Well Sheila and cate...I think this could be the business opportunity to knock all others out of the water...we would need a catchy name....like Shiela's Wheels....what about Scarey Marys?
Hmm. Do I detect a career change for our Mrs. Norwell???
Id never heard of that before John.....interesting idea though....think I prefer the drooling and rocking method, probably would cause more anxiety in the waiting room...
Remember when 'Smellies' were used in the UK to collect unpaid bills? A state-of-the-art tramp ( guess you know what I mean) would sit in reception until said debt was paid.
Now before anyone says this would not work in France, siting various clichés about stereotype Gallic hygiene... be ashamed of yourself :-)
March is 3 months ago. That would turn Eur 61 into something much more interesting if you add on the costs of trying to get payment, loan shark interest rates not to mention time spent working out the next step. Not paying for goods and services is just plain theft in my opinion.
When a company in Dubai where I worked didn't pay for a video production, the people brought their 3-year old to the office, and let him 'play'. After less than an hour, the boss paid up!
Maybe his wife was hiding it from him...
hahaha....love it!!! That sounds like such fun...I think I might hire myself out to do that for others...just for the hell of it!
Doreen - constructive criticism always welcome! I've made another couple of changes now.
I presume you mean the painting on the first page ... it was done for us by a local artist and is hanging in the hotel. If it goes missing I'll know where to look! :-)
Name and shame them, either here or elsewhere, then email them the link. OK. So you'll never see your money but you know what they say.......
Thanks for having a look at the website -- the error was due to a page mix-up while I was making a change to the pricing page on Friday!
There IS an on-line booking link to BOOKING.COM by the way, where you can check availability and make reservations. It's part of the first (French or English) page.
Minor bad debts are usually not worth chasing, however galling it seems. Unfortunately over thirty years practicing as an architect in the UK showed me that in construction, which is very up and down, bad debts are very common. I didn't count the sums but I remember that in 1991/2 when there was another recession (they used to be about every seven years) we had well over £200k bad debts- the client companies usually going bust. We had to let go about thirty people and I lost my then house so the cost to society is large. In the Uk you can try the small claims court, but that has limited use. If you cost your time spent on recovery then you will soon discover it's a waste of effort other than say for sums of £5k or more. I think that you have been lucky to date. Buy a nice bottle of wine and chill out!
This sounds like a plan to me. As you say Roger it isnt much, but it is the principle and that is a lot!! I'd go with the "La Demise en Demure" sent registered post, avis de reception. Make the interest rate sensible, but high, this way all you loose is an hour writing a letter! What pigs they are!
As these people are a long way away this sounds like a very good idea.
Otherwise it seems to me that you are giving yourself a huge amount of angst over what is not a huge amount of money.
I think that you have been very lucky so far.
Good luck.
This also works the other way round.
We had one of our builders threaten us and our architect for 15000 euros which had already been paid and he had cashed the cheque!
Call the company and ask for the name of the chief financial officer. Send the bill to him/her by registered post with proof of delivery (RAR). Email is not the way to communicate on this one.
This idea works better for some businesses better than others dependent on the circumstances and how convenient it is for you to visit the debtor's office...But keep them in the car just in case you're in the area.... I have two T-Shirts printed - and ready - one in English and one in French. "This company owes me money - I've come to collect!" emblazened on each. Have a copy of the outstanding invoice with you (though the reaction is usually so good you may not need it). All you do is walk into reception.... take off your jacket, cuff yourself to a piece of furniture (a nice touch, but optional) and Voila!...btw - you may soon get yourself a reputation that you are not to be messed with, especially if you go armed with a photograph of yourself standing outside their premises together with an envelope addressed to the local newspaper!
In five years ? you've been lucky !! Don't you take a deposit ? I've had a French couple walk out at 5pm the following day recently despite having made a booking because the weather was not to their liking...Its just human life, we are after all in the hospitality trade and not everyone is as honest as we would like, Hope it doesn't happen again.
If you want to pursue it, you have to send a letter by registered post explaining the debt (when the booking was made etc). This letter, sent with proof of booking is called: La Mise en Demeure (the formal notice) - you must write this at the top of the letter. In French law you have to apply interest to all debts that are 15 days past due date , explain that you are aware of this law and will do this if payment isn't received in the forthcoming week. Then say if you haven't heard from them you'll be handing all the paperwork, the debt, plus the applied interest over to your local court. Explain that they will also be liable for all court costs too. As an artisan's wife I'm forever chasing up unpaid debts ( :-) ) and this letter (which must be sent in french by the way) is normally enough to give most people the 'reminder' they to pay you.
:-D