Impressionen - New For Fall

For those living in Germany be sure to check out Impressionen as they just released their new Autumn collection for the home. Loving this chandy, especially since you can turn it off and just light the candles for romantic evenings at home. Oh, la la!
Impressionen - New for Fall

I was excited to see that they have a great Liebeskind bag in teal because this Berlin-based brand for handbags is the best AND since I've been looking for a teal bag. I get all kinds of "where'd ya get THAT?" when I carry around my purple bag purchased last Autumn. I've shopped Impressionen a few times and felt very satisfied with my orders though they don't speak English at all so I had to have my husband send them an email they could understand vs. my GermEnglish speak. And they charge per minute if you need to call them. Um, what is UP with this? It seems to be kinda of common if you need to speak to customer service at catalogs in Germany and it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Anyone have an opinion? I do like Impressionen though and look forward to being a somewhat regular customer there since they carry lots of the brands I like. Have you shopped them before? (image: impressionen)

Comments

Herr M said…
Guten Morgen, Holly,

my wife (and even I) like this catalogue very much. It´s one of the best catalogues in Germany.
And concerning the telephone charges - that´s typical German. Although some firms don´t charge you, some do.
I wish you a good start here in Germany - it´s very nice and intersesting and agreable to live here!
Kind regards from Bavaria
Herr M
1richtungsblog said…
Hi Holly,
yes, there is a big difference in customer service between the States and here. But it is slowly changing for the better.
xo Anita
Juliette said…
I haven't made a purchase YET, but you got me hooked on their catalogs a long time ago. Which reminds me - I need to update my mailing address with them!

The phone thing - gosh that is SO typical here. I hate that. I could understand it MAYBE 20yrs ago, but w/the updates in phone billing here you'd think the term 'customer SERVICE' would mean they want to help us, not us paying to make them help us when we want/have their product. To finish my rant, 'cuz it really bugs me, we were waiting for a delivery from Ikea once and had to call the delivery problem line (which is only for if you have big problems) and we had to pay 90 cents a minute w/our cell phones. We have landline #s on our cell phones, but no physical landline, so we had to pay 90 cents/min to be on hold for 10 minutes and then some.

I just think, for cripes' sake! Seriously! Ikea, HUGE company. punks.

But if you buy from a small business you don't have to pay. They actually care about their customers. Germany gives us one more reason to support the little guys! =)
Janina said…
Hey Holly

Oh I love Impressionen. They've so great furniture and decoration things. And the catalogue is so beautiful!

I wish you a good start in Germany, too.

Regards from Germany

Janina
Anonymous said…
I work at a customer support line in the U.S. and I wish we did charge people by the minute for calling in. Staffing those lines is more expensive than you think and many people call in with questions that they could have answered themselves (I work with a more technical product so this is a slightly different situation) or they call in just to rant about something that we can't do anything about anyway. It can be extremely warying, and I feel like even if it's just a really small charge, it would make people think twice before just blithely dialing in.
Katja said…
Hi Holly,
I've got a lot of Impressionen-stuff, especially clothes. Their print-catalouge is one of the best you'll find in Germany.
The only thing I don't like are the long delivery times: 2-4 weeks usually...

Have a great start in Germany!
Katja
Unknown said…
I love their site and the fact that they don't overcharge you for shipping abroad. I haven't ordered anything yet though. The pay by the minute telephone charges are quit common in Europe I think. I live in the Netherlands and over here it is as Herr M states, some companies charge you, some don't.
Sara said…
Also very common in France and Switzerland.
The call centers cost money so really you are paying for it either way, either directly when you call, or indirectly by having the companies charge higher prices.

That said, I always hated when I had to call because something was broken (like the internet) and it was their fault, seemed so unfiar!
Stina said…
Chiming in with the "yes, very common in Germany" thing. I just never really questioned it because I'm so used to it. Germans don't do well with certain forms of customer service. When Wal*Mart tried to introduce baggers at the cash registers in Germany, the experiment didn't even last a week. German customers were very much against the idea of anybody touching their purchases and putting them into bags another way they were used to. (Wal*Mart has had to leave Germany anyway because of unethical business practices, I believe. Havent seen a single store here in years.)
I LOVE impressionen and have ordered from them a hundred times. I usually order it from their online store, because they are not too friendly on the phone I think.
I also love their catalouge for clothes calles "Conelys". I always get both sent to my home, which is always a great suprise after coming home from work and seeing a nice catalogue for inspiration and pretty little things! ;)
Hannah said…
Hey Holly,

I've purchased from Impressionen before (a Garland imitate) BUT I have discovered that they offer a selection of products also offered by www.schneider.de for a lower price so be careful to check whether you can buy it there.

Was very happy with my purchase though.

I love your blog :)
Bel said…
Hi Holly

The Impressionen catalogue is very beautiful!
Regarding telephone charge, it is also usual in other countries such as in Brazil. In fact, here it is similar to Germany: some companies do not charge your call, others do. In fact, I think most of them charge us: banks, airline companies, etc.
I also wish you a good start in Germany. I like this country very much!
Kind regards,
Bel said…
Hi Holly

The Impressionen catalogue is very beautiful!
Regarding telephone charge, it is also usual in other countries such as in Brazil. In fact, here it is similar to Germany: some companies do not charge your call, others do. In fact, I think most of them charge us: banks, airline companies, etc.
I also wish you a good stay in Germany. I like this country very much!
Kind regards,
Laura said…
I also love Impressionen, have ordered a number of things from their online store, all home items. I prefer online- easier and i always get stressed out speaking german on the phone -much easier to deal with online. I just wish they would re-oranize the website, it's not as easy to find things as I would like but still will shop with them!
Ealenya said…
Hi Holly,

I haven't ordered anything from Impressionen yet, but often see them referenced in German decoration magazines. That's how I discovered them and I really like their catalogue.
I wish you a good start here in Germany!

Kind regards from Hannover ;)
Nolwenn
The charges for calling customer service lines really bugs me too!! When we moved to Germany we had major problems getting our phone and internet going. It literally took weeks. We complained about having to pay the calling charges and surprisingly they gave us a debit on our next bill.
Impressionen catalog is one of my favorite catalogs to browse.
Anonymous said…
Aloha Holly,
so happy to hear you enjoy Impressionen too.

What I usually do is look up the mandatory "Impressum" on the homepage of a German company and get their fixed-line phone nr. which is usually with the area code and thus covered with my phone-flatrate - it works with most insurance companies etc.

At least they have to state the eurocts/min when it is a special customer-service line - which is usually very efficient and staffed with well-trained people (my experience)

Good luck & all the best -
Angelika
Augsburg/Germany
Lauren said…
i want that chandelier!
Lovely Sunflower said…
Just a hint - there are THOUSANDS of Impressionen things on ebay, mostly returns, great quality, though.
The catalogue itself is deliriously overpriced so I basically just order it (as well as the Conley's one) to get some inspiration.
As for writing in German - it's all about not being afraid to sit down and write something. As soon as you forget that "oh, i dont really speak German" attitude, wird sich dein Deutsch innerhalb kürzester Zeit enorm verbessern :)

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