nino

Hello ! On the back (sic) of  an  invoice dated 2010 - there is nothing on the newest invoices-  at the bottom of the page it  reads: "Caracteristiques de votre tarif: HC : 23h30-7h30" Plus, as I have an old compteur electro-mecanique, at 23H30 every night I can it here clicking loudly as it switches on to the HC tariff. But it maybe that  tariff hours in your region may be different to that in mine , I do not know. Regards  

Hi. May I have your opinion onthis matter please ? I have received  the highest electricity consumption reading ever experienced  in over a decade, for two weeks spent by paying guests in May this year. 330 units !! 82 as HC and 248 as HP. Now if my understanding is correct, HC is the electricity used at night time, usually the colder period.  How come they have used three times as much during the daytime ? My impression is that  they may have left the electric heaters on (3 if not all four that I keep) even when they were away from the premises. Basically: continuously switched on , albeit on thermostat position (perhaps). What are your thoughts ?

Hello ! My old car died on me just outside my house so that fortunately I managed to have it pushed into the garden where it is currently parked. This happened 2 years ago and I have  been declaring it SORN  all this time because I do not know what else to do. If  I sell it in France to be crashed  how will I have to declare it to the UK authorities ? And how will they take it  in consideration of the fact that I have declared it off the road when it has been abroad ? I wish to avoid paying having to pay either a fine or export (?) duties nor to have it repatriated. I called the DVLA, Swansea on their premium lines and after longish wait i got the obvious answer.....please write in with your case ! thanks for any advice  

Hello ! I am looking for a local person who can cut and take away the grass from my front garden every two weeks starting pretty soon and  ending in October. Is anybody available - or that you may know  -  near Pont Audemer, Eure , 27560  ? Please contact me initially  by email (deleted by the moderators) Thank you Post edited by the forum moderators. Please refer to the Forum Code of Conduct. Anyone interested can contact the poster by PM or email, using the buttons on this post.

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="valmont"] The UK government  should step in and dictate the implementation of  lower tariffs , tariffs  that reflect the distance being covered, that reflect the comfort- or not -  being provided. These high fares stop the free movement of people. [/quote] I can't believe that you really mean that, if you do, what planet, exactly, are you from ? That's the sort of thing that China had under Chairman Mao, for goodness sake......................................get real...[:@] please.......................................[:)] [/quote]   Not the planet:  rip-off Britain , if you want to know.  Fairness, rights, and every other moral value  have gone forever there. Money making at all costs philosophy rules. And which  planet exactly do you live on, instead ? Perhaps you enjoy being taken for a ride and having your pockets picked at will. If so Britain  is the right place for you to live. British Airways will love you, rail companies will adhore you, Ferry lines will kiss you, and so will  the mayor of London and its C charge.  Leave you car unattended for  30 seconds and see how much it ll cost you, pay road tax and be asked to pay again for the milage you cover. Pay for rubbish collection  but be fined  if your rubbish is  heavy. Have you and your car  be followed and photographed by a spy vehicle with camera, pay £ 4.00 for a one stop travel on the London underground, better still pay  for public transport but then walk instead to destination. Pay for the police that you never ever see on beat and  get no help when you become a victim. Save money all you life and then have it taken from you and your siblins through inheritance tax. Shall I carry on ?  No I do not want Mao, I want fairness and I am on the side of the consumers not on that of the big money making corporations.  

Dear Will, surely you know that LD lines have still ONLY got one ship on the PO/LH route and a ship that is quite old and not even remotely comparable in terms of comfort  to the two that   P&O operated ! (not to mention the return sailing schedule that will let you become stranded in Portsmouth till the early hours of the morning , if you are a foot passenger ). We all thought that on this basis  LD lines could not pretend to apply the same tariffs of P&O. And indeed  they did not , last year . But the custom they won ,  they will kill off with such an arrogant business policy. The UK government  should step in and dictate the implementation of  lower tariffs , tariffs  that reflect the distance being covered, that reflect the comfort- or not -  being provided. These high fares stop the free movement of people. Ah but which government? The one that is allowing the rail companies to charge you > £200 for a one way journey  London to Edingburgh  for example ? dont think so ! I hope  Bruxelles will one decide to come to the aid. Danglar

Yesterday I booked a crossing with LD Lines Fri-Monday car+2 in Mid March £82.00. Then I stumbled on the pdf copy (pity I do not know how to post it on the forum)  of the ticket I had booked last year with them :   car+2  Friday-Monday in mid March : £  39.60.   HOW DO THEY EXPLAIN AN INCREASE OF 100% ????????   Has Mrs Gupta an opinion on this ? And WHY so much silence  about this disgraceful price increase on the forums ? It seems you have now become quite happy to pay higher prices than P&O used to charge! I am puzzled. Danglar    

It is just because of the short distance that  not everyone wants and needs to go across the channel by  car , that there should be the by air alternative. Try and book now with LD Lines and/or BF and see how much you ll have to fork out for car+1  !   I think that  a) it was too ambitious  to start with a three flights a week  and b) it was the wrong choice of airport/destination  (in the middle of nowhere, though conveniently close to my maison secondaire ).   Rouen and Caen would be better choices. At the time Buzz started and then dropped those flights I am sure there was not such a big  tourist market and  the number of  English property owners that we have now (nor  were the Ferry prices so unrealistic ! I remember going across with P&O with car+2 for a w/end for only £15.00 ,  slightly more with BF and as against a flight price of £ 23pp o/w  with Buzz  if I remember correctly).     Danglar

700  x euro 33 x 2 = 46,200 euro @ 5%/1,200 euro x 8 months = 1540 euro interests ended in the coffers of ryanair  and 0 euros to the people who gave them their money  ( those who paid by credit card would infact have had to pay interest too!).   Next time give ME 46,200 euro and I will give YOU back a much better return than ZIPPO ! Apart from this, I have for months being wondering if any kind of public transport system had been set up from/to the airport in preparation of these flights.  I have sent at least 6 emails to the Airport of St Gatien about this issue  and every time their answer evidenced the total  absence of  any  public/private coach service  from / to the airport into town (Deauville, I presume , but what about other surrounding and equally important resorts ? Pont Audemer, Beauzeville, Pont l'Eveque etc etc ). My  impression was that they considered it  Ryanair's task; until   ten days ago nothing had been done. Ah yes I could get a taxi at the airport but although I would not call myself belonging to the riff raff brigade I cannot afford a taxi in France. In any case how could they expect a planeload of tourists to get into town ? Supposing  even one flight a week arrived full , how many taxis,   trips and hours  would have required to take everyone  into Deauville ?  So I feel that blaming the lack of bookings on this one is  hiding the truth ! Who is responsible for setting up means of transport  anyway ? The town, the airport authorities, the carrier ? Whatever the answer, a question remains: why , when this essential aspect had not been finalised, Ryanair was allowed to  promote ,  accept bookings and take  money from the public so many months before ? Danglar      

BJSLIV, what I found were white greasy , soapy bits which Ithought were stones but disintegrated when squashed between finger and  which I  caught up  by using a food strainer. As I said we have a w/machine. In addition the hot water boiler had the part with the valve ( used to  to empty the baloon , I think)   replaced last summer. There was a constat humming loud noise  from the piping because the water could not get into the baloon due to the  blockage  (well so I was advised). What else can it be down to ? Danglar  

Hello. I have found hard water deposit in my bac egrasse. This might very well  have been the cause of my drainage system  clogging up some  two years ago (it has been fuly replaced). I now want to install some system  that will eliminate the calcaire . I have tested the tap water with a  kit mI purchased  at Homebase and it has given me a very high reading. Is there something better than the gadgets for sale on ebay ? What would  a serious , efficient method installaion carried out by a plumber cost ? If anyone has a system in their house I'd like to hear of their experience. Many thanks Danglar

Has anybody  not noticed this sudden fares  increase by LD ? Where are the crossings for foot passengers @  less then £ 10 ? Not there anymore. Irrespective of the length of stay the price I  obtain from their website for a foot passenger is £ 34.00 return. In February! So this is the the company that was listening to our needs, willing  and promising to give property owners fair prices and so on ? Yeah , well . Nor are the Newhaven/Dieppe/LeHavre  prices all that much cheaper.  We are inthe hand s of another pirate of the sea here! They have built a customer base, introduced a few esthetic improvements and hiked the prices to expand  and subisde a business that  we will soon find might very well make us regret P&O. But why so much silence  on this issue here ????   Danglar     

I have made arrangements .  

Hello I need to get to  Lieurey this Saturday. I am booked on LD lines friday night as a foot passenger and I can travel back to LH and England  with my own  car. Anyone willing to offer this poor  soul a lift that way ? Any other near villages or Pont Audemer/Bernay etc would be acceptable. Regards Danglar 

Thank you for your support, Will. I realised after reading  the posting  replies  that I  had forgotten  to mention in my posting (which I wrote in frustration , I admit)  that I  have always travelled from Le Havre taking the afternoon sailing from there. Reading  that there are connections etc. for those arriving  from Caen , Cherbourg etc  is not much consolation. What puzzles me is why Nat Express last service cannot coincide with the safe disembarkation, in the evenings,  of the BF and LD vessels passengers instead of leaving them there stranded. I find the NatExp coach service excellent in punctuality comfort and price, so if they could extend it  in the evening then  it would put the cherry on the pie for many of us and possibly make  our journeys to our destinations in  France not requiring a car .   regards  

Dear all, I see that nobody has raised this issue yet within this forum:  the lack of suitable transport  from Portsmouth to London associated with the  docking of the evening arrival of the BF and LD Line ships. Frankly I think this is appauling.  It is not alway possible, if ever  at all, to disembark in time (on those occasions when the ship arrives on time, how many times does that happen ?)  to be able to reach the railways station  and catch  the last good train to London and the lsat  Nat Express coach service is at arround 7pm  and next   I believe is at around  4am in the morning (don't know if that runs during the winter though...). So what is one supposed to do ?  I know. Coming from a country where £30 (if not  less ) can  get you a good B&B  for two people ,  one is supposed to pay £50 or 60 for one bed only in a ...well, whatever standard of  B&B is  available near  the Port in order to be able to  make a return  home the following morning. Cannot  BF and LD  lobby the port of Portsmouth, the City of Portsmouth, NationalExpress or the railway companies to have a service - coach and or train - always available to pick up those passengers that arrive in   the evening  ? Just an idea from a person who has experienced this lack of tourist welcoming service for the past...15 years! Danglar      

The website is still accepting  bookings for November and I am  becoming concerned . What if  LD Lines  do not find a substitute ship by then ? I thought they way to do things was to  first contract out a  substitute vessel and then arrange and announce to put the other ship  in the docks for refurb... Danglar 

Hello. Thanks for reading my topic. I believe it is the cold pipe , as that is where my man has been advised to fit the valve. But would you mind explaining  why is it important to establish if cold or warm ?   Thank you   Danglar

Noise from the water internal pipes has developed in the house. Worse at night. From occurring  only occasionally during the winter time it has now become  almost unbearable ,  to the point it keeps people awake at night. Opening a  tap is only giving a very brief relief  from the noise . My local person relieved the hot water boiler of some air on Sunday  through one of its valves succeeding into  keeping  things quiet for a while. But  it has now all  re started. A person staying at the house last week  managed to get around the problem at night by switching off the boiler (which heats up using the cheap night rate) altogether and then restart it in the morning using the booster. But I thing this is not doing the job any longer. The noise is now there…constantly.   It goes without saying that there is not a plumber in sight! Either on holiday or unavailable for a week or longer. The lastest idea my person in France has come up with is to fit an expansion valve on the cold water upstairs pipe. He is buying the material from the local  Bricomarche but we wonder whether this will do the job or whether from the “humm” noise situation we will move onto to a “kettle whistle” one  in the middle of the night! I really cannot understand why this is happening. Has the local water supplier increased the pressure to cause this ? Won’t  the  main water supply tap turning slightly down help ?   Anyone suggestion would greatly be appreciated.   danglar      

Hello fellow members. I have two pin holes in the gutter which is made of zinc , I believe. Does anyone  know  of a product - either in France or in UK - that  deals fixes this  fault or will I have to call in an artisan to solder the leaky spots ? Regards all. Danglar  

Was ready to book my xing this w/e having obtained a quote yesterday evening on the aferry webiste. Out fri night by car back sunday afternoon w/out car. It was about one hundred pounds with P&O with car out + cabin /car back no cabin ; so £98 with LD Lines did not look all that competitive but .... Except that the cabin option tonight on their website is no longer there ! So it looks like I will not travel after all. But listen to this! I entered data for a similar trip for next week end and a week end in December for 2 FOOT PASSENGER with a cabin on the leg out and standard seats on the return and guess what price came out ??? £ 184.00, ladies and gentlemen. £ 184.00 We must congratulate this new enterprise on making even less sense than P&O with their price structure (if there is one). Draw your conclusions. (But did not the LD lines manager say through a spokesperson on this and totalfrance forums that the some prices had been reviewed and reduced recently ?). Boh! Danglar

Any private owners interested in flying over to France from London A/ports on a private charter and sharing the costs ? Let me know and also quote me the estimated journey frequence and length of stay. Valmont

Any private owners interested in flying over to France from London A/ports on a private charter and sharing the costs ? Let me know and also quote me the estimated journey frequence and length of stay. Valmont