Opening post deleted by user, due to presence of irrelevant and incorrect responses which will mislead others!
Hello @anon74724478 and Welcome to the forum.
Perhaps you could tell us a little about yourself and your connections with France. 
cheers
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When I opened my account with Britline, I was offered a couple of different options, and just went for the cheapest one. I never felt āforcedā in any of my dealings with them. Sorry to hear about your experience.
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They have recently upgraded some of their older (obsolete) account packages. When I upgraded it actually cost less than the old one.
I suspect you have misunderstood what you were told. Many people here have had a very positive experience with Britline, and found them very responsive.
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I believe you, we left CA, although not Britline, for a similar duplicity, many years ago, best thing we ever did.
Hello @anon74724478
Oh dear.. you seem to have had a nasty experience which has made you a bit mad.
As you can see from replies, not everyone has the same experienceā¦
but thank you for your concerns and warning.
Now, please can you introduce yourself to us fellow forum folk ??? 
cheers
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We have been using Britline since we arrived in France in 2014. Never, ever have we had a problem. Our personal consultant is someone who is very in tune with us. When I have called her over the years we always have a good old natter and make each other laugh on the phone; but she is extremely efficient and gets the job done!
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I think in a recent post I also said that CA Britline have been driving us wild. Weāve been with them since the last century as they were the easiest for non-residents and then never bothered to change. But recently things are seeming not to be as customer friendly as they were. We have just squeezed ā¬100 compensation out of them for their errors.
So as far as weāre concerned they are on notice. One more mess up and weāll be off.
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It sounds like your interface person at CA Britline had a target to meet in terms of non- basic products.
We had something similar with an insurance salesman who insisted an additional policy was required in order to purchase the one we wanted.
it took me a while to get around to sorting out what was the law on this (in fact due to events it was about three years). Which was that it was a vente forcƩe and as such, illegal.
As soon as I phoned the national customer service line (not the local branch) and complained, all of the excess premiums were promptly refunded and the unwanted policy treated as though it had never existed.
If you are absolutely sure that CA Britline were trying a vente forcĆ©e sale on you then you could complain first to CA Britlineās mediator and then if still not satisfied to the industry mediator for banking.
Contact details and procedure will be in the small print of your contract, available on their website, or consumer organisationx such as Que Choisir or 60 Millions will almost certainly bave information in accessible parts of their websites. You can also google DGCRF for general guidance but they have a new name now that Iāve forgotten!
Weāve been thrashing about CA Britline since 2011 and possibly before that even. some folk have wonderful stories, some folk have awful storiesā¦ thatās how it goes as with so many things.
Personally, Iām stepping back from this thread as we now seem to be dredging the ocean floor 
@anon74724478 if you care to āsearchā for CA Britline using the āmagnifying glassā at the top of the page, you might find it interesting (there again, you might not 
)
We are a friendly forum and try to help everyone.
Perhaps youād like to explain what you are doing in France. Itās always interesting to hear a little of otherās exploits (good and bad)
cheers
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We opened a basic Britline account in 2005 to get us going when we first arrived in France. We donāt have any other services from them.
We have had excellent service from them. Having a personal advisor works for me. We have found no reason to switch to a more local bank.
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mmm. Having just won some money from Britline for signing up someone recently - not sure what you are saying exactly.
The basic banking package with Britline IS the Essentials packageā¦ They do not, or did not two months ago offer a lesser package under the Britline banner.
There is an Eco package though under the CA banner that is really the CA French online packā¦as I understood at the time, this is not, obviously, offered by Britline.
If they insisted on the Essential Package, it was only to ensure that you were with Britline. Normal sales talk, nowt wrong with thatā¦
I would counter your title regarding Britline and NOT avoid themā¦ Like a famous varnish, they do exactly what they say on the tin 
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Interesting. I quickly opened their website and it is as I remembered it. Just shows the Essential package and Premium package,
Seconded.
Britline have provided really good service to us over the past 9 years, both when non residents and since moving to France. I strongly recommend them to others who value good bilingual service, and are prepared to pay for it. The account manager we have had throughout is excellent, knowledgeable, helpful and responsive.
We use many of their services, eg home and car insurance, numerous savings products, basic banking etc. Like any organisation CA can make mistakes, but a test for me is how they rectify them, and Britline is very good at sorting out issues that have arisen, usually involving other parts of CA.
We pay just over ā¬100 pa for basic banking and a couple of cards.
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From their site āService packageā is the umbrella name for the actual types of offer available e.g. essential is one of them. No such thing as a service package as such. Choose the TYPE of service package you want. Itās all straightforward to me!
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This is there booklet of tariffs,
Can you tell me what page this incorrect info is on as I canāt see it.
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Since 1989 we/I always dealt with a local CA agency where we lived face to face, you canāt beat it actually speaking like that rather than use a phone or PC. Changing to the local branch here when I moved, I was assigned a lovely lady who has kept in touch, even rang to wish happy birthday the year before last but any problems, I just walk up there and see them on the spot. If you donāt like something, vote with your feet and go elsewhere, its not compulsory to stay
@anon74724478 , I hope youāll reconsider. Everyoneās entitled to get stuff wrong!
Even if you donāt, the opinions of the other posters will remain, as Iām sure youāll understand.
Itās in French Jane, I thought this was BRITline 