Local Poles taking advantage of foreigners living in Poland

TO PASS YOUR DRIVING TEST IN POLAND YOU NEED TO BRIBE THE EXAMINER!!!! Nuff said.

Isn't it funny that driving schools in Poland have names like. 'Indy 500' and 'Formula 1'. When I was trying to learn to drive here I gave up after the teacher told me that 'I lack the guts and hell for leather attitude of an 18 year old and therefore will never learn to drive'. Don't 18 year olds cause the most accidents?

I passed my driving test no problem. In Poland. And I bribed nobody. 'nuff said.

Magdalena it is obviously not always the case but I know loads of people who had to pay a bribe to pass...so there IS still corruption in that job.

can we bring the thread back to its title 'Local Poles taking advantage of foreigners living in Poland' the first couple of comments made me laugh then the thread just died....

anyway since i moved here half a year ago i havent had much trouble with the greedy b&!stards i tend to just be rude back as soon as i smell there attitude... then they seem to act ok.but dont get me wrong i can see that if i didnt have my girl for a translator they would probrerly try and steal the lint from my pockets...

It's impossible here in poznań to buy yourself a driving license. The examiners get the list of people minutes before the exam, plus there are cameras on "palc" as well as in the car. It could have been the case few years ago, but not now.

Well I know people that say different...you don't think cash can change hands discreetly in a handshake for example?

You can always come up to the examiner and discretely try to put money in to his hand but seriously I doubt that he will risk loosing his job because some stranger gives him few hundred złoty’s. The case would be different if the person who wants to bribe the examiner got in touch with him before the exam, but unfortunately the examiner gets the list with the people he examines just minutes before the exam so there’s no guarantee that you are ever going to be examined by him.

I just tell you what the situation looks like in Poznań. I don’t know how does it look in Wawa though.

So you don't think the examiners have become less corrupt...they are just afraid of getting caught? That makes sense.

It's either that or it just a strange coincidence that this moral rebirth among the Poznań examiners took place in the same time the cameras were installed in the drivers examination centre. :)

Haha...

all depends on who you meet at the end of the day,had experiance on a non touristy warsaw flea market one or two traders bumping the price up 3 fold when I turned to confirm the numbers with my companion,ie,I definatly heard 3 hundred,checked "he said three hundred didnt he?" then being told,nie nie 3 thousand.....you just have to larf :)

Same market,3 different stalls the owners found out I was a brit,interested in Polish history and weighed me down with gifts off their stalls,books and badges and brass plaques.

Pushing and shoving is a slaav thing. In Russia it is even worse. I think it is the sadness of people's lives in Eastern Europe and the lack of a future. Shoving gives a meaning to someone's life. I think it is prevelant in women more than men-it is something to do with the lesbian gene.

yes Poles have no lives so they go and shove each other to make up for it. you have no life and future with your tiny little mind that is already fixed on some certain stupid theories that you pathetically made up and stick to them no matter what. you even think you can speak Polish better than Polish people do. sad sad sad.


lesbian gene? didnt know you were a genetics scientist! is there a stuck up sad old twat gene? im sure you've got that one!

I know 2 people who've passed their test in Wawa by paying the examiner off in advance but that was 5 years ago, it was a standard 1000zl to do it. The examiner was helping them get round the cones and one of the girls knocked a few down and and the examiner was shouting at her 'how the hell am I supposed to pass you if you keep doing that...'

I've heard it is much stricter now though like you say and your only chance to offer the bribe is in the the 30 or so seconds you have with the examiner before you get in the car to do the test.

lol...


This year we've lost one 'cousin', my brother in laws close friend and my mother in law and her work colleagues ended up upside down broken battered, bloody and buised having bit hit head on by a now comatosed youth. One of the few things that really makes me nervous is the driving here. Especially if you aren't in control and are the passanger. I was recently driven to Warsaw and back, day trip. 10 hours a nerve shredding over and under taking.

I'm usually curtious when I'm out and about, I smile, greet people and open doors for people. However, more than once I've opened doors for people whilst about town and ended up standing like a pumpkin doorstopper as everyone takes advantage of the open door to try rushing in and out.

The other thing is customer service which can be surly and rude. Sometimes I feel like the invisibleman standing at a counter to pay while everyone around carries on doing their thing.

I've had only one person try and short change me on a 50zl note. A she was standing directly under the inshop CCTV, I just pointed at the camera and started ranting in English/Polish. Since my polsh is limited I'm not sure what made her change her mind, the CCTV or me repeatly shouting KURWA. Either way got my cash back.

My friend was asked to pay 8,000zls when he moved out of his place. This was due to a build up of mould on the walls. My friend assured his landlord that he kept the windows open and minimised the risk of an outbreak. His landlord was clearly trying to fleece him and take his chances. Thankfully, he stood up to him and told him to stick it where the sun don't shine. I don't know if they had an 'umowa o najmu' which would have regulated the dispute. I have one with my landlord now so we have agreed on many things. U need one to get registered here (zameldowania). I know of other foreigners who have had run ins with their landlords

Most of them don't have the stones to push it if you stand up to them. They rely on ignorant or nervous types they can take advantage of. If you let them know in no uncertain terms you aren't having any of their crap they will back down...they will still give you attitude in some attempt to save face but they are all bluster.

Social skills here (Warsaw...small places are a bit better) are not what we are used to in the west...customer service is rude (they seem to take it personally if you don't have exact change...like they have to pay for it or something)...people do not hold doors or help people in public...they crowd onto the buses and trams without standing aside so people can get off...stop and talk in front of doors and lifts blocking people...you may or may not get a 'przepraszam' WHILE someone pushes you out of the way but never before. They know it is wrong and if you say something or make a thing out of it they get visibly embarrassed...yet unless they get called out they don't seem to care.

The short change thing is common so be sure to always count your change in front of them before you go....

Good posting by jones101. This standing in front of lifts is rude. I'm quite a big guy so I just barge them out of the way. And the door thing. People look shocked when I hold doors open for them, they seem not to be used to it, it's natural for me. When I know they are not gonna say thank u, I gaze intensely at them and they cower a little. What a bad man I am, hehehe

whilst driving in poland this summer i was told by a polish friend that if i let cars out of turnings or allow pedestrians cross the road then it is seen as a sign of weakness on my behalf...

I've heard that too but I've also heard that it's a sign of weakness in reverse, now that's worrying!!

Yeah apparently is is better to be STRONG and TOUGH than polite and respectful...wouldn't want anyone mistaking you for a pansy nice person now would you?

no... would end up buying the beers all evening... wait... i do... when is someone else going to get a round in...?

Well, it seems there are two Polands and I used to live in a different one than you visited, or what? I'm not saying all Polish people are well-behaved and pleasant at all times, but I regard things like holding doors open for people or waiting my turn at a bus door as absolutely normal. With giving the exact change at shops, it's just one of those things - I usually don't have the exact change, or can't bother to find it, so I tell the salesperson that and they come up with the correct amount after all. :-)

As for London... It's one of my hobbies to "embarass" the natives by giving up my seat to elderly ladies and gentlemen, holding doors open etc. They look at me with utter disbelief, and - yes - gratitude. Whereas if my boyfriend does similar stuff, the little old ladies look frightened, and the women he holds doors open for look slightly offended ("I can open my own doors thank you"), but still accept the courtesy ;-)

All in all, they don't seem used to such treatment, quite the opposite.
Don't get me started on getting on and off London buses, either. The typical London way is to stay in the first half of the bus, no matter how many people actually want to get in. So there might be empty seats farther down, or at least more space, and the upstairs part might be half empty, but the front part of the bus is totally crammed and the driver needs to shout "move on down, move on!" for at least 2-3 minutes before anyone starts moving, and even when they do move, it's with the speed of a snail sprinting. ;-)

Customer service? I've had customer service staff at an O2 shop in London listen to me for several minutes (I want to keep my old number but change over to 3G because my new mobile is 3G), first give me a vacant stare, then nod their head, and then - yesss!!! - take my mobile and... copy my contacts list from simcard to phone. And hand it back with a flourish. Believe me, I speak English well enough to make myself understood, they simply didn't give a damn about what I was trying to tell them. And I've got loads of such stories.

In other words - do your thing, be courteous at all times, or most times, and the nice people will reciprocate. The not so nice - you don't want to have anything to do with them anyway, do you?

The point is these things ARE worse in Poland...especially in bigger cities (which can of course be said in any country).

Every single expat I have ever spoken to in years of living here says the same thing so it is not just my perception. Yes there is bad service and such available anywhere but when it is so common that people talk about it to you unprompted then it is obviously wide spread.

Many cultures are honest enough to admit there own shortcomings...I can and god knows my culture has many...but Poles just get defensive and lash out...they cannot acknowledge what is wrong with their own society and take responsibility for it. I read a book once written by a Pole about what foreigners can expect here...one of the things was the public rudeness and blaming everyone else if something is wrong...and that was spot on. I am not attacking the culture as there is lots of good in it...but just pointing out a big issue that is a problem and ignored.

If you say anything about these things you get slagged off by the uber-patriots that think Poland is paradise...this is blind stupid patriotism and is simply not true any more than any other place is perfect. If it was so wonderful you would have mass immigration here and you just don't. The people that immigrate here are either looking for a way into the EU or have a marriage/family reason...

I am all for being proud of your heritage but no place is perfect and it is quite ridiculous to beat your chest about how mighty you home is when it simply is not.

fair points and entirely true


fair points and entirely true

I must honestly say that every single Polish "expat" or guest worker or whatever you wish to call them "says the same thing so it is not just my perception" (about perceived "British rudeness").

May I present the theory that it is not so much a question of levels of rudeness, but rather different areas in which the respective "national" rudeness(es) show themselves? And because these areas obviously don't overlap, they tend to shock and anger the outsider, no matter how long they may have lived in the other country.

Believe me, my mother was Czech, my father is Polish, and though they were married for over 20 years, things would come up every day leading to heated discussions at least - and these were little, tiny, negligible things to start with, just different in the Czech and Polish cultures/societies. Even issues like choosing or not choosing a specific term, name, gesture! They would get miffed and sulk for hours! Now remember how close these two cultures obviously are, at least to the non-Slav. ;-)

In the context of this, think of the differences between Poland and Britain, Greece and France, Britain and Finland...

Interesting theory but I've been to plenty different countries where I rarely encountered rude behaviour by my own country's standards, are you trying to say that queue jumping or not holding a door for the next person are not rude by Polish standards ?

ive never had such problem while livin in waw,if you go to germany then u better watch out cause there's u can c real problem ;)

Of course that's rude, but I am sorry to say I encounter queue jumping and not holding a door for the next person, as often, if not oftener, in London. And Poles in London notice it and label it rude. For example, in London people who hold the door open for people leaving a shop will never get to walk in unless they actually barge in. Been there, done that. In the smaller buses with just one door for entry and exit, passengers tend to rush in without letting anyone off. Bus queues are non-existent, they're just a heaving mass of humanity trying to squeeze inside while the sick and elderly fall by the roadside. (I make a point of always letting old people and women with children enter first - but sometimes they are so surprised that a young, strapping lad uses the opportunity before them).

That's why I think it's the "foreignness" (if there is such a word) factor at work here. People are much more likely to notice such behaviour, and be offended by it, if it comes from the Others (the Barbarians, Foreigners, call them what you like).

Also, you might want to consider the fact that as Western Europeans coming to a country most of you perceive as unimportant and rather poor, you might unknowingly exude a somewhat patronizing air, which would immediately raise shackles. To be totally fair, I have seen that happen to Poles visiting India - they assumed the White Master attitude and then were surprised by how hostile the "natives" were. I think most of them didn't realize what they were doing wrong, either.