I am on the phone with Lufthansa, which has (for European standards) excellent customer service.

However, like all airlines here, you have to pay in order to call their reservation line. I have been on hold now for 10 minutes, and have to pay for every minute that I sit here listening to elevator music.

This is after the representative chewed me out when I started giving her my reservation code, and it was apparently not the number she needed. She then got all upset when answered her question about which flight I am on, saying “the 7:45 flight out of Berlin Tegel.” She roared back “Sir, there is no 7:45 flight. We have a 7:35 flight. But if you don’t even know what flight you are on, then how do you expect me to help you?”

Oh the Germans and there politeness…I can’t wait to spend my money with Lufthansa!

I will never understand the lack of customer service in Europe.

Can you imagine what would happen if Southwest airlines announced they would be charging a dollar a minute for every call to their reservations line?

There is no defense for bad service. This isn’t some kind of social justice “well we have bad service but have free health care deal.”

Bad service is just plain bad service. Period. The End.