Rosabella does something bad in France... (1 Viewer)

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Well that was a good start. 10 miles from Dunkirk, The Rosabella munched her gearbox into oblivion. We're now camping in a garage compound on an industrial estate, where we're going to be until at least next Thursday at which point we will be relieved of 1200 Euros and sent on our way. Bon blinkin' vacance!
 

Wildman

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Really sorry to hear that, :Eeek: drink plenty of wine and pastis whilst you can still afford it and try to enjoy the rest of your holiday. I'm surprised a gearbox could be found, seems you have been lucky in an unlucky sort of way, well you know what I mean.
 

JJ

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What bad luck... I feel for you... on the plus side though... I had a replacement (second hand) gearbox fitted to the Wagon last August and it now drives like a new van...

Hope yours will be the same.

JJ

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DESCO

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What rotten luck let's hope that's the end of it.

Good luck for the rest of your trip
 

Loujess

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Crikey - you don't expect that. Really scary! I really hope the rest of your trip goes well. ::bigsmile:::bigsmile:

Ivy
 

jhorsf

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What bad luck I hope you get fixed up soon:thumb:

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hilldweller

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we will be relieved of 1200 Euros and sent on our way. Bon blinkin' vacance!

Look on the plus side - that amount would buy two a decent two weeks holiday so just one more trip and you are quids in.

Can't wait for the blog -- "the little known delights of the French industrial estate", you could start a whole new trend.
 
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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Well we're still here, in industrial Northern France, still awaiting our gearbox. The breakdown insurance people are being slippery but we have managed to get a hire car out of them.

There's a great beach here at Dunkirk and the sun has been shining so not much hardship there. Yesterday we had a trip to Paris - lunch in Les Tuilleries and dinner in Montmartre - maybe this breaking down mallarkey isn't so bad!

We should find out today whether they're going to fix it or send us home on a truck - in fact as I'm writing this K is on the phone to them. The garage can't find the chassis number so we have to head back from a retail therapy session at Decathlon to give them the V5.

It's all go on holiday in France!!

Thanks for your good thoughts.

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Dalek

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Hope you get sorted sooon and are able to enjoy your trip, spend as much money as you can then tell them after they've fitted the gearbox you aint got any ::bigsmile:. Seriously, hope all goes well I cant imagaine how you must be feeling. PS hope they aint charging you for staying!


Dale
 

Carol

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Hope it all gets sorted out for you soon and you can get on your way, a day in Paris and sunshine have got to help. Fingers crossed for a quick fix.
 

sue1959

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You should be given a standing ovation and a round of applause:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:for making the most of a bad situation.

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con-tiki

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feel for you....we were dumped at the side of a little garage when the head gasket went......Still waiting for it to be fixed (that was on the 15th....stayed a week, but had to go home) Oh well at least you are making the most of a bad situation...
 

JockandRita

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Hi TDH,

We do sympathise, having been there and done it, needing a new engine. Fortunately, we were eventually repatriated to the UK, with the MH to follow within 21 days.
Repairs and parts can be very expensive abroad, and am surprised that your insurers didn't try to repatriate you, and the MH. Did you have a choice?

Good luck with it all. :thumb:

Jock & Rita.
 
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TDH

TDH

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We really appreciate your words - thanks, and we feel for those of you who have had much worse than us.

We asked for the van and us to be repatriated right at the start of this episode last Friday. We told the breakdown insurance people that the garage would have difficulty sourcing the parts but obviously its cheaper for them if its fixed in France and they don't have to repatriate us.

There's now the question of whether or not the cost of repatriation outweighs the value of the van. I did try to tell them that they would have difficulty putting a value on it (a 1989 Tabbart FFB on a Ducato) - this morning they confirmed that they were struggling. I've told them the insurance value and they're going to get back to us.

Meanwhile I have my mechanic buddy in Perpignan looking for a second hand box down there - if necessary I'll go and get it myself. I can't believe that in the whole of France there isn't a knackered old Ducato somewhere, just waiting to be relieved of its 'boite de vittesse'.

Of course, if we were at home, our local mechanic would whip the box off and take it down the road to the bloke who fixes gearboxes. As it is, the recovery bloke here waggled the gear lever, had a look under the bonnet and pronounced that it was irrepairable and needed replacing, to be followed with the assertion that a used one was 'introuvable'.

Weather is murky today so, providing we can get the car hire extended, we're going to go and find the sun again - we had a good trip to Cassel yesterday.

I think the angels have made this happen because I was nasty to that bloke from Cornwall on the forum the other day, but just for reference, our 'freedom camping' site here is brilliant - mains hook up, as much water as we need and a great view of broken down cars being recovered from the autoroute, yesterday's highlight being a Carrera 'S' with British plate M 1 WAY. I think it is Frank Sinatra's but Kay says she doubts it.

As Brian says, the blog for this trip will be interesting, if a little short on mileage. :thumb:

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kls

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Thought I'd better add my two penn'orth, so after wrestling T to the ground to get my hands on the laptop, here goes.....

It is really encouraging to read all your comments and support, thanks everso - I can't believe all you nice people out there care enough to bother to wish us well. It gives us both a great feeling. Thanks so much.

As it's chilly and damp here today my enthusiasm is waining (or should I say as it chilly and waining here my enthusiasn is damp!) but Decathlon is proving to be one of the big up sides of our little disaster. One of our favourite outdoor shops here in France, we always make a visit, however on this trip it has become a daily occurance. It has a great internet hotspot and the loos are spotless; we're getting a little over-run with new walking socks now though!

The positive things about this trip are that it has been the longest we have stood still in the van ever. I have actually nearly finished my book, T has successfully fiddled with all kinds of knobs, pipes and switches and has made any number of new discoveries about how things work. We have had a fabulous trip to Paris, and a couple of scorching hot days lazing on the beach. We've discovered that Dunkirque is a charming old town and made the garage repair guys smile at our (apparent) English 'eccentric-ness.' One of the mechanics offered us use of the shower in the garage, 'monsieur, madame aussi' although I don't think he meant together at the same time (maybe he'd seen the photo competition from last year .... NO Jim; don't even think about it!!!:Blush:) T went to check it out and it was full of a cylinder block (whatever that is???) so we gave it a miss, the Rosabella II meeting every requirement - except the gearbox of course.

We've met a mad Belgian called Josheph who was best friends with the Queen and had a brother who should have been the Pope or something (more about him to follow in the blog)

So all in, things could be alot worse, just hope the breakdown people will call soon so that we know if it's worth chasing the sun for a couple more days. Until then we will sit, cozy in the van wondering what to explore next.

Happy days! K

PS we did a trip to Belgium yesterday, we truly are international jet setters now (we crossed the border for all of 3 minutes!):france:
 

DESCO

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Good to see you have not lost your sense of humour, and seem to be making the best of a bad job.
Your luck must change soon, I Hope!!!
 

rainbow chasers

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Congratulations....you have found the most Expensive Aire in France!::bigsmile:


As said before - it is lucky in an odd way, as they have a better parts supply - would have cost a similar amount over here most likely - and would have waited for months to find a box.

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callumwa

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Sorry to hear about your bad luck.....

But well done to you both for making the most of a bad situation......

A trip to Paris, a day in Cassels, a day in Belgium, and basking on the beach at Dunkirk just as our predecessors did 71 years ago.... certainly a bit about the Dunkirk spirit being shown by you both.

You could also try a day out at St Omer, about 45 minutes away, have lunch in the main square sitting out on a terrace watching the world go by, very pleasant. If you are having withdrawal symptoms there is a huge Decathlon on the retail park on the south side of the town....

Seriously, hope they decide and sort you out which ever way sooner rather than later...

Bonne chance et bonne fin des vacances......

Callum
 
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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Well we're home, minus The Rosabella.

Our esteemed breakdown insurers (don't want to be libellous so p-mail me for the gory details and warning!) finally decided that I was right last when I told them the day after we'd broken down that they would struggle to find parts and get the job done before our cut-off point of Monday 2nd. I did have to lose my temper with the person on the other end of the 'help' line but they did eventually sort out our journey back to the UK (great service from Enterprise car hire by the way).

So now all that remains are the trifling matters of all the agg I'm going to have to have to get the van home, (their latest gag is that if the van's value is less than the cost of repatriation then they won't do it - I asked them how they intended to put a value on a 1989 Tabbert FFB. They came back and told me they'd done it - £1000! I, naturally, put them right, pointing out that they'd actually valued it as a Ducato panel van, despite the cover being specifically for a motorhome!), and then the fun of either fniding a gearbox myself, or getting Rosie to the bloke who fixes gearboxes (any suggestions would be gratefully received).

In the meantime, we've had a reasonable time although not what we'd planned (I am thinking wryly of my previous thread about whether to go the the Med or stay in Burgundy - 10 minutes out of Dunkirque was definitely not one of the options at that time).

Thanks for all your lovely messages - Kay only cried twice, once when they told us we needed to find 2000 Euros for the repair and then again when she saw the messages on here.

We need a blinkin' holiday now!:thumb:
 
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Well we're home, minus The Rosabella.

Our esteemed breakdown insurers (don't want to be libellous so p-mail me for the gory details and warning!) finally decided that I was right last when I told them the day after we'd broken down that they would struggle to find parts and get the job done before our cut-off point of Monday 2nd. I did have to lose my temper with the person on the other end of the 'help' line but they did eventually sort out our journey back to the UK (great service from Enterprise car hire by the way).

So now all that remains are the trifling matters of all the agg I'm going to have to have to get the van home, (their latest gag is that if the van's value is less than the cost of repatriation then they won't do it - I asked them how they intended to put a value on a 1989 Tabbert FFB. They came back and told me they'd done it - £1000! I, naturally, put them right, pointing out that they'd actually valued it as a Ducato panel van, despite the cover being specifically for a motorhome!), and then the fun of either fniding a gearbox myself, or getting Rosie to the bloke who fixes gearboxes (any suggestions would be gratefully received).

In the meantime, we've had a reasonable time although not what we'd planned (I am thinking wryly of my previous thread about whether to go the the Med or stay in Burgundy - 10 minutes out of Dunkirque was definitely not one of the options at that time).

Thanks for all your lovely messages - Kay only cried twice, once when they told us we needed to find 2000 Euros for the repair and then again when she saw the messages on here.

We need a blinkin' holiday now!:thumb:

Well , may be i could be of some help.... it can't be like in a 5stars hotel but i have in my garden a caravan (not a young one but at least clean!) i use usually for my children when they come to visit me as i can't have them in the house while i am working (i am a child carer, and the housework must be done BEFORE the babies arrive early in the morning so no one can sleep in the house after 5.00am:Blush:).
If you can manage to get a plane to Toulouse , i would be delighted to pick you up at the airport and offer you some free holidays..... the ball is in your hand ...:winky: (Oh BTW i am in england all august so can't be at that moment)



Amicalement


Frankie:Smile::Smile::Smile:

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TDH

TDH

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Well , may be i could be of some help.... it can't be like in a 5stars hotel but i have in my garden a caravan (not a young one but at least clean!) i use usually for my children when they come to visit me as i can't have them in the house while i am working (i am a child carer, and the housework must be done BEFORE the babies arrive early in the morning so no one can sleep in the house after 5.00am:Blush:).
If you can manage to get a plane to Toulouse , i would be delighted to pick you up at the airport and offer you some free holidays..... the ball is in your hand ...:winky: (Oh BTW i am in england all august so can't be at that moment)



Amicalement


Frankie:Smile::Smile::Smile:

Frankie, that is so lovely of you, thank you so much. We may take you up on your offer later in the summer.

Meanwhile, where are you heading for in the UK. My house is perfect as a holiday base for beautiful Shropshire and Mid-Wales and we'd be really happy to welcome you.

T&K
 
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Many things have changed since i planned to come to the UK. Main thing is that i'll be unemployed from september to .... hopefully not later than January or i will have to find a way to eat and pay the bills. Anyway, i was about to cancel the whole travel but Roger (wildman) and Cheyne and Lynne and Steve (salopian) made me change my mind . Instead of driving to the UK i'll be flying.Then Steve has offered to be my private chauffeur::bigsmile:::bigsmile: (that is sooooooo cute, thanks again steve!) . We have planned a few things already but all isn't settled. I am waiting for Steve's agrement to a few plans. All i can say is that we will be going through Shrewsbury for at least 3 days. And we'll be in Devon at Roger's place from the 17th to the 21st .Ho and i'll be staying at old mo's for a week or so!

Thanks for the offer.... who knows , may be we'll be near you and pop in for a cuppa!!!::bigsmile::winky:

I'll be back home on the 29th of august.


Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:
 
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TDH

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Many things have changed since i planned to come to the UK. Main thing is that i'll be unemployed from september to .... hopefully not later than January or i will have to find a way to eat and pay the bills. Anyway, i was about to cancel the whole travel but Roger (wildman) and Cheyne and Lynne and Steve (salopian) made me change my mind . Instead of driving to the UK i'll be flying.Then Steve has offered to be my private chauffeur::bigsmile:::bigsmile: (that is sooooooo cute, thanks again steve!) . We have planned a few things already but all isn't settled. I am waiting for Steve's agrement to a few plans. All i can say is that we will be going through Shrewsbury for at least 3 days. And we'll be in Devon at Roger's place from the 17th to the 21st .Ho and i'll be staying at old mo's for a week or so!

Thanks for the offer.... who knows , may be we'll be near you and pop in for a cuppa!!!::bigsmile::winky:

I'll be back home on the 29th of august.


Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:

Well you'll definitely be near me in Shrewsbury because that's more or less where I live! I'll talk to Steve and see if we can get together.

T

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Jun 30, 2010
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Hello from the Cornish Nasty:Blush: Am I right in thinking you have the same G/Box as a Talbot of like vintage? If so you might, if repatriated, want to give Derek at delfindesigns.co.uk a buzz or a squizz, he has recon boxes there at his place, I asked four years ago and was quoted £600, not a clue what they are now.

his phoneW/Shop 01258 857474 office 01202840749 mobile 0771 801 6070
 
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TDH

TDH

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Thanks for that rangtira. I'm not sure - I'm trying to check it out at the mo. I know my previous Ducato, which was a bit younger and had a completely different body shape, seemed to be more or less interchangeable with Talbot, Peugeot and Renault. Thanks for the pointer - his name has cropped up on the Fiat forum.

Cheers.:thumb:
 

JockandRita

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It is so refreshing to have read the previous five posts, (before Rangrita's), where folks are helping each other out, by either meeting up, picking up, accommodating, taxi-ing, or all of that. :thumb:

It's very friendly indeed, and a pleasure to be a part of. :Smile:

TDH, apart from location, your situation is almost a mirror image of ours. You'll find yourself dealing with insurance numpties, who will wonder why you did not take all your personal belongings with you when you left the vehicle. I said to one girl, "at your coastal location, do you know what a static caravan, or a holiday park home is"? She replied, "of course I do". "Well then", I informed her, "our motorhome is one of those with wheels on, and an engine in it. Would you normally expect to get everything in a couple of carrier bags and a small rucksack?
She then began to see some logic, although she couldn't figure out why we didn't travel with suitcases. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

BTW, twice now, the MH has been recovered back to the UK on a low loader, via Euro Assist, and on both occasions, absolutely nothing went missing, nor any damage caused by the transportation. :thumb:

I really hope that you are able to sort things out to your satisfaction, at the very least.

Cheers,


Jock.

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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Thanks Jock & Rita. Yes, in my head I'd already had that conversation with the insurance woman (about the van being full of our personal belongings).

The good news is that I've just had a call from them to say its on its way home with no more daft questions about valuation, and our local mechanical whizz bloke has said that he's pretty sure he'll be able to get us back on the road relatively quickly (one of the advantages of living in a rural area is that everybody seems used to keeping vehicles going for as long as possible, and the bigger the better!!)

Just looking again at your previous post on here, no, weren't given a choice by the breakdown insurance people. They were determined that if it could be fixed, it would be, regardless of the expense to me, obviously because it would be a cost to them to transport it home. I did say to them, right from the start, that I could get the job done for half the price the garage in France were eventually quoting, but they weren't interested (which led me to some pretty dark conclusions about the possibilities for collusion between the insurance company and the garage - although having said that, we got on pretty well with the mechanics at the garage and I had said to them that I wanted the vehicle home, so maybe they were acting in my interests when they told the insurance company that they couldn't find the parts or effect the repair).

I also told them (the insurance company) from the start that they would eventually end up bringing it home, simply because, with the bank holidays also applying in France, the work couldn't be done in the time available.

And, until last Friday, it wasn't made obvious to us that we could have elected to go home at the start of this episode as foot passengers. Again, a bit of money saving on the part of the insurance company - they would have had to pay for our fares and hire car (which they have now had to do anyway), and for one of us to go back to France to collect The Rosabella should she get fixed.

Once I shouted at the poor woman on the other end of the helpline the service improved immeasurably, in fact, I can't fault it from that point on. Isn't it a pain in the a** that we have to do that in order to get the service we've been paying for?:Angry:
 

DESCO

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Hope all goes well from now on.

Can also recommend Delfindesigns not from personnel use but from other forum users, if you get problems, they could be worth a try.
Lets hope once the van gets home that you can get it sorted and you will be back on the road again.

Best of luck
 

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