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How can communicate with http://www.leboncoin.fr/

iMacThere4iAm said:
I have noticed that many sellers on leboncoin don't respond to emails. You might have better luck if you phone them.
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I also noticed that sometimes, some sellers don't give their number, they prefer at first to see if the guys who send an email to them, are really interested... But I admit that there are many persons who never answer to the mails :mad:
 
French people in general are a bit wary about entering into enquiries with English people because of the language barrier. So if your enquiry is clearly from England even if you did it in French they will probably ignore it as they would be too embarassed they cannot reply in English. Weird I know but that is from some French friends near to us. The French also tend to pay the asking price for things and don't like people bartering which we English like to do particularly over cars. A friend of mine saw a 2CV for sale on Le Bon Coin (the good corner) sent 3 enquiries for it got no reply even though he is fluent in French and lives in France. Later he saw a neighbour with a 2 CV for sale who he had known for years and it was the same car. His neighbour realised from the style of French it was someone English and therfore didn't reply!!!. My friend bought the car so all was well in the end. City dwellers are more likely to reply than people in the country too.

Kevin (no R4 at the moment but awaiting delivery soon of a 60 year old tractor hopefully)
 
It is very fustrating, but I have bought a car from le bon, after many emails and being British I did haggle, but in a very nice way!
I always send the email in French and say I can translate their reply, but they still often get ignored.
We need a French mole to act as our agent...
 
:evil: Oh yeah - LeBonCoin - Don't ask !!! :evil:

When I was looking for a GTL earlier this Year I made my share of experiences with that site.
Over a period of 2 months I sent a lot of inquiries to different ads and almost never got a response.
(I always wrote in French, but was honest about my German origin and even offered that a French friend of ours could help with the conversation if needed.)

One ad in particular I was very interested in. It was a blue 1992 GTL with only 28k Kilometers in mint condition. The asking price was about 5K Euros.
Not cheap, but the one owner car was looking like it came directly off a showroom floor.

So I did my inquiry the exact day the ad was published. The next day I even got an answer!
It was really short and just said to call the seller. Attached have been a few additional pictures of the wonderful car!
Unfortunately calling the seller was not an option for me as I really don't speak enough french. :?
So I wrote another E-Mail in French in which I told the seller that I was willing to pay the exact price he was asking and that I would come and pick up the car with a trailer whenever we can settle a date to meet. (I even had a French speaking friend of mine proof read my E-Mails before I sent them out.)

After that I was being played along by the seller for nearly a month. (He was away on business trips, he just didn't answer, he again wanted me to call him, ...)
I even had the courage to call the guy on his mobile where I was only able to leave a message.
I did my really best here and left a message in French and to be sure, repeated everything in English.
He never called me back nore wrote another E-Mail.
I finally got the impression that he simply didn't want to sell his marvelleuse car to a German guy.

After that I had a french friend of my wife call him.
She was instructed not to tell the seller of her connection with me, just to buy the car.

What can I say - When she called the seller (it took her a few days to finally get hold of him) the car was sold since weeks!
Man I was so mad. It was the perfect car for me. Immaculate, low mileage, one owner and my favorite colour inside and outside. :mad:

After that I gave up looking on LBC completely.

Cheers,

David

P.S.
I still keep the pictures of that wonderful car. Here are just two ... :cry:
 
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Stuart Delahoy said:
It is very fustrating, but I have bought a car from le bon, after many emails and being British I did haggle, but in a very nice way!
I always send the email in French and say I can translate their reply, but they still often get ignored.
We need a French mole to act as our agent...
Click to expand...

I'm ashamed to read what you tell about french sellers :( :( I know that french people generally don't like foreign langages, they just want to sell their car as fast as possible, as simply as possible, and even... as expensive as possible :eek:

But my english friends :D :D :D let me know that I'm ready to be your "agent" if you need further informations about an ad on Le Bon Coin, it's not a joke. Even I find that very stupid, I'm also sure that if a french guy call them for informations, they will be more inclined to describe their car...

Contrary to most of these sellers, I do like english language, even I'm sure you're afraid of my mistakes :eek: If I can help some of you, it will be a pleasure, just tell me...

alexandre.jacquot0707@orange.fr

PS: David, did you receive my mail ?...
 
Hi Alexandre,

yes, thanks for your update! :D
I'm keen on seeing pictures of the freshly painted GTL of yours!

And re Alexandre's help with ads on LBC ...
He as well had tried to help me with the above mentioned GTL.
Unfortunately without luck as well.

Cheers,

David
 
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