The local business association in Oberursel, “fokus O”, celebrated their 175 year anniversary last week. I was there for the Oberurseler Woche and my report made it onto the front page.
Click here to read the article (in German)
Where have all the ties gone?
February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Last week I attended a computer trade fair, and was almost shocked to see that during the first presentation, I was the only member of the audience wearing a tie!
It certainly got me thinking. Many people had turned up in casual dress, and others were wearing a suit with a waistcoat, but without a tie. During the rest of the day I observed that most of the people in the hall with a tie were actually working on one of the stands.
On reflection, it’s a trend that has been going on for some time. [Read more…]
My first day in court
October 31, 2010 By 1 Comment
This week I had my first experience of visiting a German court.
I’ve talked before about the payment culture in Germany, and how some customers just don’t pay up. I have had to register customer debts with the court before, but this was the first time I had actually been to one, as it was a slightly different situation. This time, it was a supplier who owed me money.
Last year, I sent some items of computer hardware back to one of my supplies for repair or replacement. Unfortunately the supplier then filed for bankruptcy.
It took a lot of telephone calls to get my hardware dealt with, but one of the items, which I had luckily noticed was not working before I sold it to a customer, was gone for a long time.
In the end I called the manufacturer and was told that the item had been destroyed and a credit note issued, meaning that rather than getting a replacement I now had to register as a creditor (called a Gläubiger in German) to my own supplier. [Read more…]
