211–220 of 316 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And the root of all that? Privatization.
The German mail rail and track operator (Deutsche Bahn) isn't private but 100% state owned (and control sits with the federal government). They wanted to privatize it a couple of decades ago but abandoned it. There is still some hybridization between supposedly it being a business and also a public service left in the law, though.
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You sure the ~600 companies that the Deutsche Bahn is made up of can be compared to one state-owned entity?
All rolls up into one 100% owner and having a lot of subsidiaries isn't unusual.
If we are discussing tendencies of "privatized vs public", it's hard to ignore that factor. Public entities that historically worked well weren't just masses of 600 subcontractors.
I've long thought that that is one of the main functions of corporations. There's a reason they're called limited liability. The fact that you can conjure up new companies at a whim makes it easy to shuffle responsibility into an obscure corner. This is a strong reason that corporations should not be considered people. People are long-lived entities with accountability and you can't just create or destroy them at wil…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
All rolls up into one 100% owner and having a lot of subsidiaries isn't unusual.
I believe they make a good point: making a vertically integrated entity could matter more than just buying most of the shares. If we are discussing tendencies of "privatized vs public", it's hard to ignore that factor. Public entities that historically worked well weren't just masses of 600 subcontractors.
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That is a problem of organisation size, not so much whether the organisation is private or public.
I dont believe the largest company on planet earth by market cap has the problem as bad as government, even in a smallish country.
I've long thought that that is one of the main functions of corporations. There's a reason they're called limited liability. The fact that you can conjure up new companies at a whim makes it easy to shuffle responsibility into an obscure corner. This is a strong reason that corporations should not be considered people. People are long-lived entities with accountability and you can't just create or destroy them at wil…
This notion is currently being contested
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Germany is the only country in which I’ve had 112 (emergency services) hang up on me because they couldn’t speak English. It’s worse than France in this regard.
Yes, but it’s still fine to have a customer service only answering in the official language. The chance are high that a random German speaks english so you’ll probably be good but if that’s not the case, blaming the company seems unfair to me.
What does high mean in this context? I experienced what I would call the inverse Danish maneuver, the German obviously understand English because they often answered our English questions correctly - In German.
In Denmark if a Dane understands what you said in Danish but you have a definite accent they will often answer your question in English.
Maybe Germanic cultures are geared towards the rude.
I remember experiencing this in one of the German airports/airlines and having that exact thought. It was this fully automated airport, where the checkin is self serviced and you only interact with computers. Eventually, when I inserted my boarding pass I had a printed piece of paper back that said that they had to change my seat from aisle to midseat I then tried to find someone to talk to the entire way, but comput…
At this point everyone needs to get in the habit of using small claims court. You can often do it online in a few minutes these days. Make a good faith effort to get your problem addressed, and record the fact that you've done so to use in your hearing if it gets that far. Then just file the claim. Generally they fold immediately, and this way you incentivize actual customer service in the only language they understa…
what country is this "small claims court" in? And are you sure this country's small claims works the way your country does?
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11383280/?lang=en&ref_=ext_shr_ln...