Fourwinds

Getting there!! Well I can't believe how easy it was in the end. We went to the local France Telecom office and were signed up within 10 minutes. That was 3.30pm. Next morning we were 'live' by 9.30. There was already a line to the house which obviously helped. They were a bit unhelpful aboaut the internet as they wanted me to sign up to their offer which I didn't want to do at that point. They suggested that my computer wouldn't work almost to the point of saying I needed to buy a french one. As I've used my laptop all over the place that seemed a bit over teh top. I popped down to the Bricomarche and found an adaptor which will connect my computer connection to the french one. I'd forgotton the computer so wasn't able to check if this worked. I'm now about to try and work out the best way for internet access given that I'll only be there short periods. Unfortunatley I also omitted to pick up those free discs that you see everywhere in this country!! So any help in internet access will be much appreciated...

Hi Join the club! I have also given up on mobile phone bills and trying to instal a landline - I'm going to France for 5 days on Tuesday so I will report back as soon as I return. I've been told its around 45 euros for the connection - another 48 euros if the 'man has to call' and then 13 euros every two months plus call costs. My problem has been getting through to POrtugal Telecom. I've held on for ages on their English speaking service only to be through to theblocal region where no-one speaks English. I speak some French but was a bit nervous to sign up over the phone just in case I wasn't totally understanding. AS I say I'll report back on my return next weekend.

Sounds like the kind of service I'm looking fopr! I finally got through to the Vendee office and it was all systems go but we got hung up on whether or not I knew teh previous owners twlwphone number. I have contacted the estate agent we bought though who is trying to contact them! There are slots on the wall which I assumed were telephone points but she tells me that these might have been put in when the house was built! I've jsut eben looking at photos of the house and can't see any cables going to it. Although its a hamlet there's a farm nearby which I know has a telephone. I'm going across on Tuesday to try and sort it out. Was your computer one from the UK?? Did you need to have any special connections/plugs?

The house is in the Vendee. My idea is that it will be cheaper to pay an annual line rental and then for calls as and when than the mobile bills I've been running up even on short visits when my husband stays at home. I'm also assuming that I will be able to take my laptop and check/send emails if I dial back to my bt anytime number??

That would work if I was in France but unfortunately I'm in the UK. Ann

Trying to reach France Telecom to get phone connected. The English speaking service seems to impossible to through to and when I do I get passed onto my local office who speak no English. I have just about sussed out what I need and how much it will cost - it sound like 45 euros to connect the line if one is there already and then 13 euros each two months for line rental - does this sound about right?? and has anyone any ideas of a number I can call which will get answered within 2 hours!! I've been trying to sort this out for two weeks now and think there must be a better way. Also does anyone have any ideas how long it will take after I 'give them the order'? Please don't direct me to teh France Telecom website as that seems to be aimed at companies rather than consumers. I had rather naively thought I could do it on line!!

Are you paying for the Sky service? I don't think you can get ITV on free view any more. We have sky and we started getting messages saying that we had to contact a number to contue with the service after a certain date (abaout a year ago). My F-in-law stopped getting ITV here in the UK as well.

Fluffy towels have been part of the problem and as I'm subsidising people to have this luxury I'm a bit cynical about the value of it. We have rented out our house in Portugal for years based on repeat business or referrals and have always tried to provide people with what we would like to find - good quality linen (easier to iron etc anyway) big fluffy bath towels etc. There it has not been a problem, weekly costs for laundry and a weekly clean are around 75 euros total. Also in Portugal rental rates are much higher than in France. I think what we will need to do in France is incorporate a basic laundry cost into the rental with a 'charge' for sheets etc. We can then offer a discount to people who choose to take their own. That way we pay what we'd expect to for laundry and the client picks up the 'extra' bit. I've looked up the La Redoute sheets - they don't solve my problem as I'm paying per load regardless of whether its ironed - but they look good from a low maintenance standpoint. Not sure how long they would last though - would they go faded like t shirts after a few washes?? Planning to order some to experiment at home so will come back with my findings in due course.

I'm in the UK and have looked on teh interenet for French Telepcom but it doesn't seem v user friendly. Using my mobile seems v expensive - a week at Easter when I was only making minimal emergency calls home ran up a £300 bill.

I'm thinking about getting a telephone connection but don't know where to start as its not something I expected to have much need of. I'm assuming we have a line to the house as there are slots in the wall which again I'm assuming are telephone points. Haven't given it much consideration before but after a visit cut off from the outside world I want to find out which provider people consider to be the best value for a very occasional user. We are only likely to down there 8 - 10 weeks max. However, as I'm self employed being unable to access my emails was a bit of a problem and also I'm thinking of going down to spend some time there in October to do some work around the house.

I'm not very techy but sounds like you have a similar situation to us. We bought a 'bargain' satellite dish and digibox in a French shop, plugged it in and got a range of German programs. We initially tried to reposition it to the correct satellite but in the end gave up and took out an old SKy box from the UK. AFter much huffing and puffing on the roof (husband) we still couldn't get a signal. It transpires that the LNB - the thing that sticks out in front of the dish has to be programmed to speak to the satellite you are trying to reach. If it has been programmed for German info then that's what it will pick up. Hope this at least points you in the right direction if doesn't resolve your problem.

We have just completed our first season in our French House and with cleaning lady. We have been renting out property for years in Portugal so weren't expecting any surprises - well apart from the amazing things people do to your property and think you won't notice. Anyway I was a bit taken aback to discover that the laundry/ironing will work out at 60 - 80 euros per week. Does this seem ok to others? This is in addition to the cleaning which is perfectly acceptable and within what I had budgeted when pricing up the property. I say will cost because the actual cost we've paid has been over 100 euros per week. Despite specifically asking people to respect the fact that the laundry cupboard was open they just helped themselves - we arrived at the house lat week to half the cupboard's contents in the laundry bags awaiting collection! I knew people would abuse this but expected them to cover their tracks by washing the extra towels and returning them to the cupboard! Needless to say the cupboard now has a lock on it and the thinner towels are to be used for guests! My intention was to rent the property on a bring your own basis. However, everyone asked for sheets and towels and so I offered them at £25 on the flimsy basis that last time we rented (years ago) we paid £6 per bed. I can't see how I can charge the 'true' cost of the washing as people would think I was marking it up so: 1) What do other people do - provide linen or charge extra and if so how much 2) What percentage of people are happy to turn up with their own linen? 3) Any other suggestions? (Can I just say that I don't grudge the money to the cleaning lady. She is charging 10 euros per hour for the laundry and estimates that each machine load costs her in time/electricty/powder/ironing etc 2 hours. Having just ironed 4 sets of bedding it felt worth every penny!)

Hi I had two phonecalls fropm waht sounds like the same company at the beginning of August. We also have property in POrtugal and it sounded like that it was there they were calling about. My husband took the initial calls, and thinking they were genuine passed them across to me. Neither of us got beyond the info you managed to ascertain - £120 ish per annum, company name that didn't check out. We took the view that if you publish your personal details then someone is going to try and make use of it in some way these days - sign of the times I think. It is difficult when there are genuine operators out there but normally you can see something tangible on-line.

I have just had a frantic phone call from France to say the the fosse has overflowed. We have no idea why this should have happened as it wasn't anywhere due for emptying. Interestingly the problem didn't occur until the day the guests left and they have been uncontactable since!! The fosse has been emptied and I'm hoping that that is the end of the problem. However the cleaning lady is suggesting that I need a builder to enlarge the pipes to allow more flow from the property. This doesn't make much sense as we only have a washing machine, whereas the previous owner was also running a dishwasher. I am also reluctant to start doing any immediate work as I understand that there is new legislation regarding fosses but I can't find any details anywhere - any suggestions where I might look.