Czech Business Ethics

Doing Business the Czech Way!

What is wrong with these Czechs?

Czech business ethics smacked me right in the face today. It left me completely speechless as I really didn't see this one coming.

The Czech ombudsman system which can be found in use at large Czech companies is somewhat strange to begin with. They are supposedly independant and be there to solve problems between clients and the Czech company in question.

So far so good you might think, right?. Unfortunately unlike in the US or in the UK, the Ombudsmen are in the Czech Republic on the payroll of the company for which they perform their ombudsmen tasks.

I am not sure exactly what the profile would be when a Czech Bank goes out and recruits a new Ombudsman but that is a completely different story.

Indepenant Ombudsman

Thats the biggest oxymoran I have heard in years.

How the heck can someone be independent if they are just another employee of the Czech Savings Bank? In our case it has become crystal clear.

More then 6 months ago we informed them of an error which had cost us Lot's of money. Managers of the largest Czech bank acknowledged that their staff had made the error and that I would get the money back within 2 weeks.

As the amount was high I needed this money to pay of suppliers as that was their money that the bank was sitting on. Well 6 months later I still havent received a cent although even the Vice President of Ceska Sporitelna Czech Republic had personally been in my office and ensures a quick solution. That was 3 months ago!!

The CSAS ombudsman had also promised me that within 30 days all would be cleared. That was over nearly 4 months ago. He just lies and lies to me. No interest in my urgent need to fix this. I don't understand these guys. It was clear they made a mistake, its even in writing.

Why then continue to hold these funds again all business ethnics. Come on, Its on paper even from you that you accepted blame etc. Now off course you are forcing me to take this to court which can take up to 2 years or even more. That's criminal behaviour from the largest bank in the Czech Republic.

Thank you Ceska Sporitelna for completely ruining my life and my finances. You will pay for financial damages that have been caused due to your lack of care and any form of auction and the amount will be considerable as you have paralyzed us with your complete lack of caring or customer service.

Thank you Ms. Placha for giving me wrong information, Thank you Ms. Salzburgerova for forgetting to send the charge backs to Visa Card and me having to remind you 3 months later, Thank you Mr. Fisera for doing absolutely NOTHING at any time so as to resolve this matter and to help me, you are not an ombudsman!

And last but not least, thank you Mr. VP. Still no English account rep after nearly 18 months. You promised me one but still nothing. How poorly educated are your business managers. Not one branch in Prague 1 or Prague 2 has one that speaks English or German. This is too absurd for words!

I really do hope that the Czech media will pick up on this are you guys have cheated me. Its as simple as that!

How low can you go?

How low can a bank go?

How low can you go? That was the question beforehand and the answer has become clear to me.

I just can's believe that they have done this to me. One thing can be taken as a certainty. I will take them to the dry cleaners for this.

How can a large Austrian owned bank do this to a customer. First you overcharged him by a very large amount which equals at least a new expensive car like a BMW for example. Then you admit to the client that you were wrong and then start playing games for 6 months and refusing to pay back these funds.

Six months ago did this Czech bank promise me that all would be taken care off within 2 weeks. Now 6 months later they call me and they simply state that they have decided to keep the money for some type of penalty.

Come on guys, you have created a horrible situation for me and you are now hitting the nail in the coffin. This is so low. I swear hereby that I will make it my life's mission to get back to you. Bloggers Unite! You guys will feel how I now feel.

And Mr. Vice President of the bank, you really pulled a fast one didn't you. You promised me one thing and now I try to call you and you suddenly refuse to take my call. You know what the situation is that I don't have a single English speaking bank staff to talk to as you hired poorly educated bank employees.

All the bank employees that speak languages are working for banks like HVB and ABN Amro as they at least pay their staff decent salaries. You can't get theater tickets at the front row for the price of a seat which is located high up somewhere on the balcony.

Let's not forget Mr. Jack Stack who seems to be hiding throughout the situation. Don't preach what you don't offer. Please never again use the word customer service or customer satisfaction as those are 2 phrases that are def finitely not applicable to your organization. Don't you agree?

Have a merry Christmas Czech saving bank. You ruined mine and all that I have worked for so hard. And all because your staff gave me wrong contracts.

Ombudsman of Česká spořitelna

Ceska Sporitelna Ombudsman
A blessing in disguise or the enemy dressed as a friend?

Lets have a closer look at the Ombudsman office that th Ceska Sporitelna Bank has. The Ombudsmans team of this Czech bank is located at their headquarters in Prague 4 on Olbrachtova,

Back home we also have the Ombudsman and we also had a national ombudsman who was always standing up and fighting for the rights of victims, both private and business clients, who had suffered damages due to actions taken by a Government agency or by a large company such as banks and telecom companies for example.

I was originally told that the Ombudsman at Ceska Sporitelna is fully independant and that he is there to help / protect and advice the customers of Ceska sporitelna incase of any incidents that might have occured between bank and customer.

This made sense to me as the Ombudsmen that I had experienced back in my home country acted very much in the same fashion. I was looking forward to talking to the Ceska Sporitelna Ombudsman so that I could finaly get some good advice and solotiuns on how to get Ceska sporitelna to return a large sum of money to us which they had incorrectly charged us.

Things were looking good with Ceska sporitelna I had thought and the end of this mess was coming in sight.

The matter was urgent for me as the money that they were holding was needed to pay suppliers and other costs. As the money was ours to begin with we thought that the Ceska Sporitelna Prague Bank would appologize for their mistakes and quickly pay us. I needed the money really urgent and I felt like the image below:

The Ombudsman of Ceska Sporitelna informed us that he has legally 30 days to deal with the case and as it was somewhat complex he would most likely need all period. Well, not much I could do against that. I would end up in so much trouble in 30 days with my business but better some action then no action.

I waited and counted day by day and finally after the 30 days passed I called the office of the Ceska Sporitelna Ombudsman and asked for any news. Some assistant told me that nothing had been done yet, she couldnt tell me when they would start.

I asked for the ombudsman and I then discovered he went on holiday 2 days before and he would stay away for 1 month.

No time for my case and then go on holiday for a month and not even have the business courtesy to send me some form of update although you had promised all would have been taken care off by then end of the 30 days. The guy came back to work after 1 month and I have waited a lot more since then.

The ombudsman at Ceska Sporitelna has clearly proven that his function is not independant and that he is only looking out for the banks interest and has shown that he is completely unreliable and simply lies to clients. This is not the idea behind the possition of an ombudsman.

Why then create this department in the first place? Is it possibly because it just gives you more credibility towards the banking industry and your customers? Because this ombudsman is about as effective as George Bush is as US president.

Pan Jednatel of Ceska Sporitelna, get your household in order. You guys at the largest Czech Bank are giving this whole country a bad name with your inferior customer service as well as your financial products.

Shame on you Ceska Sporitelna!

Ceska Sporitelna Unbelievable

Ceska Sporitelna = Problems

Ceska Sporitelna blog has been not very busy recently as I gave the management of the largest Czech bank the opportunity to do the right think.

I must have been delusional thinking that these so called bankers at the Ceska Sportitelna could act and do business with honor and decency. I am just shell shocked to see the complete incompetency of so many of the Ceska Sporitelna staff that I have to deal with on a nearly daily basis.

Expat Center Ceska Sporitelna = Incompetent CSAS Staff

So guys, when you move to Prague and you are in need of a bank account with a local bank then please think twice before opening up a bank account at the Ceska Sporitelna Expat Center which is located in Prague 1 on Rytirska 29.

The location of the largest branch of Ceskasporitelna in the center of Prague is halfway between the bottom of Vaclavske namesti and the famous Old Town Square with its big clock.

What ever you do, do not let the main receptionist / translator, Ms. Placha of the Prague Expat Center assist you with anything as you more then likely end up 1 year down the road in my shoes.

How in God's name can a person just simply dream up contract conditions, inform the Ceska Sporitelna client in writing and then don't even have the human decency to apologize for all the damage that you caused by giving out completely wrong information which in turn has caused massive financial damage.

Today's salute goes to the person who caused all these problems to start with! I hope that you will experience the same as what I have been put through by your stupidity.

DO YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE STUPIDITY? OPEN AN ACCOUNT AT CESKA SPORITELNA - VOTED BY ME AS: THE WORST CZECH BANK of the 21st Century.

Dont entrust your funds with Cespa Sporitelna Czech Republic. Just burn your money. Atleast you have some fun loosing your money that way as opposed to the way that your money goes MIA with CeskaSporitelna.