Trustworthy

People complain about customer service in Iceland a lot, both Icelanders and foreigners, and certainly the normal adage that the customer is always right does not hold true even at privately-held businesses here. But on the other hand, I've never had an Icelandic salesman try to sell me something I did not need or want. They are much more likely to try to talk you out of purchasing something from their store than the other way around. For instance, I recently ruined the rim and tire of my left-front wheel, and I expected to pay whatever to the first place I went to have it fixed. But no. Neither the dealership, nor N1, nor the tire store every pushed me to buy new tires or new rims, and kept referring me elsewhere. At first I was offended at the brush-off, but, having just spent 5000 kroner when I might have had to spend 120,000, I have newfound appreciation for this understated "customer service". Could it be they actually care that I reach a good solution to my problem? Whoa, that is just too revolutionary for a gal from Cal.

Comments

Iris said…
I once bought nice Icelandic wool for knitting an Icelandic sweater (lópupeysa). The lady who owned the store followed me around telling me that the colors I had picked would look just awful together. I should be this and this. I ended up following her advice and not only did the sweater loook great, the one color was actually cheaper than the one I had picked. So while at first I found it rude that she challenged my taste, I was also grateful later. Maybe it really is not the best customer service where the customer is always right.
August 14, 2008 at 3:06 PM
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