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When my internet service went down a few months ago, I telephoned the company to arrange an appointment for the repair. After three long weeks, service was restored.

Then this came with my phone bill:

holyshit!.jpg

In France you get charged to speak to someone in ‘customer service’, at 35 centimes per minute.
Let’s say you’re on hold for 30 minutes. You get a bill for 10.21€, about $12.50.

So next time, I should…

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11 comments

    • carolg

    WOW! I bet there is absolutement rien you can do about this without experiencing extreme stress & annoyance.It helps somewhat to know that living in Paris in not all cerises. Still…

    • Chris

    So, if you call to complain about the charge would that cost you another 35 centimes per minute? Round and Round you go.

    • Marie, Paris

    You can try and send your internet provider a letter saying how upset you are about this charge, it may be that the charge will be deducted on your next bill. Believe me it is true, it works in “mon très cher Paris”.

    • ptinfrance

    you can send a registered letter to france telecom (c/o reclamation) requesting reimbursement for the amount they charged you for waiting and talking with them. they are required to pay you. many people don’t know they can do this because, well, of course they don’t want people to know! ok, so you have to PAY for a registered letter but it’s like 2 euros. (it MUST be registered or consider it ignored) good luck, david.

    • Alisa

    I have no exact experience with this exact thing, but….. Next to stomping up and down and feeling generally pissed off, my experience with France Telecom/Orange is that all goes smoother when I go into one of their offices and speak face to face with someone.

    Merde is right.

    • Alisa

    I have no exact experience with this exact thing, but….. Next to stomping up and down and feeling generally pissed off, my experience with France Telecom/Orange is that all goes smoother when I go into one of their offices and speak face to face with someone.

    Merde is right.

    • Monica

    Gosh, I hope it was a good conversation! I wonder if there are 900 numbers that don’t charge so much? At that rate, I’d owe Comcast more than the cost of my computer and television combined!

    • Diva

    In Italy, there was a unheard of little law.. that after you have had your rental phone ( the old days) for 5 years, you could REQUEST that they remove the montly rental fee from your bill.. oh yes.. and also the plugs in the wall!!! they charged you for that too, so if you didn’t know.. you could pay rental fees forever!!!!

    • Richard AB

    I don’t understand how they can charge you if you are on hold! Also its not like you broke the connection so why do you pay to call them for repair?

    Damn utilities!

    • David

    That WAS the 800 number, or the French equivalent of one. Except here, it ain’t free.

    I did try going to the internet provider’s office.
    Twice.
    The first time I waited in line for 45 minutes and didn’t even move enough to make it in the front door.

    The second time I got wise sooner and after waiting 10 minutes in the cold, I left and went to the corner café for a much-needed glass of vin rouge. Come to think of it, if I can apply for a refund, I wonder if they’ll reimburse me for the wine as well…?

    • Cindy

    Or you could have phone the 1013 and someone would have transfered you through wanadoo, then no cost at all. We (I and my co workers) are always nice to foreign people.

A

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