internet and telephone provider recommendation provider please

[mint]

Well, would you believe it, it's like the number 7 (or whatever number of your choice) bus.  You wait for hours for it and nothing appears and then, all of a sudden, three come along!

Straight after all of the above, someone actually rang and said they were from the résiliation team.  I told him all was bien fait and that I'd got my etiquettes and everything else so thank you all the same but all is now sorted!

That is, I hope ALL IS now sorted!

[suein56]

mint I have sent you a pm

Sue

[mint]

Thank you, Sue.  I am replying straightaway.  BTW, sent off my SFR box this morning[:D]

[NormanH]

Don't forget to claim here before the 5th October:

https://formulaires.services.orange.fr/1116   

for the 5€ a month reduction.

There is another one to claim if SFR try to charge you for cancelling, but in my case anyway they shouldn't  as I explained in my lettre recommandée  above, since there is a regulation that says that if they impose a change in contract that you don't want to accept you can cancel within 4 months free.

La possibilité de résilier

ce contrat sans frais de résiliation m'est offerte, car :

je

n'accepte pas les modifications suivantes apportées à mon contrat
le 13/08/2016.

Then I quoted the things I didn't accept

I wouldn't be surprised to see them try it on though...[:'(]

[suein56]

[quote user="NormanH"]Don't forget to claim here before the 5th October:

https://formulaires.services.orange.fr/1116   

for the 5€ a month reduction.

[/quote]

My papers from Sosh say apply before the 17th of October, but I wouldn't put it past anyone to vary the date according to region.[:)]

Sue

[NormanH]

Your so right about that Sue.

If you click on my link above you can see what mine says which I think is different, but I am a bit brain-numb [:D]

[mint]

I love that... brain-numb, it will save me having to provide other excuses.

Very timely tip, Norman.  I have filled it out and checked with Sue whether I have managed to attach the confirmation email correctly.

Anyway, it was accepted with one of those green ticks that told me my homework has been marked!

If SFR do charge me, I will just claim it back from Sosh.

As an aside, when I sent back the SFR box, I took a photo of the items I sent AND I listed the items on a sheet of paper that went into the box.

 

[Théière]

Only 20 pages, sounds so easy, gulp!  Do they have a service you can switch off for the months I am elsewhere? Must try and look at services available now my bank protects it's wifi signal and I dont want to go to Mcd's

[suein56]

Théière wrote :

Do they have a service you can switch off for the months I am elsewhere?

Not that I am aware of ... though I am not a Sosh expert, having only been with them for 3 months.

Sue

[mint]

Well, Sue, you are OUR expert and that's good enough for me[:D]

BTW, after I electronically sent that form that Norman provided for the 5-euro reduction, they emailed to say they couldn't read it.

I then sent a paper form by courier but have heard nothing since.  Might chase it up or maybe not bother as I am busy and distracted at the moment.

I really never do feel on top of things at this time of year, don't like all the decay of autumn and the gardening to clear and Christmas lurking round the corner............sigh.

If you're there more than you are away, Teapot, it's probably just as cheap to have a service that you turn off and on.  But then, you are the only person to know how important or otherwise it is to you.

[NormanH]

[quote user="mint"]Well, Sue, you are OUR expert and that's good enough for me[:D]

I really never do feel on top of things at this time of year, don't like all the decay of autumn and the gardening to clear and Christmas lurking round the corner............sigh.

[/quote]

Soon

we will plunge into deathly cold darkness

Farewell to the

brightness of Summer's brief life!

Already I hear the funereal

thud-fall

Of firewood resounding on cobble-stone yards.

All

Winter will penetrate my being: Rage

Hatred, shivering, horror,

hard forced-labour,

And just like the Sun in its cold polar

Hell

My heart will be only a red block of ice

Trembling

I listen as each log is falling

Building a Scaffold makes no

more muted a sound

My Spirit is one with the Tower that

yields

To

the blows of the battering-ram, tireless and

heavy.

This

monotonous chopping has

lulled me;

I feel

That

they’re hurriedly nailing a coffin somewhere.

For whom? Summer

was yesterday -- Now Autumn is here!

This mysterious sound tolls

like a farewell.

II

I love the greenish glint

in your wide open eyes--

Such sweet beauty; but today all

tastes bitter,

And nothing,

your

love, the bedroom or the hearth

Means as much as the radiant sun

on the sea.

Yet Love me, dear heart! Be just like a

mother

Though I'm ungrateful, though I'm so wicked ;

Lover

or Sister, be the fleeting soft moment

Of a glorious Autumn or

the Sun as it sets.

It won't take long! The hungry tomb is

waiting!

Let me taste, my forehead resting on your knees

As

I regret the white-hot heat of Summer,

The sweetness in the

yellow rays of Autumn.

Chant d'automne

I

Bientôt nous plongerons dans les froides ténèbres;

Adieu, vive clarté de nos étés trop courts!

J'entends déjà tomber avec des chocs funèbres

Le bois retentissant sur le pavé des cours.

Tout l'hiver va rentrer dans mon être: colère,

Haine, frissons, horreur, labeur dur et forcé,

Et, comme le soleil dans son enfer polaire,

Mon coeur ne sera plus qu'un bloc rouge et glacé.

J'écoute en frémissant chaque bûche qui tombe

L'échafaud qu'on bâtit n'a pas d'écho plus sourd.

Mon esprit est pareil à la tour qui succombe

Sous les coups du bélier infatigable et lourd.

II me semble, bercé par ce choc monotone,

Qu'on cloue en grande hâte un cercueil quelque part.

Pour qui? — C'était hier l'été; voici l'automne!

Ce bruit mystérieux sonne comme un départ.

II

J'aime de vos longs yeux la lumière verdâtre,

Douce beauté, mais tout aujourd'hui m'est amer,

Et rien, ni votre amour, ni le boudoir, ni l'âtre,

Ne me vaut le soleil rayonnant sur la mer.

Et pourtant aimez-moi, tendre coeur! soyez mère,

Même pour un ingrat, même pour un méchant;

Amante ou soeur, soyez la douceur éphémère

D'un glorieux automne ou d'un soleil couchant.

Courte tâche! La tombe attend; elle est avide!

Ah! laissez-moi, mon front posé sur vos genoux,

Goûter, en regrettant l'été blanc et torride,

De l'arrière-saison le rayon jaune et doux!

— Charles Baudelaire

[suein56]

NormanH wrote :

Bientôt nous plongerons dans les froides ténèbres;

Adieu, vive clarté de nos étés trop courts!

Aha, Baudelaire; I have adored his poetry since first discovering it early on in my French studies at school ... a lifelong love-affair, though a tad one-sided.

Sue

[mint]

Well, I'm delighted that you are both waxing lyrical with Baudelaire about autumn......(with my grumpy voice).

Actually, I had a grand autumn walk and the colours of the leaves, the warm sunshine, the gentle breezes did soothe even my savage breast.

Then, when I got in and checked my mobile messages, there was one from Sosh about my bill and I do believe that they have given me the 5 euro reduction!  Yeah, yeah, sorry to add such a practical and hard-headed note to you poets' musings and imageries but, hey, life goes on and counting the pennies have never seemed so necessary![:P]

[mint]

As expected, the bill for SFR arrived today but, what is NOT expected, is that the bill is the usual one for 2 months, nothing about my having given up my line and that they got their box back on 4 oct at 14.38hrs.

Tried to ring them without success today, not helped by there being no options for when you want to discuss your facture.

Fortunately, I paid by cheque and so they can't just take the money.

Is the best way to proceed in these circumstances, to write to them with proof of posting the box, emails exchanged about my wish to cancel my contract, the usual stuff?

Admittedly, I didn't write, as Norman did by registered post, as Sue said that was no longer necessary and, anyway, it was they who emailed me all the résiliation info and labels.

Of course, I guess nobody told their billing department though they soon stopped my email address.

Suggestions please to help out a very exasperated little person here!

[suein56]

[quote user="mint"]As expected, the bill for SFR arrived today but, what is NOT expected, is that the bill is the usual one for 2 months, nothing about my having given up my line and that they got their box back on 4 oct at 14.38hrs.

Tried to ring them without success today, not helped by there being no options for when you want to discuss your facture.

[/quote]

Were you ringing 1023 ?

I would try clicking on this link again : it takes me to the cancellation page and so it should work for you too. SFR should ring you back - don't forget to put in your new telephone number, not your old one !

Reiterate that your old line is non-existent and has been cancelled and that they have their box etc back.

Keep insisting.

http://www.sfr.fr/resiliation.html

Sue

[mint]

Sue, thank you for your quick response and I will do that when I get back from my walk later today.

I will search through the old emails and find out the exact dates, times, etc so I am ready armed.

I will also quote Norman's statement that, because they have changed the contract, I do not accept the new terms and that therefore I will not be paying the résilation fee either.

Thanks again [:)]

[NormanH]

I 'fait opposition' at the bank, but wouldn't be surprised to get a bill despite all my precautions [:(]

What is weird is that for my Sosh option at 34.99€ (I decided to go for unlimited calls, quite unnecessarily)  I got a bill of 38+...[:-))]

And Free have billed me for another month for the mobile number which Sosh have taken over and supposedly 'resilié'...

[mint]

Undoubtedly, these things are "sent to try us"!  Why "us" specifically and why repeatedly, I do not know.

Haven't had a chance to do anything with SFR as I got back very late from my walk (with 5 others) and didn't find the right path until we stumbled on a chasseur who was several metres in the air in his palombier and who gave us directions.

But, will let you know and, Norman, I wish you no harm but it's still good to know I am not all alone with my problems[:P] 

[Daft Doctor]

Have you tried logging on to sfr.fr and using webchat to sort it out. I've found it a very useful and efficient way to sort problems out both here in France and the UK. You usually get the option to have a transcript of your chat emailed to you, so no arguments over what has been agreed.

[mint]

Thank you for your suggestion.  I use the chat option with Orange so I see no reason why I shouldn't use this to sort out the SFR bill.

Will update on here in case any of it ([;-)]) is of any use whatsoever to someone else!

[mint]

DD, the service you recommended was not disponible.............what a surprise!

So went to Sue's link, got nowhere but here is the tip.  Although you might think you have someone from the résiliation team, that is not the case so DO NOT talk to the first operator, merely just give your details as requested and ask to be put through to the résiliation team.

I made the mistake of explaining what I wanted and she just repeated and repeated her spiel.  So, as per Sue's advice, I insisted and insisted.  When it was obvious that we were getting nowhere, I said put me through to your supervisor at which point she agreed to put me through to résiliation.  After I had held on for 20 minutes, the phone went dead.

So, repeated the exercise and this time I asked for résiliation and, after no more than approx 15 minutes, someone came on and indeed tried to persuade me to return to them.  I said no thank you as I have just changed and have had enough of all the bazar I have encountered.

Then, she said she couldn't track down my parcel and I said well I can give you the number of the coli, where it left, where it was received, when it left, when received, and just gave her so much info that she had to accept that I had indeed sent the parcel.  Also told her I had a photo of the items I sent and a list of the items.

She has now agreed to have my bill modified and so I await that.

I am describing all this in detail so that it will help anyone who might need to know this stuff[+o(]

[suein56]

Crikey, what a palaver. Thankfully I had avoided all that bother - just lucky I guess. Anyway full marks for perseverance, mint. SFR have become awful since they were taken over by Numericable. In my view better out of their clutches, rather than in.

Anyway to other matters. This a.m. I rec'd an email from Sosh headed 'Maîtriser vos usages hors forfaits'. It was advising me that it was possible to switch off, or on, default buying via the Internet through your mobile or via your Livebox; with costs being added to your Sosh bill.

So I followed the link in the mail and had a look at my account and, by default, Internet purchasing through the Livebox was authorised - so I have switched it off. Previously I had been advised to switch off a similar authorisation of buying ringtones and games via the mobile.

Both these actions can be re-authorised at any time by reversing the process.

Sue

[NormanH]

Yes Sue, you are quite right. I switched those off as one of the first things I did.

The other thing which could trip up those who use smartphones in the 'normal' way is that  with the basic tariff one gets a very low amount of data and anything over is charged.

Those with old-style mobile phones that are only used to make and receive calls won't be worried about this, and neither am I since I use the "apps" via Wifi only, never 3/4 G data.

However everybody else seem to have their mobile data permanently on and connect using it, so the low basic allowance could rapidly become used up and expensive extra data charged.

[mint]

Norman, I am PMing you about something completely different but on which I hope you could shed some light?

[NormanH]

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