They didn't want my money.

The house bank had been threatening termination for months, the tone became increasingly unfriendly, and the warning popped up every time the account balance was looked at.

Until I opened a new account elsewhere (yes, you can still do that with some institutes!) and reported this fact to my bank, which I had been with for two decades.

There were no words of regret as an answer, but only relevant information on how I could cut all connections without leaving any residue (please don't forget to return the shares as well!).

Ralph Bollman

Correspondent for economic policy and deputy head of business and “Money & More” for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper in Berlin.

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Not long before, an unfortunate homeowner had told me about a similar incident.

A craftsman he had commissioned no longer wanted the client's money.

On the contrary: he even offered him cash in case he renounced his services.

The head of the company obviously regretted having accepted the job at all and wanted to get rid of him again, almost at any price.

In some places, information on whether and how you can get rid of unwelcome customers can even be found on the website of the local chamber of crafts - even if the idea of ​​a cash bonus is usually hidden behind the euphonious formula of an "amicable agreement".

The times when demand determined supply are obviously over.

Many industries and companies have discovered a new favorite pastime: scaring away those customers who used to be – at least rhetorically – considered kings.

Today they have to be treated like many a discredited dynasty.

A cross-industry phenomenon

Certainly, in some sectors the unwillingness has specific causes.

The negative interest that banks may have to pay even for parking excess money does not exactly increase greed for further deposits.

At least as long as customers don't willingly allow themselves to be persuaded to buy their own investment funds with excessive fees.

The shortage of materials in construction, not least due to supply chain problems, makes many a bid made months ago look like bad business.

However, the boom in construction was driving up prices even before Corona, so many tradesmen have been very selective in their choice of customers for years.

But it's not just Corona, and it's not just individual industries.

In general, customers have been finding it increasingly difficult for years, they are getting into trouble in more and more areas, and are only allowed to bring their own money to people with a lot of pleading and begging.

New customers are rarely accepted

Let's take the accountants.

A colleague let me know a few years ago that his tax advisor had retired, could I help with an address?

Certainly, I answered cheerfully.

Shortly thereafter, the colleague reported back disappointed: My tax advisor had brusquely turned him down, she was no longer accepting any new customers.

I could almost have guessed.

Because while the tax office processes my tax returns faster from year to year, usually within a few weeks, they are getting stuck in the tax office for longer and longer, now more years than months.

The waiting time would be easier to endure if you could spend it in a dirt-free apartment. That won't get any easier either. When I tried to recommend my cleaning company of many years, I ended up with the same advice to the tax consultant: Apparently, new customers are also undesirable in the cleaning trade. After all, I get a perfect letter from my boss every year, in which she verbosely explains why she has to raise the tariff by ten percent again: lack of staff. If she doesn't constantly offer her people more money, so the argument goes, she'll have to turn away even more customers and leave people sitting in their filthy homes. Every time I cancel a cleaning appointment, I read a sigh of relief at the missed order from her text message.