The German Embassy

The telephone service is shocking.
Have been trying for days to get advice regarding daughter’s ID card.
After waiting for hours in a so-called telephone queue my calls have been simply switched off on every occasion. This has happened day after day.
Similarly, emails are ignored and not responded to.

I do understand that their services are in high demand.

However, as a German citizen I would expect a service from my embassy which is less inefficient.

Please improve your customer service!

I have dealt with the embassy several times, each time the interaction bordered on bad comedy. Their customer service is beyond bad. No one answers the phone and when they do, they are unhelpful to the point that it seemingly gives them pleasure to make matters difficult. I have never experienced anything like it. Appointments are almost impossible to come by and once you are inside the embassy to deal with their staff you have to be lucky to be treated kindly. Paying or picking up a passport is also something rather difficult. They have one person taking payments. after waiting for one hour (with an appointment) one then has to queue again to make payment, which can take another half hour as the one person taking payment either takes cash or in the case of card payments manually enters card details etc etc. it is painful and simply not appropriate. opening times are incredible and they seem to be open for only a couple of hours a day. in short they urgently need to improve their serv

1. They need to improve their telephone manners. People answering telephones should be able to understand German.
2. They need more appointments - 3 months wait for passport renewal is not acceptable.
3. Personnel inside the embassy need to be more efficient. 2 hour wait WITH an appointment not good enough.
4. Personnel at the counters need to be friendlier. Train them in good customer service.
5. Letters should be answered truthfully and not contain falsehoods.

I was wary because of the other reviews, but found them friendly, the building clean and the service reasonably efficient. Slightly puzzled as to why, with 3 other desks staffed and not serving anyone for a prolonged period, the couldn't jump in to help at the one desk that was busy with a queue, but aside from that I was seen within the allotted time frame and left with what I needed.

If they fired everyone! Or if they had a call service that actually worked...

Name: James
Location: London

If you have to much time on your hands and you feel like going back in time your right here.
The staff (to many do nothing) being paid by the german tax payer to have a nice life in London. They could use a BIG hint in customer service and how to deal with people.
The appointment system is useless, you have to insist that you need an appointment now and that you wont accept any other dates then yours. Make them work.
They have one card machine, hello we are in the 21st century. And it seems they have just one person who can work it. Maybe they should go to the PoundShop and see how its done.
They have a 2h lunch break (nice job) and you cant wait inside even when its raining and cold outside.
The security (just the german one) is unfriendly and seems they forgot they are in London 2011 and not in Berlin 1940. Just saying.
If they would work from 8 to 5, no lunch break closure (eat like in any other company in a shift system), opening on saturdays, would be at least a bit more friendly and would have a better appointment system and a card machine on every single counter instead of waiting first in counter 1 just to wait again on the other counter to pay, more people would be served and faster.

Their system is totally shambles, you have to keep ringing numbers, when you get through, they give you another number and tell you the timings are different, you wait the next day for that time, by the time you get through, they again tell you to ring a yet different number at a different time. My days are being wasted in trying to get an appointment for VISA! In correct info on WEbsite!!!

this is the greatest embassy and the personnel are the friendlist that I have ever dealt with