forum_amnesiac Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 If you were to come to France looking to buy a property and decided to use one of the big UK companies would you not hope they could properly advertise the department they are in.I have just found out that the Charente Maritime office of possibly the biggest one is not actually based in that department. I have also read their 'News' section from that office and note that the contributors all write as if they live in Charente Maritime and that events have occurred in that department.I now know for a fact that this particular office is based in Charente and that their 'News' contributors also live in Charente as well as the majority of the events mentioned.Is this a marketing ploy to attract those people who want to live near the coast or just ignorance on the part of the people in this particular office.I have always believed that for success in any transaction one should have honesty, from both sides, at all times. This doesn't strike me as starting out on that footing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 I'm not really sure why any of what you write about is such a problem.Charente Maritime has a huge 'boundary' with Charente itself. When I was viewing I was shown some houses in 17 by estate agents based in 16 (Charente), and vice versa. I have been driven 50k to view more than one property, including to the coast. I have always believed that for success in any transaction one should have honesty, from both sides, at all times. This doesn't strike me as starting out on that footingYou seem to be implying that this firm are misleading you, but it would be pretty long winded and boring marketing blurb if every contributor had to state where they lived, as if that is in some way a credential for writing about an area. Also, if they have no houses near the coast, that fact would surely become clear to anyone looking through their books/website.I think your post is very strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 I'm not sure that I follow the argument either. Even smaller agencies can spread over several départements. The one Mrs C works for, for instance, operates within a radius of about 40km from its office and that can take in corners of five different départements.Anyway, at least the people you are talking about appear to be in France. There are plenty of people offering houses for sale in France, information about France (even magazines about France ) who are based in England, and none the worse for that.Or am I missing something important here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deby Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 What is this departmental snobbery? My dear friend does her shopping only in the department, where the nearest same large supermarket is the next department, when I asked her, she just simply said, well I just prefer it! I guess it is what her mother did and so forth. I find it odd, as I would go to the nearest. My only exception would be if it was in a dodgy area, then I would fully understand.The borders of the Charente, Charente-Maritime are a bit fuzzy as historically they were all the same, just the CM was known as Inferior, but I guess some things do not die.The only ones I would be fussy about would be 75, 92, 93, 94 & 95Deby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creusois Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I live in 23 and sell property in 03, 18, 23 and 36 - but would ask why everyday prices are so varied between these neighbouring departments? My neighbours shop in each department according to what they want! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forum_amnesiac Posted July 26, 2005 Author Share Posted July 26, 2005 There appears to be some misunderstanding on the reason for my posting.I fully understand that Agence Immobiliere sell properties in departments other than their own and that there is a long border between Charente and Charente Maritime, no problems there.My question is though, how many of these agencies pretend in their advertising that they are in a different location to where they are actually based, to the extent of also getting their personnel to misrepresent where they live. What is the reasoning, or logic, behind that?My posting was also not prompted by any form of departmental snobbery, as a Northerner I had hoped that I had left that kind of pompous c**p behind me in the UK.So come on all you people who work as Agence Commercial or Agence Immobilier or are related to anybody who does so, how many others participate in this form of misrepresentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 So come on all you people who work as Agence Commercial or Agence Immobilier or are related to anybody who does so, how many others participate in this form of misrepresentationStill at a loss to know what your beef is, really, but I am getting a bad feeling about this thread. If you are this bothered why don't you take it up with the agency concerned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 I'm not aware of any agencies that are guilty of misrepresentation, as you put it. Except perhaps those who imply that only by paying an extra fee - in the order of £4500 plus VAT - to an agency in England will the clients of the French agents who represent that English agency get good service and proper advice. But even that doesn't necessarily count as misrepresentation in my book as the best known company to do this is quite up front about its charges.I still don't see why it's wrong for people in the Charente to sell properties, or write about life in, Charente Maritime. I live in Manche (Normandie) but feel perfectly able to write about Mayenne (Pays de Loire) or Ille et Vilaine (Bretagne), let alone Orne or Calvados (Normandie) as they are all just a few km from us - much closer than, say, Cherbourg or Saint-Lô, the main towns in our own département. By me writing about these places, or my wife selling properties there, are you saying we are pretending to be something we are not?If what you describe really goes on then I think it probably is pompous c**p rather than misrepresentation. You say you left that sort of thing behind in Britain - but is this not a company based in Britain that you are talking about? I'm not aware, as I said before, of any French agencies doing this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 The worst example of this is surely those move to France programs. Some people believe it all when they see it on the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le bouffon Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 when exactly are you going back to the uk,and when you do where will you live,I for one will await your escape back to france,the same france you despise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 A real bouffon then! Excellant, what do you do for an encore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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