Tax Credits and VAT in France - Credit’ d’Impot et TVA : Caveat emptor – Let
the buyer beware
France has well publicised system of tax credits
which apply to certain products. These products are mainly those considered
‘renewable energy’ systems such as solar hot water systems, or for property
heating and include log or pellet boilers, wood burning stoves and some heat
pumps.
The purpose of the tax credit scheme is to
provide a financial incentive to buyers to encourage them to invest in
environmentally friendly technologies, which is good for everyone and of course
the planet. In essence, if you buy a product approved for tax credits (more
later) then the tax office will reimburse a percentage of the product cost,
on the proviso the product is supplied and installed by the same company
(vitally important*), and the company must of course be registered to install
such equipment.
For example, you purchase a wood burning central
heating boiler which costs say 7000 Euros plus installation. The tax office will
reimburse you 40% of this, i.e. 2800 Euros in the following tax year. If you
don’t pay this much tax, or in fact pay none, then they will send you a cheque –
yes really !! Please note, the credit applies to product cost only and not
labour.
Personal qualification criteria
The main requirement is that you must be fiscally
resident in France, and if your principal residence is in France then in theory
you are fiscally resident from day one.
Until recently the scheme only applied to
principal residence but has now been extended to include properties that are
rented unfurnished for a period of 5 or more years.
Products approved for tax credits
The products have to achieve a certain level of
efficiency, i.e. say 85% efficient, and meet certain standards. For example, for
a solar hot water system has to be either CSTB approved, Solar Keymarked or be
approved to a Pan European standard such as EN12975 etc. This is not something
that you should be concerned about – the supplier should be able to tell you
whether the product qualifies or not.
How much tax credit and for how long?
Up until February 2009 you could for example
receive up to a 50% reimbursement against many qualifying products, however this
has recently been reduced to 40% for some items. It is also very important to
note that the tax credit does not necessarily apply to all of the products that
might be used.
For example, for solar hot water systems the tax
credit applies to what is deemed the ‘renewable energy part of the system’.
Therefore, in this instance it only applies to the solar panel/s and not for
example the pipework, pump etc. The amount of tax credit is limited to 8000
Euros for a single person and is 16000 Euros for a couple.
The scheme was due to finish at the end of 2009
but has been extended to 31st December 2012. That said, the
percentage amount of tax credit is being reduced each year so in 2010 it is no
longer 40% for boilers but reduced to 25% and so on.
Whose responsible for complying with the tax regulations?
As the person submitting the tax return you are
responsible. If you claim tax credits the ‘tax office’ will not necessarily
check you qualify. This shouldn’t really be a problem but read on – some
details have been removed to protect the identities of customer and supplier.
Caveat emptor
-
a horror story*
We bought our xxx
in 2006 from ABC and received the 50% credit d'impot. After receiving the rebate
we have not thought about it again.
Anyway, in February this year we received a
letter from the tax office stating that as the xxx wasn't installed by the
company who supplied it and we have to hand back the rebate plus interest!!
They're not claiming it's fraud but they want the rebate back.
Obviously it's a shock. What's most annoying is
ABC should have made this clear to us this when we bought it. Their 50% rebate
stickers are extremely misleading...my partner went in to the store to point
this out and they uselessly said 'c'est noté'.
So a word of warning - if you've not bought yet
it must be bought from and installed by the same company. If you didn't and you
had a rebate I'd make sure you put a bit of money aside just in case your tax
form gets checked too. Who'd have thought they still went over these things
years after!
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that the tax
credit scheme has been and is being badly misrepresented and abused by numerous
companies both big and small. The company referred to above is a major multi
national so don’t assume just because they’re big they’re right.
Reduced rates of TVA
In a similar vein to get a reduced rate of TVA
(VAT) the product/s have to be professionally installed.
The standard rate of TVA is 19.6% and the reduced
rate is 5.5% so quite a saving.
There are a few other requirements such as the
property being more than two years old, that the work is replacement /
refurbishment etc etc but the above point re ‘professional installation’ is the
one to watch.
The main French TVA form is a very simple one
which is a pleasant surprise.
My advice
Despite the fact that legally it is your
responsibility to ensure you are not making any false tax claims unwittingly or
otherwise, (which could be considered as fraudulent), the supplier has a
moral obligation to give you accurate advice.
If they are not prepared to help then maybe they
are not the company for you?
Do try and take advantage of these schemes –
there are huge financial benefits there for the asking and of course it’s money
back from the taxman which is a bonus in itself – but do your homework and then
you can be secure in the knowledge that you have complied.
Article by Marc Asker of EcoPower France
www.ecopower.eu.com
Read here Angel Traders newsletter 2 December 2009
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Dear
All,
After completing our 6th Angel Traders business fair we
both feel totally elated.
The
business fair took place in the "Chateau des Vigiers"
Monestier Dept 24. With more than forty stands and
placed in the salon Chai and more than 330 visitors we
were very proud to invite them to this exceptional venue
and to meet our exhibitors.
A
manicured golf course surrounded by natural beauty. A
perfect place for any event. We couldn't of wished for
anything more.
The
idea behind Angel Traders is very simple. It is an
English speaking business fair. We invite exhibitors of
all nationalities that are able to speak English to
purchase a stand at a low cost. We then promote our
event with the help from our sponsors Angloinfo.com (the
best information website), The Connexion and Advertiser
newspapers ( The best and most interesting read in
France.) Halo Financial are our foreign currency experts
that are present at every fair and provide the after
fair exhibitors get together. This enables the
exhibitors to network together and makes a perfect end
to the day. Magicmouse.co.uk are our print sponsor who
can not only provide you with exceptional quality
marketing material but produce what we need to promote
our events.
We
feel very privileged to be able to help businesses to
continue to provide a trade or service to people living
in France.
Christmas Fayre Sunday 13th December 12.30pm until
5.30pm.
A traditional Christmas
Fayre to be held at the "Chateau Le Mas de Montet",
Petit Bersac only 8km from Riberac.
It
is only eleven days until our Christmas at this magical
Chateau.
It
is not only going to be the best Christmas Fayre ever in
the Dordogne with lots of beautiful unusual stands on
offer and a beautifully decorated Chateau this day will
be perfect for everybody. Why not stay and have a
traditional Christmas dinner at the Chateau for just 35€
PP and stay the night for just 99€ for two people. Santa
is waiting to see You!!.
To
take advantage of our great offers please visit our
website. Stands can be booked on line.
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The next English
Speaking Business Fair is to be held in Brantome dept 24
on Saturday 23rd of January 2010.
We can confirm today that
stands are now for sale for our next Business fair and
can be booked online.
If you have exhibited
before the price of your stand will be only 90€. If you
are a new business wishing to attend the price will be
120€. The tables are approximately 3m long and will be
shared making each stand 1.5m. You can of course book
multiply stands if required.
Remember our last event
sold out in Just 12 Days so if you are interested in
coming then book online today.
Finally we would like to
thank all of our sponsors together with our exhibitors
and visitors for making Angel Traders a great success.
Why not follow our blog
and read about our road trip to Chateau Des Vigiers.
www.angeltraders1.blogspot.com
CHATEAU
CELEBRATIONS
New for 2010.
We can organise your
special event in a chateau in the Dordogne.
Wedding receptions,
Birthday parties and much much more. The angels are here
to help!!.
Please call us or email
chateaucelebrations@gmail.com.
Congratulations John Sidwell
Yet
again John from Big Dish Satellite has one a free stand
at a future event of his choice. For each event we
encourage our exhibitors to invite their contacts and
who ever invites the most people wins a free stand. So
well done John.
Thank you once again to
our marvelous sponsors....
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We look forward to seeing you all very soon
Amanda and Melanie
Angel Traders
www.angeltraders.net
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Sterling Shopping
Newsletter
Sterling Shopping December 2009 Newsletter
WELCOME
Welcome to the December edition of the Sterling Shopping newsletter.
With the pound dropping once again against the Euro (just 1.09 this
week), shopping in the UK makes even more sense than ever.
As usual we have been looking for ways to improve our business and
the range of services that we can offer to you our customers and we have
negotiated a number of exclusive special offers from trusted suppliers
for Sterling Shopping customers. Details can be found below, just quote
Sterling Shopping December Newsletter when ordering, to take advantage
of these exclusive offers.
NEWS
The November deliveries all went well with the first, twice weekly
deliveries completed in late November. Now we are well on the way to
completing all those Christmas deliveries. If anyone needs to speak to
one of us at Sterling, please feel free to call either the Bergerac
office 0553 22 39 16 or the UK office 01869 350076, within office hours.
The run up to Christmas is a very busy time for everyone working at
Sterling in both the UK and in France, so please bare with us if the
phones appear to be engaged much of the time. The truth is, they just
never stop ringing!!!
We are fully booked for grocery deliveries in December, but it is
worth registering your interest in a slot as from time to time, spaces
become available. Call Alyson in the Bergerac office to register. We
still have some limited space for non-food goods, but the space is being
booked on a daily basis so don’t leave it until the last minute to book
your non-food items onto a delivery schedule.
One extra word of warning. If you have one of our slots between now
and Christmas, be sure and place your order with the shop asap as their
delivery slots to
us are filling up fast. If you come up against real problems here,
call the girls in our office for advice.
We have now added to our fleet of vehicles to accommodate our
customer needs.
Here we have four of the Mercedes Sprinters being loaded at the UK
depot (in the rain gain!!)
TURKEYS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR DECEMBER DELIVERY
Many of you have expressed interest in having a turkey brought over
for Christmas. We are now taking your bookings for Christmas turkeys and
turkey crowns. Please see our website for details and send us your
orders this week!!
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AND CARDS
We have had lots of requests for the delivery of Christmas presents
both too and from France. If you would like to take advantage of this
service, please contact us to make arrangements.
If you have large quantities of Christmas cards that you want to send
to your friends in the UK, Sterling is happy to transport your Christmas
cards back to the UK for free. Simply give your addressed cards to any
of our drivers and we will transport them back to the UK. You only pay
the cost of a stamp in the UK for each letter. We make no other charge
for this service. Your cards need to be handed to our drivers by
Saturday/Sunday 12th/13th
STERLING SHOPPING SPECIAL OFFERS
We have negotiated a number of special offers from trusted suppliers
who have contacted us to offer Sterling customers some exclusive deals.
Please click on this link to go to the exclusive special offers page on
our website. These offers include organic and locally produced wines,
pet houses and house selling advice!
Click the link below to go straight to the exclusive offers page on
our website;
http://www.sterlingshopping.co.uk/SterlingExclusiveOffers.html
JANUARY DELIVERY SCHEDULE
We now have slots open and are taking bookings for January
deliveries. With more than 1750 registered customers, these slots are
bound to fill up very quickly, so book today to avoid missing out
NEW WEB SERVICE - STERLING
SHOPPING.CO.UK GOES MULTI LINGUAL
A number of our customers have told us that their French friends
would like to use our service so we have added the google "translate
tool to our site to make it more accessible to non English speaking
clients. The translation link on our website is simple and easy to use
and allows clients to view our website in various languages. Should
anyone need to speak to our staff in French, we suggest they contact
Mark in the first instance on 06 75 82 48 94.
VAT REGISTRATION
From January 1st, Sterling Shopping will become VAT Registered. This
means that it will now be necessary from January 1st 2010 for us to add
vat to all orders. While we must add this, we will continue to offer the
same excellent customer service to all of our existing customers and all
of our newly registered customers.
We look forward to meeting many of you when we bring your Christmas
orders and wish you all a happy Christmas and prosperous new year.
With regards from the team at
Sterling Shopping Ltd
www.sterlingshopping.co.uk
Quote of the week: "I can’t believe I’m taking croissants to France"-
Julian, our latest driver.
www.sterlingshopping.co.uk
CONTACT US
We now have a number of
ways in which customers can contact us and we thought it would be good to
summarise these and set them in order of use.
One the first occasion that
someone orders from us, we MUST have a completed contact form sent in from the
customer from our website. This gives us all the essential information we need
to complete a delivery.
Our preferred method of
contact is by e mail and we would ask that you use these addresses set out below
please;
simon@sterlingshopping.co.uk – General enquiries and requests
simsim171164@yahoo.com – General enquiries and requests
mark.faulkner@wanadoo.fr – Removal enquiries
We have the following
landline numbers;
France 05 53 22 39 16, UK
01869 350076 and the mobiles as listed for the drivers above. Should you need
to speak to someone at an office, the first point of contact should always be to
Alyson in the office in Bergerac please.
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Mobile Phones in France
Article prepared by www.mobiles.co.uk
The mobile phone industry in France is strong and growing stronger as the years progress and the mobile phone penetrates the hearts and minds of the population. There are over 53 million mobiles active in France itself and the country has a variety of networks providing services for their citizens. It`s interesting to note that a recent report linking mobile phone use with brain cancer was taken very seriously by the French government, who now aim to actively discourage mobile use for children under 12, with a ban on advertising to this age group. This is a progressive move that it is considered will be followed by other European nations in the future if further evidence is produced. Amongst the adult population mobile phones are of course an incredibly popular way to communicate and do business, and France also has 3G networks allowing fast access to the internet on your mobile phone as well as access to mobile broadband services on PCs and laptops. Lets look at some popular phones on the French market and some up and coming stars that are taking the country by storm.
HTC Magic - This is one of the latest touch screen handsets produced by iPhone-bothering manufacturers HTC. Called the Magic, this phone has all the smart applications and hardware that you`d expect, including a large 3.2" touch sensitive display that makes navigating menus, playing games, using applications and browsing the web simple and fun. It also features the Android operating system seen so far only on the G1 on T-Mobile because it is an OS developed by search engine giants Google. However, it works well here and it will be interesting to see how this new handset fares in the long run. It`s is available on the
SFR network in France on a monthly contract.
Apple iPhone - As popular in France as it is in the rest of the world, the iPhone 3G is still a great piece of kit and is due for its second update later this summer. Available on
Orange in France, the iPhone has a massive 3.5" touch sensitive screen, 8 or 16GB of on board storage space for videos, music and photos, and a powerful processor to make playing games and using applications a doddle. Then there`s the acclaimed iTunes software included to make your iPhone a fully fledged media player as well as the lauded App Store where you can sift through loads of useful applications and download them direct to your iPhone.
LG Cookie The Cookie is like a baby smart phone, featuring a decent touch screen interface, good camera and video recording functionality and an attractive design. It`s available in a range of colours, and in silver on
Bouygues Telecom in France with unlimited mobile internet, which is a
mobile phone deal that is hard to pass up. There are loads of great deals and handset available for every price range on the French market, and using online price comparison is the best way to sniff them out.
LINK St Yrieix
Auto
entrepreneur - where do you begin
BECOMING
AN AUTO ENTREPRENEUR, WHERE DO YOU BEGIN? (13 April 2009)
At the
beginning I suppose, and where is that?
Why, after 17
years in France, living the frustrations and the hassle do I still want to get
involved? And even crazier, Yes, I still want to start a business? What is it
about us Brits!!
Well, I suppose
I should thank President Sarkosy for liberating his government and making it all
possible! If somebody didn’t sort France out I think a lot of people were
wondering how it was all going to end. And now a crisis has intervened as well.
Is this a bad
thing; are we in a worse state than our buddies overseas, who knows?
I live here, my
life is here and so, I’m launching into AUTOENTREPRENEUR.
In March 2009
it became possible for me to register as an interpreter/translator, under the
new scheme.
Firstly, I
needed to look at what I wanted to achieve and realistically whether it was
possible, would it make money etc. Nothing replaces good common sense.
For me, the
goal was to launch this project without spending money, well, very little, as I
didn’t have it to spend.
I work part
time as a secretary/translator for an estate agency; and as you can imagine,
business has been quiet to say the least, and as I have the time to achieve
another goal I felt that this was the right moment for me, if ever there was
one.
I started with
an outline plan to the Mayor of
St Yrieix, Daniel Boisserie, as I considered without this there was no
business. I wanted a new out look on an old problem, COMMUNICATION AND
INTEGRATION, or the lack of! After an initial conversation by telephone he was
kind enough to call me in the same day to discuss my proposition. He is a man
who likes action, motivation and free thought, so I think I scored a few points
there.
Receiving a
positive approach for my project, I ploughed on, remembering that I was getting
myself involved with the heart of the French administration. It will be of no
surprise to find out that a further month went by before I got the official
stamp!
I spent that
month learning just how you can produce a website at low cost on a DIY basis,
with some very useful help from a kind friend who gave me the basics and put me
in the right direction. In the end the total cost was £25 for my domain name and
a year’s subscription. Business cards were easily obtained using Vista print,
250 free; just pay for the postage, and now as for the other possible costs,
well.
From the
outset, you do need to print off your guide. I did this on
French Entrée Limousin, and also on the French site,
Auto entrepreneur, so I could compare any discrepancies.
French text
always takes the precedent, so it’s important to try and understand both. Only
French text stands up in a court of law in France.
In that guide
it mentions three very important points to be considered well before
registration.
Will I
need a professional insurance? It’s not obligatory, but check it out, I
found
Gerard Chevalier of AXA Insurance very efficient at evaluating my needs.
Do you
need to protect your personal property against seizure should you run up huge
debts? Well again I went to see the notary Jacques Delcroix In St
Yrieix who helped me to see if I was at risk or not. There is a cost for this
contract so you should think about it very seriously.
Professional Bank accounts, do you need one? NO, but if you think you
will need an overdraft facility then you might be better to approach
CREDIT AGRICOLE or the official bank for Auto entrepreneur,
LA POSTE, to see what is on offer.
Having decided
to carry on and that this was for me; I then made another list of questions to
ask the auto entrepreneur help line. I could not believe it was going to be as
easy as it said, so naturally I had lots of questions, because I was waiting for
the trap!
There didn’t
seem to be one! and you only have to go online and read some of the comments to
realise that though it is a new scheme that may well have some quirks that need
ironing out, for all the people wanting to “HAVE A GO !” without getting hooked
into what was a very complicated system! En fin, It has arrived!
They have an
excellent help line, or you can put your questions in email if you prefer; in
French of course.
So once you are
through these first steps, next week I’ll bring you up to date on the rest, if
you just can’t wait, then get in touch straight away and I’ll help you get under
way!!
http://www.link-styrieix.info/
patricia@link-styrieix.info
Telephone 05 53
62 13 12
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
BECOMING AN AUTO ENTREPRENEUR, PHASE TWO! (25 April 2009)
After my initial interest and keenness comes the reality
·
Will it work?
·
Are the council going to allow me to do this?
·
Will my sponsors back me?
Well the first questions have been answered with a positive sign so…..
Why wait?
I
brought up the AUTO ENTREPRENEUR website and pressed the enrol button.
You need to have ready a document with your passport details and a handwritten
signed declaration; as well as your own health cover details if you have them?
Choosing the category to enrol in is probably the most complicated part but the
information is there if you look carefully and think carefully.
I
had my confirmation email back within 24 hours and my written confirmation from
INSEE (the register for business accounts) within the week. So then you have the
infamous Siret number and can plough ahead with your advertising etc.
On
the registration form it states clearly you need to report your earnings
trimestiel or mensuel, three monthly or monthly. At the moment only three
monthly is on offer until July 2009.
IF
YOU DO NOT REPORT YOUR FIGURES, EVEN IF THEY ARE ZERO you can lose your right to
run a business. At the end of one year if you have reported O € for the whole
year then your business can be ended for you by the authorities.
I
hope it goes without saying that trying to start another business at this point
could become very complicated, if not impossible.
It
never pays to ignore the French Administration.
Following this I have now received a registration document from the retirement
fund where my payments will be made should I make any money. Plus lots of
options they offer BUT all costing money. Nothing is obligatory apart from the
payments shared from your earnings which are done for you when you make your
online declaration.
PAPERWORK
The documents you need are there for you to download and then personalise. You
should keep a day to day record of activity, if you are lucky enough to have
some, plus copies of bills you issue to your clients. These are all for your
records should the authorities decide to run a control. Otherwise there are no
formal books to keep, no accountants needed etc. You simply go on line to make
your declaration once every three months and then you will be told the amount
you need to pay and by what date.
Well for me that will be the 1st July.
If
there is any major hitch I will let you know!
FOOTNOTE
If you don’t have success with the help line,
information will always be available at the
LA
CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE
LA
CHAMBRE DE METIERS
ACPE
CPAM (QUERIES FOR BENEFITS AND HEALTH ISSUES)
ASSEDIC (BENEFITS, CHILD ALLOWANCE ETC)
And if you don’t know what these places are, try tapping them in online and
seeing the wealth of information that can be had.
Good luck, and should you want someone to help get you up and running just give
me a call.
Telephone 05 53
62 13 12
Or
email me
patricia@link-styrieix.info
For more information about my own business go to
www.link-styrieix.info
Regards Patricia Littlewood
News from Nearly Heaven
3 December 2009

Things have been so hectic this year that I
have hardly had time to write my weekly
diary.
Amazingly, despite the credit
crunch I have had the best year ever!
Congratulations to the students who came
from all over Europe and as far away as New
Zealand and Norway to gain their PPL's (some
in record time).I will write more on that
subject towards the end of the year.
We
have flown to many exotic places and dined
in some excellent restaurants, all of this
during the PPL training.I know that many of
you know of my motto which is:
"Flying should be Fun"
The weather in France this year has been
remarkably stable with excellent flying
conditions.I have been busy since
January (March normally wet and windy proved
to be a remarkable month for weather).
The
effects of this dry weather took it's toll
on the grass at Nearly heaven, my horses
were eating hay from early June and the
green grass was a distant memory until this
last month.
Of course finally this month we went
from drought to floods in a remarkably
short time, luckily we are situated on a
hill so we did not experience the worst of
the flooding.These last two weeks have been
pretty grim as far as flying lessons go.

Sadly ,Martin Rangeley ran out of time,
he waited for several days to take his PPL
skill test but the weather remained
un-flyable, therefore he reluctantly
returned home to England with the dream of
completing the PPL next year here in France.
Martin Payne(" big martin") had to go
home for a few weeks after completing his
training. However he then returned to pass
his skill test on one of the best days of
the year.Congratulations Martin !
I
am hoping that Gwen Jenner will gain her
licence in 2009,she is patiently waiting for
a good day to take her skill test prior to
the christmas break.
This year Gwen has studied and trained
with great determination.She has also spent
countless hours helping other students with
ground school and she is something of an
expert with the dreaded whizz wheel.
She has also taken over the role of
resident photographer now that Matt Galvin
is unavailable owing to the pressure of
course work for his baccalaureate.Many
thanks Gwen, your infectious laughter is so
welcomed by everyone at the club.
Yesterday
afternoon we had a gap in the weather, so
Gwen and I set off on a navigation exercise
to the delightful little grass airport
Chauvigny ( LFDW).The purpose was two fold,
Gwen was itching to get back in a plane to
keep her skills up to date. I had been asked
to fly "an hour with an instructor" for
SEP revalidation purposes with Barbara Reed
an English pilot who is based at
Chauvigny.The initial flight took us about
35 minutes, Gwen neatly landed on the grass
and taxied onto the hard standing at the
club.We had been warned not to use the
taxiways as they were very wet.
Barbara
had her cub aircraft ready so we set off to
do the hour of general handling.We went
through a variety of landings and I was
impressed with the capabilities of both the
pilot and this wonderful plane.We continued
to the local area to perform PFL's steep
turns etc.
On the way back owing to the excellent
visibility in the back of the cub. I was
treated to some of the local history of the
area including following miles of a roman
road ,viewing some delightful chateaux, and
interesting old churches.
We headed for home in the trusty Robin
and remarked upon the sensational evening
sunset.
Upon entering Limoges CTR we opted for
the quick route by joining right base for
runway 21.Just prior to turning final the
controller switched on the runway lights and
kindly asked us " Foxtrot Delta Delta are
the lights ok for you" What a nice welcome
home.
Finally a message to Peter Cazalet ,sadly
he is at present in hospital, hopefully he
will be released mid December.
From all your pilot friends at Nearly
Heaven
"Get Well Soon Peter"!
email
info@nearlyheaven.com
Equine Rescue France
http://www.equinerescuefrance.org/
Founded in 2007, ERF is a
not for profit association (Loi 1901) whose aim is to improve the welfare of
equines in France through rescuing, campaigning and education.
After living in France for
several years, friends Jon and Kathryn Dobson (President), Jenny Lupton
(Secretary) and Trina Summerfield felt that there was a need for an English
speaking association to bridge the gap between UK charities and other
associations in France, and ERF was born. In early 2008, ERF were
accredited as a Member Society of the W.S.P.A (World Society for the
Protection of Animals).
Based in the South West
(with bases in Depts 24, 16 and 86), ERF offers advice and support for both
English and French speakers facing equine welfare issues. Working with key UK
charities, ERF are able to campaign for welfare improvements, whether
enforcing existing legislation or campaigning for change. By forging links
with the key French associations and welfare bodies, ERF are able to support
their work as well as to instigate local actions.
ERF
regularly rescue horses and donkeys from maltreatment and then rehabilitate
and re-home them under long-term loan contracts, often the process takes many
months. ERF offers help and support to individuals who need to re-home their
equines due to changes in their circumstances – an increasing problem in these
times of financial hardship. In other cases, ERF can support owners by
offering expert help and advice, Trina is a Monty Roberts Registered Associate
and has show jumped at a National level, and Jenny has many years of both
Eventing and Training behind her. Working together with the relevant DDSV (Directions
départementales des services veterinaries),
they have been successful in ensuring that neglected animals are regularly
visited and improvement plans implemented.
ERF
campaigning efforts focus on raising awareness of the long-haul transport
issues facing equines in Europe where they do valuable work alongside WSPA and
WHW (World Horse Welfare).
Fund raising is an
important part of their work since, although the majority of work is
voluntary, there are regular vets’ and farriers’ bills to be paid. Funds are
raised through association membership and fund-raising activities organised by
volunteers – donations are always welcome!
ERF’s blog at
http://equinerescuefrance.wordpress.com/ is a valuable source of
information as it is regularly updated with news and videos of the rescues as
well as other welfare news and general information about caring for equines in
France. For more information on becoming a member or supporting their work,
see their website at
www.equinerescuefrance.org.

For further information
on this article, please contact:
Kathryn Dobson
(President):
Kathryn@equinerescuefrance.org
Tel: +33 (0)549 971017
La Chaux, 86400 Linazay
WSPA : World Society for
the Protection of Animals:
www.wspa.org.uk
WHW: World Horse
Welfare:
www.worldhorsewelfare.org
Last updated Jan 2009
Internet Problems?? - if
anyone has had any experiences like this below do email us and let us know.
I found it very interesting to
read your experiences (on changing from Wanadoo to Neuf/SFR) and I have a
new alert for you, my new email is
patricialittlewood@sfr.fr (
at the moment!)
We were clients of Tele2, recently taken over
by SFR who offered us a good package to join straight away.
All went pretty well and our old contract and
email address finally finished on the 24th January. We had already been
functioning with the neuf box since the 10th January all working well.
And then! 23rd January, we started to have
black outs on the box. The phone went first and our area has very bad cover
with mobiles; so started a long week of calls to the technical service etc
and a lot of frustration as they want to run all the checks while you are in
front of your box but finally they would give me the tests and I would phone
in with the results from work. They could find nothing!! During the week the
line came back for a day, then gone again!! I started to lose my patience
being sent back an forth between the commercial service and the technical
service. I was lucky as at least I speak French and they did try to explain
but not very thoroughly.
Eventually this week everything came back on
Tuesday. I was so frustrated I even ran the adsl test from work for my area
and phone number; during this period SFR was suspended; giving the
impression there was something much more serious at fault that seemed to be
out of their control. I was so up tight that I thought about changing
operators, then I thought, well, I'll write a formal letter of complaint to
the commercial service and the consumer agency and give them a month to
explain themselves and see if all remains stable.
The very same afternoon, my first phone call
at home was from ORANGE, asking me if I had been having problems and would I
like to change to a much better service! and they would even pay the
cancellation fee to SFR! I'll let the readers make their own deductions, and
I would be very interested to hear if this has happened to anybody else?
A work colleague, recently had enormous
problems similar to mine with Orange here in St Yrieix. She got told that
her line was being pirated by Alice (now Free.fr).
If all the companies are using dirty tactics
to try to poach clients I don't suppose any of them are going to own up to
this; meanwhile you spend a small fortune on calls to their services trying
to find out what on earth is going on. I'll let you know the follow on
from my letter as they have acknowledged receiving it and promise to deal
with it quickly. last week they even said they would reimburse the wasted
calls with the technical service (two hours) that remains to be seen!!
Let me know if you think I am becoming
paranoid??
with regards, Patricia Littlewood
Update 14 February 2009
As promised an update on my SFR problems!
The intermittent service( telephone especially) has carried on. This week
with the help of yet another technician called Xavier further checks were
done that have convinced him that the problem is within the neufbox
itself. This was Wednesday and as promised my new box has arrived today. I
also had a reply to my letter of complaint and with many apologies etc
have been invited to contact their commercial section where I should be
proposed , I quote" une application d`un geste commercial". more news next
week as I really want to test out the box and have a whole week of
telephone etc before confirming that my problems are over and see what
sort of geste is on offer for all the hassle beforehand.
with regards,
Patricia Littlewood
Update 25 February 2009
SFR update - all's well that ends well !
It
is now one week sine the new box was installed, and working like a dream
( I really hope I don't regret saying that)SFR have been excellent and I
am getting a refund for the period where my service was spasmodic + a
refund for all the calls to their technical centre.Thank you SRF, and it
was with pleasure that i filled in the survey they sent me.
regards Pat
Marmalade
Do you make your own
marmalade?????
We (Neil and Sue Spoonley)
were in the spicy shop in St. Yrieix (Haute Vienne) and the lady
asked if I made my own marmalade and I said no why and she said that she
takes orders from the English for Seville oranges for making marmalade and
asked if I knew of anyone who might be interested in placing an order for
some oranges....
You have to contact her
direct Michelle Aguilera 05 55 75 91 25. Her orders arrive on Tuesdays. It
seems she orders 50 kilos!!! Not for herself of course but for others..
Regards Neil & Sue Spoonley
29/01/09
You can also also buy Seville oranges (Amere) at
Grand Frais both the
new one in Trellisac and the shop near Auchan at Marsac
have them for 1.5 euros a kilo. The shop is worth a visit even if you don't
want Seville oranges!
Julia 30/01/09
House Buying Scam!
And another house buying
scam!
Dear Dordogne on Line,
we would like to make you aware of a recent scam. We were contacted regarding
our house firstly to see if they could rent it out for a week in April, I
explained the house was for sale, he said he has a friend who is interested but
doesn't speak much English so he was doing it on his behalf, so after many
emails, asking how much, could he see more picturess etc, he said he wanted to
buy it and would send a cheque as a deposit and covering his agents fees to get
him to France, when we receive it we are to forward 9,000 euros to him.
We actually received a cheque for £30,000 from Barclays bank - a branch in
London, this was deposited into an English account and bounced, the bank has
frozen the account as the cheque was stolen.
He also phoned us once to say they wanted the money asap to give to their agent,
but I explained we can not send anything until the cheque has cleared.
This is all the information we have on these scammers
Mark Steven also put James Smith on a few emails.
pzone1@gmail.com
+44 7045751642
The cheque was on behalf of (Mitsubishi electric finance europe plc, re
mitsubishi elect europe be power systems group) and then a signature and no name
from Barclays bank, 1 Churchill Place, lLndon, E14 5HP.
Name withheld 21 January 2010
Hello,
please could you make sure everyone on your site selling properties privately
on your site is aware of this scam.
Name Fabrice Croichet, 00225 06 43 87 34 (be warned its the code that's
important as he had a few different email address and numbers, he says
he is a Belgian business man looking to move to this region of France for work
and wants to move in very quickly, he does not haggle the asking
price, emails and phones constantly speaking very fast, he is Africian not
French, he has no Notaire and when you ask for a deposit and this is where we
got suspicious, he asks for all of your bank details, Rib, Iban, code guichet
etc, then he will send you 30% of the asking price to lay down to secure the
property so he is the future owner.
Then you receive a certificate via email saying "we are the UEMOA, we have
stopped this transfer of the funds from the Ivory Coast to your bank, in order
to release the funds you need to pay 750 euros ASAP, then the funds will be in
your account".
We contacted the UEMOA office via the official site which is
http://www.uemoa.int/index.htm and
we received an email back saying that the 2 names did not match up and there is
no one working for them and the UEMOA has nothing to do with financial dealings.
We wish to warn any potential sellers who are English because when we received
his original email Dordogne On Line was cc in the email and other
potential suspects.
If you have any questions please contact us.
Thanks Simon Williams 19 January 2009
williams.jean087@orange.fr
NB DORDOGNE ON LINE DID NOT RECEIVE ANY COMMUNICATION FROM THE GUY AS HE LANDED
IN OUR SPAM FOLDER BUT IF WE HAD WE WOULD HAVE NOTIFIED EVERYONE IMMEDIATELY
THAT IT WAS A SCAM, PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
Changing Internet
Provider Wanadoo to Neuf/SFR
Ok as
promised the write up on changing from Wanadoo
(Orange) to Neuf which is now
SFR.
We took the
decision after some friends told us they had changed and were paying less for
the adsl connection including calls in France and the UK and we all want to
save money don’t we?
We went onto
the web site for SFR
http://www.sfr.fr/
and you will
see on the site under Boutique Mobile et Internet the option to click
on ADSL and if you do that in the right hand corner you can test your
line by putting your phone number in and it will tell you what options are
applicable to your line.
Well ours was
Neufbox non degroupe de SFR
Which for
34.90 per month gave us 8 meg adsl, free calls in France and another 60
countries including the UK – BUT only to land lines this does not include
mobile numbers and some 08 numbers so be aware of that. Also SFR take over
your France Telecom line and pay the 16 euro per month line rental. You keep
you own phone number 05 xxxxxxxx.
So we were
paying 32.90 per month to Orange for ADSL plus 16 euro per month, getting free
calls in France but paying for calls to the uk which averaged 7 euro per month
so total cost was 55.90 and we were going to get a better deal for 21 euro a
month less. Got to be worth a go.
34.90 is your TOTAL COST, no additional line
rental, nothing.
There is a
box once you go through this procedure where you can click to talk to someone
and I clicked on that, put our phone number in and within 2 minutes the phone
rang and it was Neuf! The lady spoke English and over the phone we set up the
contract, had to give RIB numbers, address, email address for contact.
They said to
do nothing until the equipment arrived within 3 weeks and then they would
terminate the France Telecom line and once the new Neuf box is up and running
then we have to notify Orange by letter (Avis de Reception – and I have a copy
if anyone wants one – just email me
franceonline@sfr.fr
with Termination Letter in the subject box) to terminate the internet
connection.
And our
payments to France Telecom and Orange are by direct debit so also have to sort
that out so will keep you posted.
Within 14
days the post lady delivered our Neuf box. As we unpacked it our ADSL went
off! Could not believe it and went into panic but decided to try and install
the new box and see what would happen.
We unpacked
everything and put the CD in the computer and re-connected with the new box
and surprise surprise it all went very easily and we connected to the internet
via SFR again immediately. Now I cannot say this will happen for everyone,
perhaps we were lucky. Our friends were off over night but the timing for us
was perfect.
We could
still receive our emails via Orange at this point so our next job was to set
up Outlook Express to receive via SFR.
We suddenly
realised we had not been sent a new email address or password, could not
access our account on SFR or move forward.
I rang their
helpline on 1077 which is sent to you in a letter and the guy gave me an email
address and password over the phone. Be aware he did not speak English. Should
have been more patient as the passwords arrived with new email address the
next day in an email and by post.
The only
problem you have is that IF it goes down you have no phone at
all unless you also have a mobile which most of us do I would imagine.
So we will
monitor it and see how it goes. Will keep you posted if there are any problems
at all.
Just one
point on the 1077 service client number, you only get to speak to a real
person between 8 am and 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm and 8.00 pm, otherwise it is a
recorded message help line only.
We have
received a letter from France Telecom to say our phone line is disconnected
and that we now have to use our new provider if there are any problems and the
letter to terminate the internet account has been sent.
Will update
this space as necessary with any problems etc.
Dordogne on Line 4 December 2008
Fuel Prices -
16th September 2008
Blog
Our first afternoon meeting
and a very amusing and interesting afternoon we had! 19 ladies were
present including 3 other French ladies who certainly seemed to enjoy "a
petit gout a gateau" We had a wide choice this week Terri made a fab
Coconut cake and a Nutty Cake. I made a Marmalade cake and Eccles cakes.
Thanks very much to Sue
Paddock and Sue Allen who gave a demo of lots of needlecraft projects for
Christmas. They will bring some of their equipment to the next meeting
too. Nearly every one took something home to try. This was paid by the
extra coffee money. The next lot will be spent on another kettle, boxes to
carry cups etc in and lots of small things we need. We are now getting
very good at putting up and breaking down the tables.
Sophie Hicks was there from
So cheeseeeeesie! she had brought some excellent Chedder cheese to sell
and some really yummy cheese straws. Sophie is happy to take orders for
the next meeting - email her direct on
sophie.hicks@orange.fr
We heard that Dawn has had
her first chemo treatment we are all thinking of her and her family.
The vote for mornings
versus afternoons was held and the afternoons won. Another point put
forward was that would a meeting every week from October to April instead
of fortnightly be nice? As there is so little going on socially in the
winter, let me know how you feel. Next meeting the 30th of September
Winter draws on!
Sharon Resner - want to know more? click
here
Airport Scam - East Midlands UK (27 July 2008)
We received this email from one of our advertisers this week, reproduced here as
a warning and for you to beaware. This was at East Midlands Airport.
"Hi, had to let you hear this so you could put it onto the site.
I was back in UK last week on jolly old Ryanair, no problems with that side of
things it was when I got to my hire car that things could have got nasty
As I approached the car I was aware of 3 non English men hanging around, I
opened the car, put my back onto the back seat as I closed the door I saw a
glass bottle wedged under the tyre, I quickly checked the other tyres, got
into the car, locked up and drove off 3 sets of eyes following my every move
with interest
Draw any conclusion you want to from this experience, the police have been
informed who were very interested , I was not aware of any physical presence
of security, I suppose CCTV could have been running but that does not give me
any confidence
Cheers
Phil Nicholson"
Cancer
Support in France
CANCER SUPPORT FRANCE; A NEW
BRANCH IN THE CREUSE.
A successful presentation by Cancer Support
France was held on Friday 11th January 2008 in Saint Etienne
de Fursac, Department 23, and it was decided to set up a new CSF
branch in the Creuse. CSF provides an information and listening
service for Anglophones affected by cancer, and currently has branches covering
5 Departments in France with three more in the pipeline. They offer
support through visits at home or in hospital, guide clients and their carers to
other sources of advice and help, and provide access to written information
about cancer and its treatment. All active-listening volunteers receive
specialist training, and French speaking volunteers can be called upon to help
with communication with doctors and hospital staff.
CSF is a an association of volunteers and
relies heavily on donations and fund raising support. The new branch in the Creuse, department
23, (hopefully based in Gueret) is looking
for a suitable venue for meetings and for more volunteers throughout the Creuse region to help with administration, fund raising or one to one
support work. If you can help in any way, no matter how small, and are
interested in being involved, please contact;
Helen French; telephone 05 55 63 35 73 (e-mail
alnellfrench@gmail.com)
Christine Wakefield; telephone 05 55 62 29 68
(e-mail
pete.wakefield@orange.fr)
Our next meeting will be at
2.00 p.m. on Monday 25th February 2008.
Please contact us for details of the venue.
Private Health Cover
Ian Tench has kindly allowed us to detail below his
thoughts and advice regarding private health cover following the
changes in entitlements to the CMU in France. This is a very worrying
time for many and Ian has put together a spreadsheet of costs for private
health care which he is happy to email to interested people. Please
email Ian on franceonline@sfr.fr for a copy of the spread sheet.
(Please put SPREADSHEET in the subject box of any email)
A big thank you to Ian for the information below.
Attached is the spreadsheet. It is based on
the work I did when we were looking for a policy. The prices will vary as
those quoted at the time were a mix of 2007 and 2008. They are for a
couple aged 57 with no pre-existing conditions.
I have sent out quite a few of these in recent days as you can imagine. By all
means use them as guide as to what is provided and value for money but please
ask people to check for themselves.
I also advise people to consider factors other than cost and coverage. For
example, expired E106 and CMU holders have no rights to NHS treatment back in UK
so do they need more than one country cover?
Also consider travel elsewhere. For
example, I usually fill up my car in Spain so I need to be
insured for Spain & UK as well as France. Also, if things go in our
favour, can you cancel mid term? Finally look at the excess - many of them
are designed so that routine treatment fall under the excess - so you could
still end up paying in most cases, although this may be preferable to a higher
premium, it depends on your attitude to risk and medical history. Some excesses
are per visit to medic, others are per condition.
Happy for you to publish my comments.
Please ensure that people realise the spreadsheet is not definitive and they
must check for themselves. My E106 expired today and I am off skiing in
the Alps in a weeks time, not to mention the skiing and hill walking I fit in
during the week so I had to get ahead of the game.
Can I offer another tip that worked for us with Morgan Price and may work for
others who need to act quickly and want to avoid postal delays in setting up a
policy?
Once we had a quote we liked, we downloaded the
application form from the internet, filled it in using a Mark 1 biro and then
scanned the completed form, saved it as a PDF and then e-mailed it back as an
enclosure. They were happy to accept this. I suspect they would also
have accepted a fax. Other companies may do the same and it cuts out the snail
mail exchange.
I am happy to accept e-mail requests as well.
From time to time I update the sheet with additional info. That would
ensure a latest version goes out. Also - if people find additional info I
can incorporate it in the sheet.
Hey, perhaps I should go into business and get
round my E106 problem that way!
Regards Ian
5th January 2008
Credit Card Scam
Thought you might be interested
in details of this clever credit card scam. It was forwarded to me by one of
our clients, originally from the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. (27-11-07)
"This one is pretty slick since they provide
Y O
U with all the information, except the one piece they want.
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.
This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA &
MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to
protect yourself.
An employee was called on Wednesday from 'VISA', and someone else was called on
Thursday from 'Master Card'.
The scam works like this: Person calling says, 'This is (name), and I'm calling
from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your
card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to
verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by ( name of bank)
Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing
company based in Arizona ?' When you say 'No', the calle r continues with,
'Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have
been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500
purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the
credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?'
You say 'yes'. The caller continues - 'I will be starting a Fraud
investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number
listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security.
You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6
digit number. 'Do you need me to read it again?'
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works The
caller then says, 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card.' He'll
ask you to 't urn your card over and look for some numbers.' There are 7
numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security
Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers
you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The
caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller
the 3 numbers, he'll say, 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the
card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have you rcard. Do you
have any other questions?' After you say, 'No,' the caller then thanks you and
states, 'Don't hesitate to call back if you do', and hangs up.
You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card
number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20
minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA security
Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of
$497.99 was charged to our card .
Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account.
VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers
want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it
to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for
verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never
ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they
issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think
you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll
see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late
and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a 'Jason
Richardson of Master Card' with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This
time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as
instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports
daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is
happening .
Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other,
we protect each other."
Entry to
France as a new resident
This information has been taken from
The Complete France
Forum (16 September 2007 - with the moderators and
forum members permission) and is high
priority information to
ALL
new residents to France. Please click through to the
forum for more information if you wish.
I have just received an email from Nationwide
Building society asking me to verify my account details to carry on using the
internet banking. This is a scam, please warn others.
6 August 2007
Gite booking scam!
Just had a telephone call from one of our
advertisers in the Limousin who had taken a booking for 2 weeks from a guy
called Terry Smith who
subsequently sent a bankers draft for far more money that the gite booking
demanded. Luckily our advertiser considered something was wrong and found the
bank transfer was fraudulent! The matter is now in the hands of the Fraud Squad.
Please note this name and beware!
France on Line 23 July 2007
Internet
Scams!
Latest scam report (19 November 2009)
We
received this email from one of our regular readers, PLEASE BE AWARE!!!
Dear Dordogne on Line,
We have fallen victim to a scam. We are with Orange (internet provider) and we
received an email from Orange saying they had taken 90 euro from
our account and needed to pay it back. When you click on the link you have to
fill in all areas including card number etc. On the same day some one had 1503
euros out of our account, no one else has the card details.
We checked our bank
account on line there hadn't been any debit of 90 euro from orange but instead
airline tickets for eurostar and qatar airline plus other amounts adding up to
1503 euro.
Please inform all Orange users of this scam!
Regards S W (identity protected by this web site)
Latest scam report (5 August 2009) they are STILL AT IT!
"Dear
Limousin on Line - I have recently advertised various items through your
internet site and have become away of a scam being used. The person contacts
you enquiring about an item for sale on behalf of a client and asks you to
send pictures and confirm the price. They then accept the price without
question. They then tell you that they will send you the asking price plus
some extra for you to remove the item from the web site. They agree to arrange
shipping, but want to send you the cost of shipping for you to forward to the
shippers yourself. As we were aware of this sort of scam we have not done so,
but if you do you will find that the cheque will appear cleared, but then the
money will disappear from your account. As you have sent your own cheque to
the shippers, you will be debited for the cost of the shipping. I would like
to make others aware of this scam." Regards Deborah Highmore
And another reported this week 1 December 2008 by one of
our advertisers and after their last email to "willy" they have heard no more.
We reproduce the emails here. We have deleted personal
info.
Dear seller,
Do you still have your
www.france-on-line.info/classified_adverts.htm for sale? kindly get back to me with last offer you have, also let me known
the condition of it, i hope to read from you Best regard
willy
Hi Willy
Do you mean the ????????, if so yes it is still for sale and in very good
condition. If you would like to view please call.
Dear Seller
Yes ???????,kindly get back to me with last offer you have
on it
willy
Hello,
Thank you very much for your mail fast, I inform you that I am okay and
meet with the asking price you have on it, as regards the delivery do not
worry about that I have a freight forwarder who will come to your location
for the gathering. Payment is by check, I will instruct my representative to
the issue of check on your behalf with the sum of 8000.00euro, as soon as
payment is received by you, you deduct your selling and updating of 'surplus
funds to my shipper. Come back to me with your information to be drawn to
check for the payment name, address, telephone number.
Hope to hear from you soon. willy
Thank you very much for buying the ?????? and I understand that you will
instruct your representative to send us a cheque for the amount of 8,000
euros, 5,500 euros for us and the balance to go to your shipper (I hope that
is correct). The cheque should be made out to:
AN Other
The address is: ?????????????????????
Tel: ???????
Please could you give us some idea of when we will receive the cheque and
when your shipper will arrive here to collect the ???????
Hello ???????,
Thanks for mailing the payment information and I want to let you know that
the delivery of the cheque to you will be next week.So i want you to keep
all buyer's off ,Consider the ???????? sold to me.Am also compensating you
with (50?) for your runing arround to get the transaction completed the same
day you receive the payment.I want you to deduct the the western union
charges to get the funds wired to the shipper the same day you receive the
payment cashed.About the shipper's information for the wire transfer will be
sent to you with the Name and Address of the shipper for you to get the
funds transfered by western union as soon as you receive the payment and the
funds is been available in your bank..The shipper will be at your location
for the pick up upon receipt of payment via western union by next day.i want
you to know that the pick up will be done 24 hours upon receipt of payment
via western union by the shipper.That is the shipper will be at your
location to do the pick up by next day.
I await your soonest reply to know if all is okay / understood at this
END. hope to here from u soon
Dear Willy
I have looked up Western Union on the internet and I assume that they are
the transfer of money company, I'd rather use my bank to do any transfers,
so therefore would it not be easier if you send me a cheque for 5,500 euros
and send a separate cheque to the shipper (what is the name of the shipping
company) or would it not be possible to give the shipper a cheque/cash when
he collects the caravan?
Obviously once I have received the cheque, I will have to wait until the
cheque has cleared in my bank before I transfer money to the shipper.