When in France…………..
Watch out for drunk drivers using mobile phones driving on the wrong side of the road especially after 2pm……….
Keep a careful eye on your bills from tradesmen, restaurants, utilities etc. There is a bad habit in France of additional amounts appearing. When challenged they often melt away again…………
Ignore all promises, guarantees and offers of some future goodwill gesture. None are true and you will grow old waiting………….
Always pin people down to an exact time and date if you are making appointments otherwise you will spend a great deal of your time waiting around……….
Never ever hand over original official documents like drivers licences or birth certificates or passports to anyone in authority. They will lose them, shrug their shoulders and you will be faced with years of arguments - always give copies……………..
Never get involved with working without the required paperwork and permits or you could be arrested. Do not sell anything without a permit or advertise without tax papers or you will get fined and possibly imprisoned. If you employ anyone who is not registered and they injure themselves you will be liable for their entire hospital costs and be arrested as well……….
Do not carry out unauthorised work on a house in France. It may take months or years but when it comes to sell it you will get the surprise of a massive back tax bill for local taxes, plus the usual fines and penalties that will be accumulated. You could end up with nothing as a result and plenty do…………..
Beware of vegetables and fruit and other food stuff. They will sell anything rather than throw it away and reductions for a quick sale is something the French do not understand. Fruit and vegetables are often rotten and they put the good on top and the bad underneath. Check dates on everything and carefully scrutinise what you buy to make sure it is not bad to eat………..
Watch out for imported goods and price jacking. The French sell goods from other countries like Germany and the UK but they put the prices up so high to make their own overpriced goods look cheaper……….
Avoid using a sat nav that gives speed camera warnings - The fine is over 1,500 euros.......
Beware of shoes that look like leather. Most are plastic look alikes...........
To avoid disappointment bear in mind that the cheese is not all it is cracked up to be and the same is true of the wine. They have been making a lot of both for quite a while but they have been overtaken by many other countries that consistently produce far superior wines and cheeses at lower prices…….
Be aware of French aloof behaviour. It is not the fault of the people but more to do with the establishment which has for too long taught the people that France is the very best at everything and that anything that comes from France including the people are second to none. There is no point attempting to educate those who believe this and why burst their bubble ? They seem happy enough. The only down side to that belief is that services and goods remain poor as a result. Those working in the service industry could not care less if you wait hours for them to do what they are being paid for and suppliers of goods care equally less if your goods arrive and less than interested if they arrive broken or incomplete. This is because they genuinely believe that they are so brilliant and fantastic at everything that the world is willing to wait for them and put up with their ways. Hence France’s sharp decline…………
Watch out for French paint and other DIY products. A lot of paint is so watered down that you will need six or more coats to get a decent coverage. This is not reflected in the price which is very high. As a result not a lot of paint is sold in France especially the French stuff. You can get better quality but even the best at a staggering price is no better than the cheapest UK DIY store own brand. Why anyone would purchase this watery gloop is a mystery but as it is ‘made in France’ they continue to shove it on the shelves. Other DIY products are also expensive and supplied in tiny quantities. Shelves are often empty and even the largest outlets only carry small stocks of anything. Fixings and timber, boards and flooring and insulation and just about anything imaginable is over priced and extremely confusing to purchase. A box of flooring has what looks like a competitive price but the price refers to a square metre or part of a metre. The box may contain any complex combination of metres and out come the calculators if you make an offer to buy. Mistakes are common and it is not surprising given the systems they employ. It is a nightmare to go DIY shopping and most people realise it is far easier to import it from the UK or elsewhere or order it online and have it all delivered…………
Never place an order. You will be told it takes a few days or a week or two. Once you pay they lose interest and your goods can take months or even years to arrive if at all. Getting money is all important in France. Service and supply mean nothing. You will drive yourself barmy trying to get anywhere so save yourself a lot of trouble. If they do not have it in the store then go somewhere else until you find it. Never part with money in France unless the goods are in front of you. Getting money returned is a lot of hard work and frustration and you will be stone walled at every turn. When it is in your hands pay the money and not before………..
Always check supermarket and store prices and write them down as you put them into your trolley. French stores are notorious for putting prices on things and charging different prices at the check out. They also have a bad habit of making a big advertisement for something which they run out of in five minutes and then they have something very similar in the same place at twice the price. They run special offers that do not exist, price drops that are faked and offer bargains on certain days and when people arrive there are none left. This is because they only have three or four of the said bargains in the store when they open. Legal but a really cheap little trick done every day of the week. Keep your eyes open in French supermarkets…………..
In shops watch out for second hand goods. Even the largest stores do this to customers. When faulty goods are returned they seal the boxes back up and put them straight out on sale again. Even goods returned after months of use can end up back on the shelf. The staff will always say that the torn packaging or broken seals are just due to an accident in the warehouse. These stories are all untrue. The goods in torn boxes are most likely returns and damaged or faulty items. Why they do such a stupid thing is beyond understanding but they do it so beware………….
Calling in tradesmen. A very expensive and potentially disastrous decision. French tradesmen are incredibly expensive and are not that good at what they do. Yes there are exceptions but you will be paying for a full day at a high hourly rate plus all sorts of extras on top. What may receive is late arrivals, long lunches and breaks and early finishes plus days off the job. At the end you may find that work that would normally take one man a few hours has been completed in weeks by a small team and cost twenty times as much. Speed, competitive pricing and quality are not on their radar……..
Car boot sales. You can only sell at two per year by law. You can and will be arrested by the Army (Gendarmes) if you are caught doing any more. Quite why the French Army come down on ordinary people selling their old junk at a market is baffling but that is the French way of doing things. How weird is that ?
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
