If you are new to Germany, you might wonder why repairs take that long. I’m German, but sometimes I wonder about it, too.
Let’s draw the shades on this repair job soon.
On 19 September, our window shutter belt (Rollogurt) tore apart after 18 years of use. I called a couple of companies, and one of them offered an appointment (just to assess the damage) three weeks down the road. The next one offered to come the following Monday. Hurray, I thought.
When the repairman came, he told me this outer roller shutter (Außenrollo) is much harder to repair. Since the Rollo could not be pulled up more than 4 inches/10 cm, there would be no way to reach the outer box without breaking the roller shutter (Rolladenpanzer) . In addition, being on the fourth floor of the building, this would also require a second repair man for security reason.
In my mind, I saw the charges adding up. Finally, these roller shutters need to be ordered from another company, as they do not keep them in stock.
I got my estimate on 24 September of € 687,82 with a note that additional charges (unforeseen at this point) might incur. I placed the job order.
On 17 October, I made a friendly inquiry to the Rollo company to see how far down the line we were on the waiting list. My friendly inquiry got a defensive reply, ‘I told you we would call you as soon as the part(s) have come in.’
It has been five weeks today. We are still without a Rollo, and I suppose the part hasn’t even arrived yet. It takes a lot of patience to be at the mercy of getting jobs done by repairmen (Handwerker) in Germany.
I’m sure some neighbors might find it odd, and speculate what’s going on behind these blinds. Not much, I can tell you. We are also in the dark about it. 🙂 Anyway, at this rate, I hope to get this done by Christmas.
