France passes the buck and our drivers chase it
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THE STORY of Routiers member Ron Higgins of Birmingham is typical of many related by British drivers. Having been stuck at Le Fayet, on the opposite side of the autoroute from Sal lanches and the "Camp Anglais", he was finally released on February 24.
His destination was Florence, which meant a trip through the Mont Blanc tunnel. There, he had been led to believe, he would receive a hand out of FFr2,000 (£166), supplied from the French Government's FFr8m (£666,666) indemnity fund.
On arrival at the last pay station before the tunnel, he waited in a queue with others to receive the hand out. Suddenly, the booths were closed down and he was told he would be paid at the entrance to the tunnel itself. When he got there, he was told that payment would be forthcoming on his way back through the tunnel after tipping in Italy.
However, on his return on February 28, all requests for money were refused and he was told to contact the French Consulate in London on his return to the UK.
Unfortunately, the French Consulate has no knowledge of this arrangement and Ron is still without his compensation.
This story was repeated by many British drivers when he visited the famous "Bakehouse" Routiers stop near Macon.
What has Ron lost? As well as the extra expenses that needed to be covered, Ron is paid £165 per trip. With his last trip taking three weeks instead of the normal seven day cycle, he is £330 out of pocket.
Even if the FFr2,000 had been forthcoming and he had been allowed to keep it by his firm, he would still have been one payment of trip money out of pocket, before unrecovered expenses had been taken into account.