I have worked out that the SF in SFR stands for Sweet F$*k and assume the R is French for All as their service so far has amounted to that.
After 2 months, we still dont have Internet, they have added (ie charged for) services I didnt ask for or authorise then tried to charge me to remove them, didnt answer emails for a month then answered that as I had emailed in English, they werent going to answer etc etc. Yes I should speak French but they appear to be going out of their way to be non-cooperative, despite having French friends ring and try to explain the problem
Bottom line - I am looking for advice on alternatives.
The house is in Trebes (near Carcassonne) and I was looking for Internet without too many bells and whistles though happy to entertain other services (eg mobile, TV, calls back to Australia etc) if it makes sense. Can someone advise what alternatives exist in France and pro/cons/ actual experience with them (and btw, to make matters more complicated, my son goes back to Australia in ten days so I would then need to organise this from Africa where Internet works on Tuesdays with an X in :-))
Thanks in advance for any advice
Steve
I think that all the available services are mediocre, until something goes wrong and then their help numbers are either incompetent or are incapable of telling the truth. We had a one month long nightmare with Orange and a new installation with SFR stops working if it is not used for a week or so. Makes me long for the incompetent service that I left behind 10 years ago in new York City.
I use Free.fr. and it's been MUCH better than either Phonexpat (very expensive) or FT, very inefficient, very expensive and very rude, did all the things you were describing and confusing. My FT file is 2 inches thick and they made me want to go back to the UK several times.We also briefly tried NEUF, but refused to pay them the first bill as they cut us off with no advance warning after I made an initial enquiry about a contrat. My french wasnt that bad so I knew they were ripping me off. It was a nightmare for the first 3 years with these companies. Communications are an important service for expats.
We pay 35-45 a month for unlimited internet, all european and USA calls to landlines 24/7, all calls to mobiles in France 24/7, TV (which I have only just received because we lived in a zone non-degroupee until recently which meant we could get internet TV. so have no idea how well it works) I think you can add zones for 3.99 a month, so calls to australia/NZ might be a package.
I havn't needed to call them for any advice because I havnt had any problems but they actually answered my emails within 2 days anyway. They do have some english speaking advisors too. We've used them for a year or 2.
Good luck, don't give up, shop around and definitely avoid SFR, FT, Phonexpat or Neuf
Been with SFR for a couple of years now and have had excellent service. I live in the wilds and never want to think about the service that I had from FT (orange) before.
Should have read your post properly blame it on the wine we have had one problem possibly of my own making went down the shop the girl made a phone call by the time i got home all was well again they had reset it all from the central control the phone does get some hammer the wife is talking to family and friends in the uk all night everynight we are in Mazamet about 45 min from Carcassonne worth trying a different shop or person
Thats who I am having all the problems with
Try SFR i pay 39 euro per month for internet and free phone calls to most english speaking countries