Baz

Many Internet companies for the first order at least will only send the goods to the card holders address. If this rule was imposed by the card companies then surely INTERNET fraud would be dramatically reduced, as then the internet company would be made responsible for fraudulent payments not sent to the card holders address. Also many companies are now using the bank's additional authority  scheme where the cardholder has to enter 3 letters or digits from a previously agreed password before the transaction is approved. The schemes are being used in the UK, but I am not aware if they have yet been introduced in France. Baz  

In the past when there have been hold up to the Eastern Docks, I have used the A2/M2 which is now an excellent road and takes about the same time to get back to the M25 at the Dartford Crossing. The advantage is that this road enters the Eastern Docks at the roundabout right outside the entrance and therefore it avoids the current Dover road works entirely. Baz

[quote user="P2"][quote user="Wilko"] P2 If it wasn't for R/Air BA would not be offering prices at their current level, they have to compete. O'Leary has changed european  flight prices forever, and good luck to him. I can't wait till he starts opening up the US market, that'll be really interesing. All this whinging about R/Air is pathetic, half the people on this site maybe wouldn't have second homes in France if  R/Air and their like hadn't happened. So he profits from the CC charges but he's still cheaper than BA. To compare this to the the overcharging of the banks is ridiculous.he provides a service, he gets you from A to B, the banks just rip you off !!! Rock on O'Leary Regards Wilko [/quote] Ah but RA are not always cheap. Searched for fares to go to France for a weekend in June. The dearest at nearly £300 was........Ryanair with BA and Easyjet cheaper. So please do not run away with the myth that 'if it is Ryanair then it is cheap'. Paul [/quote] Paul. I agree with your sentiments and have for few years now said that BA are often the cheapest and I would always use them in preference to Ryanair. However, the problem is that Ryanair fly into 21 different French airports to BA's seven and that is one reason  for the success of Ryanair. Also to maintain profits Ryanair has had to find other ways of raising revenue by additional charges in order to make it appear their fares are low. It is hard to knock O'Leary as he has shown enterprise and massive profits building one of the worlds largest airlines in a short space of time. Like him or hate him each individual has to make their own choice. Baz

Whether or not fuel for all companies comes out the same tank at the refineries at what time are the additives added?  Last year in the UK, BP ran an advertising campaign at their petrol stations stating that up to 30 miles extra would be achieved on a tankful of their petrol. There is no way that  Advertising Standards would allow that statement if not true, so fuel delivered to say supermarkets cannot be  the same. Also some supermarkets had contaminated petrol last year that cost them millions of pounds to rectify, the branded Stations were not effected, so supplies at the refineries must have come from different holding tanks. Baz

My comments are directed at the parents of the young children. I may be old fashioned, but not in my wildest dreams would I ever consider allowing a person of 14 being responsible for my children, no matter how mature they were. So many things could happen and expecting a 14 year old to have the experience and expertise of dealing with an emergency is both  unfair and irresponsible on the part of the parents. Baz

Even if you have winterised your pool, you still need to check the water chemistry from time to time and adjust as necessary. Whilst algae will not be a problem at low temperatures, once the temperature rises if the Ph and chlorine levels are not stabilised then the green terror will appear and hard work and patience will be needed to get the water back to normal standards. Baz

Whilst my comments refer to the UK, I have no reason to believe that it is any different in France.   There is nothing wrong with supermarket fuel and on the surface it would appear to be to be cheaper than the branded suppliers. However, the branded companies add additives to their fuel that make it different from the unbranded suppliers. The additives are supposed to be better for the engines and produce more miles to a tank full.    I have in the past checked my mileage in a newish car filling up with BP and as they advertise you do get more miles to each tank full. Over a number of fillings I found that I was getting between 35 and 40 miles more with their petrol against the supermarket brands. This equates to a saving at today’s prices of about £5.30 per filling, so is buying the supermarket petrol cheaper and are the additives better for your vehicle?   Baz

I agree that you should leave the money markets to the so called professionals, but the rated quoted today is 1.28366€ so the rate quoted by CA does not sound too bad. The rate exactly a year ago was 1.47368€. Baz

This SNCF site is in English, hope it helps: http://www.sncf.com/httpRequest.php?VIEW=WEBSITE&LANG=en_EN&ID=INI However, if it is train timetables for France or Europe you want, then IMO the best site is German Railways. http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en Baz

Carolski, I think Ernie is raising questions you need to ask. If you want to go the Bank route then that is your choice.  You raised the topic and I responded as someone who has been through these transfers and was in involved in Financial Services for nearly 30 years so I took every precaution before proceeding and can assure you that it would have cost me hundreds of pounds going bank to bank. The company I used are now rebranded as Baydon Hil http://www.baydonhill.com/WebForms/Public/frmCMSPage.aspx?SiteID=201  why not telephone them or any other Money brokers and they will soon tell you why you are far better off using them and take you through the process. Ask them how they will protect you against and downward currency changes during the process, in other words how to buy a forward a fixed guaranteed exchange rate at the time your monies are available and even before you  start the transfer process.....Banks do not do that and you could leave yourself open to hourly fluctuations. The broker work on finer margins than most banks so you should also benefit from better interbank rates. It is now up to you to decide.  Do remember as I previously indicated get all the  French bank clearances in hand before the Notaire makes the payment to your bank otherwise you could be held up for days and days. I hope it all goes smoothly and your forward planning will prove worthwhile Baz

MESSAGE UPDATED at 08.00 hours on Monday 10th March, 2008 Due to the severe adverse weather conditions the Port of Dover has been closed to all shipping movements, in the interests of safety, until further notice. For updates see: http://www.doverport.co.uk/?page=TrafficTravelWeather Baz  

They both only sell alcohol, unless they have changed in the last 5 weeks. The prices and brands of alcohol can be found on their websites and if you require it can be preordered for collection, although they do need a  few days notice. Baz

I think Benjamin comments are very true. With money brokers you have control under one roof and can probably fix a rate, so any delay will not have a detrimental effect, You do not say whether your French bank is sending the money in Sterling or Euros and this will effect costings. As I said earlier and many others have agreed in the past, the cheapest and best way is via a reputable money broking company. If you do a search many companies have been recommended in the past and the only reason I am not mentioning company I used as it will now be treated as advertising. Baz

Whilst on the surface the charges look very reasonable, it is the exchange rate offered by the banks that can be very expensive. Having been through this process I used a moneybroker company who transfered the amount in Euros and then converted the exchange into sterling before depositing the proceeds in my UK bank account. The rates of exchange were excellent, the cost far less than bank to bank and fast. These points may help you to prepare for the event. Choose a Moneybroking Company and complete the necessary paperwork now, so they a ready to go immediately when you wish to transfer funds. Write to your French bank informing them of the pending transfer and ask them what they require. Unless the Bank of France money laundering have changed, you will be required to explain the need for transferring large sums of money. The reason I used and was accepted, that I had sold my Maison Secondaire to boost my UK pension fund. The French Banks are not always very fast in releasing funds and the prior preparatory work in conjunction with French Bank Manager is vital for a smooth process. Baz

There does seem to have been a problem as the site appeared completely down around 1-2pm today. Hopefully the problems have been resolved, although I have seen no comments from the Forum Administrator. Baz

Thing are changing in the UK as BT are scrapping 0870 and 0845 numbers from 1st April 2008 and replacing them with 0800 and 0808 free numbers, hopefully the rest of the UK telecom industry will following. Just how easy it will be to contact these new numbers from France will I suppose be dependent on your French provider. For more details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/02/21/bcnbt121.xml Or for fuller details: http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/Showarticle.cfm?ArticleID=6a696962-125e-436a-a0fd-0c699ad8f965 Baz

With the price of a barrel of crude oil reaching an all time record today of over 103$, I am sure it will not be very long before the prices at the pumps in all countries rises again. I managed to fill up yesterday with unleaded petrol at 102.9p per litre and this was a good price with what is being currently charged for fuel in the UK. UK Petrol Prices for Monday 3rd Mar 2008   Avg. Min. Max. Unleaded: 105.5p 100.9p 115.9p Diesel: 111.4p 100.0p 121.9p LRP: 108.4p 102.9p 111.9p Super: 112.4p 103.9p 122.9p LPG: 54.5p 47.9p 59.9p The price difference between the UK and France will widen even more if the Chancellor in next week's budget does not stop duty rise already stated. Perhaps the UK should follow the French attitude of civil protest when they disagree with the government. Baz

I have always found that the German Railways website is excellent and very easy for obtaining the information you are requesting. With regards to fares asking at your local station is possibly the best method. http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en Baz

[quote user="Pads"]Baz (I think i was him ? ) once put a very good flight map , you just hovered over the airport with your mouse and it showed you where all the flights came from , I put it into my favorites but it dissappeared, Baz if your looking  could you post it again please ?[/quote] Pads, I think this may be the map. The link refers to flights destinations between UK and  France. Although you can choose any part of the world and the  UK http://www.flightmapping.com/maps/files/europe/FRANCE.asp Baz

All I can tell you is that Ryanair state that they will be compliant with the Fares transparency ruling by the end of March, which I believe is 2 months past the deadline. As far as I am aware all other UK airlines are probably now compliant. Baz    

There is no doubt that NHS waiting times have decreased in some cases dramatically, but it does vary from region to region and hospital to hospital. In your sisters case if she does not want to contact the hospital (if it was for me I would) may I suggest that she contacts her GP and hopefully he or she will be able to expedite matters on her behalf. Baz

I did manage to get in earlier this afternoon via www.hotmail.co.uk as instead of .com. But it has also stopped working at present. If you want to retrieve or send your emails from Hotmail go via Outlook Express, this is working perfectly. Baz

[quote user="P2"] I note that the site does not show the inclusive price i.e. including taxes until part of the way through. I thought in order to comply it was required to show this at the first stage of an enquiry - the way that BA and easyJet operate. Paul [/quote] The transparency of flight charges will be shown on the Ryanair site before the end of March. According to reports from Ryanair given to the BBC the changes carried out on their site over the weekend were only for planned improvements and that they would comply with the inclusive pricing ruling by the end of March. Baz

Pads, I have had no difficulties entering this site for many months. When I had a similar problem, I solved it by clearing my cookies, just remember you will have to log in for the first time after your cookies have been cleared. Baz

Clocks in both France and the UK go forward 1 hour on Sunady 30 March and go back 1 hour on Sunday 26 October 2008. Baz