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17/11/2007, 7:47 Georgina Joined on 23/08/2004 29 Posts 599 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Yes when I had some windows done, one French artisan did not even ask for any money until a month after the job when we got the invoice.  I went round to his house to give him the cheque I was so impressed. The ones where I have paid a deposit have always been hard to nail down to start or finish the job. Georgina    Report

17/11/2007, 8:17 Chas Joined on 23/08/2004 Mortagne sur Gironde, 17 Posts 311 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Our experience with both the builder and carpenter that we used on moving into our house some seven years ago was that far from seeking a deposit it was difficult to get them to come up with a final bill.  Both were local tradesmen and came highly recommended by our neighbour.  We offered a deposit but got a "we have done no work yet, why should you give us money" type of response. Estimates were comprehensive and offered a choice of solutions for some of the work.  It was a while before we were slotted into the programme but once started work progressed until completion, with no undue delays. Our main concern then was that despite our queries it was some months before the bills were presented. Both brought the bill personally and we sat down over a drink to go through it and write the cheque for payment. In the case of the carpenter he also brought us a very nice bottle of St Emilion because he thought we would like it. Perhaps we were lucky, but having heard some horror stories it was for us a great introduction to France and a good experience all round. Chas 17    Report

18/01/2008, 14:33 happyinfrance Joined on 18/01/2008 Posts 1 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Oh dear.. As a registered artisan in France , I always ask for a minimum of 50% of the devis or the cost of materials up front. There are several sides to every argument but as the old joke goes "I have an agreement with my bank, they don't do building works and I don't lend money" Some projects can involve up to 15,000 euros worth of materials which I have to purchase, and bitter experience has taught me to get paid for the materials before starting work. If I get stitched for the labour then c'est la vie, but my suppliers want paying promptly for the bits and are not very sympathetic to late payment. Most house renovation projects in France seem to take a year or more to complete, and the local supermarket won't give me food on credit for 12 months. The various bodies removing large sums of money from my bank account every month (social security charges, donations to the french national debt etc etc) also won't wait. Small jobs no problem, labour only no problem, but please have some sympathy for the small businesses who need to keep the cash flowing    Report

18/01/2008, 21:51 sharkhunter Joined on 20/11/2004 24 riberac Posts 270 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France happyinfrance, those are my sentiments exactly, in fact my wife wont even give me credit. Bills money up front or no dinner www.renovations24dordogne.com    Report

20/01/2008, 20:55 savvysarthe Joined on 05/10/2004 England and France Posts 37 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Hi all, I can see both sides of the story. However, we always ask for a deposit as the type of work we do necessitates the advanced purchase of materials and equipment, some of which is quite expensive. Artisans cannot afford to cover this materials cost from their own pockets or we would have no income at all. To agree a devis and take a deposit and then not honour the agreement is disgusting and that kind of practice is damaging for us honest people who are just trying to make a living in a country that often makes it hard for the little people. I don't know what the answer is.......i know that you can contact the Chambre de Metiers and they can do something on your behalf if the artisan is registered (which he should be). We have assurance decenalle, which protects our clients from poor workmanship once the job is complete, and i am quite sure all of our clients have taken out a similar insurance on the job. However, i am not sure if either insurance cover the homeowner for artisans not turning up. I suppose the best solution is to get everything written into the devis which should be signed by both parties, at least it is a binding contract and you know where you stand. Bonne chance toutes le mond....    Report

21/01/2008, 22:00 Macker Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 123 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France I think this topic harks back to that age old discussion, as old as forums themselves - i.e. To use English or French workers. There is a strong thread throughout all these forums supporting the use of natives over English and undoubtedly a certain amount of snobbery that goes along with employing a French 'Artisan' instead of an English 'tradesman'. It might mean months or years of waiting, never knowing when the 'artisan' will turn up at a moments notice, do a half a days work and then dissapear for another few months before returning to finish the job and finally presenting you with a facture but never mind, it's all part of the charm of moving to France! Funnily enough, if it happened in England the same clients would be on the phone to 'Watchdog' within a week and writing furious letters to the local 'Handjob Advertiser' moaning about their lack of service. We ask for a 10% deposit upon acceptance of devis and 30% when materials are delivered on site and work commences and that still does not nearly cover our costs so we are running just as much a risk as the client. We make no profit until the job is finished and the final payment is paid so it is in our interests to always respond to the clients and make sure the work is completed on schedule or near enough. As Happy and Shark have said we cannot afford to finance your project for you for the first few months and why should we be expected to anyway? Luckily most of our clients appreciate the service we offer and have no qualms about our terms of payment and we also have good relations with our French competitors who regularly come over to check out the latest gizmos that we are offering our clients. And have a verre or two of course... www.vendeepools.com    Report

21/01/2008, 22:24 Anton Redman Joined on 23/08/2004 Gironde Posts 1,925 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France I still do not understand it. For materials which are unique to the job, slate work surfaces for example, make the client order them and pay whatever the manufacturers want. For other works and materials agree when the work will be done and send photographs on Friday and get paid on Monday by bank transfer . On that basis you are exposed for a 10 days work and materials. " We ask for a 10% deposit upon acceptance of devis and 30% when materials are delivered on site and work commences and that still does not nearly cover our costs so we are running just as much a risk as the client. " 10 % on estimate I might sign up for. I still do not understand why you cannot structure stage payments based on work completed    Report

22/01/2008, 17:08 Nick Trollope Joined on 23/08/2004 Broons, Dept 22 Posts 2,451 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France  Anton Redman wrote: I still do not understand it. For materials which are unique to the job, slate work surfaces for example, make the client order them and pay whatever the manufacturers want. Because we need to make a profit on the materials supplied, too. After all we must guarantee them for 10 years.   Nick www.aplaceinfrance.com    Report

22/01/2008, 17:31 Catalpa Joined on 23/08/2004 Southern Manche - 50 Posts 1,458 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Putting aside the price uplift for advising on / sourcing an item, if (in the case of work surfaces) you haven't supplied them, would you responsible for the 10 year guarantee? I'm reasoning that in the case of worktops, you'd be responsible for the quality of the fitting but not the worktops themselves.    Report

23/01/2008, 7:08 Nick Trollope Joined on 23/08/2004 Broons, Dept 22 Posts 2,451 Re: Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France Dunno, don't do worktops... Other than that it is a grey area I guess. I get asked to fit heaters that people have bought from BricoDepot at 1/3rd of the price I pay - I generally refuse to do them as they won't last 10 years and they may well come back to bite me... Last man in, and all that.   Nick www.aplaceinfrance.com    Report

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France Forum » Owning/Running ... » French Artisans » Be prepared to pay a deposit if you want work done in France

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