Danish taxidrivers and their rules

Typical conversation with a Danish taxidriver at the end destination. Me:"thanks, how much do I owe you? Taxidriver:"198 kroner" Me:"can I pay with creditcard?" Taxidriver:"no, you should have told me before getting in the car" Me:"I am terribly sorry, I did not know, but you do have a credit card terminal, don't you?" Taxidriver:"yes, but it is a rule that customers tell in advance, now you are too late" Me:"but I don't have cash money with me" Taxidriver:"Then I will drive you to an ATM, but that will cost you extra of course" Me:"I give up..."

Real Scandinavian kitchen - Julefrokost instead of NOMA

Just came back from a fantastic traditional Danish experience; a proper Julefrokost on a lazy Sunday afternoon! Cafe Gammeltorv offers a good old fashioned style interior, real Scandinavian food (no that's not NOMA) and very kind Danish staff. If you expect visitors from abroad and you would like to show them some Danish traditions, think about a Danish Christmas Lunch. Treat your guests on a local snaps (Akvavit) and a Julebryg (Christmas Beer), that's life in Denmark! All traditional Christmas dishes served in small portions on beautiful Royal Copenhagen plates taste perfect. I am sure they won't recognize any of it; you won't get karrysild or leverpostej in any other country. No posh, just old traditions. Your friends from overseas will love it! Skål!

Restaurant reservation system workaround

Imagine it is 10 o' clock in the morning, and you think about planning a diner for 4 at your favorite restaurant. They are not open yet, so you go to their website, enter the dinnerbooking system and try to select 4 people at 19.00. Oh no, there is only a table for 3 left at 18.30. Very annoying, those bloody rigid IT systems! What to do? Try this workaround: Book the table for 3 at 18.30, you will get an email confirmation, reply by writing that you have made a mistake and that you would like to come with 4 at 19.00. 95% chance that you will receive this confirmed! You have just helped Denmark to improve their service levels!

How to spend tax money?

While crossing Kongens Nytorv this morning it was almost difficult to walk, the ground felt somewhat bumpy. Know why? Because the municipality of Copenhagen has decided to start early this year with salting roads! It felt cold yes, but there is no need to start doing this when the temperature still shows +5 C. It is good service though, isn't it. They obviously care about their citizins. That is why Danes love to pay so much tax, to enable the government to supply free services. But there is no such thing as a free lunch...

It is possible though!

Yesterday evening I experienced a very positive exemption to the rule: Restaurant GEIST on Kongens Nytorv. Manned cloakroom, waiters offering their services before you have thought of it yourself, fantastic presentation of the food! Allright, I had to except that the waiters approached me as if we were personal friends, and the atmosphere is maybe a little bit to relaxed compared to the price level, but I enjoyed their service very much!

Shopping in Copenhagen

Anecdote nr 1: Question customer "Do you have these shoes in size 42 please?". Answer sales assistant "No"

Classical isn't it? Every experienced shoe shopper who has been in London or New York knows that you would expect to be offered to try size 43 because they might fit as well sir, or to have a look at another pair that has the same style (and coincidentally is 25% more expensive), or...

Please comment with your personal experiences?

Welcome to Service in Denmark

Ask economists about countries in the world that have a large proportion of service industry and many of them will mention Denmark. A small country hidden away between the large manufacturing industry of Germany and big brother Sweden. Although many people will have difficulties finding it on the map, Denmark is the home country of service giant ISS! As other countries like Netherlands in Europe and Singapore in Asia, Denmark is highly dependant on it's service industry, since manufacturing traditionally is located in neighbouring countries.

Surprisingly enough service companies are not always service minded. Many service companies these days are run as if they are manufacturing goods. Efficiency is key and of course in countries with high wage levels, this should also be high on the management agenda. One tends to forget though that the quality of service itself should always be priority number 1...

This blog is meant to share comments about service in Denmark. Our goal is to create awareness in Danish service companies of how their quality is perceived by their customers and eventually to increase the service level.

We will be fair, but also straight forward. As a Dutch expat I have learned that directness is highly appreciated in Denmark, which is actually a prerequisite for fast learning. So far so good!

Long live to the Danish Service Industry!