They did warn us [7]
Some people remark that the Americans are so insincere with their “Hello, I am your waitress for tonight”. But I prefer that level of customer service way beyond the treatment you get over here.
Last time we went to the police station in Motril we were sent home with a web address. At that time we were not allowed to wait for an available person and we couldn’t make the appointment then and there.
So yesterday I entered the web page and looked for ‘cita‘ which is Spanish for appointment. I couldn’t find it. Tom had a look as well, he couldn’t find it either. But he did find a telephone number, so I called.
Although I do speak some Spanish at the moment, in situations like this I prefer English. So my first question was “¿Habla inglés?” Since his reply was “un poco” I started explaining I couldn’t find where to apply for an appointment. After hearing me out he decided he was not the right person to answer my question and gave the phone to somebody else. Again I started with “¿Habla inglés?” “No” was the very firm answer.
I requested for the other person to come back on the phone, but in the meantime, his English had vanished into thin air. In the end, I got another telephone number which I could call in the mornings.
They did warn us [8]
This morning I called the number. Nobody replied. After several unsuccessful attempts, I looked up the number in Google and found some more telephone numbers that were related to this one. The first one got an immediate connection. Yeah!
I started my “¿Habla inglés?” but again got a very firm “No“. I keep wondering why you would want to have employees at the foreign office that speak no foreign languages, but I guess that’s my short-sightedness.
I thought the better of it and stumbled my question in Spanish.
A deep sigh on the other side of the line.
He gave me a different web address and said I could make the appointment through that one. Looking at it I had no clue which button or link to choose so I asked.
Another deep sigh and the remark I should look for “cita previa” (this is also something I find odd because previa means former and I am still trying to make my first appointment, but never mind).
I said I couldn’t find it and he snapped at me that everybody could find it, so I shouldn’t fuss or else find somebody who speaks Spanish to let him do it.
A very interesting encounter with the civil servants of Motril.
PS The page above is where I ended up when I finally found a link that seemed to be the right one – an empty page 🙂
^hm