"Shame the rip off companies in Poland" - new forum section suggestion

I've a great idea for a new section on the Forums. How about a section where foreigners living in Poland can 'name and shame' Polish companies and shops which treat customers like sh*t and rip them off like crazy! I'm just sick fed up of it. Spent much of last year battling a crap budget airline (to no avail), two major battles with a franchised famous optician chain (won one of the complaints) and currently on the point of a nervous breakdown over a wooden floor bought from a Polish company who should be shut down for selling very expensive firewood, as should their silly little middleman on Bartycka. This one is currently in the hands of the Biuro Spraw Konsumenta!( a kind of 'Citizens Advice Bureau who I suspect have no real clout) Add to these major battles all the small everyday ones in shops, Galerias etc. (don't have the strength or time to mention them) and all in all it's been a good year!

I know that these matters have been raised on PF before but isn't it time something was done that may make these b**tards think about the customer a little bit?

Oh yes Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all on the Forums! Except for ................... Hope you choke on a carp bone mate! :>)

Im well up for that dude. Be careful though as soon as you start bad mouthing the Poles in any way shape or form you'll have them all over you on this forum like a bunch of communists trying to get into Woolworths.

well as they said to me if you not happy leave

will never change move to germany next door life work easy there and more organize there I wish I could go !!

ok I'll start:

The Albert Supermarket in Warsaw at ul. Karolkowa 17/19 tries to sell bread and cakes that are days old - don't go near it.

Signed up for a 3 year deal 1 meg internet connection with neostrada about 18 months ago. I realsied that i would require a faster connection six months into the contract as I download quite a bit.

Called neostrada to tell them to upgrade me to 6 meg and obviously charge the extra monthly fee. No can do!! I have to see the contract out for the whole three years cannot upgrade downgrade or cancel. i said look I,ll pay the extra just give me an upgrade... Sorry its not possible. Bottom line, for a faster connection I nee to start a new contract with another in line or stick with what i have. How stupid is that?

how do you know about Woolies? you from SA?

No, England

Woolworths is all over the world hun!
F. W. Woolworth Company was the original USA based chain of five and dime stores started in 1876 in the USA :O)

Does it have to only be about Polish rip off companies?

Because I just got my heating Bill!!!! WTF!

I just read that on Wikipedia as well, I always assumed Woolworths was a UK company

There all closed down here, in Chicago anyways havent seen one in years

there i've learnt something *muf blushes as red as christmas cap and lowers head in shame* - haven't see any WW in Poland thus far though - would love to! Any other european countries where they are?

It's also pretty sutpid not to read or understand a contract that YOU signed. I don't see this as the companies fault just someone who lacks experience with legal agreements.

fantastic service here in the US

True i was thinking in English terms where contracts are all the same, I now know that in Poland you really have to read every single word and analise it because if you dont, be careful.

Also I have never heard of an ISP that does not allow you to upgrade so they can make more money out of you. Most ISP's push you to upgrade and constanlty make tempting offers, hence my surprise.

When you accept a user agreement for lets say a downloadable virus program do you actually read the 30 pages of terms and conditions?

*mufasa lifts head, turns back to normal czarna and lets out a sigh of relief*


Woolworth's Service? in SA as well.

Sure, just like if you want to upgrade a phone with a wireless carrier. To get the discount you need a new contract.

If they can upgrade you and keep you longer? That's a good deal for them.


Funny guy today Bwoo ;)


It may seem rediculous, but you should. Anything can be written within.

Wroclaw Boy.......Did you personally sign the contract with "neostrada"? How long ago? Was it a "pre-printed contract with the period of 3 years already printed". If Polish is not your natural language, did they give you a copy of the contract in English?, did they give you 24 hours to study the contract before you signed?

its the gods honest, guv

that said, i asked for a side order of jalapenos last night and theyre playing havock this morning - do you think i can ask for my money back...?

Ha ha. Yes. I bet if you called corporate and complained, they'd give you a free dinner :) No kidding. I've learned that most food companies will try to make you a happy customer by sending you a free meal if you're unsatisfied. Are you in the states now?

No my wife did, we basically rushed through it thinking well go with 1 meg for now and upgrade later. I suppose all the terms and conditions were there we just didn,t read it properly but we do now.

very funny indeed ;P

Wroclaw Boy...........Go to the EU website, consumer affairs, "unfair contracts". For a contract to be legal and valid, it "HAS TO BE", "DEEMED" to be fair to both parties, if the time limit of 3 years was "printed" on the contract and showed no "negotiation" between you and the supplier, then, the contract can be deemed, unfair. If it was written into a space, in front of you, then I am affraid you are stuck. These EU regulations became law in Poland on 26th September, 2005. I was interested in how many Polish companies would actually change their unfair contracts and get new ones printed. If possible, in future, sign yourself and if you are not given a copy of the contract in English then the one you signed is not valid.

Slight difference here in that you are probably referring to the heating bill being very expensive (I have sympathy with that wherever you are!). I'm more concerned about being treated like a piece of sh*t, wasting time trying to sort things out and never getting customer satisfaction and basically spending money on inferior products supplied by companies which seem to see themselves as world players but act more like 'Del boy' with a shop!!!!

Well obviously - no-one like to be bad-mouthed, do they?


Is there anything in the contract about upgrading? The strange thing here in the UK is that a lot of these "contracts" are made over the phone and nothing is ever signed, no terms and conditions are ever agreed to with a signature and it used to be that a signature was needed for anything to be valid...not so sure now though and also not sure about Poland...

The overall idea may be good, but it could cause a lot of legal aspects. For example, how would you/we know the poster is telling the truth and/or is not deliberately hiding some important facts; who would be responsible of removing the posts when the issue has been successfully resolved, etc.

In general, who would be checking the facts? It's easy to anonymously post some slandering information and then let others (or the bad-mouthed companies themselves) worry about the legal aspects...

So we suggest that if someone has a big problem with a Polish-owned company, it could be discussed here on case-by-case basis -- but we don't plan to set up a separate "The rip-off companies from Poland" section.

Admin

Perhaps we could get Puzzler to check all the facts? Seems to be his obsession.
Actually am with you on all the points you raise about the idea and understand the legal aspect concern, pity though as I really do feel strongly about many Polish companies policies and the services and products they sell. You may notice that I didn't actually name any of the folks I'm having probs with but mainly from a fear of them sending some steriod pumped ape round to tear off my genitals and force feed them down my throat!

Generally speaking the products you buy in Poland are of a low quality and surprisingly expensive. I bought some insect killer spray for 15,00 PLN as we have a bit of a problem in our palace with hornets, mosquitos and such, got home and sprayed it to find that it sprays in a jet like a water pistol as apposed to a fine spray. Thought OK im not going to have mush chance replacing this and it must just be a faulty cannister, so I bought another one and the same thing happened. Now you can fix the problem for a couple of sprays by shoving a needle down the outlet but I really should not have to do that. I think the manufactures thought hey we have a couple of thousand faulty cannisters here lets just ship them off to Poland those guys never complain as the customer doesn't have rights.

Heres a good example, washing up liquid!! There are a couple of good brands but I personally had to buy atleast five different products to find one which doesn't loose bubbles after 5 minutes.

i got one

NEO-FECKING-STRADA!!!!!!!!!

i havent had internet of them for months now and they still say it problem with phone line, and they still send me monthly bills for line rental!!!!

just incase someone is wondering, i now use different company for my internet.

If you have "small battles" everyday then you obviously need some serious psychological treatment.