Fraud?

Today's Route

     During our stay in Germany, we were really happy campers all of the time except for one abominable thing. I'll mention it.
     We were waiting for the bus in front of the Novotel Hotel. We got to the designated point at 8:50 and our bus was to come at 9:00. However, the bus still hadn't shown up by 9:20. I called the bus company, Steiert, which we had used two days before, and the lady on the other end of the line just said, "It was canceled" in a businesslike manner. Just before starting our tour to Insel Mainau two days before, I was told that today's bus tour would be held, and I paid the tour fee at that time in Hinterzarten. Then, the tour had been canceled abruptly without any notice. Why didn't they call us? They knew our hotel and my cell phone number. I'm not sure but, it might be because most people who would have joined the tour canceled it. Anyway, the company could have called us the previous night so that we could figure out another sightseeing plan. Nevertheless they didn't. I thought that they should apologize to us at first, but they didn't. Their attitude was just a businesslike manner. I got pissed off about their attitude. If the lady on the opposite side of the phone had apologized sincerely, it would have been okay and I would have accepted her excuse. I couldn't forgive her and asked her about the 41 Euro that we had already paid though I didn't miss the 41 Euro. To my surprise, are you sitting down?, she told us to come to Hinterzarten to receive the money. Hinterzarten is a 50 minute train ride from Freiburg and two round tickets cost 20 Euro. We didn't want to waste two more hours and 20 Euro to get 41 Euro. I answered as my parting shot, "We have no time! If you are sincere, you can ask the hotel to repay us instead of you." I didn't miss the 41 Euro, but we missed three or four hours in Freiburg. What do you think about that situation if it were in Japan? The company would issue a kind of discount ticket so that we could join the bus tour again. They would manage to clean its tarnished image. Trust is the key in Japan. Or, is the above the German way? I was disappointed but I don't want to believe it. I would give the sage advice to the people who will visit Freiburg from Matsuyama city from now. What advice? Naturally, "Don't use Steiert!"
     I'd also like to add for the sake of the Steiert that dirty bills of 41 Euro were put on the bed when we came back, but there was no message for apologies.
     One more thing, when we were in front of the Novotel Hotel, I saw the mayor, Herr Dieter Salomon, entering the adjacent building, whom I had a short talk with in Matsuyama this spring, but he seemed to be busy and I didn't speak to him.

(Vocabulary)
abominable  忌まわしい, 言語道断な = terrible
the other end of the line  電話の向こう側
in a businesslike manner [way]  事務的に
as a parting shot  捨て台詞で
clean one's tarnished image  汚名返上する
tarnish [他] 〈評判・イメージなど〉 を傷つける, 汚す

(KW: 口コミ フライブルク バスツアー 松山 姉妹都市 ヒンターツァルテン ヒンターザルテン スタイアート シュタイアート シュタイエルト スタイエルト  Omnibus Reisen in Hinterzarten und Feldberg STEIERT )

Comments

[KUMO]

Hi, Klaus,

Thanks for your comment and Don't worry.

I hope that someone who has something to do with Steiert would read this entry someday. I don't hate your country and my daughter started preparing for staying in Germany. She will learn German in Freiburg next year.

Anyway, I really wanted to taste the Alsace wine in its land of birth, and I should do it in the not too distant future.

[Klaus]

Doc, sorry to hear about that "incident".

And, NO, this is definitely not the German way!! If you can send me the details, I will contact the company and - well, lets see what can be done!

Yes, Japan is in this aspect somewhat different (at least most of the time). I never had any problems like this in the 19 years that I am over here.

So, please get with me (a short e-mail will be fine) and I will see what I can do.

[Sarah]

What a disappointing day. It's too bad that you missed out on your tour and had a bad experience with a tour company. Unfortunately that happens often, all over. We had some similar experiences while in Thailand last summer. Japan is amazing when it comes to kindness and trust. I love the trust factor in this country. I think for that reason alone, when I return to America, I will have more of a culture shock than when I first came to Japan.

Glad to hear that most of your trip was excellent! (sarah)