Kas33

Thanks to you all, that is reassuring. They are adamant that my hubby has signed their contract - but I deal with all the paperwork and finances as my french is better, and I am frankly bewildered. I was a bit spooked by the phrase "if you don't send a registered letter by Friday you will be automatically in next year's and you'll have to pay" and "I'll call you at 10am on Friday to confirm the number of your registered letter". What sort of advertising bills you at the end of the period anyway, after zero correspondence? I asked why the bloomin' thing hadn't been sent out to us, it was because we ''joined" in April and it was too late. Therefore too late for the print run, n'est pas?

I hope someone can shed some light on this for me. My husband set up as a micro enterprise in April, just working part time. Since then we have had a deluge of phone calls and post asking us to pay for various publicity, all of which we have said no to/binned. Today I had a phone call from a company claiming that we were put  in an "annuaire des entreprises" (I think) in April and that we haven't paid for 2008, we still owe 790€! I asked her to put something in writing to me as I didn't fully understand the situation, I think I had assumed that I hadn't translated correctly. She said she had no email, just a fax, and if she sends me a letter it will be too late to cancel. She also said that she sent me the bill mid December but hadn't had a response and that is why she was calling. Apparently if we don't send a cancellation letter registered to arrive by Monday (the deadline to cancel has already passed) we will automatically be in it for the next 5 years and will have to pay for all of that too. She has offered to put us in the category of "finding it hard to pay" which we have to quote in the letter, and she will chase us in 6 months. (Gee, thanks! Does that come with interest?) She is also going to call on Friday and get from me the reference number of the registered letter I am sending so she can trace it through the system. I can't find this company on the internet, or the annuaire. I wonder if something was sent that we had to opt out of, otherwise we would be automatically included and billed. And where are all the clients that have been enticed by the entry that we are now due to pay? Is it all an elaborate scam preying on foreigners that don't fully understand the system? Has anyone else had a phone call? Help!        

Not to mention the fact that most of our clients are UK based and so are having to deal with the fab exchange rate....

I was interested to see the links....I thought we had done our homework prior to setting up our property care business. Seems that we are somewhat undercharging compared to other similar enterprises. How to correct this with current clients, I wonder?

We are play.com fans, love the range, the great prices, and the free delivery to France. But WHY do we have to still pay in euros and WHY is their exchange rate such a rip off? I bought a £5 DVD for my kids, had to pay in euros even though I have a Natwest account, and they charged me 7.50€. Still a good price but aaaarrrggghhhh!!    

We look after a holiday house nearby, in the centre of a small village. Bordering the garden is a smallholding with around 50 various small animals, and a few sheep. Over the summer the odd chicken came through the fence, and once or twice a goat, which we thought was rather amusing and quite sweet. Over the autumn a few droppings appeared on the terrace, which wasn't quite so funny.  When we arrived last week to work on the garden, there were 4 sheep and 2 goats standing in the flower bed, happily munching on the shrubs. The fence has been uprooted by the goats and the sheep followed them through. I went over to the Mairie and the nice secretary phoned the owner of the house for me and left a message. When I got back to the garden the tennant had appeared, so I expressed my concerns to her. She said she couldn't cope, the animals did as they pleased, and that her husband was working and wouldn't mend the fence. She also added that he had recently untethered the goats (they are runningh round with a chain and post around their necks) She stuck some corrugated metal in front of the biggest hole. We returned yesterday to find all the shrubs and hedges eaten up to a height of  1m, and lots more droppings. I think that the visits must have increased 5 fold during the week, and that no attempt has been made to strengthen the fence, or tether the goats. I called the owner who symapthised, he said he had spoken to the tennant last week after my first complaint, and that my next course of action is to send a letter to them recommandé. I have told my clients that I will deal with the isuue on their behalf as they live in Ireland.   My question is, what happens after that? Do I put in my letter that if they don't do something I call the gendarmes/ a hussier/notaire? Can anyone help please?          

Is this a coincidence? November 20th was a strike day last year...just happens to be my son's birthday I haven't told him the potential good news yet    

  The junk mail isn't so bad, I can stick it straight in the recycling, but when it is a phone call they always use our name, sometimes the call is to do with setting up the business, sometimes it is cold calling. I am never too sure at the beggining of the call and don't want to upset any officials...   Does anyone know how to be taken off the list please? 

I have read all the links but we still have a problem.... We have always been liste rouge and have never received any cold calls or junk mail. Recently we registered a new business with all the various authorities and we are getting a stream of stuff through the door selling alsorts of stuff we don't want/need. Today I had an insistent caller trying to sell me 3000€ worth of advertising for the business. It seems to me that one of the government related authorities has kindly put our details onto a list for all to see. Is there any way at all to stop this?  

We have an Orange Livebox, a PC and a laptop. Our broadband speed is only 512mb. The internal walls in our house are over a foot thick and we need some sort of booster to be able to use the laptop any distance from the base. We would also like our gite guests to be able to use their laptops without having to sit in our kitchen!   I have looked online but there seem to be a huge array of gadgets on the market; can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Since we moved to France I have been unable to find any gluten free flour in any of the supermarkets, even the huge Auchan at Bordeaux. I have been making my gluten free bread from flour that I or a kind relative has lugged over from the UK. I know that there are various websites that sell the flour but the prices are hideous, especially once you add the delivery charge. If anyone knows of  a source of gluten free flour, preferably from a national chain, I would be very grateful (and so would my Mum).  

I too got this bill this morning for the first time - and the shock of my life. We have been declaring our gite income since 2003 and paying social charges to the"assurance maladie des professions indépendantes" and this is the first time we have been given the charge. I declared my gite income under box "NO" - "vente de marchandises ou locations meublées non professionnelles". Have I made a huge mistake on my declaration? How can this be unearned income when we work our socks off all season? If I go to the tax office are they going to try and back date this charge? Help!!

I would not trust Intermarché with a query - they have terrible customer service. We use jif or vinegar (and bleach on the floors between guests, but we tip it on the grass afterwards not down the drain). I reckon that as long as it doesn't have 'javel' written on it, it's ok. We do supply cleaning products, it is more likely that the guests will do a little light housework, if they feel inclined.

We provide towels, tea towels, linen including cots, eben cleaning cloths. This afternoon I am taking the kids up to Royan to join my parents in a villa by the sea. There are no duvets, towels, linen, pillows - or even an iron! The car is packed full. If I was travelling from the UK I would have discounted it straight away and booked one with bedding.

In the last 12 months I have bought a fridge, dishwasher and washing machine and everytime the best deal has been on maismoinscher.com. They have a huge selection and FREE delivery, but due to that fact their delivery times are not the quickest. I keep going back though....