Oh dear - I am having no luck in this bloody place and it is driving me NUTS!!
I have just moved house and want an internet connection. So off I go to the orange shop and get things lined-up, together with a date for an engineer to come and set things up. Engineer, of course, failed to come, and nobody gets in touch with me, so I go back to the shop to whinge (I whinge like a real French person, so I know that the message came across - as did my anger).
So they set up another appointment for me, and guess what? Once again, the engineer fails to come. And one again, nobody from Orange makes any effort whatsoever to get in touch.
So once again I trundle to the shop, go utterly mad with the staff there, and am promised that something will be done within 48 hours.
And they did in fact do something. THEY CANCELLED THE ORDER!!
So I have been trying to get an account with the competition but am having no luck as I am using a non-French bank. Quite why the French (uniquely) need an IBAN number that is specifically French is totally beyond me, but in true French tradition - if it is simple, go ahead and make it complicated!
So my question is: has anyone managed to open a line here without specially using a French bank account? And if so - how?
Perhaps going utterly mad at the staff, was not the best way of dealing with the problem. I am not surprised they cancelled the order if you went in and yelled at them
It’s not specifically French but happens elsewhere in Europe too.
There is legislation within the European Union about not accepting accounts with an IBAN not of the country where you are setting up the account (making it illegal) but do remember of course that the UK has now left the EU
If I can find the reference, I will post it but welcome to post Brexshit Europe…
UPDATE:
Reference here
I normally use the three strikes approach. First encounter friendly, second encounter firm but polite, third encounter toys out of pram. I have been using that approach for nearly 40 years and it’s never failed. It’s amazing how helpful and friendly people can become if you asert yourself.
That way you end up scarlet, with tear-stained cheeks, a strange feeling of alienation from the familiar, and no teddy bear to cuddle for reassurance. There may be the smell of warm plastic that is unique to pram interiors.
vs 