r/askswitzerland

Hi! We are considering a trip to Zurich this July/August with a 5, 3, 1 year old. The average temperature in Zurich doesn't appear troublesome, but i am familiar with the recent heat waves and related deaths. Im not so concerned with this as an adult, but my kids would not be able to handle it without air conditioning.

My questions. Is extreme heat a legitimate concern? Is it likely we would find accommodations with air condition to mitigate this concern?

Thanns!

My partner and I are here only for a short time for work, but we noticed something very eerie.

On evenings, especially weekends, it is quiet. Like not a sound can be heard. We go for walks every night just to walk and we’re always commenting on how no one has friends over, no outside BBQ’s with family/friends, just nothing. Like a ghost town.

This is in Bern. Is this normal??? What do people do? Where do they go? We see a lot of lights on in the house but when do you socialize then? Is it not normal for backyards to be hangout spots? This was all last summer also…

Hi everybody 🤗
I am currently looking for a broker to buy US stocks and ETF in Switzerland. I feel it is really limited here. Swissquote has high service fee and saxo is never available for contact. Where do you guys using internet broker when you live in Switzerland? I see a lot of AD from interactive broker but I don’t know if they can provide a paper for swiss tax. Which one do you recommend to use ?

Hello! we’re traveling around Europe this summer, and we have a day planned for traveling from Interlaken to Milan. i’m just wondering: is it worth stopping over in Lucerne for a few hours before heading to Milan, or should we just skip it? i’m scared we’ll be missing out if we don’t visit.

Finally got fiber installed. Who is the best provider? I do run a home network with multiple vlans and WiFi access points.

Hi everyone,

I am looking for legal perspectives from lawyers in Geneva.

Long story short: I applied for my sister to attend a private university in Geneva. During the admissions process, the university asked us to pay around USD 10,000. Before paying, I specifically asked whether the amount would be refunded if her student visa was rejected, and they confirmed that it would be refundable.

Unfortunately, her visa was rejected, and we provided the official SEM visa rejection letter. Despite this, the university refused to refund the money.

One complication is that some lawyers I spoke to said I may not be able to sue or have less chance to win the case because the admission was technically for my sister. However, I was the person handling the entire process from the beginning: I communicated with the university, answered their emails, managed the application process, and made the payments. My sister was sick at the time, and I informed the university about this by email. I also have written proof that the university was communicating with me directly and accepted me as the person handling the matter.

During the process, they also pressured us to pay more money, threatening that if we did not pay, they would cancel the admission and email SEM to cancel the visa process. I have these threats in writing by email. They also referred to confidential information from the SEM letter and used it against us to not refund.

When I later went to speak with them in person, the situation became very loud and unprofessional from their side. I recorded a video without consent, which I understand may be legally problematic in Switzerland, but the video shows them shouting at me and saying things that contradicted what they had written in emails.

I would really appreciate a lawyer’s perspective on whether there may be a legal basis to recover the money, especially given:

• the university’s written assurance that the payment would be refunded in case of visa rejection, followed by their refusal to refund after the visa was rejected;
• their use of confidential details from the SEM visa rejection letter as a justification for refusing the refund;
• their unprofessional conduct during the process, including sending my sister links to online courses she had not registered for and then pressuring her to pay almost USD 3,000 for each course;
• the written proof that my sister was sick at the time, and that the university knew I was handling the application, communication, and payments on her behalf;
• the threatening emails demanding additional payments for courses my sister had not registered for, including threats to cancel her admission and contact SEM if we did not pay.

I am based in Geneva and would be very grateful to speak with a lawyer who might be interested in looking at the case. there are other details to this case which i will share with a lawyer who is interested. I don't wanna sound weird but i heard Jewish lawyers are very good and they are welcome as well.

I am very angry and disappointed and would love you advice on what to do.

Thank you in advance for any guidance or recommendations.

So, I’ve been fighting for about 8 years to pay off loans and debts that I originally had to take on for a family member’s chemotherapy treatment and other related expenses. The good news is that I’m finally reaching the point where I’ll soon be debt-free and everything will be paid off.

During the last 3–4 years, I also had a lot of dealings with the Betreibungsamt, including wage garnishments. At this point, all I really want is some normality back in my life. My creditworthiness is so poor that I can’t even order a few pairs of socks from Zalando auf Rechnung.

Once I’ve paid everything off, how long does it usually take for creditworthiness to recover? I’m not asking because I want to take out another loan. It’s more about peace of mind and finally being able to live a normal life again.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation? What was life like after you became debt-free? How did things look financially and emotionally afterward?

One thing worth mentioning is that whenever I pay off a debt collection case, I also pay to have the corresponding entry removed from my debt enforcement record as soon as possible.

I recently arrived in Switzerland and just noticed that the AVS number on my "Carte suisse d’assurance-maladie LAMal" is different from the AVS number shown on my "Certificat d'assurance AVS - Al". Both start with 756, but the remaining numbers are differenet.

I was under the impression that the AVS number is supposed to be unique and consistent across all Swiss institutions, so I'm a bit concerned.

I’ll of course check directly with the relevant authorities, but I wanted to simply ask the question here: is this something that can normally happen, or does it more likely point to an administrative error? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Hi y’all! I’m traveling to Switzerland early june for a week. I will be spending 2 days in Bern, 4 days in interlaken and 2 days in zurich. Having a cheese fondue overlooking swiss alps has been my bucket list since i was 18 years old. Now i can finally get to check that bucket list but i want to get some opinion from you fellow travelers on which place has the best cheese fondue in swiss. With views is a plus but i’m ok without view as well as long as its AMAZING.

Also, i’m open to any suggestions regarding must do things and must try restaurants in the area that i’m going to be.

Also any local chocolate shops i should check out!!

Also I’m vegetarian! Please be kind lol

Thanks thanks thanks

I’m super stocked for my trip

Companies should put a standardized caffeine label on their products.

The other day I wanted to buy a normal lowkey drink in the supermarket. With no caffeine.

It was impossible. The whole shelf filled with fancily designed drinks and you needed to read the small print to know if it had caffeine.

I know some people have no problem with caffeine and that’s cool for you. But some people don’t like it.

It’s getting out of control. Even kids now drink energy drinks that years ago no one would have allowed them to. I know a boy who had a heart attack at a birthday party and had to go to the hospital because he had a caffeinated drink.

What do you think? And you got any good drinks to recommend?

Hi, I am a foreign high school student interested in applying for the English taught bachelor in economics in Switzerland of bilingual program in French and English. I don’t speak German but I have a B1 level of French, not sure if that will make a difference.

These are the programs I am interested in:

UNIL- bachelor in business economics
UNIGE - bachelor in economics and management
HESGE - bachelor in international business

These are all I was able to find. Are there any other programs that is English or bilingual?

Now for my question, I was wondering how strict is the acceptance for these universities. Especially for these programs ? I tried looking online but I was unsuccessful. I assume foreign diplomas would have stronger criteria?

The application fee is around 100 CHF which adds up a lot if I apply to many different universities. Edit: no I am not worried about the 100 CHF fee 😭. I was just wondering if I should even send in my application for 3+ university only to get rejected. Thats why I made this post because I heard the the acceptance rate may be very low for foreign diploma holders. I know it’s a stupid logic. But I wanted to know if it’s worth applying if the chances are very low.

Has anyone successfully joined a bachelor program in UNIl with a foreign high school diploma? If so, can you tell me about your experience.

Edit: sorry guys, didn’t realize this post would get so much backlash. It’s also my fault for wording the post so badly. I was only wondering if anyone applied to these with a foreign diploma and how was the process. Like would you get accepted if you meet all requirements and if there is enough space. What are the chances of a rejection even if I meet all the requirements.

I live in England and I must say trains and trams are not reliable. We often have strikes, any strong rain or ice and the trams are out. Faulty trams or signalling is common too where I live.

I would like to know if they are reliable in Switzerland? Particularly in the Zurich canton? For everyday life and going to work etc.

Thanks!

Hello! Could you please advise what are the best online pet shops or where do you buy food and toys for your dogs? Is also a day care common thing in Switzerland or do I have to look for dog sitting in our area? Are here on Reddit maybe some dogs in Switzerland groups?

Hi all,

If you were working in Zurich, which city would you choose to live in for daily commuting?

Accommodation in züri could be expensive, so I’m looking for some good alternatives.

Approximately 30 minutes would be optimal.

Hi, I am a foreign high school student interested in applying for the English taught bachelor in economics in UNIL. I know that they also require B1 level of French which I already have.

I was wondering how strict is the acceptance. Especially for this program? I tried looking online but I was unsuccessful. I assume foreign diplomas would have stronger criteria? The application fee is around 100 CHF which is a-lot for something I might get rejected. I know it’s a stupid logic. So I don’t want to waste money applying if the chances are very low.

Has anyone successfully joined a bachelor program in UNIl with a foreign high school diploma? If so, can you tell me about your experience.

Edit: sorry guys, didn’t realize this post would get so much backlash. It’s also my fault for wording the post so badly. I was only wondering if anyone applied to these with a foreign diploma and how was the process. Like would you get accepted if you meet all requirements and if there is enough space.

Hi everyone,

I posted about a possible overspeeding (see https://www.reddit.com/r/askswitzerland/s/VWLUmJNTGj)

Now it’s been over 8 weeks since the possible overspeeding incident in Basel, I didn’t receive any letter till date. I called them after 6 weeks and they checked but didn’t find any my number plate for overspeeding.

Since i am a Grenzgänger and live in Germany, is it safe to assume by this time that most likely nothing was registered?

Hello all!

I was recently accepted in a PhD position at ETH. The lab will be in Hönggeberg.

My first question is how does someone manage to find a flat/appartment? I am reading from other posts that it is better to find a shared flat, but given the location of the campus I dont know in what area I should start looking for houses (Hönggeberg or Zurich center?). I have to take some courses, so I would prefer to be able to reach the main campus in reasonable time.

Additionally, I heard the opinion to rent outside Zurich and buy a used car to travel to the campus, in order to find lower rents and have some flexibility, but from what I am reading the parking costs a lot. Is such a plan an overkill?

Hi! I am traveling to Switzerland from the US and wondering what skincare brands I should bring home with me! I am an esthetician by trade, so I’m looking for something that I can use in the treatment room on my clients (and myself of course)
Thank you!!!