r/bamberg • u/pankokocat • 1h ago
Experience at a local O2 shop - guidance needed
Hello all! Before I begin: I am an international student and arrived here a month ago. I initially had a different SIM but changed to O2 recently as this is cheaper and the store is also closer to my dorm.
Anyway. I arrived at the store on Luitpoldstraße and asked for a prepaid SIM. The man at the counter said i should come the next day at a specific time. I arrive at that time. It seems he forgot he told me to come because he seemed to have family over at the shop and was pretty busy with them first. After waiting for around 15 minutes, he just takes some basic information, hands me the SIM (I had everything required with me) and told me the SIM will be activated in an hour. I didn't sign a contract, didn't get a confirmation email, nothing. I confirm and ask, "that's all?" And he affirmed, and went back to his family. While I was putting my stuff away, he came and asked "what happened, do you need anything else?" Like he was desperate for me to leave.
An hour passes by, then an another, I am back at my dorm and my SIM has not activated. I go BACK to the store, and he had a lot of friends over i am assuming. I tell him my SIM hasn't activated. He takes ALL OF THE INFORMATION AGAIN and THIS time I digitally sign three contract forms, and NOW I instantly get confirmation emails. He AGAIN told me to go outside and wait for 10 minutes. As someone who is still getting to know how Germany works (I have never been out of country before, Germany is my first country) I was perplexed but felt i had no other option, so I did wait outside the store. After around 10 minutes, i had to go inside because it still wasn't turning on. My SIM activated, finally, after nearly 3½ hours.
Now, please tell me: am i exaggerating being irritated at this experience? To summarise:
I came a day prior, told me to come the next day instead. I do. He forgets (seemed like it, or at least he wasn't expecting me).
Merely hands me the SIM and tells me to wait an hour and indirectly asks me to leave ASAP.
Two hours pass, i have my third visit to the store by now, he finally hands me the contract, I sign it, I receive confirmation.
Tells me to go outside again. I do. SIM still doesn't work. Go back inside the fourth time. Work finally gets done.
How do I proceed with this, or should i at all? A huge part of me just wants to forget and move on and cause as fewer problems as possible as i am still getting used to living here. The overall experience was incredibly exhausting and bewildering. With my first SIM, the process took around 20 minutes.
Nevertheless, if you read this far, thanks for listening to my rant. I did want to say something in the store but honestly I told the guy at the counter that I am new to the city and would appreciate guidance. I trusted he would be honest as I am paying for the SIM. So I was (still am) a bit perplexed if this the standard procedure or not.
What do you guys think?
