anyone come across these guys…
http://www.declarer-auto-entrepreneur.fr/devenir-auto-entrepreneur
they’re scamming me for helping with setting up an auto-ent status… it’s my own fault, but now we can’t get out of it, and the bank says they can’t stop it as they’re charging us different amounts.
we tried to unsubscribe to the service, but no luck… hm… telephone calls to them are charged at a primo rate and make no sense!
all help and advice appreciated…
(anyone saying i’m a gullible idiot can get in line behind the husband…)
x teresa
thanks wendy! you’re an absolute angel - i could not have moved to france without the help of you and others like you… to be honest if this a.e. thing is anything to go by i probably couldn’t have found france!
x teresa
It’ll need to be “recommandé avec accusé de réception”, Teresa which means you will not only get proof of posting but also proof of delivery.
yep, makes me feel better! presume recommandee is registed post? i’ll do that too… are you a film lover? p.m. me your address and i’ll stick some in La Poste to you at the same time… we have a little film club
xt
Hi Teresa,
If it makes you feel better I did a similar thing with a film club in France which I thought was like Lovefilm. I tried to cancel the DD but was told the same thing by my bank. I ended up paying for 4 months of films I didn’t use whilst I tried to contact them. Deep in the small print it said I had to send a letter to a certain address Recommandee. After I’d done this I contacted my bank with proof of the request and they finally stopped the payment.
Possibly one of the reasons why so many people still pay by cheque in France as the system isn’t the same for DD as the UK and it’s not easy for the consumer to cancel. I am now hesitant about giving my bank details out to anyone other than utility companies/tax man.
Suz
thanks all for the good advice… i should repeat that the company in question are not, in my opinion committing any fraudulent act - it was our bad french and gullibilty… - in the very small and complex print it does list all the charges - 3 euros i think for each email they send to me for example!!!
i DO however think it’s a scam - particularly as it shows on our bank account as ‘internet carte service’ - i thought it was something to do with our new phone line… plus because of all the little additional amounts instead of the e80 we thought we were paying it ended up as e104
anyway, the problem now is how to get out of it… i can’t contact them, the next payment will be 15 august, the bank says i must first cancel my subscription with the company before they can do anything…
but thanks again for all your help. x teresa
And if you’re an AE there seems little point buying as a business as you can’t offset your expenses against tax anyway so why not just buy as a consumer giving you more protection and reducing your record-keeping.
Excellent idea!!!
Teresa
Sorry you got stung by this, there do seem to be a lot of scams out there around AE.
Another thought which might help, do you have legal protection on your household insurance? They may be able to help you.
Suz
That’s nice of you Wendy! xx
If you don’t have any luck Teresa, I’ll get in touch with the AEAE https://www.facebook.com/people/Association-Entraide-Auto-Entrepreneurs/100000797509494 which is a self help group for AEs. Let me know if you’d like me to… Wx
yes, good advice… the bank says they can’t stop it because we willingly signed up for it and it’s not a direct debit… they have also suggested we go to the gendarmerie - which i think is ridiculous. they’re feeling is that we should probably go down the routeof cancelling the bank card we signed up with…
i’m absolutely ok with the fact it’s my gullibility - every single thing we’ve had to deal with since thinking of moving, moving and now living here has been brilliant… everyone i’ve dealt with has been helpful and kind… this is just a blip to bring me down to earth, and now i’m like a dog with a bone!!! i shan’t be beaten!
If you’ve sent them a recommandé avec accusé de réception ending your subscription I’d have thought that should be enough for the most recalcitrant credit ag. If you go to the gendarmerie I’m pretty sure you can insist on having your complaint registered even if they’re not going to do anything about it. Think it’s called a main courante and is the sort of thing you need before your insurance company will look at a claim for theft, for example. Worth a try, anyway. With this and the letter you should be able to insist the bank stops payments. However (there’s always a however) I have a horrible feeling that under French banking law stopping standing orders is particularly difficult. See if you can find anything in the documentation your bank should have given you listing their charges and general conditions. If you can’t find it, insist they give you a copy.
thanks jane - i agree, credit ag - our bank - say that we signed up and so have to take steps first to unsubscribe from it… we would but they don’t reply to emails, there is no ‘unsubscribe’ on the site, and as i said telephone calls are charged at a premium rate - you ring, hold for 3 minutes and then get cut off…
we’ve written as well, obviously.
do you really think the gendarmes would be interested (in 2 stupid irish newcomers?)
Your bank should take your instruction to stop anymore debits from your account.
What you are describing sounds very much like fraud and I would go the gendarmes.