The blame does not solely rest on the shoulders of the shop owner and his/her workers. The consumer is also to blame.

Simple law of supply and demand. Demand better service and you will eventually be supplied. Unfortunately it would have to be a joint effort by a significant portion of the consumer population. If we as a cunsuming nation were to frequent and boycott shops based on their service, we might get somewhere. Unfortunately it is not in the Polish culture to rock the boat of change.

It's a fact that many of th people working in public services are arrogant, not polite and often i have the feeling that they want be bribed.

I don't think that is a matter of the payment because in Portugal, an employeer if is not nice with a costumer can be fired and the money that they earne it's more or less the same that in here.

If you go to India, Brasil or Marocco, people earn much less and still they try to be nice and to please the costumer.

I think that the problem is still that people don't feel public services has their own so they simply don't care. The same in shops and fast food restaurants.

With 18% of unemployment, that is obviously not true, they should at least to fight to keep a job.

To be honest i don't blame Polish for this but rather it's a consequence of having 200 years in a row when all inteligence was being killed and oppressed.

>>My suggestion: get an education and move to England... ;)

Good tip. What are you doing here? ;-)

Perhaps the point is you will nearly always get a scour from the face of a person who has to work a job they just aren't going to be happy with, and which they will never make advancements in, simply because the economy won't allow them to change their job because of a lack of options. Reduce unemployment by creating more jobs through simplifying foreign investment.

Short answer: it's the governments fault - but, then again, isn't everything?

All the more reason to take advantage of that free education the state provides. My suggestion: get an education and move to England... ;)

Hikin Mike

I think it's engrained in the culture.

Don't see how competition among employees raises wages either ;-)

Is that some sort of supply side economics they teach out in the states?

There are just far too many people able and willing to replace someone working in the service industry in Poland. With around 18% of Poland out of work, you've got to decrease the unemployment, which in turn increases the competition for new employees, which in turn raises the wages automatically. Simplify and encourage foreign investment and you decrease the unemployment. A minimum wage would be helpful though...

First of all if Poland wants to increase the quality of customer service, they are gonna have to demand it. Supply always meets the demand. Unfortunately most people here are too passive and will patiently wait in line while the checkout girl decides to stock the shelves or enjoy her coffee break.

If you actually create an atmosphere that customers can have an enjoyable shopping experience, you will establish customer loyalty which in turn makes the store more successful. You should in theory get paid more because of your worth to the company. You may have a piece of shit owner that is not smart enough to recognize your value and if that is the case, you should really look for other work. Every Monday the classifieds is full of opportunities.

Shopworkers in the uk used to earn enough to live on mcdonalds if they were living with their parents before the government made a minimum wage

An answer for your questions is pretty simple. Average pole working in the shop earns the lowest rate! It's usually around 800zl to 1000zl/month !!! Would you be happy and nice to everyone working 8 hours for such money ???
I hate the fact of no costumer service at all in this country and I miss shopping with smiley faces around and helpful staff but I can not blame polish shop workers. They have all the right to be angry or unhappy as they do not get the proper pay in my opinion.