Having lived in Germany for six years I can tell you across the board Germans lack the remotest concept of customer service; it is alien to them. There are small pockets in this economy that have grasped the concept to a small degree with full credit coming from the arrival of Wal-Mart stores.
Competition is a wonderful concept for business however, Vesalia operates a niche market without competition where Guido's customers need him more than he needs them, hence the usual German lack of customer service. This is the culture here. It does not matter if you are bank rolled to purchase a Porsche 911, if you think the dealer will kiss your ass all through the sale like dealers selling Hondas in the USA do you are fooling yourself. German retailers feel they are doing the customer a favor and that favor is a pain in their asses. If shipping takes three months from Frankfurt to London you better bite your tongue and praise the fact you received your product. If you received the wrong product then using an apologetic tone may yield you some results as long as you avoid blame on the vendor. Complaining will only bring you contempt. Once you understand this you will have a much better shopping experience.
