For payments in France I prefer traveller's cheques in Euros (available
from American Express and many larger banks). I write on the back of each
"For Deposit Only By [name of person]". On the front, after writing in the
payee's name, I put two parallel diagonal lines about an inch apart, so
the cheques can only be deposited. I find that I get the cheques at a very
good rate of exchange, the payee has no bank charges and the cheques are
completely traceable by the issuing company. If a person claims they never
received them, you place a claim for missing cheques. You either get a
full replacement or a photocopy of the endorsed and deposited cheques! I
also make photocopies of the fronts of each cheque before and after
signing them for my records.
If you are dealing with a reputable person there will be no problems.
Cliff
C.J. Scheiner
NYC, NY USA
--------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 16:44:41 -0500
> From: "dan polito" <thepandle@hotmail.com>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]sending money order to France?
> all-
> i know there are some folks here who do bike business with people in
> france regularly. i have mailed cash there previously, and had no
> trouble. however, i am about to send my first substantial amount of
> money to somebody there (for an appropriate on-topic item, of course).
> i am going to send an international money order, but have never done
> that before. i would like to avoid western union, as i have had
> problems with them in the past. if possible, i'd like for something to
> work similar to the way a domestic money order works from the USPS
> (i.e. i get a certified check and then can just mail that off, the
> seller then just can deposit that). i checked on the USPS website, and
> their international money orders are not accepted in france. any
> suggestions are encouraged.
>
> please advise
> thank you
> dan polito
> bloomington, indiana