French banks - you have to laugh!
Discussion
It does make me laugh when people complain about UK banks. I can't remember the last time I paid a transparent charge for a normal service there.
While paying €7 per month for their service, I am always amazed how they manage to skim a little here and there with many transactions.
I once had the audacity to ask for a few days overdraft between buying a car and transferring additional funds from the UK. The concept was completely beyond them. I was invited to come in and discuss a car loan, subject to status. I declined the offer.
While paying €7 per month for their service, I am always amazed how they manage to skim a little here and there with many transactions.
I once had the audacity to ask for a few days overdraft between buying a car and transferring additional funds from the UK. The concept was completely beyond them. I was invited to come in and discuss a car loan, subject to status. I declined the offer.
French banks are a ponderous, pricey, inflexible joke. Credit Agricole, who we left years ago, ordered a cheque book for the acct we had already formally and in writing told them we were closing, then proceeded to charge us for the privelige.They also charged for everything apart from breathing the air in the local branch. We have since been banking with HSBC. Although still pretty poor compared to HSBC in the UK , with whom we also bank, we have found them overall to be the best of a bad bunch. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
Hah, when I first came to France I had (and still have) a UK HSBC account. I wanted to open a French HSBC account (called CCF at the time). They wanted a copy of my work contract amongst all the the other endless paperwork to make a "docier".
f
king assholes. I told them " I want to hold money in an account which you're going to profit from and you want to put obstacles in the way?"
They just don't get it. Bunch of crooks.
f
king assholes. I told them " I want to hold money in an account which you're going to profit from and you want to put obstacles in the way?"They just don't get it. Bunch of crooks.
I just don't get why the French put up with it. It's not just the banks, there are whole swathes of France where the customer is bent over and shafted without a whimper. I'm thinking of the taxman, the DVLA equivalent, the whole motor trade, all sorts of places. France never grasped the nettle of customer service the way the UK and the US did in the eighties/nineties, and it shows right through French society, particularly the retail sector.
Le Pop said:
I just don't get why the French put up with it. It's not just the banks, there are whole swathes of France where the customer is bent over and shafted without a whimper. I'm thinking of the taxman, the DVLA equivalent, the whole motor trade, all sorts of places. France never grasped the nettle of customer service the way the UK and the US did in the eighties/nineties, and it shows right through French society, particularly the retail sector.
Motor trade! people putting pictures of filthy cars on le bon coin and expecting top top money for unmaintained sheds. "oh, mais c'est la côte, je ne baisse pas mon prix".IMHO they put up with it because they know nothing different. Large numbers rarely travel outside France and if they do, it is on an organized trip, where everyone speaks French.
They will not use PayPal, they do not trust it because it is not French. After 9 years, we have only just persuaded friends to use Amazon, they cannot believe the saving. Perhaps, one day, an avalanche of centimes will drop and the dreaded competition word will become their accepted norm.
In the meantime, they believe that French provenance is a good reason to pay a significant premium on any product, or service.
They will not use PayPal, they do not trust it because it is not French. After 9 years, we have only just persuaded friends to use Amazon, they cannot believe the saving. Perhaps, one day, an avalanche of centimes will drop and the dreaded competition word will become their accepted norm.
In the meantime, they believe that French provenance is a good reason to pay a significant premium on any product, or service.
Ahhh, the C-word, competition.
Parisian taxis are famously rude, refuse to take clients based on destination, number of cases, presumed sexuality, race, etc etc.
Minimum 15€ before they'll deign to let you pay by card (if they're among the 20% with a card machine, of course).
Uber, Le Cab, and a bunch of other private hire start-ups arrive, shiny new cars, iphone apps, GPS, pay by card (details saved in app), fixed-fee pre-agreed fares, no nasty surprises, no 100€ airport runs because of traffic, and the taxis are up in arms. They come pretty close to managing to get a 15 minute MINIMUM wait period for the private hire boys, "to avoid competition". Err, WHAT? This is what disruptive tech feels like, bhes. Imagine La Poste insisting on a 3-day delay in delivering text messages or emails...
Government "mediates" a bit, taxis announce they're ALL going to take cards from 1€, and start using GPS, like this was some massive advance in tech, and private hire people aren't allowed to use GPS... None of it very clear, all of it very French and anti-competitive.
Parisian taxis are famously rude, refuse to take clients based on destination, number of cases, presumed sexuality, race, etc etc.
Minimum 15€ before they'll deign to let you pay by card (if they're among the 20% with a card machine, of course).
Uber, Le Cab, and a bunch of other private hire start-ups arrive, shiny new cars, iphone apps, GPS, pay by card (details saved in app), fixed-fee pre-agreed fares, no nasty surprises, no 100€ airport runs because of traffic, and the taxis are up in arms. They come pretty close to managing to get a 15 minute MINIMUM wait period for the private hire boys, "to avoid competition". Err, WHAT? This is what disruptive tech feels like, b
hes. Imagine La Poste insisting on a 3-day delay in delivering text messages or emails...Government "mediates" a bit, taxis announce they're ALL going to take cards from 1€, and start using GPS, like this was some massive advance in tech, and private hire people aren't allowed to use GPS... None of it very clear, all of it very French and anti-competitive.
This thread could, justifiably, go on forever. And probably will...
CA once charged us 90 euros to 'freeze' our current account, at the behest of the local Tresor Public who had been sending our tax bills to an address in the UK we never gave them. (I never did work that one out). Eventually, the tax people apologised (to the extreme surprise of all our French neighbours). CA then charged us another 90 euros to unfreeze the account! Eventually the Tresor Public (again to everyone's surprise) refunded the bank charges as well as the fine they had imposed. From CA? Not a word of explanation or apology.
For now, we have to put up with Stone Age banking. But one day - I tell myself - when France reaches the 20th century, I will have the delightful task of telling CA to disappear up its own fundament.
CA once charged us 90 euros to 'freeze' our current account, at the behest of the local Tresor Public who had been sending our tax bills to an address in the UK we never gave them. (I never did work that one out). Eventually, the tax people apologised (to the extreme surprise of all our French neighbours). CA then charged us another 90 euros to unfreeze the account! Eventually the Tresor Public (again to everyone's surprise) refunded the bank charges as well as the fine they had imposed. From CA? Not a word of explanation or apology.
For now, we have to put up with Stone Age banking. But one day - I tell myself - when France reaches the 20th century, I will have the delightful task of telling CA to disappear up its own fundament.
Half the reason the French put up with all this st, is out of a sense of resignation! I"it's always been like this and always will" No one seems able to buck the trend for fear of being landed on from a great height by some government department or other. Also, the average Frenchie employee is a useless jobs worth clock watcher who expects to do the bare minimum, in a job it is impossible to fire him from, thus the imperative to perform or indeed deliver a minimum level of customer service, efficiency, performance , call it what you will simply doesn't exist. Consequently the place languishes in this sort of "1970's Britain" type crumbling socialist "failed stale" jobs worths Utopia. A scenario actively nurtured by the illustrious Mr Hollande. How the place functions as well as it does is a complete mystery to me. One can only assume some kind of divine intervention!
t, is out of a sense of resignation! I"it's always been like this and always will" No one seems able to buck the trend for fear of being landed on from a great height by some government department or other. Also, the average Frenchie employee is a useless jobs worth clock watcher who expects to do the bare minimum, in a job it is impossible to fire him from, thus the imperative to perform or indeed deliver a minimum level of customer service, efficiency, performance , call it what you will simply doesn't exist. Consequently the place languishes in this sort of "1970's Britain" type crumbling socialist "failed stale" jobs worths Utopia. A scenario actively nurtured by the illustrious Mr Hollande. How the place functions as well as it does is a complete mystery to me. One can only assume some kind of divine intervention!I am not sure that I agree with you on this.
In the main, I think French people are happier than their UK counterparts. They enjoy time with their friends, neighbours and community.
My hairdresser has to do the first 200 cuts each month just to pay his RSI, but feels it is worth it because his kids are being well educated, the health service works when he needs it, he has genuine choices when he travels and can eat well.
He despises the civil service and their 35 hour week, but otherwise seems quite content.
It is only when you have experienced other systems that you can make comparisons.
In the USSR people were relatively happy with theirs trusty Ladas while the state could produce technical miracles for warfare.
In the main, I think French people are happier than their UK counterparts. They enjoy time with their friends, neighbours and community.
My hairdresser has to do the first 200 cuts each month just to pay his RSI, but feels it is worth it because his kids are being well educated, the health service works when he needs it, he has genuine choices when he travels and can eat well.
He despises the civil service and their 35 hour week, but otherwise seems quite content.
It is only when you have experienced other systems that you can make comparisons.
In the USSR people were relatively happy with theirs trusty Ladas while the state could produce technical miracles for warfare.
rdjohn said:
I am not sure that I agree with you on this.
In the main, I think French people are happier than their UK counterparts. They enjoy time with their friends, neighbours and community.
My hairdresser has to do the first 200 cuts each month just to pay his RSI, but feels it is worth it because his kids are being well educated, the health service works when he needs it, he has genuine choices when he travels and can eat well.
He despises the civil service and their 35 hour week, but otherwise seems quite content.
It is only when you have experienced other systems that you can make comparisons.
In the USSR people were relatively happy with theirs trusty Ladas while the state could produce technical miracles for warfare.
I didn't suggest the French weren't happy, they are simply unaware of how much better things could be if they weren't burdened by such an inflexible labour market and such restrictive business practices.In the main, I think French people are happier than their UK counterparts. They enjoy time with their friends, neighbours and community.
My hairdresser has to do the first 200 cuts each month just to pay his RSI, but feels it is worth it because his kids are being well educated, the health service works when he needs it, he has genuine choices when he travels and can eat well.
He despises the civil service and their 35 hour week, but otherwise seems quite content.
It is only when you have experienced other systems that you can make comparisons.
In the USSR people were relatively happy with theirs trusty Ladas while the state could produce technical miracles for warfare.
Don't get me wrong, there is a wonderful life to be had in France its just a shame that it is spoilt by much of the above :/
Le Pop said:
Don't get me wrong, there is a wonderful life to be had in France its just a shame that it is spoilt by much of the above :/
However, I get the impression that the wonderful life which the French enjoy would be very much bespoiled if competition and the British/American approach to work were introduced. The way things are there is part of what makes it so attractive to me. I'd like to enjoy a 35 hour-a-week job for life with such a high standard of living, in terms of free time and food etc, and ability to rely on the state to provide excellent education and health care, rather than the material existence we seem to need to pursue in Britain/America etc for the sake of the Gods of competition and consumerism.I think the French have it right.
I opened an account 7 years ago with Caisse D'Epargne near my second home in Normandy. Opening it was a piece of cake, they offered me a free 'decouvert' (Overdraft) even though I had no need, CBleue, chequebook etc. EUR6/month. Frankly, British banks should charge for current accounts as they are expensive to operate.
Never had any issues with the bank at all, totally hassle-free.
Never had any issues with the bank at all, totally hassle-free.
Gassing Station | France | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff