Advice please (1 Viewer)

Simon Welham

Free Member
Apr 17, 2018
4
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53,409
Hi,
Just returned from 10 days touring the south of France in a hired motorhome (we're awaiting delivery of our own) and had an unfortunate incident in unfriendly Cannes!
We stopped off at a Carrefour market in a business/retail park, which had two entrances from a roundabout - one through the fuel forecourt with a 3.5 meter barrier (we were 3 meters) the other via a single track road with no height restriction.
Once in a very tight car park a third 'exit' appeared through which all traffic was exiting. Hidden by the trees was a 2.4 meter barrier and yes, you guessed it, we hit it doing considerable damage to the van! Whilst there trying to untangle ourselves, take photos and get contact details for the manager we stopped two other vans doing exactly the same thing.
Now, I accept the principle of 'caveat emptor' but feel more than a little aggrieved that this supermarket site will let you in but not out, is not properly signed and carries no warnings.
I emailed the manager at Carrefour but suspect I was given a duff email as it bounced.
Has anyone else had the same misfortune and more importantly has anyone some advice on trying to get Carrefour to change the layout/ barriers and maybe, just maybe offer some recompense recognising their part in what happened; I'm certain I'm not the first and won't be the last until they do.
Thanks in advance,
Simon.
 
Feb 22, 2011
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Sorry to hear of your incident, everyone's worst nightmare. You have my sympathy.
Good luck with getting something done about the barrier
 

Geo

Trader - Funster
Jul 29, 2007
11,757
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45 +years with breaks
Hind sight is a wonderful thing I know
Please ask yourself what were you doing driving at tree branches that were, by your own admission
2.4 meters high
Motor home rules, Aways Look left, Look right, Look up.
I very nearly learned the hard way too.
My personal opinion is
It would be reasonable to assume any car park with a 3.5 mtr barrier IN would NOT have a lesser OUT barrier height

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May 29, 2016
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We've seen a few supermarkets and retail parks in France with unsigned and unexpected height barriers - really need to keep a sharp watch-out in France. I particularly like the barriers which don't have a height written on them....makes for a fun game of "will it fit" ;)

It would be reasonable to assume any car park with a 3.5 mtr barrier IN would NOT have a lesser OUT barrier height
I agree with your opinion, sadly experience says otherwise. We were at one retail park near Strasbourg that had two options for going in: one via a barrier, one without. We naturally chose the one without the barrier. Only to find later that the only exit was via a barrier (we were lucky that it was open that day, the following day it was closed!)
 
Oct 12, 2008
6,243
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Balma (next to Toulouse) France
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Hi,
Just returned from 10 days touring the south of France in a hired motorhome (we're awaiting delivery of our own) and had an unfortunate incident in unfriendly Cannes!
We stopped off at a Carrefour market in a business/retail park, which had two entrances from a roundabout - one through the fuel forecourt with a 3.5 meter barrier (we were 3 meters) the other via a single track road with no height restriction.
Once in a very tight car park a third 'exit' appeared through which all traffic was exiting. Hidden by the trees was a 2.4 meter barrier and yes, you guessed it, we hit it doing considerable damage to the van! Whilst there trying to untangle ourselves, take photos and get contact details for the manager we stopped two other vans doing exactly the same thing.
Now, I accept the principle of 'caveat emptor' but feel more than a little aggrieved that this supermarket site will let you in but not out, is not properly signed and carries no warnings.
I emailed the manager at Carrefour but suspect I was given a duff email as it bounced.
Has anyone else had the same misfortune and more importantly has anyone some advice on trying to get Carrefour to change the layout/ barriers and maybe, just maybe offer some recompense recognising their part in what happened; I'm certain I'm not the first and won't be the last until they do.
Thanks in advance,
Simon.

Hi Simon!
Please do subscribe as otherwise you won't be allowed more than 5 posts and I won't be able to help you.
Once this is done, I would like you to give me the exact place of this carrefour Market so I can make further investigation. If you're ok with it you can PM me (hence you have to subscribe!!!) your e-mail to the carrefour, and I will make sure it is in proper french (if necessary) so you don't look/sound like a weak victim . They've got to know you cope with the linguo perfectly well.
Anything you can tell me will stay private of course but in any case I need to know every single detail you can think of. I guess your van was hired in the UK?

Amicalement
Frankie

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Apr 27, 2008
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Since 1972
Several petrol stations we have found with a perfectly good entrance but a constricted and tortuous exit, a sort of width barrier.
One we use when we take the dogs to the vet has this arrangement so we try to go at lunchtime when its not busy and reverse out the entrance.
 

movan

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Dec 2, 2009
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Sorry to hear your problem ... one can only wonder at the mentality of planners at times.

Our crematorium has the same issue and since many motorhomers attend funerals there of people who have become friends on their travels, there is trouble.

Hope you get sorted but doubt the market will admit to even an iota of responsibilty.
 
Dec 28, 2015
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We have had to reverse out of the “in” on petrol stations a few times
Wide entrances and 3.5 high, but exit too sharp to turn. Got out and walked to kiosk to pay and backed out
Sorry to hear of your accident and sympathy as it so nearly happened to us

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MikeD

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Dec 21, 2011
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When we had the autotrail with sat dome it peaked at around 3.3mtrs

We got caught out by height barriers in France quite a bit. Never hit one but had sone fun reversing back out pe queueing with the lorries whilst they filled for fuel so we could drive through the service station.

Un-signed height restrictions, especally when it is to late to do anything about it seems the norm in France.

Ps - welcome to the Fun
 

Puddleduck

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Jan 15, 2014
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On and off for many years.
We have had to reverse out of the “in” on petrol stations a few times
Wide entrances and 3.5 high, but exit too sharp to turn. Got out and walked to kiosk to pay and backed out
Sorry to hear of your accident and sympathy as it so nearly happened to us


Seconded. We have also had to reverse / multi-point turn and exit via entry on a couple of occasions. I am no longer embarrassed at donning hi-vis and stopping traffic so we can get out - and I make sure that the drivers that are inconvenienced know why and have even insisted on speaking with a store manager on a couple of occasions.

I have also been in a car park when barriers have been open at the start of the day and then locked mid-morning AFTER tall vehicles have parked up (luckily not me, I was in the car). The height barriers are hidden when they are open.

Please take advantage of @yodeli Frankie's very kind offer :)
 

Lenny HB

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Oct 18, 2007
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Sorry about your unhappy incident, if you have any photos can you post them ( need to be a paid up Funsters) could be helpful to others.
We to have had problems at filling stations too, always use the 'pay at pump' pumps now as exit is normally straighter & easier.

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Jan 22, 2012
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Very unfortunate but we all make mistakes. Don't let it put you off . When supermarket entrances look a little low I sometimes use the lorry delivery entrance.
 

Puddleduck

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Hind sight is a wonderful thing I know
Please ask yourself what were you doing driving at tree branches that were, by your own admission
2.4 meters high

The height barrier may have been round a tight bend and obscured by trees. Just a thought.

Experience is what you get just after you need it.
 

EX51SSS

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welcome animated smiley3.gif

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Geo

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Jul 29, 2007
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The height barrier may have been round a tight bend and obscured by trees. Just a thought.

Experience is what you get just after you need it.
Hence my question
It matters not if the barrier was hidden behind or enclosed within the trees, it could easily have been a branch instead of a metal post. i was merely pointing out how unwise it is to drive through anything lower than your van
 

hilldweller

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It would be reasonable to assume any car park with a 3.5 mtr barrier IN would NOT have a lesser OUT barrier height

That's because you an olde farte.

Whereas there is this young genius in Carrefour planning who came up with the ultimate plan, you let the motorhomes in and prevent them leaving. At the last count Carrefour have a population of 82,701 and rising, living by the grace of Carrefour and spending a fortune there.

I hear the Carrefour Camper Petanque League is fielding Olympic quality teams. The weekly Camper BBQ usually has a TV crew there, on the orders of Macron, showing how well the mature French people live and integrate with their visitors from other countries.

The only dissenters are the Brits who categorically state that living without Fray Bentos pies is not acceptable and they demand Carrefour stock them immediately.
 

Geo

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Jul 29, 2007
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If they carried enough of their own FB Pies they would be low enough to leave .
And less of the Fart!!

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Simon Welham

Free Member
Apr 17, 2018
4
2
Funster No
53,409
Hi Simon!
Please do subscribe as otherwise you won't be allowed more than 5 posts and I won't be able to help you.
Once this is done, I would like you to give me the exact place of this carrefour Market so I can make further investigation. If you're ok with it you can PM me (hence you have to subscribe!!!) your e-mail to the carrefour, and I will make sure it is in proper french (if necessary) so you don't look/sound like a weak victim . They've got to know you cope with the linguo perfectly well.
Anything you can tell me will stay private of course but in any case I need to know every single detail you can think of. I guess your van was hired in the UK?

Amicalement
Frankie

Frankie,

Merci, I have now subscribed.

Simon
 
Jan 14, 2014
351
797
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We encountered the non restrictive entrance and height barrier exit in a supermarket in Northern France , only discovered once in!
This was in an 8.85 mt tag axle.
So had no choice but to reverse out of the car park and entrance. Wife had kittens and we were ever so popular!
Made sure we shopped first.

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Simon Welham

Free Member
Apr 17, 2018
4
2
Funster No
53,409
Hi Simon!
Please do subscribe as otherwise you won't be allowed more than 5 posts and I won't be able to help you.
Once this is done, I would like you to give me the exact place of this carrefour Market so I can make further investigation. If you're ok with it you can PM me (hence you have to subscribe!!!) your e-mail to the carrefour, and I will make sure it is in proper french (if necessary) so you don't look/sound like a weak victim . They've got to know you cope with the linguo perfectly well.
Anything you can tell me will stay private of course but in any case I need to know every single detail you can think of. I guess your van was hired in the UK?

Amicalement
Frankie

Frankie,

Thank you for your message, to which I replied that I have subscribed and would be appreciative of your assistance.

Regards,

Simon
 
Sep 10, 2013
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Lucky you were in a rental van. Not your own pride and joy. Hopefully the rental insurance will sort it and you’ll be left with a lesson well learnt and not a traceable blemish on your driving record.
Also a lesson to others, don’t rent or lend you van to anyone. !!
 
Oct 12, 2008
6,243
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LOL Simon, I'm not here to make you subscribe, I've told you to do so just because it was the only way for me to help you . Cause you wouldn't have been able to PM me (private message here called Conversation) and give me the details I needed.
Now.... by all means I need those details I've asked you in my first post, without them, even if I'm French I can't do a thing. So as we say in french : la balle est dans ton camp "ball is on your side".
Amicalement
Frankie:)

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Oct 12, 2008
6,243
21,327
Balma (next to Toulouse) France
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HymerCamp 51Capucine
Exp
Since 2011/owner since 6/03/2014
Hi Simon!
Please do subscribe as otherwise you won't be allowed more than 5 posts and I won't be able to help you.
Once this is done,
I would like you to give me the exact place of this carrefour Market so I can make further investigation. If you're ok with it you can PM me (hence you have to subscribe!!!) your e-mail to the carrefour, and I will make sure it is in proper french (if necessary) so you don't look/sound like a weak victim . They've got to know you cope with the linguo perfectly well.
Anything you can tell me will stay private of course but in any case I need to know every single detail you can think of. I guess your van was hired in the UK?

Amicalement
Frankie


A quote to remind you what I've asked you in my post. Now that was more than 2 weeks ago. I'm going to Paris this week end and will stay there for a week and I'm afraid I'll have lots to do there. So, please if you want some help, could it be possible to hurry a bit cause even so, I can't be sure now that I will manage with the little time left. TA!
 
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OP
S

Simon Welham

Free Member
Apr 17, 2018
4
2
Funster No
53,409
A quote to remind you what I've asked you in my post. Now that was more than 2 weeks ago. I'm going to Paris this week end and will stay there for a week and I'm afraid I'll have lots to do there. So, please if you want some help, could it be possible to hurry a bit cause even so, I can't be sure now that I will manage with the little time left. TA!
I really do appreciate your offer of help and will endeavour to get the information to you as soon as possible but I am not overly familiar with this site. And, as a business owner, I have some rather pressing business and personal matters.
 

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