10 June 2022

Daylight in Paris - 6

Here's another pair of daytime and nighttime photos. It's the pizzeria on the corner of
the boulevard St-Germain and the rue de Cluny in the Quartier Latin where I've had dinners
a few times when staying overnight in Paris in advance of flying out to the U.S. the next day.


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Yesterday I finally decided that it was time to call our delinquent contractor's bluff. We signed his bid for the job of re-tiling and renovating our terrasse (front deck) and our garden shed in December of 2020 — 18 months ago — and sent him a check for 1,958 euros (about 2,000 USD) as a first payment. Then we had no news for more than a year, despite calling his office half a dozen times. About 6 weeks ago, he stopped by, had a look at the house and garden shed again, and promised us that all the work would be done avant l'été (before summer). Then he dropped out of sight again.

So yesterday I told Walt I had decided to go to the bank early next week and ask to have payment stopped on that check, which has not been cashed or deposited by the contractor. Then we'd start looking for somebody else to do the job. And we'd have use of the deck this summer. We would be able to put the patio furniture back out there, as well as some potted plants and a cabinet we use for storing pots, gardening tools, and other odds and ends. For far too long all that stuff has been cluttering up our garage.

This morning I did some quick and dirty research on the internet to see what steps I'd have to take in order to have payment on the check stopped. It appears to be impossible. The only justification for stopping payment (y faire opposition) on a French check is if it has been stolen or lost. In that case, if somebody sends the check through fraudulently, the bank will give you the money back and pursue whoever cashed it. I think I've understood that right. I still have to go the bank and ask for confirmation.

At the same time, I read on the internet that in France a check is valid and will be honored by the bank until a total of one year and one week has passed after the date it was written. Therefore, I believe that the check we sent the contractor 18 months ago is now null and void. Again, I have to get confirmation from the bank. If it really is no longer valid, we are free to start looking for a different contractor.

10 comments:

  1. I hope you have satisfaction regarding that deposit. But what a shame you now have to find a contractor.

    I love these comparison photos.

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    1. The delinquent contractor (a roofer/mason) lives about three miles from us and has a good reputation around the area. I don't know why he keeps putting us off. If I find out that the check we sent him 18 months ago really has expire and won't be honored, then we can start looking for somebody else. If the one with the check shows up and says we need to give him a new check... well, I don't think I can trust him any more. He'd probably just disappear again.

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    2. Have you had problems like this in Spain, I wonder.

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    3. We’ve been very lucky here and have never had a problem with a contractor. I can’t say the same for other places we’ve lived. Palm Springs was a nightmare. We have no more work to be done, so I don’t know if things would still be easy as they were pre-pandemic. I’m so glad that check can’t be cashed. Wishing you much better luck. (It’s even more unpleasant when it’s someone who lives nearby.)

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  2. I was taking lessons from someone - giving them a check each time and she didn't cash them. I called and talked to her husband several times to remind her to cash the checks - after several warnings we went to the bank and voided them. We live near Seattle so American rules. I think there is also a time limit here for them being cashable.

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    Replies
    1. We worry that if we tell the contractor we want the check back, he'll run to the bank and deposit or cash it.

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  3. Yes, it's time to move on. Sorry that this guy never showed up, fingers crossed that you can find another contractor soon.

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    Replies
    1. Our new neighbor just had some deck/masonry work done. I need to ask him who the contractor was.

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  4. Such an odd thing this is... I could think of it as a scam, if the man had cashed the check, but, since he hasn't, why on earth does he keep putting you off!

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    Replies
    1. None of it makes any sense. When we call him, we get his wife on the phone. She just says she'll give him the message. He never calls back. It's just a huge waste of time. All our home improvement projects have been on hold for 18 months because of this man. The only thing I can imagine is that the Saint-Aignan area is building and developing so rapidly right now, because of the Beauval "zoopark," that the contractor must have so many larger, higher-paying contracts that we are of no interest to him.

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What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?