Grecian

Sorry Quillan if I have reported the situation incorrectly, I do not profess to understand how telephone set-ups work. The guy I know who switched to SFR plugs his router into the existing landline socket, and his phone rings as many times as he wants it to, unlike when he was with FT, (I understand that it is still a FT line). Our own set-up at the moment is FT landline, Orange internet connection via a livebox, with no internet phone in the set-up. And it only rings 4 bleep, bleep times!

Sorry to put a dampener on the latest theory Judith, but we do not have an internet phone, only the FT landline. Although thinking it through, the person I know who switched to SFR only has an internet phone, not a FT landline, so I guess your problem could still point to the FT landline.

Don't do it I hear you cry! Well I have read all the old threads relating to SFR I can find, and it seems they are both good and bad. I guess we all have a story to tell about an ISP, I certainly have one about Tiscali back in the UK. After reading Judith's post regarding the phone only ringing 4 times, which ours does, and the fact that we keep losing the internet connection on a regular basis it is time to take the plunge and move from FT/Orange. Not to mention they were quite rude to us when we took out the contract 2 years ago. I am interested to hear from anybody who has made the similar switch, how the mechanics of the whole thing works. Do SFR take care of everything once they receive the instruction to move from FT, or is it left to us to struggle with? For instance do they cancel your contract with FT? I guess we will have to take our Livebox back to the all so friendly Orange shop when we move ourselves. Now I have got to show my ignorance here regarding all things technical. The package offers something like 145 TV channels, so does this mean they will supply us with a digibox to plug into the telly? If this is the case will this get us over the problem when France goes digital on 19th October, so we can carry on watching French TV. On the telephone side do they also supply a hub or whatever it is called, to plug the telephone into? I understand that the telephone calls will be via the internet not through my FT landline. Any SFR feedback gratefully received.

Hello Judith, we too have the same problem with FT, it only rings 4 times. We have tried 2 different phones, one cheap one and one more expensive. We have also turned off the answer machine, but this makes no difference, it still only rings 4 times, most annoying. I know somebody else who had a similar problem with FT, his only rang twice, he has since switched to SFR and has not had any problems since. We are going to switch to SFR ourselves in the near future, so I will let you know if this improves the situation.

Sorry Chancer but I am unable to tell you what was written on the claim form, the lady handed me the form and pointed where to sign, so that was what I did. I am afraid I did not read what she had written, I guess in the UK I would not have signed anything without reading it, but in France at the moment even the simple operations are difficult, without the full grasp of the French language. I can confirm however that no hammer has gone anywhere near my UK phares, I actually used a wrench, only joking! The car failed its CT this morning due to it having UK lights, hopefully they are being replaced tomorrow at my local garage, but this being France I am not taking anything for granted.

Bringing this one back to the top to supply some information that may help others in the future when replacing right-hand drive headlights. I had decided to order my new headlights from pieceonline, when I thought I would obtain a devis from my local garage just to compare the price. OK it took me nearly 2 weeks for them to supply me with a devis, I guess that is quite good for France! Whilst the price was slightly more expensive than pieceonline I thought it would save a lot of hassle getting the garage to supply and fit my new lights. I was talking to the mechanic, well trying to talk to the mechanic in French in front of my car when he pointed at my certificate of insurance sticker, and said that the insurance company would pay for my new headlights. I thought this unlikely but off we went to the insurance company to enquire. Unfortunately the lady that speaks English in the office was not there, but we did get to speak to another very nice lady, and proceeded to ask her if indeed we could claim for our LH headlights on our policy. After reading the policy she said it only covered us if the headlights were damaged, but she would telephone the chef to check. After telephoning the chef she informed us that indeed we could claim for our new lights even though the lights were not damaged, being quite elated at this piece of information we left the office without asking if it would affect our bonus, so back to the office this morning. After apoligising for troubling her again I asked if we claimed for our new lights would our bonus be affected, to which she replied that the bonus would not be affected or there would be no excess to pay either, and told us to tell the garage to send the bill directly to them. I am not sure if this applies to all French insurance companies when replacing RH lights but I think it well worthwhile asking if anyone needs to replace their lights in the future. For the record we are insured with Mutuelle de Poitiers Assurances.

Thanks for the replies. I have looked at the three sites and only pieceonline stock the correct lights for our Atos, but at €84.77 each they are the best price to date. elamessa I should have thought of mister-auto myself as their advert is on French telly every night. crazyfrog I take onboard what you say about pieceonline, and hope delivery will be quicker now all of France is open for business again. If your wife is passing anytime and fancies a go at fitting my Atos headlights she is more than welcome!

With the car's first CT rapidly approaching I need to replace the UK units with left-hand drive units. I have the sticky deflector things on the lights at the moment, but the odd car does flash me, presumably because the lights are dazzling the outcoming car, or maybe the driver just doesn't like me! I have 'Googled' in search of aforementioned lights and come up with abacusautoparts.com who want 200 pound for the pair of headlights, my car is a Hyundai Amica, which the French authorities have rechristened a Hyundai Atos. I stored a website with a view to buying the lights a while back: PieceOnline-Pro.fr who only wanted 62 euros per unit, but I am unable to get their site to appear, so I guess they are either still on holiday or have gone bust. Does anybody out there have any other companies they can recommend for the purchase of my headlights, if you have I would be most appreciative to hear from you.

That's brilliant Clair, I have printed the calendrier and stored it, so no more bill questions from me this year!

Many thanks for the reply Clair. I will make a note this year when bills arrive so I will be prepared next year. Whilst we are on the subject of bills arriving, when should the Foncières bill show up, I ask this because last year it was sent to our old UK address, and we had to go in person to obtain a duplicate. The lady at the time assured us that she had entered our French address on the computer, but to date the bill hasn't shown up. I checked my cheque book stub and last year we paid the duplicate bill on 6th October, so I would think the bill must be due sometime soon.

Our tax bill showed up about 10 days ago, but there was no social charge bill in the envelope. Should we have received the social charge bill together with the tax bill, or does that pesky little bill show up separately? I should have remembered from last year to be honest, but we did not pay any tax last year as it was our first return and only a part-year, we did pay a small amount of social charges last year.

Now this is a bit embarrassing, after seeking help from all you good people out there regarding realigning my new digibox with Sky, after my contact back in the UK thelphoned Sky for the second time he was informed that the viewing card is in the wrong slot! Now to be fair to myself on the front of the box there is only one slot in obvious view, but the slot for the viewing card in underneath a flap. Being a male I did not read the instruction manual fully, but upon looking at the manual it does tell you to pull the flap down and insert the card. After placing the card in the correct slot, bingo, all my pay channels were back, so there was no need to have telephoned Sky in the first place! I would like to thank you all for trying to steer in the right direction, and in future I promise to read the manual fully before posting on these boards!

Thanks for that Will, I found the version number Sky are asking for in the System Details window that you suggested looking at. Although when I press my Services button I get a blank screen at the moment, I had to access it via the TV Guide button and then scroll across to the Services icon. So one part of the problem solved. Does anybody know if I use my UK mobile phone to telephone Sky myself could they detect the call was coming from France?

After posting on my 'Replacing Digibox' thread that I just plugged the new box in and off we went viewing Sky telly again, unfortunately the first channel I watched was a free view channel, so obviously I was able to pick the channel up. When I then tried accessing a 'pay' channel I got a message reading Insert Viewing Card, so realigning my card with Sky needed carrying out. The person telephoning Sky for me this morning was confronted with a lady at the other end asking for the version number of the new box, the box is an Amstrad DRX550, I gave him the barcode number on the side of the box it came in, but I am unable to find any other number, the lady at Sky said the barcode number given was not the correct one. Does anyone out there have the same model? If so can you point me in the direction as to where I find the version number please. As well as asking for the version number the lady said to push the Services button, stating this would transmit the information that she required, obviously the person phoning for me was unable to do this, but if we arrange a method of him telling me when to push the Services button, will this be sufficient for the realignment or will there be further information required that I can pre-arm him with? Maybe the above is a bit garbled, but basically I suppose what I am asking is, has anybody any experience of having their digibox realigned with Sky? Many thanks in advance.

So presumably if we change to the HC/HP payment plan all our electricity would be more expensive during the day, than if we to remain on our current Bleu ciel. So any use of the washing machine and tumble dryer would be more expensive, but heating the DHW in the night would be cheaper. As we only have a 'one wheel' meter I think we will leave things as they are at the moment, as see how the bill looks with the extra usage before we make our decision. Also now I see people are quoting 200L tanks, I asked our plumber to fit a 150L tank, as there is only 2 of us, although usually both of us have 2 showers each a day. Any thoughts if a 150L tank will supply enough hot water for our usage?

Thanks for that suggestion Chancer, but I have already condemned my old digibox to a grisly end, as my new Amstrad digibox showed up today, and after connecting the new box everything all works fine again now. And yes Mr Other the box has now idea where is it, and works fine here in France, I really must stop drinking so much red wine!

I would like to thank everybody for their responses to my original query, some excellent advice given within them. Sorry for not thanking people earlier, but my computer got infected with a virus which even managed to disable Avast, I have had to reformat my hard drive, which was the relatively easy part, but then trying to get my computer to speak to my Livebox in the end I managed to get connected without using the disc supplied by Orange, and now connect to the internet via Internet Explorer, not really sure how I managed it, but it works so I am leaving well alone. But I digress. Back on thread, I have decided to split the central heating from the domestic hot water, and have a chauffe eau fitted, as the boiler has now packed up completely we are without any domestic hot water (talk about hitting a man when he is down!), but fortunately I have made contact with another plumber who is coming to fit the chauffe eau on Wednesday. Still not sure about the Brico Depot boiler, and the plumber who gave me the devis, so hopefully we have a French plumber coming next week to give us his devis, and see which boiler he is proposing to fit. Although I am not holding my breath that he will actually turn up, as I have already made contact with two other French plumbers, who both gave my a RDV but both never showed up. One final question regarding the cheap electricity during the night, does everybody in France get this option? We are on tarif bleu option de base puissance 9 kVA, so would anybody know if this option would give us cheaper electricity in the night. Once again many thanks.

Hello biga, unfortunately ITV along with Channel 4 ceased transmitting teletext on 14th December last year, as they claimed in was making a loss. Since then they have been fined heavily, as the contract was due to run until 2014 I think. I agree the BBC teletext is pretty naff, especially as you have to watch whatever drivel in on at the time of reading their text, as the text usually only covers a third of the page.

Many thanks to you both for your prompt replies. Mr Other I am sure it was on this forum I read the bit about new boxes some while back now, but as you say the box will have no idea where it is as regards to receiving a signal. When it comes to a soldering iron I know which end you hold, but after that [blink]. D&O alas the scart lead was the first thing I tried, especially as I thought the video had packed up, as it too was having problems on the sound front, and that was down to the scart lead slightly hanging out on one side. The problem with the sound on our Sky reception is the actual sound is fine, but every now and again and awful wuurring noise blocks out most of the sound, most annoying.

We have just developed an intermittent sound problem with our Sky reception, we are not getting any sound problems whilst watching French TV via our aerial, so I am assuming that it is the digibox that has developed a fault, it is somewhere near 8 years old, so I am looking to replace it to see if the fault lies with the digibox before calling someone out. I thought I read somewhere a while back that new digiboxes will not work in France to pick up subscription Sky, so it is best to purchase a second-hand one from say from ebay, although I could be totally wrong about that. If this is the case that a second-hand box is required having looked on ebay some of the sellers are stating that I will have to telephone Sky to have my new (although technically it will be second-hand) digibox aligned to my existing Sky card, can anyone confirm that this is the case, or is it just a case of plugging in the Sky card and off you go? So basically can somebody tell me I have not dreamt that new boxes will not work with subscription Sky. If I have to telephone Sky to have my card aligned with my new box, and recommend a good digibox. Merci beaucoup!

Bringing this one back to the top as I am now in the position to answer my own initial question. Having struggled last year with our first tax return, this year I e-mailed our local tax office enquiring about the tax treatment of share and corporate bond dividends. Now I appreciate that things can be different all over France with local interpretations, but boss man at our local office informed me that share dividends are put in box A on 2047, and our eligible for the 40% abattement, and corporate bond dividends are put in box B and are not eligible for the 40% abattement.[:(] I hope this information will help anybody struggling in the future with the same query.    

After a lot of deliberating we have decided to replace our 30-year oil boiler with another oil boiler (sorry Andrew we did give solar a lot of consideration, but are not prepared to spend that sort of money as things stand at this moment in time). Then mission impossible started, trying to get a plumber French or English to actually come and give us a devis, but praise The Lord we are now the proud owners of a devis after a plumber graced us with his presence (it has only taken about 3 months to get this far)! The said plumber is quoting us for a Brico Depot heating only oil boiler, which comes in at about €850, good price I thought but after reading various threads regarding Brico Depot kit I am not sure if this is the way to go. Reading the spec of the boiler on their website it sounds alright but I am not sure why it is so much cheaper than the rest. Any comments regarding Brico Depot boilers would be most appreciated, especially if you have had one fitted. Also any recommendations for any alternative would also be appreciated. We were considering going for a condensing oil boiler, but after looking at the prices which seem to start from about €4000 upto anything nearer €8000 I would think it would have to do a lot of condensing to get our money back over a reasonable amount of time, so maybe the cheaper option on initial outlay may be the way to go at the moment. One other query while I am here, again does anyone have any thoughts as to having an all-in-one boiler for heating and hot water, or splitting the two and having a separate boiler, and a chauffe-eau for hot water. Obviously we would save on oil, but the price of electricity is not exactly cheap here in France, so I am not sure there is any advantage in having the two split. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Many thanks for the reply Tony. So, if I have interpreted your reply correctly, if I were to seek employment then France would become my competent state, and the UK would remain my wife's competent state whether or not she is in receipt of IB, and still be liable for her DLA. As a point of information for anyone who may have their CA reinstated after your campaign, in the letter I received from DWP they are telling me that I would lose CA if I were to take up any employment, unlike in the UK I think you can earn upto £95 a week and still receive CA, so I guess looking at that statement itself, it is telling me that France would be my competent state if I were to work in France. Just something to be aware of for anyone hoping to have their CA reinstated and is working here in France. As regards to my wife having had an IB50 form to fill out recently, her next review is not due for another couple of years yet, so she has not experienced how things would work here in France when the time comes around. You stated in your reply that my wife will remain on IB, as you seem to be 'in the know' regarding certain benefit matters, have you had any indication that people already living outside the UK will remain on IB as opposed to being migrated onto ESA? I know that seemed the concensus when ESA was first introduced but nothing seems to have been cited about the situation since the introduction of ESA. I take your point about moving abroad and depending on benefits to survive, we certainly did not take the decision to move to France lightly, and being in receipt of UK benefits is part of our total income, but we are not totally dependant on them to survive. Just dependant on my wife's E121 for the first 5 years for healthcare cover, unless I seek employment or start a business. Oh to be an inactiv without any pre-existing medical conditions!  

I am trying to get my head around which country would be our Competent State, if I were to either work for an employer, or if I were to start a business here in France. I think the easiest way to explain my confusion would be to give the scenario, which could happen, for my wife and myself. At present our healthcare cover comes via an E121 as my wife is in receipt of IB, and also receives DLA and myself CA. Having read some pretty frightening experiences of people claiming ESA, who are obviously too sick to work, but are being passed fit for work, and with the migration of existing claimants on IB to ESA supposedly beginning in October this year, the prospect of her losing her IB, even though I know she is genuinely too ill to work (please do not turn this thread into a benefit scroungers thread), leaves me confused as to how we would stand if I were to take up employment here in France. Both of us have paid enough NI contributions in the UK to be in receipt of DLA/CA, and as things stand the UK are our Competent State, thus the two benefits are being paid by the UK. If I were to take a job in France then obviously I would be contributing to the French social security system, so then would France become our Competent State, and mean we would lose DLA/CA? Also after the hard fought campaign for the reinstatement of DLA/CA, how will this leave anybody who may be working in France, but were formerly in receipt of DLA in the UK, does this mean that they too would not have their benefit reinstated, as France is now their Competent State?

Many thanks for your replies and suggestions, much appreciated. sue and sweet 17 I have taken heart that my wife's struggle is not unique, as it has only been a mere 17 months at the moment waiting for here rebate I guess there is still hope! SD I too subscribe to the 'blackhole' theory, but it still leaves us with a problem. Following on from your suggestion, is it permissible to cut Paris out of the loop so to speak, by asking our local office to stamp the new FD5, and return it to HMRC ourselves? I think it is fairly safe to be in the same room with Mrs G this evening, but I think I will keep my tin hat on. [:D]