r/Rotterdam • u/Nearby_Matter2325 • 4d ago

Troubles with municipality appointments

Hey, I don't know if it is my personal experience, but it feels like gemeente Rotterdam doesn't operate properly. I've lived in the Netherlands for many years already: in Utrecht and Den Haag before finally moving to Rotterdam. I have never had even remotely similar problems with municipality appointments as I have now. I first thought it was some particular branch of services but it is an overall tendency. With my girlfriend we had to make several appointments for completly different reasons last months. Gemeente wants you to make an appointment via website, but in practice there are literally 2 options: appointment not available & sign up for the waiting list. And the waiting list doesn't move. Like literally nothing happens day-to-day. When you call them, you typically get to talk to some friendly woman that says that she can do nothing for you or (I was lucky once) actually finds a spot. But today I got really pissed off by a man on the line who was replying (nearly literally) that "muncipality doens't have any problems, if you can't make an appointment it's your problem". I have a feeling like it's not how public services are supposed to work. To be honest - in Netherlands they typically don't . I attribute the situation to a personal responsibility of a local Rotterdam management.

Interested to hear both Dutch and foreigner's epxerience (just assume that locals need to interact with officials less).

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u/goldenpants0291 4d ago

I always went to Hoek van Holland if I needed anything when I was living in Rotterdam. Its also the municipality Rotterdam and you can do everything there too. I know it's a little trip coming from Rotterdam but I could always make an appointment quick there 😄.

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u/euRAZER 4d ago

The only thing I had to make an appointment with the Municipality for the last 25 years was for a passport and that was no problem (last time a few months ago). I could easily pick a day and time to order it and later to pick it up. But no idea why you need to have the appointment ofcourse, so maybe it is just an department that is small?

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u/Sfa90 1d ago

Hier ook nog nooit problemen gehad.

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u/mikaelaindxb 4d ago

I moved to The Netherlands 4 years ago and lived in Rotterdam since. I’ve had the same experience with regards to availability but I’ve noticed that a bit of persistence helps with the online appointments. If you keep checking during random times you can usually spot a last minute availability. I hope that helps.

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u/Chassillio 4d ago

The online appointment is a service which reduces YOUR waiting time.

You can always drop by without an appointment and you can always call to see if they have other time slots available.

The only issue I have had is that with an appointment I still have to wait for over 15 mins 😅

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u/Voleuse 4d ago

New appointment slots become available at a certain time (I think like 6pm?). Check back regularly and they open up. It's a pain in the butt tho for sure.

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u/Top_Log2443 4d ago

Ik debk dat je even door moet klikken. Je krijgt twee afspraken, maar je kunt ook verder klikken. Zo krijgt twee je meer kantoren en meer afspraakmogelijkheden. Ik ben laatst omdat ik met spoed een rijbewijs moest vernieuwen - te lang uitstellen- dezelfde dag nog naar kantoor Hoogvliet gegaan.