cartref

Service pack2  on XP only allows you to re-load 3 times and it has already been done the 3 times.[:@] However, Auchan will get this new one back tomorrow and we shall see if their no-quibble guarantee works. We have sourced a super reconditioned one (with 12 mth guarantee) from PC world, top spec without monitor (which is what we wanted) but we have to arrange delivery to an address in the UK as they won't deliver to France. Watch this space.[:D] cartref

Kim HI Sandra here, just do as Gluestick says. I know from when I signed and went round to the house after we left the notaires and the kitchen was gone as were light fittings and other stuff which was supposed to have remained. Do get a pre-inspection visit before signing. It might save problems later. And just by the way I wish you the best of luck.  Do you have someone going with you? bon chance roseysan

Cartref as in name of my sister former home!!! thanks

I would also add that I didnot at anytime have to furnish my lender with anything other than what you would have had to do in the UK. Passport copy, utility bill and proof of income. Easy as pie. cartref

Thanks George, we think that is the only option, so Pc World Ashford here we come!! cartref

Hi, Purchased a PC from Auchan yesterday at a super price,  without a screen , just the PC as mine had crashed. However it did not come with the Windows Vista back up disk but we were told that the PC prompted us to back up ourselves. It would have taken 15 disks to do so. Also, the Windows Vista is all in French unlike XP which is universal depending on the country you buy from. There is no apparent way to get the English language on this PC and so I am returning it to Auchan. Has anyone bought a PC from the UK and had it delivered to France? We have looked but found no one who will deliver outside of the UK. Any help gratefully received. cartref

Hi Chris, As a single 60 year old lady, I needed a small mortgage to afford somewhere half decent in France. I contacted several lenders who wouldn't lend anything under 50,000€. So I checked some of the advertisers here on Living France magazine and found one www.cafpi.net who were brilliant. The counsellor was bi-lingual, communication was weekly either by phone or e-mail and the amount was well below the 50k€ from other lenders. And the interest rate was below 4%. Couldn't better it if  I tried. As  is usual to say on these forums I have no connections with this company only as a very satisfied customer. Bon chance roseysan

Thanks Clair, Teleconnect have their voicemail for me to set up but that would go through my modem number and is abit fiddly. So to get any messages i have to pres ## then 3103 to get back to my FT line. Done it this am and it works fine. cheers  roseysan

Hi, Just a small problem. I have recently started to use Teleconnect for my internet ISP and also for phone calls to the UK. All phone calls now come via the modem. However my phone also has an answering machine and I know that several of my friends in the UK have left me messages on it. I can't seem to access the answerphone facility even using 3103. Any one able to help please[8-)]. roseysan

Thanks for all the postings re my insurance 'problem'. The other thing I am worried about is that I paid these people 110€ up front as a sort of deposit. What would happen if I walked away from them to another company? This problem has arisen because of the time it is taking for my Carte Grise to arrive from the prefecture. All seemed well before when I paid the deposit. Never had a problem is the UK as I used to shop around and take the best offer. Not sure when I opted for Budget and they say there is no record of my insurance when I had the Rover but I can't see that. If I was insured with them when I drove the Rover (sold in December 2006) it must have been running for 12 months beforehand and yet they say they don't keep any record of it. Good news is that my Carte Vitale is in the post!!!  At least one carte is getting through! roseysan

Hi, I have a problem re: getting an insurance policy for my car here in France. I purchased a Citroen Xsara in the UK in December 2006 and have the relative policy document for that car. I was the with Budget Insurance.  I have the details relating to NCB but the new French insurers want details of when my policy reference number wirh Budsget first started. Well needless to say I haven't got any such document and more worryingly, having phoned Budget in the UK, neither have they. Apparently although I had a Rover insured prior changing to the Citroen with Budget, they don't keep records pertaining to the Rover. Help please!!!! roseysan

Hello, I wonder if there is anyone on this Forum that can tell me how to get rid of 2 large empty gas cylinders as we have now installed an immersion heater. Someone said that they may have a return deposit value but I don't know where they originated from. Any help gratefully received! thanks roseysan

Ohmygod, and I thought mine was bad. I bought a house built in 1975 which on the surface looked a real good buy but the plumbing and electrics are well................. They would never have been passed by an English  building inspector, no way!!  Some of the wiring was actually done with telephone wire. Earth wire was all over the place , live wires in the wall where they had removed wall lights. Electric oven on a 10 amp fuse. Two fuseboards, one for the original part of the house and another one for the extension. The upstairs loft area resembles a spiders web of cables running hither and thither. But every cloud and all that, the guy who has fitted my kitchen is a magician when it comes to solving problems, both for plumbing and electrics and a partial re-wire is to be done shortly (not sure that is the right word to use[:)]). roseysan

Hi, Not sure re Tele2 box , but I have just got my Teleconnect set up, as yours, with VOIP calls via the modem. VOIP drops at a rate of 3 times a day but when I notified Teleconnect they are aware that they have a problem with other customers so I know its not my line. To phone when this happens you can disconnect the telephone line from the box and use FT line (if you have kept it which I think you should automatically). My calls to the UK are included in the 34.90€ monthly cost and I also have an 0844 number for my fiends and family to call me from the UK at 3p per minute. Happy at present[:)] roseysan

Hi, As someone who has only lived here 6 weeks, I used HIFX, no problems courteous staff and everything was done when they said it would be. You can't get better than that. roseysan

Hi Kim, Regards from Pas de Calais (roseysan). Glad to see you are looking at the economics of these wonderful exchange rates. I am getting around 1.42€ to the pound via a cash machine but slightly more on purchases, so you may do alright. I wish you well on November 5th [6](fortuitous date NOT) and hopt to have that cuppa with you soon.   roseysan (aka Sandra)

Also remember that beds over here come as two seperate entities, mattress and base always sold seperately. Then you will need the legs (available in all aforementioned brico stores). Carrefour at Berck presently have a special bed offer on at prices much reduced than Conforama etc. Generally , Meubles stores are much more expensive. Bon chance, cartref

Hi all, This ones mine and I love it!!!!  [IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff21/roseysan/auchyhouse1.jpg[/IMG] Hope I have done this right.  I am in Pas de Calais permanently. roseysan

Hi, I have recently moved to France permanently and being a single female I wish I had had a bit more time to look around for a mechanic that wasn't affiliated to a Citroen garage. My car passed its MOT in the UK in May with no problems whatsoever. I came over to France in September and did my bit to get the car into the French system. Sadly when it went for its control technique it failed on brake problems. It cost me 697€ to get it passed because they found(?) something else wrong with the brakes when doing the job. Needless to say in future it won't be going back to the Citroen garage who, by the way, also charged me 460€ for the carte grise and associated costs. Naive I may be but rich I ain't.  Shop around, they will always give you a devis (estimate). cartref