Richard and Alex

Thanks for the reply. Decided to join the 21st century and go HD with a new box. Richard

We have a rather old Amstrad digibox that normally works fine for the free to air channels until we have a power cut then the green light turns red and we have great difficulty turning it back on. Have tried turning off and on at mains and also the reset method of holding the back-up button when powering up - sometimes we get the software update screen sometimes we don't. It has eventually worked in the past but this time no joy. Has anyone any other ideas to try before consigning it to the bin? If we bought one of the cheapish french satellite boxes and hooked it up, would it pick up the Sky free to air channels? Don't want to miss the rugby!! Thanks Richard

For what it is worth, we were also approached by Sawday. We said no thanks too expensive and a few weeks later they came back with a "special reduced offer" so may be worth waiting. Still too expensive for us and I have to say Tripadvisor is the place to be.

Not sure which part of the forum this should be on as it applies equally to those selling French properties or offering accommodation in France. Perhaps the forum administrators can copy it to other sections as necessary. A WORD OF WARNING! I have discovered there is a “group” of local UK newspapers trading under various names who are persuading people on the phone to advertise in their newspaper on the basis that it will be “handed out” at the French Property Exhibition. They have approached people with houses for sale in France as well as Gite and Cdh owners. Along with quite a few other people I took out an advert (fortunately at a much reduced price) only to discover the paper was not handed out at the exhibition and the organisers have told me they have no knowledge of them. All these papers actually exist and apparently they are all connected through one overall company. They have used the same ploy for other different exhibitions and I am in contact with quite a few other people also trying to get their money back. Without naming names as I know they don’t like that on the forum, I strongly suggest that if you are approached on this basis that you first check with the exhibition organisers  to see that they are authorised to hand out anything. Some of the advertisers have also had unauthorised amounts collected from their credit cards! The newspapers in question are known to Trading Standards who seem not to be able to do much!!  

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I had another look at the Firewall settings and see that there is an option to allow "Trusted" sites on a local network and I guess my Norton AV has probably decided that the password webpage isn't in that category. I can only change this when I next go down to the Marie and try to connect so its another trip. At the bar, they just give you the usual password and hey presto you are connected. Interestingly the bar and the Marie are about 100 metres apart and my laptop could still pick up a signal from the bar whilst I was in the Marie. Cheers

Hi Not having the wonderful world of broadband at home, I have been using the wifi connection at a local bar (too many coffees and beers though [:D]). However the Marie in our local town has now got a wonderful modern air-conditioned place to connect and at 7 euros for 30 hours use, it’s a real bargain.   They use a system where you are given an individual electronically generated password to use every time you log on. The first time I managed to finally connect after a few attempts. Norton AV did initially block the webpage where you feed in your password but after I had confirmed it was OK all was well. However on the second occasion I could not get to the password webpage and the connection symbol just reported local access only, no internet access! Together with the very helpful girl who runs the place we tried connecting, reconnecting, turning the laptop off and on again but it just wouldn’t get past the local only connection. We even tried using the Ethernet lead which did bring up the local and internet connection message but it still refused to access the password page. (the guy opposite me had no problem!)   I am wondering if it is something to do with my firewall although no warning messages appeared this latest time? I am running XP and the latest Norton AV. I’ve looked at the AV Firewall settings but it is all a bit confusing and am not sure if I should change anything. I suppose I could switch off the firewall to connect and then switch it back on when I am finally connected??   Oh and yes I went back over to the bar and it connected straight away!! (Please help stop me becoming addicted to coffee and alcohol if its not too late[blink]).   Thanks

Anyone else out there still on good old steam-driven dial-up? I need to access the internet from someone else’s house using my computer. We have the usual fixed contract with Orange/Wanadoo for the number of hours per month but will this apply if you use a different landline to your own? I seem to remember back in the UK (many years ago!) that the contract hours were only available from the nominated telephone number eg your main house number? Can you now connect from anywhere and not get charged extra? Had a look at the Orange website but it doesn’t seem to answer the question. Thanks

Hi Probably not a question asked that often, but does anyone know what the French is for "circlip"? I need to get one to mend the lawnmower and can't find a translation anywhere. Any help appreciated although with this weather I'm not sure why I am bothering to even think about cutting the grass

Thanks Sue - mystery solved! Also thanks to Squidge for an excellent find.

To save us anymore head scratching (no this isn’t a lice question!), can anyone give us a simple answer to the following. On the annual avis for Contributions Sociales there is an amount shown for " Montant de la CSG déductible pris en compte pour l’imposition des revenus" and as it suggests the amount is then automatically entered on your next year’s tax form as a deduction. How is the amount calculated in the first place – it doesn’t seem to bear any direct relation to any other figures? I’m assuming it is a percentage of something?? Thanks

Just been notified by one of the sites that we are listed on, of an email doing the rounds. The request for 4 rooms is probably sufficient to alert most people but it doesnt't follow quite the usual pattern - perhaps they are learning??? Anyway, here is the info we received:   We want to make you aware that someone is trying to make scam bookings via Bedhunt. We know this happens, and usually we stop them, but this guy got through. If you receive a booking from Patrick Cleveland or email address [email protected] then please be careful as it is a scam.   The current email he is sending is:   Hello dear, Is there rooms for 7 nights from 10 May to 17 May ? we would be needing 4 rooms, can you please get back to me with the total cost for the duration of stay for double rooms? Thanks and have a nice day.. Patrick.

We occasionally get clients that think Leclerc is an electrical shop! But we had to laugh the other day when a guest from the West Country was very disappointed to find the "patisserie" didn't sell pasties! Shame, I could eat one right now.

Just had to find out what the sting was so we sent a "lovely" reply - I know, we are now going to get hundreds of spurious bookings! Anyway here is the response; Attention: Thanks for your E-mail, my clients really love to stay in your hotel. I have made an arrangement with a car Agent, who will supply the delegates with cars they will use during their stay, after discussing with the Car Agent he told me that it will cost the sum of 6,200 EUROS  to supply cars for the clients. Because of security reasons and confidentiality, I have decided that only one person will have to handle the Visa account information. I will pay you 50% of your Charge and the remaining 50% will be paid upon arrival. So once you are in receipt of the Visa Account Information, after charging your 50% also deduct 6,200 EUROS  for the Car Agent whose information will be forwarded to you once this is confirmed. From my Visa Account information,Get back to me ASAP, immediately I hear from you. I will not hesitate to forward you my Visa Account information for you to charge your 50% and deduct  6,200 EUROS for the Car agent. Bear in mind that our arriving date is 15th April and our departure date is 25th April, don’t disappoint us please. Best regards, Mr.Edward Eke.   What are they hiring - Rolls Royces!!!! Anyone want the booking???

Thanks Cerise. That's put paid to the dinner out at the 4 star restaurant on the back of the money we would have earned. Back to the tin of lentils then. By the way, is that a "spotty dog" in the picture (the eyes are fading fast!). It's just that the wife has had english setters all her life and just for a minute I thought it might be one. Cheers

At the risk of starting off yet another long thread on the subject of bogus enquiries, this is one we received the other day: Attention: Sir,Madam, I am Mr.Edward Eke From London.I want to book reservation in your hotel from 15th of April Till 25th of April 2007.Please get back to me if these dates are free and if you can accommodate us,we need 3 double rooms for 6 guests.Get back to me with the total cost for the entire booking for the 10nights. Kind Regards, Mr.Edward Eke. Sounds good and we could certainly do with a 10 night 3 bedroom booking in April, but call me cynical, it does seem oddly worded (sir/madam and the fact that we are not a hotel) and very late in the day for 6 people to book a 10 night holiday. So I had a quick look on Google and found that the name "Eke" is one favoured by our Nigerian friends (there is a list of these names at www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/names_E.htm) so I am not holding out much hope. We always ask for a booking form with address and telephone number so we can always check. Has anyone else been approached?

Thanks Heidi, Blanche and Mike. Have to say the cookery school does look yummy Blanche.  It's not too far from us, perhaps a treat for the wife (is cooking a holiday?) Mike, I have added your site to our favourites and when I get it all together will put  a link to you on our site. Any other takers?  Surely there must be lots of wonderful veggie cooks out there!

Hi Can anyone recommend either a B&B, Hotel or Restaurant that serves good imaginative vegetarian food? Also looking for places that are not purely vegetarian i.e a veggie option. Doesn't matter where in France, it's just to pass some ideas onto our own guests who are planning their holidays. Thanks in advance.

Hi We run a CdH in the Lot and although we are not "fully fledged" vegetarians we have a great love of vegetarian food, particularly if it is imaginative (think Cranks or similar) and not just the usual pizza/pasta option. We decided when we opened that we would share our enthusiasm by offering a proper vegetarian option for evening dinner. We are increasingly being asked by guests if we have information about other similar CdH in France that do the same so that they can plan their holiday accordingly. We would like to have such info to hand and even have a page on our website that simply lists CdH, Hotels or Restaurants that our guests can consider – we will of course make it quite clear that we cannot give a personal recommendation, just suggestions! So, do you serve good imaginative vegetarian food (yes. I know it is subjective) or can anyone recommend anywhere they have stayed? It doesn’t matter where in France and can either be wholly vegetarian or just as important offering a proper veggie option. I know there are websites out there already but many are purely vegetarian and we have quite a few guests where one partner is not of the "persuasion". Also, we would love to hear true recommendations. To allay any fears this is not a money-making venture just responding to our guest’s requests. I have posted this message in both B&B and Food and Drink to reach a wider audience. Thanks in advance for any replies.

We have only paid a deposit (by cheque) and we did ask for them to be ready for easter.  Too trustworthy probably! Yep we have used vistaprint for business cards and will have a look at the postcards. Thanks

Thanks Alan - we have used Vistaprint for business cards and there service was good although I now get 3 emails a day from them! Will investigate to see what they might be able to do for us

Thought I would put this post on both the hotels and B&B forums. Is anyone else experiencing the same problems as us? We saw an advert by the publishers of a "certain" english language newpaper based in the Dordogne for full colour postcards.  Thought the price was good and perhaps postcards might be slightly different to the usual leaflets so put an order in.  This was in Feb and we were told they would be ready by easter - great, just in time for the hordes of tourists visiting the local tourist office. Well into May now and not a "sausage".  Every time we ask they say they just have a few more to order and then its full steam ahead.  Being eternal optimists we reckon we have lost some good business because of the delay. Anyone care to band together to get a response or is it just us waiting?

Is anyone else experiencing the same problems as us? We saw an advert by the publishers of a "certain" english language newpaper based in the Dordogne for full colour postcards.  Thought the price was good and perhaps postcards might be slightly different to the usual leaflets so put an order in.  This was in Feb and we were told they would be ready by easter - great, just in time for the hordes of tourists visiting the local tourist office. Well into May now and not a "sausage".  Every time we ask they say they just have a few more to order and then its full steam ahead.  Being eternal optimists we reckon we have lost some good business because of the delay. Anyone care to band together to get a response or is it just us waiting?

Thanks for all your comments. Most of our guests stay a few days or a week so the deposit is quite important to us.  Interesting to hear peoples experiences of american no-shows - will bear that in mind. I expect like most others, our French bank account charges for any non-French cheques so trying to avoid that route as it eats into any "profit"!  Will look at Paypal although again it presumably means a charge/commission - am I just being greedy? Luckily we have had american guests with UK friends who have paid the deposit into our UK bank on their behalf. Have a great season!

We are getting quite a few enquiries from the USA and we just wondered if anyone had found a way for our american cousins to pay a deposit without it costing both us and our guests a fortune in arranging a bank transfer? Thanks

Thought it might be helpful to mention a couple of points we have discovered about keeping a UK bank account when living in France. Our UK bank debit card recently expired and on checking with the bank we discovered they had sent the new card to the branch that held our account.  Apparently although they were well aware that we lived in France, they sat on the card waiting for us to come in and pick it up!  When we didn't they cancelled it!!  Tip one - tell the bank you want all new cards to be sent to your french address. We also occasionally need to move sterling to other accounts.  Be aware there is a daily limit on internet transactions and for anything particularly large they need written confirmation (not fax or email) so you can experience quite a delay.  Again, although they never told us, you can avoid this by agreeing a system with your bank before you leave the UK. Not all banks are the same but hopefully this might help others avoid these problems