I'm sure you've read numerous reports about [lack of] Swiss hospitality and Customer Service and I'm sure you can remember that some sort of football championships were held here last year.
I told you what the results would be ...
... no, not the football results, but the result that Swiss courtesy would have on tourism – bookings have dropped by twenty percent.
Can that be coincidence?

Yesterday I asked a computer-supermarket-assistant where I might find a USB adapter set.
She shrugged her shoulders and told me she had no idea. Did she call a colleague and ask for help?
No.
I found what I wanted in the end after walking up and down endless rows of computer accessories.
This is just typical of what to expect when you visit Switzerland. Not just in shops but in hotels and restaurants too.
And does it end there?

I ordered three tubes of toothpaste in England. They were sent to me via Royal Mail and cost £14 including postage.
A week later a bill arrived from Swiss cutoms – CHF 60, an equivalent of £35!
I immediately phoned to complain and was informed that customs taxes are calculated by the size of the parcel.
I mentioned the fact that I had a receipt for CHF 20 which already included astronomically high VAT and was informed, in not so many words, that that was my bad luck!
I ordered a screw in the USA. Because it was custom made, it cost $60. Postage also came to $60.
Customs taxes? $60!
$120 for a single (albeit specialised) screw.

I am agog to know the result of my latest strife with Swiss customs.
Three weeks ago I bought a camera lens in an auction on ebay.
After a week, I contacted the guy I purchased from to ask if he'd actually posted the thing off. He assured me he'd sent it off with Royal Mail the same day.
I phoned Swiss Postal services - sorry, without a tracking number, we can't trace a parcel.
Last week I phoned again. No results.
The day before yesterday a letter flattered through my letter box. Swiss Post Customs Services.
A notice that they have a parcel for me which has been declared correctly to be a camera lens.

So my parcel has been sitting on a shelf in Zürich while someone has been trying to decide how to tax it. Due to the size of the parcel, it will probably cost me what – CHF 40? But on the customs label it states camera lens – surely a lens is worth a lot of money?

The letter invited me to state honestly (they are kidding, surely) the value of the contents and to provide proof in form of a receipt.
If I am unable to provide proof within five days, the parcel will be returned to sender.
I posted off the PayPal receipt the same day underlining the words 'USED LENS'.
I wonder how long I shall have to wait, when I might receive my parcel and which costs might be added for the unexpected act of actually having to handle a parcel.

Keep this up you wonderful Swiss and you won't just be losing tourists, you'll be losing tax-payers too ...