USA, Canada / Fedex shipment to Lodz from USA? [6]

Polish postal service for international mail is one of the the slowest in the world...
If Amazon has not sent it through UPS or as a registered parcel it might be stolen.
Please keep us posted about when/ you receive your watch.

Work / What is a good salary in Wroclaw? (coordinator position for an IT company) [27]

6000 zl per month in Wroclaw would be ok , you would be able to rent a nice 1 bedroom flat or studio in the old town so that you and your fiance can enjoy this beautiful city and have enough money for food , outings and little trips.

You would not necessarily be tied up to the salary you are proposed or to a given apartment, after 6 months you ll be able to pretty much have an idea of costs for your chosen lifestyle and you can switch jobs and apartment to adjust it to your budget.

I would not recommend the hassle of living outside Wroclaw and buying a car/insurance cost/Gas/trafiic jam,parking) because you don't need a car in historically nice cities like Wroclaw or Krakow and you might want to experience something different from America.

History / Was the holocaust by Germans in Poland the worse genocide in history? [210]

The biggest genocides, pogroms,the Holocaust, from the Middle Ages up until now has been perpetrated not by Jews, not by Muslims but by people claiming they were Christians.

What the Christian world and especially Europe has done in the name of God is beyond words.

Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]


This offer here at over 4 millions zl should definitely drop : Also it is a stan deweloper which means you need to finance the interior extra! Wow

Work / Poland salary and compensation package - What is included? [28]


Those numbers do not speak to me, square meters...

How many Polish households live on council estate or benefit from a subsidized place would be interesting to know .

The problem of getting accurate figures is that loads of beneficiaries were given the opportunity to buy their council flats at some incredibly low rate so they fell in the statistics of Polish home owners.

My idea is that disposable income is linked to the fact of not having the burden of a high mortgage, but if you are saying that only a small fraction of Poles benefit from council houses then i don't know where their high purchasing power could come from .

Work / Poland salary and compensation package - What is included? [28]


Where ? Everywhere in Poland. TBS one of the national agencies for building and managing council estates is in every single city.
for Krakow check tbsmaloposka.pl
For exact numbers one needs to contact each city's Townhall .
As far as i know most Poles do not have high salaries but if consumption is that high( and much better than anywhere else in Europe) and shopping malls keep being built it means they have some good disposable income.

Where would that disposable income come from if they had to put all of it on housing?

Work / Poland salary and compensation package - What is included? [28]


The percentage of people in Poland living on council estates/housing projects is huge.
In Krakow for instance most people live in Nowa Huta, in flats which are former communist blocks ,back in the 90 s they could buy these flats for nothing or remain in them for very litle money.

Henceforth not having to dedicate all their income to Housing they have a bigger purchasing power and gigantic shopping malls with items the same price or at higher prices than in Austria are packed with clients...

Work / Salary Expectations Question (Krakow, Fund Accounting) [19]


State Street pays about 3 000 zl a month ( not much for sure!) and they seem to be looking forward to hiring students or employees on the cheap.

For a student this kind of salary is ok ...

Work / Need details for working in POLAND, LODZ. [27]


Companies able to find professionals who can do expats jobs do not offer expatriate contracts.why would they?

If companies still send expats to Poland with great expat packages it means that they could not find any Pole with similar qualifications who would work in Poland and then go back to India, Germany France US with a career move to the top.

Work / Salary Expectations Question (Krakow, Fund Accounting) [19]


Ridiculous. Just ask them which law they are talking about... and also ask them to put themselves into your shoes.

Would they travel to a job interview without knowing what the salary proposed is? Lol

Logically if you answered 6 k and they replied with this fallacious pretext of not beeing able to disclose a salary under Polish law, it means that they are offering peanuts and ashamed of it...

Work / Need details for working in POLAND, LODZ. [27]


Life in Poland is like 4 times cheaper than in Switzerland and the weather is similar !

If your company sponsors 80 % percent of the International school fee for your child, you will indeed be able to save quite a lot.

Do you have time to spend a week end or 3 to 4 days in Poland with your family before you make a decision ?( you would be able to look at prices , surroundings, best areas for families in Lodz etc)

Love / Amount of money for gift (I have a girlfriend in Poland) [56]


One does not send money in Poland exept "to help" someone in "the need".

It is not viewed as romantic at all, better send her a box of chocolates like Hershey's kisses or something (A book , a cd) you order on Merlin.pl( the local AMAZON) and it can be sent to her, i am sure she will appreciate the gesture.

But Money, no unless as i said she is desperate financially or a hooker...

Work / 47zl net - good for teaching in Lodz? [9]


Some schools don't care about that. You could be offered more in Warsaw but Lodz is poorer and life is cheaper there...

Work / Need details for working in POLAND, LODZ. [27]


yes Please Grzegorz stop this, you are beeing jealous , 10 k in Lodz is a very decent salary and a good opportunity for Su to have an international experience 1 or 2 years.

Approximate budget to consider
Budget for rent : 2400zl
budget for English speaking school ( look in that section in PF) it will be expensive but you only have 1 child
Budget for Food : 400 zl
If you are already employed in SAP in Poland it should not be too hard to get other offers since you will already be based in Poland, you ll have to check with international companies such as Google, CapGemini etc.

I doubt your wife would find a job as a dental doctor if she does not master the language, in Warsaw maybe but in Lodz ?( Don't know if there is an English Speaking dental clinic?)

You and your wife can start attending intensive Polish lessons before you arrive it won't hurt..

Please note that the hardest thing to adapt to might be the weather ....

Work / Poland salary and compensation package - What is included? [28]

Depends on your status and level in the company: If you are part of the upper or middle management team , you won't get paid for extra hours and you will be expected to put in a lot of them as a standard.

If you are at a lower position , you will usually get paid for hours exceeding the legal time per week.

You ll find this out in your work contract.

Work / 7000 PLN net per month in Krakow. How much i can save? [21]


Come on Grubas, do you know what Poland would look like without foreign money ? Money earned abroad by Poles and Money sent by the EU?

There would not be any job in Poland !
Working for Carrefour in Poland ,is that a Polish job or a French job? And working for Google in Poland, an American job? Lol

Work / 7000 PLN net per month in Krakow. How much i can save? [21]


Why are you saying that? Do you realize how many Poles working abroad could be "accused" of doing the same thing all over the world.

Give us a break, the job market is a world market.

Real Estate / Landlords and flat owners in Poland - how do you choose your tenants? [5]


Yes of course , there is no way you can rent a place in Germany,UK, Italy France Spain etc without showing your bank statements or pay slips or Income tax forms.

Why would it be a problem to disclose your income details ?

If one needs a loan from a bank,don't people have to show proof of their income?


inkrakow i will PM you for details of this agency for corporates, thanks

Life / Poles - the Nation of Liars? [478]


I pretty much agree with this statement.
I think calling Poland a nation of liars is far too radical but indeed i have noticed that lying may not be viewed as bad as anywhere else, however putting people who lie in front of their contradictions and doing it in Polish helps a lot.

As far as customer service is concerned ,the concept does not even exist in Poland among Polish businesses therefore a lot of foreign companies are successful thanks to a better service ( ikea, Carrefour, Castorama,Bouygues) at least in these stores you may bring back an item you bought and never used and get a refund quicker.

If transparency prevailed in any commercial transaction in Poland,(Polish businesses would have more clients ,customers more rights) and life would be easier for everyone.

Work / Expected salary for an engineer in Poland? [24]


No way, i have a friend who is an engineer for Capgemini in Krakow , he works like mad and makes peanuts.( he says) however they provide a gym + some benefits (private healthcare).

Life / Cost of Living in Lodz [50]


if you rent is paid, 2500 zl to cover local transportation, food + drinks would be enough in Lodz for a 24 years old without any family or big expenses.

Why would you want to buy Tshirts from Poland? they are all imported and expensive , just get them from Vienna it would be cheaper.

Work / Expected salary for an engineer in Poland? [24]


Dreamers are welcome everywhere even in Poland....

Law / LOOKING FOR HELP AND INFORMATION TO OPEN INDIAN RESTAURANT IN POLAND..... [80]


Please if you open a restaurant or catering business do make sure you make the right investments in professional fridges,proper tools ,anti bacteria products and focuss on hygiene , cleanliness, keeping the food fresh i remember there was a terrible story with a French restaurant in Krakow called la Fontaine which was highly ranked and successful before a dozen of visiting Sweedish doctors caught food poisoning and salmonella and all ended up at the hospital.

I also got have friends who got sick over the Summer eating some street food /kebabs served by vendors who touch food and handle money at the same time.

Real Estate / Tenancy tribunal or similar Poland office, to resolve dispute with landlord? [7]

In Scandinavia everything is transparent ( i am thinking about Norway, Sweeden, Denmark and Finland) no black economy, less cheating , rules to protect efficiantly any consummer and better government management.

Morality in Business matters seems to have a meaning over there.

Poland is quite a different world really .Which does not mean it cannot get better and better in the future.

If the Eurozone had been as vertuous as Finland for instance It would not be in such a mess...

Law / Online Polish banking (in English) [27]


I am not sure Alior is safe , it is a rather new Business in Poland ,isnt' it?

Real Estate / Apartment in Poland is not up to standard; right to terminate the rental agreement? [78]


Exactly plus he does not even have a bank account in Poland and his home adress is in Norway,to sue someone over a flat you need to put some percentage of the total value of the flat with the Polish court and it is not worth it and takes forever.

I have a friend who was renting a place in Nowa Huta the tenants also had a year contract but they left saying they had found a place closer to work so she just looked for other tenanst ,that's all.

He is no longer happy with the flat, it is too cold and no longer suitable and just wants to go somewhere else , nothing illegal in that.

Real Estate / Apartment in Poland is not up to standard; right to terminate the rental agreement? [78]

Do not be too naive and be sure that the Realtor will tell you that you need to pay for the whole year and that you can't leave but if there is no mention in your English contract about termination of the rental contract then you can do what you prefer as long as you have paid what you owe in full.

If i were no longer happy in a flat i rent i would talk to the landlord and then send a registered mail informing her or the Realtor i confirm i will leave + date and offer her to come on a given date to give her back her/ the realtor the keys .

You are not a registered tenant with the city or anything, you paid in cash and more for gas than anyone on this forum , there is not even a proof you live in this falt apart from your landlord contract which has everything in her name so there should not be a problem but since you pay a lot and in cash be sure they will not let you leave easily.

Real Estate / Apartment in Poland is not up to standard; right to terminate the rental agreement? [78]


The fact that you came to this forum for advice shows that you are not an immature and a yes person:

You have already made up your mind to move out and not stay in an expensive place if you are not perfectly happy with it because it is a waste of money;

The landlord may be super nice but she is not your landlord and not your mum or sister and your family pays for a place and assume you are not freezing in it.

Hurry up though because January and February are close and your family will have paid 2500 zl per month to have their son turned into an iceman !

Real Estate / CZYNSZ - payment issue - help [43]


Dishonest people are everywhere !
In reality your Building administrator cannot force you to pay for the czyncz if you disagree .
He can take you to court but would have to provide all the official bills i mentionned previously regarding the building maintenance.(Which i doubt he has)

He can take you to court but given the fast speed of Polish justice you could always appeal and have this drag on for a long long time.

he has betrayed your confidence so just take your time, pay little and ask a lot of proofs for what you have to pay!

If he does not know about the concept of gentlemen agreement, why would you have to know about it?
After all as you said it is all about money