I’ve been thinking about Spanish customer service.
A lot of people are moving to Spain, and they’re not really prepared for the cultural differences.
If you haven’t been around too long, you might have some expectations about politeness in customer service that just aren’t getting met here in Spain.
Although the concept of “politeness” does seem to be regional: the treatment I get varies wildly from one place to another. People in big cities have a big city vibe, people in smaller towns might be friendlier.
Anyway, here’s a little story: the other day I went to the doctor’s office.
Really, I just wanted to see if my new private insurance would get me into the clinic in my neigborhood.
Better to find out how this works before I’m actually ill, right?
So I walk into the clinic, and less than a minute later, I’m whisked into a little room where an emaciated 72-year-old man sits behind a desk.
Doctor García, according to the nameplate.
Well, Doctor Garcia just stares at me.
No buenas tardes, no nothing.
I tell him what I’m there for – just a blood test to make sure everything’s working well on the inside. I tell him I’m generally healthy, despite the inexorable march towards impotence and death that is the fate of any man in his 40s.
He silently reaches for a notepad and writes a long, indecipherable paragraph in tiny block caps.
The writing takes several minutes.
Silence the whole time.
He gives me the paper, then finally, he speaks: “Come back tomorrow, fasted, any time from 8 to 11.”
And I’m done. No hasta luego, no nothing.
What’s the deal with Spanish customer service?
I guess I should say that I might have this effect on people because they see my blue eyes and my red beard and assume they’re going to have to speak English with me.
I’ve been speaking Spanish on the daily for more than two decades… but total strangers don’t know that.
And maybe the terror of having to confront their life-long failure to learn more than a few words of a foreign language makes them freeze up and go silent. It might not be that Spanish customer service is the problem, in other words – maybe they’re just worried about being able to communicate.
Or maybe, people in Spain just aren’t too friendly with strangers.
I know there’s a stereotype about Spanish people being “so open and friendly”. Personally, I don’t buy it. Maybe if you’re here as a tourist and you meet some people in a nightclub and it seems like you’re friends from the get-go, you could develop that idea. But I’ve been around for a while and I’m still not convinced.
I’m not saying that Spanish people are assholes or anything – it’s just that sometimes, it takes them a while to open up to people from abroad. And if your Spanish is slower or more awkward than they’re used to, they might not make a huge effort to understand you.
More adventures with customer service in Spain, this time inside a couple of our fine financial institutions…
Customer service in Spain – adventures at the bank…
Banco Santander spent half the spring remodelling its office down the street.
It was closed for a while, and I hadn’t really needed to go in anyway.
When I finally did, I found that the customer service area had been replaced by a waiting room with a coffee machine and those hard modern couches in odd geometric shapes… totally uncomfortable, but totally modern. It looks like a hotel lobby more than a branch office.
At the door, there’s now an iPad where you have to enter your name, National ID and reason for visit in order to get a number.
And there’s an old woman from the barrio who’s obviously never used an iPad before struggling to get through the whole thing.
In other words, it looks like they’ve gotten rid of standing in line at the window, and instead we’re standing in line at an iPad. And grandma here is having trouble with the Enter key.
I help her out. She gets her number and I get mine.
I sit on the hard geometrical couch for a few minutes until it becomes obvious there’s nobody actually working here.
They’ve just done a clever job of hiding tellers in cubicles, where they do nothing – and then make the customers talk to the iPad about it.
Finally, I get up and go to another bank.
Living in Spain with “only” one last name
My account at Caixabank is basically dead.
But I just need to pay the fees for my visa renewal, so it’s no biggie.
The reason why I opened the account at La Caixa is that back in the day they were the only bank that’d work with my 9-digit passport number.
Other banks had refused. Eight digits or no deal. I guess they didn’t get a lot of people from the US in that neighborhood.
(Technically, I was only in Spain at that point because I’d overstayed my tourist visa, so I’m surprised any bank was prepared to work with me. I’m glad Caixabank – or La Caixa, as it was called before the Great Recession – did.)
Still, the woman who opened my account had to call her manager to figure out what to do with my single last name. Spanish people have two. I have one.
Correct answer: just put a period or an asterisk in the second last name field on the computer.
As long as the computer’s happy, everyone else is happy. They don’t really think my last name is an asterisk. It’s just that the system isn’t prepared for “only one last name”,
This is a big enough problem here in Spain that I’ve been interviewed by El País about it. The article is called “John Smith Notengo”, which is pretty good. And actually, the whole situation with naming conventions is kind of hilarious.
If you’re a foreigner with only one last name and you get the Spanish nationality, they make you choose a second last name for your DNI and your “Spanish birth certificate”.
Meanwhile, I always have to clarify that my middle name is not, in fact, one of my last names.
And finally, customer service at another Spanish bank
Anyway, the reason I’d stopped using Caixabank is because I moved out of that neighborhood. But every time I tried to go to a branch office near my new house, they told me to go to “my office” – the one where I originally opened the account, several years ago.
This institution, apparently, has been voted “best bank in Spain” multiple times. But they’re working under the assumption that it’s still the 1940s and people spend their whole lives living on the same street.
Back in the day, when men got married, they’d buy the flat next door to mom’s house, so they could go over for the merienda every afternoon, and drag their wives to paella every Sunday.
So logically, the head of the bank office knows the fishmonger, and the fishmonger’s grandchildren, they’ve been hanging out at the same corner bar every afternoon for 35 years… and nobody has any problem with a national bank refusing to serve them outside the neighborhood where he was born.
Today at Caixabank, then, there’s a big guy in a suit at the door. He takes my ID and tells me I should go to my office on the other side of town.
I insist. I tell him that I haven’t been to that branch in 7 years, and that if they’re truly the best bank in Spain they should be able to deal with the fact that Spain has more than one neighborhood.
Reluctantly, he agrees to let me in, and passes me off to a woman who fails for 20 minutes to do what could be done in one – if the computer were working. I need to pay a few euros for a new ID card – it’s not technically that hard.
But after much heavy sighing, she gives up and sends me on my way. “Come back in 8 to 10 days”, she says. “The system should be working by then.”
Oh well. Banco Sabadell always works. You just have to stand in line behind all the retired people.
En fin… is customer service in Spain all bad?
I’m sure someone out there is getting angry about what I’ve said regarding Spanish customer service.
Or about my opinions on Spanish people in general. Though I should mention that people here are usually quite decent once they get to know you.
My butcher and baker know me by name. My fishmonger asks me about US politics as he guts my sardines. The girl who makes my coffee in the mornings got quite friendly after I’d come by about 5 days in a row.
My constantly-breaking flat has been visited by a long line of polite and highly competent repairmen, and I’ve even had friendly treatment getting my visa renewed at Aluche (and, more recently, its Barcelona equivalent on Rambla de Guipúzcoa).
But still… Customer service, here in Spain, can be kind of annoying sometimes.
Gentrification and your neighborhood shops
As I’ve suggested already in this article, a lot of businesses in Spanish towns and cities, are working on a system called “comercio de proximidad”.
You go to the fishmonger because he’s right down the street. You’ve been doing this for decades. There aren’t a lot of other options, so nobody’s doing marketing… because it’s not like you’re going to go across town to buy fish.
“Proximidad” is 90% of the business model – location, location, location.
And, of course, it’s not all bad.
The people in the shops around the neighborhood might just need to see you a few times before they realize you really live here – you’re not just some tourist passing through.
Speaking of tourists, I’ll have more to say about this topic soon. Because some people are complaining that the more central neighborhoods of Madrid and Barcelona are turning into theme pars more than cities. They’re losing their small neighborhood shops, and opening up brunch places and convenience stores.
It’s part of the larger “gentrification” issue, as well as the social changes in Spain over the last few decades: a lot of the smaller shops depended on housewives going out to buy fresh meat and produce every morning.
But the newer generations just want to do their shopping at Mercadona on Saturday morning, or – better yet – get a burger delivered to their doorstep by Glovo.
These are big topics. And I’ll be writing more about them soon.
In the meantime, be sure to support your local fishmonger.
Yours,
Mr Chorizo.
P.S. What do you think? Am I wrong about customer service in Spain? Am I being unreasonable for thinking people should acknowledge my humanity if I’m giving them money? Are you a Vice President at a Spanish bank who wants to apologize for all the problems I’ve had? Either way, hit me up, right here in the comments…
P.P.S. Here are some more observations about Spanish culture, if you’re into that kind of thing. And here’s a bit about cultural differences between Spain and the US. Have fun!
P.P.P.S. I’ve talked about gentrification before as well. As well as work culture. So check those out as well.
Daniel, ya sabes que naci en España y por tanto conozco las costumbres. But just because I know the way Spaniards work does in no way mean I understand and much less that I am sympathetic with their ways. Yo are a bigger man than I am, I don’t think I have told you, but when my parents retired and went back to live in Spain, in 1985 I was still single and living by myself in the house they left me in Harrisonburg, VA. I decided to go live with them in Spain because my life here was not what you would call a shining example of good living. But I met my first wife just before I left and she had studies Spanish in College and gone to Spain for some months and had fallen in love with it. To make a long story short, I’ll tell you that I came back so we could get married and we moved to Spain in 1986. After 7 years I was desperate to come back home, I could no longer take the lifestyle and the ways in Spain.I do visit practically every year because I love it for short periods, but even though I have thought of doing what my parents did and go back to stay, I don’t think I could do it and that is why I thing you are a bigger and better man than I am. I ACTUALLY DO ENVY YOU because deep down, I honest to goodness do love Spain
Thanks Antonio, I love Spain too… despite some of its problems 🙂
Hey Daniel,
I agree that customer service is light years from other places, especially the US (which often times borders on false and insincere). However, choosing the banks is like cherry picking the worst of the worst. I try to do all my banking online just to avoid having to enter the bank branch an put up with those pseudo funcionarios. With the crisis and the current bank consolidation, hopefully customer service will be a priority for banks since it as area that can offer excellent returns as far as winning and keeping customers.
My experience with private medicine has been excellent and haven’t experienced what you have but it’s nowhere near they type of service offered in other countries where the customer is “king”. Like you mention, if you shop in neighborhood stores you have an excellent opportunity to make relationships with the shopkeepers and receive a personalized service just like in the 1940’s!
The customer service experience is improving, in general, but still has a long way to go.
Hey Mr. Chorizo. You are right. It is annoying. But I read this article recently about how smiling (and niceness in general) is associated to prosperity and confidence and, suddenly all the “bordería” in Spain makes perfect sense.
https://www.google.es/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/524967/
Thanks for commenting Lucia, that’s a really interesting article. It became clear to me years ago that what expectations about “niceness” are more cultural than universal…
Lucia, I loved the article and I agree with what it says. Thanks a million for the link. Please forgive me for my curiosity, but if you don’t mind, are you Spanish like I am? if you are, I notice your English is impeccable, are you living or have you lived in an English speaking country or have you studied to the point of learning it as if you had lived in the aforementioned place? I am 74, have lived in America for 60 years and I am incurably curious. Once again I ask your forgiveness if the questions are inappropriate.
I cannot laugh more reading your article :D. I am Madrilian born and bred and I totally agree with every single line you wrote. Customer service is a different set of people and it looks like the only way to get things done is threading them (not with body harm, although sometimes you really imagine it in cartoon fashion).
Nevertheless, it is really important to get a friend or a person of trust (manitas de confianza, pescadero de confianza…) that solves your problem really fast and already knows you and what you want. And for that being nice and smiling always help…a little.
We, Spanish are social people and a friendly approach…but if it does not work shouting (without biting) also does the trick 😉
Thanks Nieves! I have my pescadero de confianza already, and my carnicero… I guess I need to work on the people at the bank 🙂
As I said to Lucia, Your English is impressive. I have family and friends living in Madrid and I would love to meet you and Daniel and any others living there, the next time I visit Spain which God willing should be next year, If none of you mind
Do you live in San Lorenzo or did other branches do the exact same ridiculous thing at the exact same time?
Excellent piece! I’m signing up for more.
Thanks Cate! I live in Madrid Center – I just assume it’s La Caixa’s policy. Have a great day 🙂
Great article! I have 2 customer service gems that I’d like to share and help me to remember that I’m (probably) not the asshole- the surly waiter in a Cava Baja bar, that we always used to frequent as the food was decent and well priced and we couldn’t be bothered to seek out an alternative, despite usually being simultaneously scowled at or ignored by him, no matter how often we went. Well, we finally stopped gracing them with our guirri custom when he dropped a knife onto my lap and refused to acknowledge or apologize for the blatant attempt to finish me off, once and for all! Also high on my list is the well known cheap clothing chain that I’ve only seen in Spain that are named as the opposite of ‘Righties’ (ahem…);and their insistence that I return a faulty pair of boots to the branch I bought them in (what if that was in Barcelona, I wondered, would they refund my AVE ticket??). Aaah, Spain! Anyway, good job with the article!The struggle is real…
Hey Daniel,
Great article and stories. I’m a Spaniard back to the ‘fatherland?’ after 11 years in ‘Europe’ (Finland and the UK). I resonate with all you say and I have myself put some time to think about this stuff.
I concluded that Spaniards are medieval people in the midst of a global economy. Your iPad story illustrates this perfectly: the latest technology and business practices are quickly imported and incorporated, but they are not able to modify the cultures’ ancient ways.
You may agree most of Spanish corporate websites are utterly useless: the info is wrong, the javascript is a shambles and links are 404ing like it’s 1999. And this is because the companies know that people will go to the branch anyway so what is the point of updating the website.
Nothing responds to business logic, bank managers think having a shiny and modern branch is a priority over efficiency and effectiveness. Nothing gets measured, it feels contra naturam. Employees are not expected to perform efficiently, they are simply expected to obey to any of their bosses’ preposterous and emotion-driven idea.
That is why I find borderia is limited to work-life/services/economy. I discussed this with an American friend and he told me I was trying to import liberal protestantism into a catholic (medieval) country. My question is, is it possible to keep the warmth and friendliness of Spaniards and at the same time have an economy that works efficiently?
Hi Daniel, I have pretty much 0 experience with customer service in Spain but it sounds a lot like France. I have loads of what I call “Welcome to France” customer service stories that would make a wide-eyed, bushy-tailed North American shake her head in disbelief. The customer is always wrong. It used to frustrate me but now I just laugh!
Yeah, I’ve heard France is just as bad. (Haven’t been up there for like 10 years, so I don’t know.) Thanks for commenting!
I’m a Spaniard who has been living abroad for over 6 years. I come back home every 2 years and every time, as soon as I land, I suffer reverse culture shock when I face customer service. At first, I would think it’s simply horrible but -as you describe- you sometimes find very friendly people too. So how is this possible?
After much thinking, I came to the conclusion this is caused by four factors:
1. In Spain, we don’t have standards for customer service. It’s not regarded as a professional area which needs to have business standards. It’s the amateur world. And like amateur rock or theatre, it’s quite random. You may experience the best and the worst performances in one afternoon.
2. Compared to other economies, pymes (SMEs) are king in Spain, specially micropymes where the boss doesn’t feel he/she needs to put up with bs.
3. People don’t make a distinction between work and life. Therefore they show their personality at work. If your cashier is miserable she is gonna show it to you. And if your butcher is a happy and talkative guy, he is gonna try to be your friend from day 1, even if you just buy the cheapest chorizo every time. I know many foreigners find this lack of boundaries kind of exotic, but they are burdensome after a while.
4. People working in service usually feel they are too good for what they do. They have degrees, languages… But instead of showing they are overqualified by overperforming at work, they show it making you feel like an idiot for making them fold jeans in Zara. “How do you dare to waste my time making me work for you!? I have a degree in Anthropology and speak fluent Portuguese!”.
I often hear so many discussions about R&D, start-ups and so on, which is important… But nobody mentions Spanish needs to have a modern customer care with corporate practices. We tend to idealize micropymes… They are great as a starting point but having millions of small companies that aim for nothing more than surviving.
I actually think your stories are on the mild side. I now do all my banking online so I can completely avoid having to face dealing with non-customer service at the banks.
My theory is that in Spain on a personal level people are wonderful: warm, fun, easy to get to know, excellent friends and amazing people. But when they are at work they just want to go on their next coffee break or get home, they don’t really want to talk to the person across the counter who has a question.
I´ve lived in 5 countries (developed, developing) in 3 continents, including 11 years in Madrid. I have to agree that the stereotype of Spaniards being open and friendly does not apply much in commercial transactions when you live in the city of Madrid and is sometimes as offhand as what I had experienced in eastern Europe. I didn´t expect the same in Spain, though. However, I notice that things are better in other parts of Spain, especially the south, and I´m looking forward to more friendly day-to-day interactions after I´ve left Madrid.
Hey John Paul, it’s true that some of the friendliness (or lack of it) seems to be regional. It’s noticeable when you travel around. Also, some areas are just less used to foreigners, and the people show a lot more interest. Thanks for reading!
I've been in Spain for 7 weeks, after a 5 month stint in Italy….single 55 year old with her little furbaby. I am not impressed at all with customer service. Small shops OK. Restaurants OK. Big stores like El Corte Ingles, forget about it. My big hotel in Granada, depends who is helping you. Every where I've been where I think that hospitality school should have come into play during their career journey, I'm sure it hasn't. Sure, I've met some delightful shop keepers, gas station employees, and café owners, but I've also had terrible, insulting interactions with people who are paid to be helpful to other people. I'll give it a few more stops on my adventures before I write it off completely, but Spain will not be in the running for "friendliest country" everrrrr!
I've been in Spain for 7 weeks, after a 5 month stint in Italy….single 55 year old with her little furbaby. I am not impressed at all with customer service. Small shops OK. Restaurants OK. Big stores like El Corte Ingles, forget about it. My big hotel in Granada, depends who is helping you. Every where I've been where I think that hospitality school should have come into play during their career journey, I'm sure it hasn't. Sure, I've met some delightful shop keepers, gas station employees, and café owners, but I've also had terrible, insulting interactions with people who are paid to be helpful to other people. I'll give it a few more stops on my adventures before I write it off completely, but Spain will not be in the running for "friendliest country" everrrrr!