Anyone any ideas please. I have sent a Chronopost International speed delivery letter to England. It duly arrived and is now due to an error of DPD stuck in a depot. It has only 8 days to be delivered before it is returned back to me. So today is the 2nd day, they do not deliver on a Saturday so I suppose the weekend will make it 4 days and then we can only hope the delivery fairies get it delivered next Monday. Rang Chronopost France who have said there is nothing they can do - which is understandable - as it is not being picked up by DPD for delivery. So there is no come back (which is understandable also). However there is no way you can ring the DPD depot near the destination as they are not taking calls and you are not allowed to call in for the letter either. Also unless you have the GB tracking number you cannot send them an email either.
DPDâs attitude is that it owes nothing to the receiver only the seller (expediteur). Has anyone else experienced this problem and how did they resolve it please.
But I did send the letter (Attestation du Accueil) by Chronopost World (3 day delivery) which is a courier and they use DPD in the UK. I have already paid 68E.
Do you know which depot? Once, in extreme frustration, we went to a depot that was holding our package and demanded it. This was in France, but perhaps if you have someone in the Uk that could work? Even thoâ they say you canât?
I cannot send the original Attestation du Accueil again as it is signed and somewhere in England maybe near the destination no one can tell me. Also DHL like to charge customs and administration charges I would not trust them with a barge pole.
I did think of that but we cannot ascertain where it is. I will never trust the service again - it is fine in France everything is as it should be regarding Chronopost but the minute DPD are supposed to be dealing with it - it goes to hell in a handbucket. It would seem that DPD drivers can be equivalent to showers of sh!t often.
On another subject, feeling a bit curious as to why a hard copy Attestation dâAccueil is needed? For visitors to France I had got the impression, without paying too much attention, from other threads that people were sending emails to guests.
I try my very best to avoid DPD at all costs. They are truly awful. Sometimes though, Itâs not possible to avoid them. I received a package this monday from DPD that was supposed to have two items in it, but only had one. It had tape over the opening saying âresealed with care by DPDâ. I tried my best to bet them to admit that there was an item missing, but they would not admit to it, evn though the package weight was marked on the package by DPD but the package received was much lighter.
In the UK, a DPD delivery person once put a package in my waste bin at the side of my house. A few hours after the delivery, the bin men came and emptied the bin, taking the package with them. It took me 4 months to get them to admit that this was their fault
Me too. This ââŹ30 get it stamped at the mairieâ palaver seems to be rarely needed and an email and a credit card seem to work just fine. The main concern is that the person arriving in France can support themselves.
The other alternative I have read, which is a bit mean on the owner, is that people book an Airbnb and then cancel once they have the reservation confirmation.
Agreed. Did you keep a copy for yourself @PatsieFear ? (Hope so. Lesson I learnt the hard way!) If so, just email it to the person who needs it. And in fact I donât think anyone here has an example of the attestation being asked for. As @JaneJones says, just evidence of being able to support yorself eg credit card.
I emailed a copy for my girl in case she got stopped and nada, nothing when she landed in France. Basically a form from me with my details and signed by both of us, nothing to do with the mairie. There are lots of attestations on the internet if you google them including ones with the government logo at the top.
As @JaneJones says, I think you are supposed to have the 30⏠stamp and get it confirmed by the mairie (who basically are saying you are who you are in their commune). Itâs an interesting piece of paper, confirming your suitability to offer hospitality. Itâs not so much about the person who is staying.
You could try enlisting the services of Resolver. I have heard they can make a difference.
I too once had a problem with DPD. I spent endless hours trying to get my parcel delivered.
More about the state gaining âŹ30 I think. If it cost nothing or a couple of euros I wouldnât be so cynical, but 30! I havenât come across anyone who has actually done this, let alone been required to produce one.
I did for friend and daughter who were supposed to be coming and paid the 30 ⏠in the tabac. She then discovered her passport was out of date, so they didnât come!!!
Like others here, I have assiduously sent attestations dâaccueil to each of my visitors from the UK since Brexit. Not one has been asked for it, and one who presented it to the border official regardless had it waved away as âpas neccessaireâ.
I have had several visits from family and friends post covid and no one has ever been asked for one, nor has anyone been asked for proof of support, so its luck of the draw if anyone gets stopped, I have found customs and border staff both sides of the channel quite friendly and cheerful, not caught a jobsworth yet
If so, perhaps that, more than stamping of passports, might be contributing to âdover delaysâ syndrome?
To my mind, it just seems weird that France, top 1 tourist destination, and not requiring visaâs for UK, would put obstacles in tourists way.
I know thereâs a need to have a credit card to show âmoneyâ, Iâm trying to find out what the visitors who have been referred to here - if they werenât asked for the welcome letter, what of anything were they asked for?
