I was going to suggest simply walking into CA and taking all the money out, cross the street and put it all into a decent bank, in my case when I effectively did that, La Poste.
But if you are in Oz that is not possible. Not sure in France if you are allowed to be without a bank account, even for 10 minutes though.
But a word of warning using a French bank card for large payments, you could be in breach of the dreaded plafond, the limit on what can be done at one time.
according to this there is no obligation to have a bank account but!
Correct. But in my book, anyone who has a stapler on their desk with two long protruding handles is a fonctionnaire! It is the dream of many children at school - to have a stapler on their desk. When they fail fonctionaire school, the next best is bank or insurance 
Um, he just said that CA refuse to sort it out…
I’m with Crédit Agricole both pro and perso (+ other banks) and there’s no way any one’s ever refused to sort something out face to face for me when they’ve caused the probleme 
(and these things do happen). Need to go and in organise a rdv to sort it out face to face 
…which does complicate things somewhat, I agree. It must be a nightmare for people who aren’t here all the time, I suppose it’ll just have to wait until he’s here next and in the meantime just keep pestering them to try and get a result.
Did you really think i havent tried that
I think it is. Friend of mine had gone back to the UK and was trying to close her bank account here and was going round in circles, getting nowhere via email / letter / phone.
In the end we agreed she would write a letter authorising me to act on her behalf. I went into the branch and spoke to someone and it was all sorted. My friend had to jump through one more hoop and her account was then closed and the remaining money transferred. A lot of it was due to “Lost in Translation” and having me there face to face made all the difference
@Steve_Cox Could someone do something similar for you?
Steve, no of course not but I know just how difficult they can be at times and the problem is it’s never easy doing things from a distance here as you know to your cost, literally. As Sue has suggested, any chance of you getting somebody to pester locally for you? I agree about lawyers, they’re the people who win at the end of the day, and often the only ones!
Courage !
Sue, I dealt with a lot of things after my Dad’s death, crédit agricole being one of them as my step-mum wasn’t getting anywhere from a distance. Sometimes you need to be/it’s so much easier being there in person and a french speaker.
Be very careful there… As you may find you incur bank charges for the debt and an interdiction from holding another bank account in France for the next 10 years.
That’s exactly what happened to my friend back in the UK, so she wasn’t able to look at her own account here in France, which is why my going into the branch on her behalf broke the vicious circle. I do recommend finding someone to manage this on your behalf and physically going into the branch. Good luck.
I have not only done it face to face many times in my just completed trip but also had a French friend try before i got there. Plus on my last trip, I paid a “hand-holder” to send all the registered cancellation letters.
To whomever said send an email to the manager to get my access back, i have tried that repeatedly since 2019… And been ignored.
I did find an old post on here by an Australian giving tips to others moving to France and as a result, in theory yesterday opened an account in AUD and Euro with HSBC here . (In anticipation of problems with Credit Agricole but before I knew how bad Axa were, i had opened an account with Axa Banque. Guess how likely i am to use them!!!)
Please steer very clear of Credit Agricole and Axa.
Thanks for the advice but apart from instigating legal proceedings (which in ny experience only enrich the legal profession) I really have tried everything as my long and boring posts show.
Did you check that these were properly constructed and sent? Do you have the receipts of delivery? Hand-holders - who are neither qualified nor insured in the main- can get things wrong.
Yes France is a bureaucratic country but a bank could be in trouble if they cancelled a direct debit or closed an account without absolute proof of authority in a form acceptable to the French legal world. So one has to do things to the letter.
Sorry you missed earlier comments where i emailed repeatedly and unsuccessfully while stuck in Australia because of Covid. Or where even after face to face at the bank, it took them 4bmonths to get me able to access my account. Or where they admitted the error was theirs but refused to fix it
I thought anywhere - not just France - the only body that can close a direct debit is the original organisation that set up the direct debit - in this case, presumably AXA. It’s one of the reasons OH hates direct debits.
@Steve_Cox A thought - since in fact it is AXA who must cancel the direct debit, I have found in the past a letter directly to the CEO of a business can work wonders (sorted out a problem I had with Orange that way). Have you tried that?
Yes did that. To Head Office And Nice office. Axa HO answer was that each franchise was different and they had no control. Nice just ignored me
Fabien’s post contains some excellent advice. After all, he works in the insurance industry.
Good luck. Hopefully it gets resolved quickly.
Some websites block users from servers abroad. Try using a VPN, Nord is excellent but the free ones not so much, and choose a server in France. Then try logging in anew to CA.
I wasnt clear. Their only communication in the last month was an email saying they have cancelled my logon from my phone. Not VPN related