Gardian Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 There's an industrial dispute going on in this area by the employees of Brinks. As a consequence, the distributeurs are running out of cash - our local village one has been u/s for several days and I heard in the boulangerie this morning that the local major town ones are out too.Not the end of the world for us - our neighbour always has plenty of cash and I can borrow €20 or so from him to keep us going for a while.However, it struck me that the 'Cashback' system, which has existed in the UK for years, doesn't operate here, or at least not in this area.I wonder why? Is it that the bank systems don't do an account lookup when you use your debit card? Or is it that the French are just so conservative in financial matters (no bad thing in many respects) that they've been reluctant to accept a simple process that helps the customer and saves them (the retail outlets) having to bank so much cash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Ah but, France had the cash back system, it existed in France well before it was in the UK.They stopped it, probably before it started in the UK, no idea why, but I used to like getting cash back when I got my shopping.In fact we had lots of things in France before the UK. Pin numbers were used in supermarkets from the mid 80's, in fact our village pharmacie was about the last place that I knew of that had me signing when using my card and that was many many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 And yet they still dont verify that funds are available, if you have the temerity to want to spend the money that you have sitting in your French bank account by using your debit card and you have depassed the stupid arbitrary weekly plafond it will be refused unless you pay more for a higher limit, highway robbery in my book.The same merchant who has just taken great pleasure in announcing in front of all the other customers that your card is refused because you dont have the funds will then quite happily accept a cheque drawn on the same account.Only in France.I do agree Idun about France once leading the world in such things, remmeber the minitel? Compared to the relatively few pathetic excuses for web sites now wit a .fr after their name I ask myself where it all went wrong?Perhaps if we could persuade them that a French person invented t'internet they might embrace it with national pride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breizh Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 [quote user="idun"]Ah but, France had the cash back system, it existed in France well before it was in the UK. They stopped it, probably before it started in the UK, no idea why, but I used to like getting cash back when I got my shopping. In fact we had lots of things in France before the UK. Pin numbers were used in supermarkets from the mid 80's, in fact our village pharmacie was about the last place that I knew of that had me signing when using my card and that was many many years ago.[/quote]Twice Visa and Mastercard came within days of withdrawing all card services in France in the 80s and 90s, due to the massive level of card fraud, hundreds of times the level in the UK at it's worst. Only OECD country who they've ever threatened. I know PIN numbers were the answer to the first threat. I bet cashback stopped as a result of the second threat, when they also withdrew vast numbers of credit cards. (As a retorical question. I've always wondered what the hypers and the grande surfaces have agreed with V&M in order to give CCs to their customers with virtually no checks, or limits. Maybe a very high level of retailer accepted risk?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 [quote user="Chancer"]And yet they still dont verify that funds are available, if you have the temerity to want to spend the money that you have sitting in your French bank account by using your debit card and you have depassed the stupid arbitrary weekly plafond it will be refused unless you pay more for a higher limit, highway robbery in my book.[/quote]I didn't have any problem getting the limits increased on my card and it didn't cost anything either... [8-)]As an alternative to cashback, there is Moneo, where you load your CB with "electronic change" at the cashpoint and use that to pay at the shop, but I don't know how widespread or used the system is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 The minitel, yes, I remember it well. A good friend of ours just about bankrupted themselves using it, really, they had the Banque de France block their account and they were allowed a small amount to live on each month until their debt was repaid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 It was Minitel where Xavier wotsisname, the CEO of Free.fr made his fortune thanks to some rather unsalubrious sites so thank your freind for me if he was using them, its thanks to people like him that Free entered the market and saw off the likes of AOL, Club internet etc and started the price war which we all now benefit from.I cant wait to see the fallout next year when Free starts its mobile phone service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 [quote user="idun"]Ah but, France had the cash back system, it existed in France well before it was in the UK. They stopped it, probably before it started in the UK, no idea why, but I used to like getting cash back when I got my shopping. [/quote]Well thanks for that Idun et al.You'd think that by now, with PIN's as normal practice, that they'd have recommenced the Cashback process, particularly since France is such a cash society (or at least it is here 'in the sticks').In the meantime, Brinks had better sort things out quick or there'll be rioting in our village! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I did ask once why they had stopped it, but got a nonsensical answer. My Dad when on holiday thought it a very novel idea at the time, buying cash from the supermarket, sorry can't so smileys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 [quote user="Gardian"]In the meantime, Brinks had better sort things out quick or there'll be rioting in our village![/quote]Well, you'll all be pleased to learn that things never quite that far - but it was close.The ATM was still empty this morning - "and since last Friday", so I was earnestly told. To compound the problem, the Tabac card reader was on the blink, with the proprietress Salmonesca giving hell to somebody in a Helpline over how to re-invigorate the thing. Customers walking out en masse grumbling about "Pas de liquide" and "Distributeurs".The local Gendarmerie, whose principal task every morning at 09.30 on the dot is to visit the village to pick up 4 x croissants beurres + 4 x pains au chocolat, seemed to be on the verge of getting out their riot shields.By 18.00 all was fixed. Forget Libya and any other worldwide problem, this was our crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 "with the proprietress Salmonesca giving hell to somebody in a Helpline"[blink]omg it wasn't her was it? I thought she bit the dust a long time ago.[Www][;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 There are many incarnations of old Sal. [;-)]This one could kill a man at 10 paces with one of her daggers looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Sal sounds like the lady in our local post office though she has been more pleasant of late. I think she has been re-trained to smile and be polite to customers.[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now