What is it with hidden costs in Germany?
Why is there an accepted norm here in Germany to just not be upfront about how much something is going to really cost you (and also not to question it). I’m originally from the UK but have lived here in Germany for 8 years now and I still find it weird that:
at the start of the year you’ll just get billed for any outstanding electricity costs that weren’t covered in your monthly fee. No warning, no notification of how much it’ll be. And then they’ll calculate you a new amount for the next 12 months.
for many services (building costs, accountant costs, insurance, dentist) there’s no upfront mention of the costs and you’re just supposed to accept the bill they present you afterwards. When you ask them to tell you in advance how much it’ll be, they’ll often take offence and look at you weird.
Some other examples:
the council where I live in Bavaria refurbished a road without informing the residents that had houses on it until after it was complete they’d all have to pay €30,000 per house towards it.
I had to change my health insurance because of a new job and regardless of me informing my previous insurer in advance of this, they took 5 months to process the request and charged me an extortionate premium for those 5 months that they expected me to pay in one go.
Many examples of friends doing renovations or building houses where bills just come in the post for costs that they weren’t told about.
I asked a car insurance company for a quote and they sent me the application form to sign up for the insurance, including asking for my bank details… and no where was it mentioned how much it would be??
Surely it’s normal that people want to manage their finances and budget/save for things, but I’m finding every year I get stung by regular bills/fees/unexpected costs that I’m given no prior warning about.