there or I receive a message that she is on vacation. How many days of vacation do people here have per year? 90? As always, in true Geneva international organization fashion, my emails and phone messages fell on deaf ears and I didn't get any response from them. To fast forward the story, I got my card about 2 weeks ago.

Another issue that I had with my workplace is regarding my salary. With Switzerland's enormously high prices, having a continuous supply of money is of essential concern here. Being a foreigner trying to get yourself adapted with Swiss prices, you cannot help but just go crazy and hysterical with the fact that your salary will be postponed for a month. It's ok if you are from Switzerland going to Canada where living expenses are way more affordable but going to Switzerland where an 8 oz. bottle of Coke costs $3.50, it can really drive you insane and run out of logic. It's justifiable if it is a fat salary that the company need some time to prepare its disbursements, but c'mon I am just earning half the minimum salary amount a Swiss will earn per month (yes, half of a minimum salary) that I don't even know what amount of budgeting I would do to make ends meet. To fast forward again, I got my salary a month delayed.

Third case. Two weeks ago, I requested an attestation from our Bulova-sporting suite-clad American-accented HR officer. An attestation is what we call a certification, and I basically requested this document so that I can proceed with my Schengen visa application to somewhat have an escape with the high prices of Switzerland. I actually requested the same document before, last January during my bid to secure a French visa during the housing crisis. Unfortunately, I can no longer use it as the winter drizzle in Bern rendered the document unlegible and unprofessional enough by European standards. With visa fees running as high as 100 SFr and all the travelling I needed to accomplish to Berne, I don't want to risk being rejected and prefer to accomplish all the requirements as perfectly as possible.

I really thought my request would be pretty straightforward as a file has already been created under my name with this document type. All he needed to do is to retrive my file in his computer, change the date and print it usign the office's letter form. I was wrong! Up until now, after 8 emails and 5 mailbox messages left, my certification has not arrived yet. This actually compounds the time I need to apply for a visa as processing takes approximately 2 weeks depending upon wheter they like your background or not. And it could take over a month as well if the Europeans consider your citizenship/background as 'undesirable' and 'dangerous'.

Reflecting on this experiences I had, having three exceptional cases I think is no longer an isolated and random thing. It is no longer random if on three occasions, the same thing happens to you again and again and again - you need to wait, email, leave message, wait, email, leave message, wait, email, leave message... in that sequence of events and finally yell out to them to vent out your frustrations and have them treat you seriously. Before I arrived to Geneva, I really cared about being polite and sensitive not to spark any confrontation with them. But my experiences tend to tranform me into a rabid animal who would apply the law of nature and disorder just to have what I want.

If that's how they want things done, then I could be the most cruel, impolite individual to deal with. I am ready....