woods2

Very similar to what I received recently.  I played the idiot along and received a draft drawn on an Irish bank.  A quick phone call to the bank revealed that it was forged.  The Nigerian scams seem to have hit gite owners in France very hard this year.  The downside for the Nigerians is that I'm not racist by nature, but seem to have good reason to change! Mike

We have already sat down and talked nicely to the company, after an earlier stoppage and abuse from the site manager (I think he's anti-British).  Unfortunately the promises made by the director on that occasion were not kept.  On a brighter note, work has just re-started on the project, but it's going to take a long time to regain our confidence!

I now find myself locked in a 'David and Goilath' battle with the M.D. of this company, who is obviously afraid of potential P.R. harm in his UK market.  He is so defensive of his defective employees-It's good that Management supports its staff-but in ALL circumstances.  Happily (for us), the builders' guarantee fund is taking the matter seriously!  And thank God I have at least a reasonable level of French-without it I would have been flattened!  Mike.

My thanks to all the members who e-mailed me on this subject.  I didn't realise that so many non-French were into new builds!  Our site is still 'dead', now in the hands of the Building Trade Guarantee Fund.  A sorry state indeed for us and for one of France's biggest individual house builders.  As far as I know they haven't gone bust, but they might as well have done!  On a light-hearted note, I looked again at the builders' catalogue today-very professionally presented.  It depicts the site manager as a keen young man wielding a laptop while chatting with a smile to his clients.  Our site manager bears a nasty scowl, is semi-literate and rarely hoists his 20-plus stone out of the car (just as well, as he has the most powerful B.O. I have ever experienced-it could knock out an army at 100 metres)!  I shouldn't let this get personal!  Mike. P.S: The builder or its agent has a stand at the French Property Exhibition this weekend.  Wish I could be there to give them hell!

I can't name the company, but it consists of three words (the middle one is thematic to this forum) and it advertises in at least two UK based French Property publications.  It even has a stand at Olympia next weekend.  Sorry. That's all I can say! Mike

It is commonly believed that 'new build' homes are a soft option to renovation in France. I wanted to share our own 'new build' experience with other Forum members. We engaged one of the biggest and best-known builders of individual homes in France, and work started in June this year after a 10 month wait after signing the contract. Now (mid Sept), we have nothing but foundations. We have had just 8 days of work, and none at all for 2 months. Although we have been pressing the company at all levels, they keep lying through their teeth about 'restart dates'. The site manager has even told the macons that we hadn't paid for the work He is a nasty individual, who provoked a fight between workers on the site, requiring the presence of the gendarmes. The site is now legally considered to be 'abandoned', and we are making a claim against one of the insurance policies which the builder had to provide (garantie de livraison). They will appoint a new builder to complete if necessary. Our outlay to date is 40,000 Euros, or 25%. What is most shocking about all this is the professional corporate image given by this company, which is now promoting itself to the UK market.

Am I the only gite owner to by approached THREE TIMES by the 'Nigerian Scammers'.  The latest request came through my 'French Connections' page and claimed to be from Canada.  I didn't reply. This was followed up by phone calls from London, then Los Angeles (both traced) and an e-mail giving an address in Nigeria!  Although God wasn't mentioned this time, I do recall a booking request a few weeks ago from a 'pastor' who ended his message 'God bless you'.  The text was so wacky that I realised I was dealing with a nutter and didn't reply to this either. French Connections have kindly added a warning about these scams to owners' links, and other similar websites have done likewise. All the faked or stolen Euro drafts I have heard of so far originate from AIB (Allied Irish Bank), and I had heard it suggested, unofficially, that books of drafts are being stolen in transit by postal or courier personnel in the UK. A warning about Travellers' Cheques-I used to handle these daily in my UK job.  There are good forgeries, and for this reason American Express and other issuers run a TC authorisation service. Good luck and don't get caught!

I am aware that several gite owners in Normandy have been contacted for lucrative bookings (eg 3 weeks off-season) and when the booking is offered they suggest sending a Euro cheque for eg 5,000 Euros for a 900 Euro booking, the rest to be refunded to Nigeria by electronic transfer.  I was approached in this way, and actually received a Bankers Draft, properly embossed and paid to me, from an (Irish) bank.  I phoned the bank in Ireland to check, and they denied all knowledge of the draft!  It seems that a group of London-based Nigerian fraudsters have got their hands on these supposedly 'unbounceable' drafts and is trying to launder the money via French gite owners to Nigeria.  It may be tempting to accept a juicy off-season booking, but believe you me, these drafts can bounce!  So far as I am aware, the fraudsters are only targeting French Connections subscribers.  Mike Woods.

A number of French Gite owners are being targeted by Nigerians who offer to send a very large cheque as advance payment for their stay, on condition that the gite owner returns the money by transfer immediately on receipt of the cheque.  I was approached by somebody who claimed to be a Canadian, but his English was very poor and his address for the money transfer was in Nigeria!  I won't go into the full details, but his (long) e-mails were VERY convincing.  I subscribe to 'French Connections' and suspect that other FC subscribers may also have been approached.  Unfortunately, the FC website seems to have been 'dead' today, and I can't raise them by phone.  They must be having big technical problems.  Hope that nobody (trusting as ever) has already been caught.

A number of French Gite owners are being targeted by Nigerians who offer to send a very large cheque as advance payment for their stay, on condition that the gite owner returns the money by transfer immediately on receipt of the cheque.  I was approached by somebody who claimed to be a Canadian, but his English was very poor and his address for the money transfer was in Nigeria!  I won't go into the full details, but his (long) e-mails were VERY convincing.  I subscribe to 'French Connections' and suspect that other FC subscribers may also have been approached.  Unfortunately, the FC website seems to have been 'dead' today, and I can't raise them by phone.  They must be having big technical problems.  Hope that nobody (trusting as ever) has already been caught.

Thanks for the response-it's really helpful and has inspired me to probe deeper.  It does seem that all the major French new build companies are crooks!  There is some very sobering info on French consumer websites, to name just one avenue!

We are seriously considering having a new home built on a piece of rural land which we own.  We already have a Certificat d'Urbanisme and a quote from MFC (Maisons France Confort) which seems reasonable.  Do any other Forum members have experience or stories about new homes in France, or about this particular builder?  I have heard some horror stories in the French media, but assume that these are a tiny minority?