Tuesday, December 30, 2014

.PARIS - the most affordable address in Paris

The city site states

and: "Since June 4th 2014, 100 ambassadors have been the trailblazers of .paris: during six months, these brands, institutions, associations, businesses, start-ups, bloggers selected by the City of Paris will be using their .paris web address exclusively. 

Starting December 2, 2014, all those who love Paris will be able to get their own .paris domain name! Anyone with a geographic, cultural or emotional link with Paris can apply for a domain name under the .paris extension through an accredited registrar. 

A new page in the history of Paris is being written."

When I saw this ad I got excited and immediately thought it would be cool to have this as an address. I also thought "what a cool gift idea for my niece, named Paris" and got her two domains. While she won't be using them right away, at least I've secured them for her. And, as we know, oftentimes, the early bird get the good domain worm...er...address.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

The French Poste sucks .com

There are days when I feel Federal systems and institutions are working smoothly. I'm pleased with the fact that okay--I live in the 21st Century and modern-life is working well.

Yesterday was not one of those days. 

We are spending Christmas in Le Havre at my Mother-in-Law's. Well, technically we are in a quaint village just on the Northern border of Le Havre, Sainte Adresse. My mother, who should be a poster-child for Hallmark, sent all her gifts for myself, my husband and our son to my MIL's several weeks ago. My mother buys cards for everyone's birthday, anniversaries and holidays for the whole month, a month in advance. She signs them and gets my step-father to sign them too. She gets them in the envelopes, puts the date on which she needs to mail them in the stamp corner, and then leaves them in the "letter/key" box by the garage door to mail when they're supposed to go.

So, I knew she made an extra effort to get all our Christmas gifts to us at this "new" address.  

On December 23 a Postal Carrier left a notice at MIL's that they passed by. My husband and I went to the post office after 11:00 on December 24. The ladies working said there were no packages. The carriers who have the packages stopped by but only dropped off all the lettres recommandées (registered letters). They said, "Check back on Friday after 11am." 

Now, I know I'm not the most important person to the French postal system, and how are they supposed to know what's a Christmas gift from a grandmother ("important") and what's just a "regular" package. 

But this development was really super frustrating. This was one of those moments where it just was a series of "innocent" events that spiraled into my feeling that our modern world and systems were in a big failure! I know there are more important things in life, and I know my son will not want for gifts...but I also know my mother makes a huge effort to have these gifts arrive EARLY and so I was really disappointed.

Of course, for me, Christmas is not about gifts. It's about sharing time with family. And of course, there is the whole "Jesus is the reason for the season" aspect. I just felt bad for my mother...and so we'll head on over to la poste on Friday and present the presents in Paris (with all the other gifts I'd left for my son "from Santa"!)

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

SNCF - an eco solution

While I will not have any use for this service, I thought what one of the major French commuter railway lines is doing during travaux is an excellent example business-savvy, smart and ecological customer service.

The SNCF is doing construction on part of its rail line. And as a solution it is offering a payment system for people who utilize a carpool service.

The ad says you simply fill out your projected travel date and time, then offer your car up as a carpool option. When other people sign up to be in your carpool, you supply a code that's given and SNCF will pay you the price of that extra passenger.

Nifty. And practical for this holiday season!


Monday, December 08, 2014

Online shopping angst: part 1

Online shopping in France can be simple like anywhere else, or it can be fear-inducing!

Today's example is with La Grand Recre. I have an account with my local store, but don't have an actual "carte fidelitie." I was trying out a new feature they began offering a few weeks ago where you can order online and then pick up in the store. Simple enough and very common in the USA.

However since I never got a fidelity card, I didn't know what my actual client number was to enter in my purchase order (for the eventual points one gets with purchase). (problem #1: no card given to clients for knowing their own client number)

So I called the main hotline number. They don't have this sort of information. It's stored locally at the store. (problem #2: no central database of client numbers)

I called my local store. The man who answered interrogated me when I asked if I could get my client number. "Mais Pourquoi?!" (But Why?!) He asked me at least three times in an increasingly hostile tone, as in "why would you, the client, ever want your Client Number? And if you do, it certainly must be for some evil, illicit reason?!" (problem #3: accusatory, aggressive salesperson)

Heart racing, I stammered the truth, praying that my answer will be satisfactory and that he won't scream at me or tell me "no you can't have it, madame, that's private information," "I'd like to purchase something online, on  your store on the internet, and I don't have my client number."

"Hold on."

Sounds of shuffling, someone walking..."bonjour"..., more walking, door opening, "clunk!"

A few seconds later he picks up the phone and we go though the process of finding my account number based on my last name. We run into confusion because I can never remember where I use my maiden name, married name or a jumble of combinations. :/  He finds my record finally and reads me my number

Enfin! Voila! Now I can go about my purchase!

* UPDATE: After I purchased the item I wanted to record my client number somewhere offline (like an excel file) for future use. Guess what? The client account number is NO WHERE on their site!!(problem #4: no full client information, ex. account number) 

* UPDATE #2: A week later I had to go into the store to retrieve said purchase. It was stored in the back room and I got to see the back office.

Friday, December 05, 2014

Online shopping: part 1a

Over the past weekend my husband and I tried to barrel through the majority of our holiday shopping.

Since we have a 5-year old son, a large part of our shopping was with a major toy retailer in France, La Grand Recre. Sadly, for a large part of the morning, their site was inaccessible.


Tough break during this holiday rush!