Broken into in France

[Suet]

We recently parked up for the night in an Aire on the autoroute south of Clermont in the Puy de Dome.
Having gone to bed we were woken by the dog going frantic and the interior lights on, from the rear bedroom we could see someone in the cab behind the curtains, he or they departed rapidly, clearly scared by a rather aggressive dog ( shame she was in her crate, they had need to be scared) and sadly taking my husbands wallet, containing all his cards and licences etc.

We have an American Vista Cruiser on a Ford E450, as all Fords are notoriously easy to enter and they gained access by removing the drivers side lock, of course as soon as the door is opened the lights come on! How dumb are we? it is fitted with an singing all dancing alarm system, which until now we have never used whist in the van, thinking barking dogs would put off would be thieves. Since had a tip from a lorry driver to use a rachet strap from passenger door to drivers door, making it impossible to get in!

They escaped in a white van without lights on, so impossible to get the reg. Picked their Aire as no CCTV and on a free stretch of motorway, so no Peages!

We love France and have never had a problem such as this, albeit we are aware it does happen, especially north of Paris but never thought it could happen to us especially with five dogs, one of which is a trained working Malinois!..

 

[spitfire]

Very sad to hear this but I would never stay over on a motorway site anywhere. Lucky you had the dogs and also you were not harmed .

 

[Duck Truck]

Hi guys
we live and learn we were broken into in Italy it's upsetting .
HOWEVER
You are fine the dog performed admirably
So figure out how your alarm works
I have a steel cable cut to length and joined with a Karabiner that fastens the two cab doors together.
Keep your valuables hidden away and leave a dummy wallet or purse not visible but easily found
so that is the first choice for any scrotes in the future
Hope you get the lock fixed
and go on to have a fabulous time
Kev and Sue

 

[BRASH]

Not like the French to run away is it?

Seriously tho, not good news having the sanctity of your beloved private space breached. I detest thieves.

 

[Lenny HB]

Sorry to hear about your problems. Seems you have made three basic mistakes, stopping on Autoroute Aires has always been known to be risky far better to stop on Aire due Camping Car in the local village or town, which are specially for Motorhome rarely ever get any trouble on those. The other two you have already stated, not setting the alarm & leaving a wallet close to a door or window.
We always set our alarm even if we are on a site.

Hope it doesn't put you off, worth paying up and joining Fun properly you will find loads of useful advice on here.

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[PhilandMena]

Hi and Welcome to Fun. As other have said secure the two door together as Fords are notorious for their locks being bypassed. A bad experience that should not put you off enjoying your motorhome. Keep safe.

 

[pappajohn]

Sorry to hear this.
If in future you use a strap between doors keep a Stanley knife or sharp scissors handy near the doors.
Not only does it keep them out... It keeps you in.
If you can't use the hab door or emergency exit window in a fire you may be panicking and a knife is the quickest way to undo a ratchet strap.

 

[Robert Clark]

I wouldn’t tell your insurance company that you hadn’t set your alarm as it may affect your claim

 

[Lenny HB]

I wouldn’t tell your insurance company that you hadn’t set your alarm as it may affect your claim

Normally only required to set an alarm when the vehicle is left unattended.

 

[Robert Clark]

Normally only required to set an alarm when the vehicle is left unattended.

Common sense would suggest otherwise though ?

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[thebriars]

Hi and Welcome to Fun. As other have said secure the two door together as Fords are notorious for their locks being bypassed. A bad experience that should not put you off enjoying your motorhome. Keep safe.

Older Fords maybe, newer ones no longer have Tibbe locks.

 

[DBK]

Welcome! We use these but I'm not sure they are available for your vehicle. Not 100% secure unless you use the key to lock them in place but a good deterrent and will slow them down.

 

[monzer]

Suet

This happened to you not far from where my van was tried the other night. As I said in another thread I was caught up in huge tailbacks after a fatal lorry crash. It was getting dark and no sign of traffic moving so I creeped up the hard shoulder and settled in to a road side aire for the night.

I thought I'd be ok as loads of other buses etc had the same idea but they all moved on when the road eventually did clear. I though I'm here now, I'll just stay the night.

2am I heard someone trying to get the bike off the rack at the back. I did what the special forces train you to do in this situation and jumped about the van in my boxers making a lot of noise. It worked.

Adrenaline was flowing though so I couldn't sleep which is probably just as well as at 4.30am I heard someone trying the front door. Again I jumped about and made sure they knew I'd clocked them. That was enough for me and I went out with the baseball bat, checked everything was secure and hit the road until daylight where I felt it would be safe to grab an hours sleep at a service station further up the road.

Never stay over night at French autoroute aires and as others have said there are plenty other places to park up in complete safety. Don't be put off.

Incidentally the guy at the bike rack was most definitely from the lorry that was parked just down from me. I'm guessing he had woke up, started the engine and put the lights on and noticed my bike on the back. He drove off about 3 minutes after me jumping about in my boxers.

 

[Lenny HB]

He drove off about 3 minutes after me jumping about in his boxers.

Not surprised if you were in his boxers. ?

 

[monzer]

Not surprised if you were in his boxers. ?

Ssh I've edited it now and no one one will ever know

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[Suet]

For the record, we are not and have not, made an insurance claim, that said the policy does not say the alarm must be on when occupied, only when not! Hubby's wallet was not on show, it was a piece of bad luck that it was found. My only purpose of posting, was not for a lecture on our obvious bad planning& lack of common sense , it was to warn others of the dangers parking overnight can present. We had pulled off at a local village and didn't stop as the area appeared a bit iffy!..The Gendarmes warned us it was happening in villages as well as the motorways.

 

[Parrot Face]

I've been talking to a few Brits lately in France and Spain and asked them what aires they use. Quite a few have said they don't use them now as they have been broken into when stopping on aires. However on further discussion its been motorway aires that they've stopped at. Ok you can be broken into anywhere but I wonder if people become confused with the term Aire. We all rave about using aires but for newcomers we somehow need to make the distinction between 'village aires' and motorway aires.

 

[Duck Truck]

Our incident was at a Motorhome aire in the Italian City of Lucca
on a very busy main road
I stupidly parked at the rear of the aire thinking less traffic noise in a corner which had a cut through to a housing estate (I know) I knew as we walked away to get the bus.

Stupid or what. They only damaged the habitation door lock and did not get in
But you live and learn
The new alarm system I have installed just inside the door should be effective.

 

[peterc10]

Aire just means "Area" in French. Motorway stops are called Aire de Service, i.e. "service area". Places dedicated to motorhomes are called Aire de Camping Car, i.e. "motorhome area".

 

[keithchesterfield2]

There is some confusion about the word 'Aire' in France - it simply means an open area or place.

An 'Aire de Jeu' is a playground

An 'Aire de Loisirs' is a recreation area (but not a child's playground)

An 'Aire de Stationnement' is parking.

An 'Aire de Service' is a Service area (usually a Motorway service area)

An 'Aire de Repos' is a rest area (again typically on a Motorway) but simply a picnic site and possibly with toilets.

An 'Aire de Camping-Car ' has an overnight vehicle parking area and often have, but not always, a place to dispose of waste (grey) water, refill with fresh drinking water and dispose of the cassette contents and is called a 'Borne'.

The safest places to stop are the 'Aires de Camping Car' which are designated Motorhome stopovers and it is extremely rare for there to be instances of problems similar to those you would encounter and are reported on Motorway Service Aires.

Many stay on Motorway Aires with no problems but they have statistically been found on forum threads and Newspaper articles to be less safe than the designated Aire de Camping Car in towns and villages across France.

Hope this helps.

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[Ivory55]

Motorway services are not that good in this country at night, the diesel fairys often pay a visit to the trucks. Again some services are worse than others.

 

[Reallyretired]

Pity your dog was in a cage otherwise the thief would get short shrift. Ours have cages at home, not in the motorhome, and are never shut in them.

 

[Jim]

We have a 2010 E450. We wouldn't dream of sleeping anywhere without the exterior alarmed. I'm sure you won't now either. As for Motorway aires they are dangerous for those who don't have an alarm, Over the years I must have over 100 nights on them without incident.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Fit some of these bad lads. Visible deterrent ??

 

[Gaston aires]

Sorry for your experience. Rule no 1. Never stay overnight on a motorway aire. Rule no 2 Never never stop overnight on a motorway aire.
Phil

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[Duck Truck]

looks like rule No.3 was ignore rule 1 and 2


just joking

 

[sweetie]

And no gassing involved

 

[Welsh girl]

I have a Ford and i would like to put straps in the cab doors but they don't have an rests like the fiat. How do other people manage to secure their front cab doors?
I sometimes use a chain to secure the sliding side door but the rear doors are susceptible as well as the cab doors.

 

[eddie]

The problem is that hundreds if not thousands stay on motorway aires every night, we do, but I have never felt the need to post "last night we overnighted on a motorway aires and....nothing happened!"

They are designed for travellers to stay the night and I feel that with a little common sense they are as safe as any where else for a traveller

As a campsite owner I could recommend everyone staying on a campsite, I don't and I wouldn't

Now on a great site on the Med, fell asleep the other night and we forgot to lock our bikes, and worse left our bags on the table with money, credit cards ID etc

It was all fine, as are most nights, for most people

 

[Chris]

The problem is that hundreds if not thousands stay on motorway aires every night, we do, but I have never felt the need to post "last night we overnighted on a motorway aires and....nothing happened!"

They are designed for travellers to stay the night and I feel that with a little common sense they are as safe as any where else for a traveller

As a campsite owner I could recommend everyone staying on a campsite, I don't and I wouldn't

Now on a great site on the Med, fell asleep the other night and we forgot to lock our bikes, and worse left our bags on the table with money, credit cards ID etc

It was all fine, as are most nights, for most people

Where are you Eddie?

Make me jealous.

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