Probably not unlike a trip to the outlet malls for some people in USA! Anyway, thanks for stating your honest opinion. Happy Holidays!
I'm sure the shops, restaurants and other attractions such as Sea-life aren't complaining as they're probably doing quite well out of it.
I've never heard of anyone wanting less business.
Your ridiculous post could apply to anything. Perhaps the Swiss ski industry shouldn't advertise abroad in case any foreigners come skiing and block up the lifts and slopes?
When I go there, I will arrive by train, because i don't have a car.
Most of the times i do my shopping and depart 20 mins later with the next available train.
If the Products were available here, I would not have to go there .
A lot of people go there by train, but there is always a traffic jam on friday and saturday afternoon.
the problem being that you have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sure your opinion would be slightly different if you suddenly found yourself drowned in needless traffic where you live, having the parking lot you're paying for occupied by people who don't give a rats a** about that no-parking sign, having to wait forever to pay for your food, not being able to find space in restaurants etc. Again - I live here, this is an everyday situation for us all in the region. Yes, businesses do well (mostly), but the people working in the businesses are suffering from a clear degradation when it comes to the quality of life - and I can assure you, by far most of us here would do a lot to get rid of the jokers who don't care about the environment, the people living here and are masochistic enough to actually do this on a regular basis. Personally, I think people who come here from Zurich every Saturday should perhaps get a life.
What products aren't available where you live?
I don't have anything against binge shopping as long as it doesn't affect other people. Outlet malls typically aren't in the city center.
If there was a point to it, I wouldn't even mind - but it's simply mind-boggingly stupid to drive 130km both ways to go grocery- and clothes-shopping every weekend. You pay about 80 Rp per km for the car, damage the environment to no extent, spend at least an hour in traffic jams (at the border, then in Konstanz itself, then again on the way out to Switzerland), wait forever to even get into Kaufland or Karstadt, wait again for half an our to pay for your stuff, then again to get your tax form stamped and probably once more by the time you get back to Zurich. The damage you do to the environment, to the people living in the Lake of Constance area and to your own health is hard to quantify. And considering the traffic jams that pile up on your car costs, you don't even save any money.
Why do people do that, considering that you can get all the stuff you buy from Germany online as well? You'll pay tax (which you have to do anyway) and you'll pay for shipping, but that's still going to be less than what your car costs. The businesses still get your money, your car doesn't stink up the environment and it probably won't get you closer to a heart-attack, either.
Because they want too?
Also the tax free allowance through post is 60chf versus 300chf per person.
I know a guy who needed a new car door fitted and it cost a fraction of what they wanted in Zurich.
I don't really care what they want as they don't care what we want, either. It's still stupid.
Getting specialised labor done can be lots cheaper, agreed - but what do you think how many people come here for that reason? I also suspect that he didn't get that done on a Saturday afternoon. Your point about the 60 Fr. limit is someone moot, considering the fact that most people are well over the 300 Fr. per person limit when they shop here and have to pay taxes anyway. Also, nobody keeps you from ordering larger quantities online.
If you don't like where you live you should probably move.
If people are spending more than 300chf per person and have an efficient car then it will definitely be cheaper to shop in Germany.
Especially if they get the German VAT back even if they pay the Swiss VAT.
if they do, yes - some do, most probably don't. And thanks for your insight in terms of moving. We all liked it here (very much) until about a year ago and we're trying to mitigate the damage at the moment. We've already managed to get the former Hauptzoll in Kreuzlingen closed, we raised the parking costs in Kreuzlingen considerably, Constance also is closing down side-roads by deploying an army of traffic helpers every weekend in an attempt to divert the shopping tourists to the outskirts. Next they're going to close the Emmishofer Zoll for traffic on the weekends. So rather than moving away, myself and lots of other people have resorted to use petitions to improve things again. The tax return thing is also being debated (which would probably the single most useful step). Eventually, they Euro will go up and the problems will disappear, but I've given up hopes that this is going to happen within the next couple of years.
Perhaps we should try to mobilise the people of Constance to mass-invade the Lake of Zurich area every Saturday as well as a next step as apparently, nobody can imagine what they're doing to us here.
I buy SPAM(from Tulip, they don't export to Switzerland), Salami(I hate Italian Salami, it is totally overpriced and disgusting), Mövenpick Waldfrucht Jam (they sell only Hero here , which is really crap compared to Mövenpick),Teekanne Waldfrucht Tea(haven't seen it here) and sweets like salt licorice.
Mostly I spend around 40-50 Euros(use only a backpack) and travel only once a month (or when I am at another place in germany visiting friends).
Don't know about SPAM but you can get Salami from all over the place in Switzerland. I buy Hertz Hungarian salami on a regular basis in Migros, for example. They have German Salami at Aldi and Lidl here. They also have all the Mövenpick products at Manor and Jelmoli. Don't know the "Teekanne" brand, sweets shouldn't be a problem either, I guess.
Choice? Freedom? Commerce?
It's appalling!
Choice and freedom? no. Commerce - yes, if you overdo it. Too much of anything is bad for you.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rbhmrlqfc0...al-gallery.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2qk5tfk35k...y-strike-1.jpg
what a sorry bunch of idiots - looks the same every Friday and Saturday in Müller, Karstadt, Kaufland, Obi - you name it.
And I don't care as long as Swiss retailers keep gouging us to the last penny.
I simply don't enjoy shopping in Switzerland as I constantly feel being ripped off left, right and center. Remember, in many cases we're not talking about minor price differences, but about 30%, 50% or even more. (If you don't know from personal experience how bad it is, check out K-tipp magazine. They have a list of some of the most blatant examples of price gouging in every issue.)
As a consumer, the only way to put pressure on greedy Swiss retailers and wholesalers is to shop abroad.
If it's any consolation, I usually travel to Konstanz by train and I avoid it like the plague on Saturday afternoons.
I understand that and feel the same way - what I'm trying to do here is to raise awareness for the fact that some people's behaviour makes people's lives here less enjoyable. Just because the Swiss retailers are a******s doesn't mean you have to be one, too. Hence also my comment about buying stuff online.
Are you some kind of communist? We live in a free country, surrounded by other free countries, countries in which people have a decent quality of life thanks to commerce and trade.
If I want to go shopping in Constance or Kreuzlingen or Chur or Dresden or St Gallen or Marseilles or Milan, then I will, and anyone who doesn't like it can go boil his head. As another poster said upthread: if you don't like living there, then move somewhere else.
People where I come from would be grateful to receive some of those wallet-wielding visitors you snootily disparage.
Honestly, people like you don't know you're born.
If you can't live responsibly, perhaps it's time for you to move somewhere where people don't care. Plus I've got the strong feeling that you know s**t about what it means to need those "wallet-wiedling visitors" as you've probably never been in that position, so you're not really qualified to comment anyways.
Define "live responsibly".
taking care or your environment, caring about others, not messing up other's living space because of personal greed, for example.