Notaires and email

[Hotrodder]

I was wondering if others have trouble getting a response from Notaires via email. I have tried getting a response using the email addresses shown on their websites and they either bounce back as undeliverable or there is no response at all. I am trying an ever increasing spiral from where I live to find an English speaking one to talk us through a will. There seems to be a general reluctance to embrace email as a means of 21st century communication. I got a reminder for my van C.T. recently through the post that says I can make a RDV with my local test centre online (one of a national group). So I went to the site only to find there is no email address or messaging function. Had to drive there.

[Antonia]

If the message is undeliverable have a look and see if there might be an obvious error in it ( .com instead of .fr for example ). I have found that, even after all these years, the french are very lapse when is comes to correctly transcribing email addresses. It's as if they think there is some sort of electronic postman online standing by to interpret their mistakes and deliver their messages regardless. During lockdown I received home assignments for a seven year old for weeks because his parents have given the teacher the wrong address. I ended up figuring it out myself ( see above ) and informing the teacher accordingly.

[Hotrodder]

No error in the addresses. I copy and paste direct from the websites.
Just one more thing to beat my head against that should be very easy.

[exile]

No error in the addresses. I copy and paste direct from the websites.
Just one more thing to beat my head against that should be very easy.

Something to watch when copy and pasting is that you do not accidentally include a full stop in the address: for example

Notre email est notaire.anytown@orange.fr.

Copy the full stop and it won't work.

[suein56]

I have found that Notaires - or their employés - will communicate by email with you if you have an existing/ongoing dialogue with them : for example you are buying a house and have a query and you can't telephone because it is out of hours.

Otherwise best to ring and make an appointment to ask if they can help ..advice is usually free but there will be a charge if a dossier is opened.

Otherwise have you thought of asking a translator ? Or is that unthinkable in the case of a will ?

[Hotrodder]

I don't mind using a translator. The problem is getting ANY notaire to respond. Perhaps using a translator to make an initial phone call to arrange the RDV with the notaire that claims to speak English. I'm getting past giving a damn.

[Antonia]

Have you tried using the notaires.fr website to find one? You can pop in a postcode & required languages and it'll give you a list with contact details including email addresses via their own server. We used it to find an English speaking notaire to check out our marriage regime although I can't remember whether or not I made the first contact by email or phone.

[Hotrodder]

That was the very first approach I tried. In fact three of the addresses shown on that site come back with the message:
"<reception.22069@notaires.fr>: host smtp.adsn.gmessaging.net[194.2.205.71]
said: 550 5.1.1 <reception.22069@notaires.fr>: Recipient address rejected:
User unknown in relay recipient table (in reply to RCPT TO command)"
And more equally useless information in the same vein.

I have been combing general Notaires associated sites and managed to find one with a (hopefully) functioning website messaging system. I have tried that one with two different email addresses and will wait and see.

Deja vu: I had the same problem trying to get my fosse emptied several weeks ago. The firm that has been doing it for years appeared to have changed its name twice and I tried using old emails (confirmation of RDV) as sources of contact for new RDV but none of them worked. Its as if the people that sent them no longer work there so their addresses are not recognised. The company's website offers no email addresses. I even tried to find the CEO of the head office and the Careers office to hit the target but had to give it up in the end and go with another local firm that charge €60 more to empty it. Thank Dog I don't have to do all this on a smartphone.

[Hotrodder]

Update: Just managed to get a reply from a Notaire. RDV successfully booked for the 21st. After bombarding this one with half a dozen emails I tried a different address from my usual one. It hit the target!
Maybe my usual one has been finding its way into a spam folder or something.