It has come to my recent attention that your economy is headed to the toilet. A projected 29% unemployment rate by the end of this year paired with a credit fallout and high rates of layoffs mean that a recession, albeit severe, is almost a definite. Although I am in no way experienced in the field of economics, I am, as most everyone is, a consumer, and any insight I have comes from that experience.
I would say now is the time I give you some heartfelt advice. Below are some areas that are in dire need of improvement.
1. Customer Service
It has always been my impression that if you own some type of establishment that sells products, it is your goal to sell those products. And if someone who comes into your store is confused, or does not understand how the product or service works, you would generally think that the storekeeper or clerk would help that person so they would buy something. In my five months living in Madrid thus far, this idea has been all but shattered. It seems as though no one in this city wants to make money. I can't count on two hands the number of times I have walked into a restaurant, shop, or department store and either been ignored, waved away (literally), or treated like I was 5 years old. I know I am not from here, and sometimes I get confused because things like cell phone contracts and doctor's offices are run differently that what I am used to, but in a country with an aging population and a quickly diminishing economy, you would think that tourists would be a welcome sight. I know that tourists can be annoying, and talk super loud and wear their North Face jackets and Rod Lavers and make fun of Spanish culture. I get it. But I also get that adequate customer service and increasing sales go hand in hand.
Example:
I recently bought a converter, or a big mess of a contraption that converts US voltage to European voltage, at El Corte Inglés, the behemoth of a department store that you can find in every corner of every city in Spain. (Side note: a converter converts voltage, an adaptor just converts the type of plug, I learned this too late and fried a few electronic devices). I needed two adaptors besides the converter in order to make the entire thing function, so I was sold what I thought was a US adaptor. I get home and I found out the thing doesn't work because there are prongs in the plug that won't let anything plug into it. I had my roommate as well as her boyfriend try it out, to no avail. So, I head back the next day to exchange it. I get to the counter and the lovely woman says to me, "Yes?" I tell her I need to exchange the adaptor for one that fits. She looks at my adaptor and says, "I can't take that back, it is out of its package". "Yes, I know", I say, "but in order to test it, I had to cut it out of the package, because you sell it in packaging". Then I point to the sign that says "At El Corte Inglés if you are not satisfied, we return your money". I asked her whether or not that sign was true, because there are about 15 of them on every floor. She sighs heavily, obviously not excited that I am challenging her. She discusses the predicament for a moment with another sales clerk and comes back. "I'll return your money" and walks over to the register. I proceed to tell her that I don't want to return it, I want something that works, if she could please help me. She waves me away, saying "those are the plugs we have, if none of those work, we don't have what you need". So I go over, none of them fit, and she says "see, I told you". I keep insisting that if they sold me something to convert US voltage, there has to be something that works. I ask again if she can help me. She does not, and hands me 1,50€ back, making a comment about why should I care to return it if it is so cheap. She finally decides to come over and help me since I am standing there trying every plug on the chain. She finds one that works. Then she takes the plug I HAD BEFORE and plugs in my cord, but in order to do so, she has to break the prongs that are in the plug. I say, "ohhhh, so you have to break it in order for it to work" in as sarcastic a tone as I can muster. She glares at me and says, I guess so, and we both return to the counter so I can RE-BUY what I just returned to her 10 minutes prior. I walk away, shaking my head, with numerous people staring at me. I felt proud of myself that I stood my ground but also miffed that she thought she could wave me off. This experience is not an isolated one, as I have many more stories where that came from.
2. Web Sites
If you took away my laptop it would be as though you took away my mode of communication, my navegation device, and also my 411. I use the internet for practically everything. My roommate makes fun of me because the first thing I do when I get home is turn on my computer. But she also has a gadget that she is attached to, which is her cell phone. For me it is too expensive to use my phone here, so I prefer to communicate via email or facebook. In the States, if I want to find something, all I do is google it. If it is, say a grocery store or a yoga studio, it most definitely has a website, and the website is easy to navegate, and generally has the key information easily accessible, like the address and hours of operation. I have realized that I take this for granted.
Many places in Madrid don't have websites, and if they do, they are generally confusing and hard to navegate. Here are some examples (in Spanish, sorry):
Salamandra Climbing Gym
El Corte Inglés supermarket
now compare them to some websites in Seattle:
Vertical World Climbing Gym
Safeway supermarkets
I understand that as far as internet and online companies go, the US pretty much beats out everyone, but nowadays if your company or store doesn't have an adequate website in the States, you are considered to be in the dark ages. Not so true here, it is as though they don't want you to find what product you need, or even find the store at all. So, my advice is, while you are sitting around trying to figure out how to boost sales, update your website, and people might actually go to it. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to find something on a website here and have given up and gone to another place because it was easier to find.
3. Immigrants help your economy, not hurt it
People may disagree with me, but in my experience living in the US as well as in Spain, the immigrant population is always the hardest working. They are the backbone of the economy. They do work that other people don't want to do, and they do it at dirt cheap wages. They also pay taxes, pay rent and buy things (which, surprise! help the economy). Zapatero's government recently announced an incentive to immigrants to return to their native countries in exchange for unemployment payments that would last up to a year:
The government offers incentives for immigrants to return home
Any documented immigrant who is unemployed would qualify for the incentive. It doesn't sound like a bad deal, but it also just adds to the growing sentiment here that immigrants are bad for the country, and they are taking away jobs. I was recently on a walk to the bank near my school and I saw stickers on a telephone pole that said "Join the fight, keep Spain for the Spaniards, immigrants out" and directed people to a website with the information about how to get involved. I went to the website but it has since been removed. The sentiment will not be so difficult to get rid of, and I can imagine that things are only going to get worse. What also bothers me is that when many Spaniards hear the word "immigrant" they think of someone from South America or Sub-saharan Africa and somehow associate them with the guys who sell pirated cds on the street, or somehow "beneath them". In September when I told my host mom in Cádiz that I had found an apartment in Madrid, she asked me, sounding concerned "are there a lot of immigrants in the building?" I looked at her, saying, I am not sure, but inside thinking, what does she think I am, a Spaniard dressed up like an American?
So, Spain, I love you very much, and it may seem like I complain whenever I get the chance, but I am truly looking out for your own interests (since I also don't want them to make cutbacks in the program I am in and send me home)...
Besitos,
Maya
1. Customer Service
It has always been my impression that if you own some type of establishment that sells products, it is your goal to sell those products. And if someone who comes into your store is confused, or does not understand how the product or service works, you would generally think that the storekeeper or clerk would help that person so they would buy something. In my five months living in Madrid thus far, this idea has been all but shattered. It seems as though no one in this city wants to make money. I can't count on two hands the number of times I have walked into a restaurant, shop, or department store and either been ignored, waved away (literally), or treated like I was 5 years old. I know I am not from here, and sometimes I get confused because things like cell phone contracts and doctor's offices are run differently that what I am used to, but in a country with an aging population and a quickly diminishing economy, you would think that tourists would be a welcome sight. I know that tourists can be annoying, and talk super loud and wear their North Face jackets and Rod Lavers and make fun of Spanish culture. I get it. But I also get that adequate customer service and increasing sales go hand in hand.
Example:
I recently bought a converter, or a big mess of a contraption that converts US voltage to European voltage, at El Corte Inglés, the behemoth of a department store that you can find in every corner of every city in Spain. (Side note: a converter converts voltage, an adaptor just converts the type of plug, I learned this too late and fried a few electronic devices). I needed two adaptors besides the converter in order to make the entire thing function, so I was sold what I thought was a US adaptor. I get home and I found out the thing doesn't work because there are prongs in the plug that won't let anything plug into it. I had my roommate as well as her boyfriend try it out, to no avail. So, I head back the next day to exchange it. I get to the counter and the lovely woman says to me, "Yes?" I tell her I need to exchange the adaptor for one that fits. She looks at my adaptor and says, "I can't take that back, it is out of its package". "Yes, I know", I say, "but in order to test it, I had to cut it out of the package, because you sell it in packaging". Then I point to the sign that says "At El Corte Inglés if you are not satisfied, we return your money". I asked her whether or not that sign was true, because there are about 15 of them on every floor. She sighs heavily, obviously not excited that I am challenging her. She discusses the predicament for a moment with another sales clerk and comes back. "I'll return your money" and walks over to the register. I proceed to tell her that I don't want to return it, I want something that works, if she could please help me. She waves me away, saying "those are the plugs we have, if none of those work, we don't have what you need". So I go over, none of them fit, and she says "see, I told you". I keep insisting that if they sold me something to convert US voltage, there has to be something that works. I ask again if she can help me. She does not, and hands me 1,50€ back, making a comment about why should I care to return it if it is so cheap. She finally decides to come over and help me since I am standing there trying every plug on the chain. She finds one that works. Then she takes the plug I HAD BEFORE and plugs in my cord, but in order to do so, she has to break the prongs that are in the plug. I say, "ohhhh, so you have to break it in order for it to work" in as sarcastic a tone as I can muster. She glares at me and says, I guess so, and we both return to the counter so I can RE-BUY what I just returned to her 10 minutes prior. I walk away, shaking my head, with numerous people staring at me. I felt proud of myself that I stood my ground but also miffed that she thought she could wave me off. This experience is not an isolated one, as I have many more stories where that came from.
2. Web Sites
If you took away my laptop it would be as though you took away my mode of communication, my navegation device, and also my 411. I use the internet for practically everything. My roommate makes fun of me because the first thing I do when I get home is turn on my computer. But she also has a gadget that she is attached to, which is her cell phone. For me it is too expensive to use my phone here, so I prefer to communicate via email or facebook. In the States, if I want to find something, all I do is google it. If it is, say a grocery store or a yoga studio, it most definitely has a website, and the website is easy to navegate, and generally has the key information easily accessible, like the address and hours of operation. I have realized that I take this for granted.
Many places in Madrid don't have websites, and if they do, they are generally confusing and hard to navegate. Here are some examples (in Spanish, sorry):
Salamandra Climbing Gym
El Corte Inglés supermarket
now compare them to some websites in Seattle:
Vertical World Climbing Gym
Safeway supermarkets
I understand that as far as internet and online companies go, the US pretty much beats out everyone, but nowadays if your company or store doesn't have an adequate website in the States, you are considered to be in the dark ages. Not so true here, it is as though they don't want you to find what product you need, or even find the store at all. So, my advice is, while you are sitting around trying to figure out how to boost sales, update your website, and people might actually go to it. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to find something on a website here and have given up and gone to another place because it was easier to find.
3. Immigrants help your economy, not hurt it
People may disagree with me, but in my experience living in the US as well as in Spain, the immigrant population is always the hardest working. They are the backbone of the economy. They do work that other people don't want to do, and they do it at dirt cheap wages. They also pay taxes, pay rent and buy things (which, surprise! help the economy). Zapatero's government recently announced an incentive to immigrants to return to their native countries in exchange for unemployment payments that would last up to a year:
The government offers incentives for immigrants to return home
Any documented immigrant who is unemployed would qualify for the incentive. It doesn't sound like a bad deal, but it also just adds to the growing sentiment here that immigrants are bad for the country, and they are taking away jobs. I was recently on a walk to the bank near my school and I saw stickers on a telephone pole that said "Join the fight, keep Spain for the Spaniards, immigrants out" and directed people to a website with the information about how to get involved. I went to the website but it has since been removed. The sentiment will not be so difficult to get rid of, and I can imagine that things are only going to get worse. What also bothers me is that when many Spaniards hear the word "immigrant" they think of someone from South America or Sub-saharan Africa and somehow associate them with the guys who sell pirated cds on the street, or somehow "beneath them". In September when I told my host mom in Cádiz that I had found an apartment in Madrid, she asked me, sounding concerned "are there a lot of immigrants in the building?" I looked at her, saying, I am not sure, but inside thinking, what does she think I am, a Spaniard dressed up like an American?
So, Spain, I love you very much, and it may seem like I complain whenever I get the chance, but I am truly looking out for your own interests (since I also don't want them to make cutbacks in the program I am in and send me home)...
Besitos,
Maya
3 comments:
You go,Maya.
This is a good one ;) Sorry to hear you are sick! Get better!
haha, oh man. amy recently wrote a rant similar to this on her blog...it has her 11 points of grievance with spain.
glad to see we're getting to that point already!
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