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Articles so far
Bowls - The Beginning of Perigord Bowls Club 2007
Bowls - Perigord Bowls Club 2007 season
Changing Internet Provider Wanadoo to Neuf/SFR
Entry to France as a new resident
Health cover and top up policies
Health care with Mutual Societe Agrigole
Transferring money from UK to 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): [email protected]
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 on [email protected]
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
with regards, Patricia Littlewood
Update 25 February 2009
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
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
Hello Carol,
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
[email protected]
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
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 [email protected] 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.
Carol Dordogne on Line 4 December 2008
Update on 10 November 2008
I have now found out that you can place an order as a group!! I didn't know this before hence why I am mentioning it now.
I have asked Alvea 4 x address's and 4 x 1,000litres superior and they have come back with a price of 0.744 per litre.
Fuel 24 same details as above is 0.70 per litre.
I have gone back to Alvea and she is still saying that they use TOTAL but Fuel 24 do not and they buy the cheap stuff and put in additives.
Payment for both companies is by French cheque, carte bleu, or cash but all on delivery.
Price's for Alvea is from the St. Yrieix office as normally we have to use the Tulle office but they are not there anymore.
Alvea price is held until Wednesday.
So perhaps a group of people maybe interested in getting together but they have to live fairly close. This maybe the last time I do this as we will need to order this week. Hope all this helps. Sue
Update on 5 November 2008
I have just checked today's prices and they are:
Fuel 24 0.745 per litre ttc
Alvea 0.779 per litre ttc.
I am now going to go back to ALVEA and see if they will reduce to the same price as we have been with them for 8 years...
Just called ALVEA and they will not price match even if we add another 500 litres... Not like they would do in England..
They say that their oil is superior and the best quality others sell normal oil and add something to it, but it is not the same quality!!! I have no idea if this is correct or not... Having thought about it I have just called Fuel 24 and they say no they add nothing they sell both normal and superior and I have been quoted for superior...
I think that I will become an expert on this matter soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!! best wishes Sue
Update on 31 October 2008
Hi Carol. Just purchased heating fuel from Maguer
in Thiviers - 500 Litres at 73.8 cents a litre. Regards Peter Westbrook La
Coquille
What about Fuel 24 - phone number 05 53 50 13 00, last time I called them they quoted 08.95 per litre and quote on a delivery of 1,000 litres to us near Pompadour.
Alvea Tulle has quoted me 1/10/08 962 euro 1,000lts
I am trying to call Alvea and Fuel 24 to check there prices as we need some. The oil price doesn't seem to come down as quick as petrol prices!!!!
Hope this helps with your search.
best wishes Sue (Neil & Sue Spoonley)
And an update today 13 October 2008 from Sue
Just to let you know that I have just contacted both Alvea and Fuel 24 and these are the price's they have given me for a 1000 litres. Both superior quality.
Fuel 24 08.35 cents per litre
Alvea Tulle 08.24 cents per litre.
I put Tulle because we are in the area that we deal with Tulle now and not St. Yrieix. Have no idea if this helps you but just thought that I would send it just in case...
Merci and thanks for all your emails/newsletters. Sue
An update 25 October 2008 from Sue
Fuel 24 21/10/80 0.775ttc
Alvea 21/10/08 0.824ttc
Will be calling them again this week to see what the price is. Alvea say that there price will not go any lower than the price above... If I find a difference again this week I will ask if they will price match if not them we will go with the one with the best price... Price's have been quoted on 1,000 litres.
An update 27 October 2008 from Sue
Here is today's price for oil that I have just been given... It seems as if the price is the same as last week.
Alvea 0.799ttc per litre for 1,000 litres superior
Fuel 24 0.775ttc per litre for 1,000 litres superior
Hope that this helps you and everyone else with a price... Will try again next week to see what is happening, but it seems as if it is coming down. We know several French people who have already bought and paid over 1 euro per litre.. That's it for now will be in touch again Sue
Neil and Sue Spoonley sent us this information regarding LD Lines new route for 2009.
LD Lines
has received full approval from the Port of
Dover for the introduction of its new Dover – Boulogne freight and passenger
service in 2009.
Scheduled to start from 1st July 2009, the new service will provide four return
sailings daily with a crossing time of one hour 45 minutes and proposed sailing
schedule of :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Local times):
Dep. Boulogne Arr. Dover Dep. Dover Arr. Boulogne
05.00 05.45 06.45 09.30 (NotSundays)
10.30 11.15 12.15 15.00 (NotSundays)
16.00 16.45 17.45 20.30
21.30 22.15 23.15 03.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freight and tourist traffic, including coaches, cars and additionally foot
passengers will be carried. The vessel "Norman Spirit", which currently operates
on LD Lines’ Portsmouth – Le Havre service, will be replaced on the Western
Channel and is then expected to be transferred to operate the new Dover –
Boulogne route.
The ship has capacity for 1850 passengers, 700 cars and 110 freight vehicles.
"We are delighted to have now received confirmation from the Port of Dover that
our new Dover – Boulogne route has official approval and we look forward to a
very positive, long-term working relationship with the Port Authority, " says LD
Lines’ Directeur Général, Christophe Santoni.
"Our entry into the highly competitive short sea cross channel ferry business is
a major development for LD Lines. We are convinced that the service will
undoubtedly attract new freight and tourist customers, which will benefit both
Dover and Boulogne as departure and destination ports."
In the first year of operation the company expects to carry in the region of
120,000 freight vehicles, 133,000 cars and 400,000 passengers.
Bob Goldfield, Chief Executive, Port of Dover said, "The Port of Dover welcomes
the additional capacity at a time when it is planning a second ferry terminal to
meet forecasts in traffic growth."
Fares and reservation information for tourist passengers will be published in
due course - visit : www.ldlines.com
Note :
LD Lines new service will operate to the newest French port
terminal for passengers, cars and freight, as the first cross channel ferry
company to inaugurate the Port of Boulogne’s new Ro Ro terminal from 1st
July 2009.
The construction of Boulogne's new Ro Ro terminal and the first
linkspan began in the second half of 2008 and will be operating by 1st July
2009.
This represents an initial 35 million euros investment as part of
the Hub Port Boulogne development. Construction of the second phase, with the
addition of a second linkspan and further investment of 45 million euros, will
be completed by 2010.
The new route will also be re-introducing a cross
channel freight option, which currently does not exist between the UK and
Boulogne. With Boulogne being France’s most important fishing port, LD Lines new
service and specific sailing times will cater for this industry.
Boulogne is also France’s 9th ranked
commercial port and is therefore an ideal choice for freight companies looking
to export steel, forest products (paper, pulp, wood), cement and food. Also the
global leader for dairy products and number two in bottled water and biscuits,
has a very large commercial presence in Boulogne.
For further information :
Nick Stevens –
Press & PR Agency (UK & Ireland) : LD Lines
" " " (UK) : Boulogne Chamber of Commerce / Port of Boulogne
Tel : 00 44 (0) 1303 892631 / 00 44 7768 832899
email :
[email protected]
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 [email protected]
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.
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 [email protected])
Christine Wakefield; telephone 05 55 62 29 68 (e-mail [email protected])
Our next meeting will be at 2.00 p.m. on Monday 25th February 2008. Please contact us for details of the venue.
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 [email protected] 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
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.
We received this email from one of our regular readers, please beware!
Hi Carol
6 August 2007
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
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 youBest 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.
DO NOT RESPOND TO THESE TYPE OF EMAILS OR TRY CHECKING THEM OUT ON THE INTERNET AS OUR ADVERTISER DID AND CALLED THE SUPPOSED BUYERS BLUFF!
The following was sent to us by one of our advertisers Vivienne Teasdale, she agreed to reproduce it here as a warning to others.
Thought I’d better provide this following information so you are aware and can warn your other clients as I am sure this enquiry I have had is a scam. You may be aware of it as others may have had similar emails.
I received an enquiry a week or so ago for long term B&B rental for 3 months from 1st August to 30th October from a guy called “Harry Jimmy” from Churchill Manitoba Canada for himself, his wife and 2 twin boys aged 8. and have attached the latest email from him for your information
I replied with a quote (just short of 3500 euros) which he followed up with a yes he would like to book but could I quote him for electricity, security deposit, bills, etc. and mentioned renting the “apartment”, a term he has used all the time since.
Thinking there was a misunderstanding and that he was looking for an independent house or apartment with usual facilities such a kitchen, etc though he did not mention this I emailed back said we would be happy to rent our rooms (increased the quote to just short of 4000 euros) but explained thoroughly that we are a B&B, and what he would and would not get i.e. no kitchen but space in fridge and use of laundry facilities (necessary I think for a 3 month stay).
I also sent him some alternative sites for gites, houses etc including your own, and have received a return email still confirming that he would like to rent the “apartment”.
However, - and this is where is gets suspicious - he waffles on about his wife having ordered 2 bicycles during her last vacation which she has yet to pay the balance (of 5000 euros???) for so they can be delivered here for the boys?? Also she will be driving a BMW 5 series which she required space for but can he pay me just under 9000 euros for me to send the balance for the bicycles????
Also that his wife will meet me at the airport at 4pm (I assume he means on 1st August) to be brought here??? What about himself and the children and where’s the BMW??
His email then asks for details of my account no, etc but what is really suspicious is the whole email is worded and set out very similar to the emails we all seem to be receiving at the moment telling us we have won a lottery we have never entered or there is a person in Africa who has made a fortune in diamonds or something and wants an investor they can trust – Yeah Right!!
Anyway hope you can pass this info on and your comments and thoughts on it may also be of help.
E mail [email protected]
Registering for health care with MSA
This short over view has been submitted by Paula Grainger and she is happy to communicate in more depth with others who may need to go through the same process when starting their own business, email Paula via [email protected].
Just to let you know how we got on with MSA Mutual Societe Agrigole, dealing with us getting on to the French health system. A lady came to our house from MSA and checked out our business plan and our equipment and then satisfied that we had a good business, we then went through about 20 mins of form filling, we then had to wait for about 2-3 weeks for our application to be processed, and then received our attestation to say that we had been accepted!!! and ofcourse the "Bill", So here we are finally, your French has to be of some sort of understanding as they don't speak English, or if not have someone who can translate.
Perigord Lawn Bowls Club 2007 season
(Click HERE for more info on this club)
Pauline and Clive Davie took over La Charrue in September 2004 and through their business met many new arrivals to France. Over the odd glass of wine discussions turned to past sporting exploits Sue and Dick Passmore said they had been very involved in flat green bowls during the summer and short mat bowls during the winter. Both had achieved county badges at short mat and Dick went on to represent England throughout the nineties. So the idea of creating the first flat bowls green was born and in September 2005 we pegged out an area of 35m.sq. on the lower field at La Charrue. During the October and November the ground was dug out with Clive driving the JCB.
The boulders and roots were not too bad but because of the unevenness of the land we soon realized that we would need the assistance of some French farmers to help move tons of earth from the site. So off Clive went to negotiate with some neighbours who had tractors and were willing to help. When we were ready along came our friendly farmers and with other new arrivals at La Charrue and friends the excavation begun. Some of course just stood in total bewilderment, as for our French friends they scratched their heads and couldn’t understand what we were doing, crazy English!!
The delivery of several tons of gravel was laid to aid the drainage of the site then it was time for the sand, tons and tons of it, 19 lorry loads, all having to be levelled as evenly as possible. Time was drawing in and the days were getting shorter and we knew we had to level the ground before winter set in. But eventually we were satisfied so we left our project to settle down throughout the winter. In the meantime the proposed rules and constitution were drawn up and sent away for translation into French in readiness for applying to become an Association.
In the Spring of 2006 the sand was again levelled and finally in May seed was sown. After only a few weeks grass was seen peeping through the ground so a few glasses of wine were had in celebration, then Clive’s work really begun in looking after the green.
So good was his work that in August we actually were able to bowl a few woods, the feeling of elation over took us, broad smiles all round and of course congratulations to Clive for all his hard work. The committee took the bold decision to hold two demonstration days in September and even though it poured with rain on both days we were satisfied with the number of people that came along to support the new Club.
Our application to become an Association had been accepted so our Treasurer opened a bank account in the Club’s name, he is now busy seeking quotes for Public Liability Insurance so all members and their visitors will be fully covered against accidents.
We held an Open Evening in October so prospective members were able to ask questions and to voice their thoughts on the future events both on the bowls green and socially.
The green has now been top dressed and put to bed for the winter months.
We are situated between Brantome and Vieux Mareuil on the D939.
If you are interested in joining the Périgord Lawn Bowls Club as an experienced bowler or as a complete novice please contact our President Dick Passmore 05 45 23 62 17 or email [email protected]
Full coaching will be available.
MEDICAL COVER
- A
word of warning! (September 2004)
From recent personal experience please do seriously think about medical cover when moving to France. Do not rely on an E111. We have an E121 where I am covered 100% for all costs but my husband was only covered for 65%. In our 40's we did not consider it necessary to take a top up policy. However in the past month my husband has suffered a heart attack and was admitted to hospital for 7 days. He underwent an angioplast and is now recovering at home. We have not had the bills as yet but know that one hospital (he was moved part way through the week) charged 320 euro per day. The transfer to Limoges was 40 euro. Some blood tests have been charged extra and his monthly medication bill will now be 153 euro for life. This was totally unexpected but now we have taken a top up policy with Groupama and will be covered from now on for all costs and also for dental treatment and glasses. If anyone would like further information please feel free to e mail [email protected]. The good news after this was because my husbands condition is life threatening he is covered 100% but the top up policy has come in useful for dental treatment and an operation for myself in 2005 where we paid nothing.
MEDICAL COVER - A word of warning again! (April 2005)
A friend two weeks ago was taken ill and admitted to Limoges hospital where he underwent tests for diabetes. When asked for his top up/mutuelle details he did not have one and was informed that his hospital stay was costing 200 euros per day and he would have to pay 35% of that cost and his anticipated stay would be 2 weeks at least. This information did nothing for our friends state of health at that point. He had been "thinking" about taking a top up policy but had never "got round to it". The good and bad news is that the hospital discovered his diabetes is category 1 and therefore he will not have to pay the huge amount he at first anticipated which one the one hand made him feel better. PLEASE PLEASE do seriously consider a top up policy no matter what age you are or how healthy, you just never know and the cost implications can be huge. Obtain quotes from insurance companies or your bank and investigate the different options, the policies are not always easy to understand but are absolutely necessary.
Below is one persons
account of moving money to a French bank
"A personal experience about moving money to France via a building society. We banked with the Nationwide Building Society in the UK and after some research they were the cheapest option to send money to France, charging £20 whatever the amount to be moved. They used a commercial rate of exchange, not the tourist rate, but you cannot be exactly sure what it will be as the rate can move up or down before they press the button. You can either move the money by completing a form with a specific date to move the money and post it to them or do what we did which authorised a family member, still in UK, to do it for you. Our money arrived within 24 hours into our French Bank account and there was no charge to receive it, but you do need to allow around 5 days so if you are signing for a house do not leave it until the last minute. Your UK bank will need the RIB number, which is the account information about your French bank including your account number, the IBAN, which is the International Bank Account number and the B.I.C. or Swift number and the full name and address of your bank. Your French bank will be able to give you all these numbers. It's a good idea to go to your UK bank, and see if you can get a form for transferring money abroad so you can see how to fill it in long before you might need to use it. It can be a little daunting to fill out a form and see maybe £100,000 disappear off into Europe. If it does get lost in the 'system' it can take weeks before it comes back, we were told."
We reserve the right to refuse to publish unsuitable text and to edit text as necessary.
Some items may need to be carried over to future months due to space.
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