I have to say that foreigners are often taken advantage of in France - there is still the stereotype of the "rich British tourists" who are driving up housing prices and driving the young, French couples out of the market. Like most stereotypes, there's probably a grain of truth there, too.

But there's also a reason that the French tend to rely on the old networking approach to hiring tradesmen - a friend of a friend kind of thing. We're rather fortunate to have a guy in the building trades living across the street from us. What he can't do himself, he recommends one of the people he works with. If there's an attempted rip-off, "we know where he lives" (though I doubt we'd run into such a thing). Even worse, his kids would get cut off from donkey rides!

I suppose it's one of those things here in France that is a double edged sword - demonstrates what a tight knit community the French rely on, but it does kind of limit your range of choice.
Cheers,
Bev