For those who have been to Eastern Europe what do you think of the customer service?

I'm talking Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, the Baltic states etc...I found it about as friendly as Ray Nietzchke after a 2 week drinking spree, like they're doing you a favor by serving you and you're in the way, even my Czech friends agreed

Tips generally relax people -

Czechs in particular are very unfriendly, not only in bars - very agressive, lunatic and cold .

I lived in the Czech Republic for two years and I thought the service was some of the worst I'd ever encountered anywhere in the world.

But a student of mine there explained--sort of--why it is so: the people who work in these service jobs are not exactly the brightest nickels in the drawer, if you know what I mean, and because of the way things are there, socially, many of them will not be able to aspire to anything higher in their lives. This inability for upward mobility then brings out the surliness in them. I didn't totally buy that, but it does have its own sense to it.

But it still isn't a pleasant aspect of being there for tourists and ex-pats alike.

i agree with you...its awful i waited for service 1 hour on the airport in prague!!!!

Under the Communist regime, the humble waitress was on an equal standing as the town mayor. This meant no need for formalities. Hence, apparent over-familiarity. Old habits die hard, but if you go to some of the more Westernised places like Slovenia, you'll find the false American-style customer service we know and love.