Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]

If they sell something that is faulty, of course they should return his money. Unfortunately the law in Poland favours the corporate over the individual here.

So they've kept a small profit margin on the unsatisfactory product they sold him. And probably lost a potential regular customer.

Feedback / Polish forums members - please stop being agressive and dishonest. What a waste of potential. [48]

The few words that I read of the last post rather confirms the OP's premise.

Feedback / Polish forums members - please stop being agressive and dishonest. What a waste of potential. [48]


Quite. Not exactly a barrel of laughs, but each to his own I suppose...

Feedback / Polish forums members - please stop being agressive and dishonest. What a waste of potential. [48]


Arguing is almost the national sport here in Poland. That struck me right at the start, 20 years ago and that view hasn't changed.

One very sad thing is that when someone from India/Pakistan etc posts a question about moving to Poland, meeting a partner etc, the responses are sometimes deeply unpleasant and that does not reflect the reality of the country.

UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

It's the internet. It's like that. Any open forum, any facebook page, wherever. Even closed support groups have to be moderated. You'll notice that the original post was just a non-specific moan by some guest poster who commented once and never returned (under that name, anyway...) - sounds like a Brexiter or Ukipper or even worse today, a Britain Firster - and then people share their experiences both good and bad.

Yes, there are some people here in Poland who are disrespectful towards the English (odd the OP says English not British - perhaps he's forgotten Scotland, Wales and NI) and yes, those of us who live here have a right to discuss that, just as others have the right to say the opposite.

In the past 20 years here in Poland I've heard some people say pretty awful things about Britain, a country which few have visited but all have seen in film and TV. Some sort of inferiority complex possibly.

UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]

Yes. He's actually from Adwick-le-street, just outside town. Not many Poles there, but plenty down the road in Bentley and I'm always amazed when I visit the actual town centre how many Poles I see and hear. Certainly hasn't done any bad there and as far as I know relations are very good. None of the disrespect suggested in the thread title.

UK, Ireland / Why are Polish people, especially women, so disrespectful toward the English? [442]


An unpleasant man (incredibly popular in Poland - his books sell like hot cakes here) from my home town, as provincial as it gets. But not quite as bad as that. Actually an OK town. Thousands of Poles have made it their home since 2004 - a notably large Polish migrant community, even by the standards of that region and everyone gets on well without trouble.

Life / Consumer Rights & Returns in Poland [22]


Pretty well. Polish consumer protection laws are poor quality and there are various get-out clauses that allow shops to evade responsibility for selling products that are fit for purpose. Basically the old system where many larger shops were state owned (and believe it or not legally considered just to be distributors for manufacturers' products!!!) is still echoed here in the law and of course advantageous to unscrupulous retailers. It really is a case of caveat emptor lex here.

Feedback / Member warning system to prevent abuse / spam / off-topic posts [145]


Might, but since it's something made up, then it's a 'no', isn't it.

As far as I can tell the mods are fairly even handed and do a difficult job.

Law / Polish Visa Refused, Going To Make Appeal, What should I do ? [81]


It might, since you have demonstrated that you have visited other countries and returned on time etc.


My friends from Islamabad who visited Poland and other parts of Schengen last year got their visa OK - it should be said that they both have good jobs and a record of having had tourist/work visas and sticking to their terms.

It should be said that the husband is the son of a currently serving General and this may have helped.

Love / Woman 28 single, too late for a relationship with a Polish man? [67]


Depends on the person - a lot of men age badly.


The world is her oyster at that very young age.


Really? Most are looking to settle down and some 19 year old kid is often a very bad choice.


Not at 28 it isn't.


And nor does anyone, male or female

28 is very young indeed.


Given his attitudes to women as seen in this thread (and the racist stuff in other threads) I'd suggest any woman would look appealing to him however the only ones who are likely to go near him have very low self-esteem indeed.

Love / Woman 28 single, too late for a relationship with a Polish man? [67]


I suspect they were a lot more likely to be miserable before. And yes, a 28 year-old used to be on the shelf a bit years ago, though in Poland, not so much so then or now. There have always been expectations, but there are plenty of single people in that age-group here in Poland who are very marriagable (or datable).

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]


I've seen that in Poland, however not much at all compared to some other places and in far more cases a crusty old Polish guy of deeply unpreposessing physical appearance, offensive personal habits and distasteful outlook on life but a flashy car and the suggestion of large amounts of assets is a magnet to a certain type of pretty young woman (or sometimes pretty young man) who wouldn't otherwise look at him if he were poorer.

The poster who put his picture up just looks like a typical American of his age group - not especially like a potato, though there thousands here in Poland who do look exactly like a giant spud.

Genealogy / The typical Polish look, or all Eastern Europeans [676]


Plus a hundred other ancestries, Buryat, Permian, Ostyak, Karelian, Tatar etc - all are Russian ancestry, all have contributd to the gene pool there.

Law / Uber in Poland - illegal [28]


No, it's just a (better than average) taxi service.


Here in Europe, most, almost all, taxi drivers work that way.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Have PiS suggested that? I know they're largely rural, however that's nutty even for them.


Sadly yes, and the new 'Macierewicz Militia' sounds downright disturbing. Some sort of Territorial Army makes sense - it works well enough in the UK however here I suspect that the result will be different as will the profile of largely unemployed young men who he wants to recruit.

News / Mieszkania Plus programme - PiS fulfills yet another campaign promise [50]


Sounds like a Ponzi scheme and ultimately this looks like another mess; if it starts at all...

News / Mieszkania Plus programme - PiS fulfills yet another campaign promise [50]


So in fact not fullfilled. Judging by their disastrous attempts before I think we know how this will turn out.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


No it doesnt.


Likewise.

In the end, moderation always triumphs and yes, the advance of progressive causes is unstoppable.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


If you have the right credit card (thisismoney.co.uk have a comparison tool) for using abroad and you don't happen to have a wad of banknotes from your home country that you want to cash just use the ATM.

If you do have a wad of banknotes to change, check the rate at the bank (most larger ones display it prominently inside) and decide if the few percentage decimal points of difference between the kantor is worth the time going there. If you don't speak Polish well enough, any phrasebook will tell you what to say.

Personally I don't tend to trek into town for kantors however the ATM here gives a very good exchange rate in my credit card which I just pay off online.

You could also try WorldFirst.com which I use for larger amounts (I get paid in dollars and convert to pounds), they do instant exchanges so the money is in your account rit away and their rates are excellent. There are several other such services but from experience I can say that one's good.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


The 'elite' are going nowhere fast and there is no 'new elite'. The people you would like to pretend are 'elite' are just here-today-gone-tomorrow extremist politicians, populist ones and reactionary ones in a tradition that always loses in the end.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Very disturbing as are all their attacks on democracy and on Poland however we can't of course guess at this stage who of the obvious (or less obvious) candidates will replace the dud Duda in 2020; certainly the field won't be as wide as in PiS' silly poll.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


The rates obviously fluctuate however 15 years ago the difference between the kantors' rates and the rates the better cards offer wasn't that different.

In general avoid Visa since MasterCard tend to give a better exchange rate and use a card (like the one I mentioned above) which doesn't charge extra for overseas or a foreign currency.

For any Americans reading who are planning to visit, forget those travellers' cheques that people use over there; in Europe we stopped using them and I'd be surprised if many Polish bank clerks have ever seen one.

Love / Don't get a child but adopt one? What Polish men think about women who don't want to get children? [34]


Given the shortage of kids available for adoption, you would get very little choice indeed. Btw, fostering is currently expanding in Poland. To get a brand new baby is less likely than to get an older kid.


Very few people on this earth would express such a nasty view, much less defend them.

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]


That depends a lot on the card you are using; some are better than others (Halifax MasterCard for example) and some are best avoided outside the country of issue.

Love / Don't get a child but adopt one? What Polish men think about women who don't want to get children? [34]


Most people however would not be so nastily small-minded about a child, let alone spew that fact out onto an Internet forum.

And yes, there are people here who choose to adopt.

Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]

Probably more the way some people used it, and why. Most people who used the term back then wouldn't have intended to offend, however doubtless some used it to denigrate and hard to blame anyone being touchy after hearing it about them, often from lowlife - just as Pol-Ams can be over Pollack and both terms often part and parcel of a judgement about intelligence, sophistication etc..

Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]


Exactly. All about context. At home nobody would think about the London slang meaning or even care, but in, say, a comedy about Brixton and said in an ironic way it's different.

Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]


They were and it did! Still goes on though.


I think so. Those jokes are all old and only half were funny when they were fresh anyway. Plus TV has to be a bit more careful these days about being inclusive about specific groups and not offending. Having said that, some people take offence at almost anything.

Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]


They don't really. The jokes in question are about other Americans, ones with Polish roots rather than anyone in or from modern Poland and in any case the jokes are exactly the same ones that you used to here in Britain about the Irish, in Spain about the Portugese, in France about the Belgians and which I sometimes hear in Poland about a certain group.