Beware in case your Sat Nav has a 'funny turn' in France ... ! (1 Viewer)

[Minxy]

Having stayed at Cite Europe for the night we got up early to get to Eurotunnel and hopefully get on an earlier crossing than planned (9.20 am booked) but our sat nav (aka the b*tch from hell) decided she was having none of it and gave us the 'run around' quite literally with a tour of parts of Eurotunnel not normally seen by mere mortals!

The 'BfH' decided that we were much bigger than we were and directed us to the 'freight' check-in, having never gone the way she'd directed us before, and with a lot of work being done on the road system with a few diversions etc in place, we didn't know if it was right or wrong so duly toddled along ... BIG MISTAKE ... now don't get me wrong, I quite like seeing 'new' things but the sight of some truckers in a morning scratching their nether regions and others trying to 'squish' us between their trucks was not my idea of fun, especially before 8.00 am! After some 'misdirection' from 'helpers' we eventually ended up going back to virtually where we started from and set off in another direction, ignoring the sat nav totally and just going by the Eurotunnel signs (which themselves are not great!) and eventually got to the right place ... about 30 mins later than planned!

Add to this that we still had the dogs to get checked-in as a Eurotunnel Pet Passport 'madam' had refused to do it the previous tea-time despite our protests that we'd done it before without difficulty, so being further delayed by the fl*ming sat nav was annoying to say the least! The PP 'monsieur' who we then saw was much nicer and couldn't understand why we'd been refused the previous day, fortunately we were still able to get an earlier crossing at 8.50 am.

So, my advice would be to follow the ET signs and totally IGNORE your sat nav as it could be related to our 'BfH' ... I still can't get the image of 'itchy' French truck drivers out of my brain!!!!

 

[Reallyretired]

I am a fan of sat navs and normally have 3 running in the mh (snooper, tomtom and chinese). I still read the road signs though, I wouldn't expect a satnav to tell me which way to go at tunnel/ferry terminal.

 

[Yorick]

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[Minxy]

I am a fan of sat navs and normally have 3 running in the mh (snooper, tomtom and chinese). I still read the road signs though, I wouldn't expect a satnav to tell me which way to go at tunnel/ferry terminal.

Never had a problem previously on the numerous occasions we've followed it ... obviously it didn't want to come home!

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

Can you tell the BFH that you are a car? I've always thought that using a truck type Sat Nav could end you up with the truckers

 

[iandsm]

Never had trouble with our Garmin or our previous Tom-tom, both told us what exit to take of the main road and took us straight to check in. Presumably your satnav found its way to the pet check in the previous night when you tried to check the dog in early, Perhaps the following morning it just couldn't find its way back, through the diversions.

Haven't bothered to try to get the dog checked in the night before, doubt we ever will, its only ten minutes, even less early morning when they re not busy.

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[Hollyberry]

You have my sympathy. B***** satnavs.

My daughter forgot to give me back my Snooper so I used my retired TomTom. Always loved it, until yesterday.
Brought me a different way from the New Forest, through lanes, streets and across narrow stone bridges I'd never seen before. OK, the huge crawling traffic near Poole wasn't its fault, nor the fire at Chideock that delayed the traffic, but 5 and a half hours to get home left me a screeching wreck.

 

[Minxy]

Never had trouble with our Garmin or our previous Tom-tom, both told us what exit to take of the main road and took us straight to check in. Presumably your satnav found its way to the pet check in the previous night when you tried to check the dog in early, Perhaps the following morning it just couldn't find its way back, through the diversions.

Yes the sat nav had no problem getting us to Eurotunnel the previous day off the main motorway, but for some reason had a major paddy with starting at Cite Europe.

Haven't bothered to try to get the dog checked in the night before, doubt we ever will, its only ten minutes, even less early morning when they re not busy.

We do this for 2 reasons, if we want to try to get an earlier crossing, ie that night instead of our morning one, it's worth a go (not that we wanted to this time) and also if there is a problem with the dog check for any reason there's time to sort it out and not risk missing our booked crossing.

 

[chaser]

This not in anyway a critisisim or put down , but why would you even switch a satnav on from cite europe to the tunnel, it's only over the fence, around a few corners and freight and passenger are signposted from the entrance.

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[Minxy]

This not in anyway a critisisim or put down , but why would you even switch a satnav on from cite europe to the tunnel, it's only over the fence, around a few corners and freight and passenger are signposted from the entrance.

Because 'hubby' likes to use it ... (I think he fancies her!) ...

 

[Coolbeanz]

Having stayed at Cite Europe for the night we got up early to get to Eurotunnel and hopefully get on an earlier crossing than planned (9.20 am booked) but our sat nav (aka the b*tch from hell) decided she was having none of it and gave us the 'run around' quite literally with a tour of parts of Eurotunnel not normally seen by mere mortals!

The 'BfH' decided that we were much bigger than we were and directed us to the 'freight' check-in, having never gone the way she'd directed us before, and with a lot of work being done on the road system with a few diversions etc in place, we didn't know if it was right or wrong so duly toddled along ... BIG MISTAKE ... now don't get me wrong, I quite like seeing 'new' things but the sight of some truckers in a morning scratching their nether regions and others trying to 'squish' us between their trucks was not my idea of fun, especially before 8.00 am! After some 'misdirection' from 'helpers' we eventually ended up going back to virtually where we started from and set off in another direction, ignoring the sat nav totally and just going by the Eurotunnel signs (which themselves are not great!) and eventually got to the right place ... about 30 mins later than planned!

Add to this that we still had the dogs to get checked-in as a Eurotunnel Pet Passport 'madam' had refused to do it the previous tea-time despite our protests that we'd done it before without difficulty, so being further delayed by the fl*ming sat nav was annoying to say the least! The PP 'monsieur' who we then saw was much nicer and couldn't understand why we'd been refused the previous day, fortunately we were still able to get an earlier crossing at 8.50 am.

So, my advice would be to follow the ET signs and totally IGNORE your sat nav as it could be related to our 'BfH' ... I still can't get the image of 'itchy' French truck drivers out of my brain!!!!

I feel your pain. Our satnavs are obviously twins separated at birth judging by the really random circuitous route ours recently took us on. Unfortunately it had always been so reliable I didn't check the route on the map!! Lesson learnt after an additional 60 miles and 90 minutes of driving

 

[chaser]

Because 'hubby' likes to use it ... (I think he fancies her!) ...

To be honest I've never had a sat nav that would know any of the roads around there, the entrance would be about as far as mine would go.

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[Eeyore]

This not in anyway a critisisim or put down , but why would you even switch a satnav on from cite europe to the tunnel, it's only over the fence, around a few corners and freight and passenger are signposted from the entrance.

This is true going from the tunnel arrival point to the cité parking but not going in the opposite direction. For that you have to go back onto the autoroute and follow the signs.

The first time we used did it from cite to tunnel booking in our sat nav did it perfectly but we doubted her most of the way as we did not feel it was right to go back on the motorway when we could see check in from where we had spent the night.

 

[bobandjanie]

Oh no and there's us at City of Europe catching the 9.20 train in the morning.

I will add Mel, our sat nav is female and she tells me about speed camera's, and half the time doesn't tell Janie when she is driving, might be because she calls her bitch.
Janie is driving tomorrow ! . Bob.

 

[Chockswahay]

Crikey. we had a similar thing with our stupid sat nav at City Europe last week. 'She' tried to send us on a nine mile jolly all around the houses! I thought that'll teach me for not having a proper sat nav!

We decided to just follow the ET signs instead............... stupid sat nav!!!!!!

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[mariner]

My Becker sat nav, took me to the freight terminal last week, at Santurtzi/Bilbao, which is a considerable distance from the Brittany Ferries terminal.
Fortunately a very kind Spanish chap, spotted our plight and led us to the right place in his car.
He pointed us to the correct gate and then drove off, before I could thank him properly.

 

[magicsurfbus]

If you've got a TomTom that reports traffic conditions, the tales they tell you in France are often pure fiction. Long stretches of Autoroute highlighted in orange but with no obstructions.

Accurate to within 50 yards here though.

 

[makems]

There are often verbal disagreements in our van when approaching ferry terminals and the like.
Our pilot (Gwen) likes to believe that the SatNav is always right.
Our navigator (me) tends to believe that roads in ferry terminals get moved around at whim and the only reliable way to find your way about is to follow the signs.
Frequently the two approaches come into conflict but we usually get there without resorting to fighting.

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[Puddleduck]

Ours is called "The Strict Lady" or in the privacy of my own thoughts "Miss Whiplash" as she is so authoritative!

Love my daughter's bf's satnav..... when on a new road not in it's database it says "Get back on the road immediately" always makes me laugh out loud.

 

[Mr Colpot]

Ours is an Aussie Girl who doesnt like France - whenever we get off the train in Calais it doesnt matter where we are going she wants me to get back on the train. Also she has decided that the speed limit for Bessie on the Motorways in France is 90kph. I tend to stick with what she is telling as the attention grabbing "bing" gets a bit tedious otherwise.