enter

Does anyone know if outpatient appointments (non surgical/ life threatening) have been cancelled at Keszthely Hospital. Cannot make sense of their website nor can I get through via the phone number.

Peter_in_Hungary

From my experience all non-urgent appointments have been cancelled. I had one scheduled in Veszprem for March and I got a phone call the week before due date informing me of the cancellation and the rescheduling to be announced in the future. Urgent cases are still treated. As far as I know the same situation pertains nation wide.

Jack_Russells4ever

Good luck with the phone idea, since living here in Hungary I have come to the conclusion that even attempting to contact ANY business or person here via telephone is a waste of time and contacting most via email is also just about hopeless. If we need something we have learned that customer service and communication is an idea that has NOT yet reached Hungary. Having a Hungarian telephone is a waste of money and constant source of irritation. (RANT OVER!) (Bang head) It has become easier to just buy it from the UK or Amazon and for stuff like appointments we just turn up on their door.

enter

Thought so, will not attend.

enter

I agree, not much success on the phone, you say Angol kreme and they just babble on. Allianz for car insurance though I have an email contact that reply in English, eventually

Jack_Russells4ever

Case in point, I needed a new starter handle and rope for a Stihl chainsaw. We tried calling and emailing them to see if they had it in stock and never got a reply, I even had a Hungarian neighbor try to call and he could not get them to answer, we drove there and they were open and I bought the part. This is not because of this virus, it is like that all the time. Try calling a restaurant, a computer shop, many advertisers on Jofogas and they never answer telephone, never respond to emails even if they are in Hungarian. Don't get me wrong we love Hungary but in the 3 years we have been here not once have we ever had any luck using the telephone or emailing a Hungarian business, even my Hungarian neighbor says they have the same difficulty. Even stores like Euronics and OBI customer service is a joke. There is none. We once tried to purchase a cooker from Euronics that was on their website, the local shop did not have one, they told us to drive to Budapest to buy, they couldn't be bothered to order one and deliver it. That is why we no longer even try to support local merchants because it is stressful and unsatisfying almost all the time. They don't give a care about pleasing a customer. Hungarian or a foreigner.

FenTiger

I've sent emails to agents on Ingatlan asking for further information on properties, i.e. floor plan, etc. in both English and Hungarian and never received a single reply.

Jack_Russells4ever

So have I numerous times and also got nothing in response. One agent that advertises speaking English I even called and emailed them and could never get them on the telephone or a reply to my emails. I did however get their voice mailbox and I proceeded to school them about a topic unfamiliar to most Hungarians called courtesy and customer service. I love Hungary but if I owned a business here I would fire most of them very quickly for failure to act when customer inquiries are ignored. Hungary is a great country and I absolutely love being here but they are still living and acting like they did under communism.

wolfi

It really depends.
We've sold our house near Hévíz via an agency and the young lady managing this was very friendly and efficient, spoke German and when she didn't have time sent her helper - he spoke English.
But the company's representative in Esztergom was a total a**hole - so we bought our new house via a different agency - again it was a lady who managed this, maybe that's a sign?
PS re docs/hospitals:
We've had good experiences there, though luckily there has been no need lately.
The Keszthely hospital's emergency center where I went with my heart problems a year ago was also efficient and the people were again friendly - maybe my advantage was that around Hévíz almost everybody has some knowledge of German? English is mainly the foreign language of younger people, students etc ...
PPS:
The best way is always to appear in person!
Might take some time, waiting for the service, but we've always been treated friendly. Phone contact is generally only worth it with people who know you already.

Sachina

I can't say that I've ever had a problem. I usually contact companies via Messenger on their Facebook website, and apart from the odd occasion have always had a prompt reply, and in English as well!. If I have a query with for example my bank or Telkom I'll phone their English service and leave a message and phone number. They normally phone back within 24 hours!

FenTiger

Having to use a telephone or mobile to call banks, etc. is a big worry for us because here in the UK we, being profoundly deaf, use a telephone operator service for deaf people via a textphone. We type every out and the operator types back the response from the hearing person who is dealing with our call. My wife says there's no equivalent service in Hungary. Usually, for non-important calls I use the banks online chat or message facility but there's only so much which they can do via these options. All our Deaf friends in Hungary have grown up children who are not deaf so can make calls on their behalf. Ah, well, will have to see how it goes once we are over there. It will be challenging.