rupert123 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 For any aires user beware of this lot. I recently started a thread on which I commented on the two aires I came across, one used, one not, run by this crowd. Apart from being expensive and awkward to access it would appear to me that they may prone to over chargeing and then simply refusing to give the money back. I stayed with my brother at Millau and unknown to me at the time the amount of 9.6euro was charged to my card twice. I have been trying ever since to get it back and despite sending them all the paperwork they asked for still have not got it. They make every excuse going, including telling me I paid for my brother even though his account shows the payment clearly as well. A lot of correspondence for a few euro but I really resent this type of thing and now have the card company on the case although am not very hopeful. The card in question is a euro cash loaded one and they do not seem all that interested so will revert to my normal bank debit card in future, al least I can shout at them on the telephone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 There was a longish article on the "Camping-Car Park" (CCP) network in the November 2013 issue of the French motorhome magazine "Le Monde du Camping-Car" (LMCC). Some very peculiar things were said by the 'anti-brigade' like "If the day comes when this is the only type of aire I'll sell my motorhome" and "I use my motorhome for business 6 months of the year. If I'm to be asked to pay €12 per night, that would cost me €2100". The fact is that there aren't very many Camping-Car Park sites in France and they do offer motorcaravanners a reasonably-priced overnight stop all-year round. While it would be nice if all aires were free and all campsites were cheap and permanently open, that's not the way things are going. I can fully appreciate rupert123's anger. I fear card-reading machines generally and I've never used one to pay a parking charge. The LMCC article includes complaints about difficulties gaining and leaving CCP sites and it doesn't much surprise me that he has had problems with charges (nor, for that matter, that the CCP organisation has been unhelpful in addressing the issue). The CCP website and a current list of their installations are here: http://www.camping-car-park.com/en http://www.camping-car-park.com/sites/default/files/brochures/Listedesairescampingcarpark_DEC2013_0.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Derek Uzzell - 2013-12-30 6:46 PM There was a longish article on the "Camping-Car Park" (CCP) network in the November 2013 issue of the French motorhome magazine "Le Monde du Camping-Car" (LMCC). Some very peculiar things were said by the 'anti-brigade' like "If the day comes when this is the only type of aire I'll sell my motorhome" and "I use my motorhome for business 6 months of the year. If I'm to be asked to pay €12 per night, that would cost me €2100". The fact is that there aren't very many Camping-Car Park sites in France and they do offer motorcaravanners a reasonably-priced overnight stop all-year round. While it would be nice if all aires were free and all campsites were cheap and permanently open, that's not the way things are going. I can fully appreciate rupert123's anger. I fear card-reading machines generally and I've never used one to pay a parking charge. The LMCC article includes complaints about difficulties gaining and leaving CCP sites and it doesn't much surprise me that he has had problems with charges (nor, for that matter, that the CCP organisation has been unhelpful in addressing the issue). The CCP website and a current list of their installations are here: http://www.camping-car-park.com/en http://www.camping-car-park.com/sites/default/files/brochures/Listedesairescampingcarpark_DEC2013_0.pdf Although I would agree with most of this they are not reasonable priced, especially when charged twice, and are getting up towards campsite prices in France. The entry/exit system is a nightmare but I can see their attraction for local councils and would not be very surprised if they spread fast. The two we saw however did not have many vans on them and while at Millau we saw a lot of people simply give up and go away. I have always thought the aires system was meant to be a cheap easy way to attract m/h users to the area, these are neither, booking in is harder than a campsite and not much cheaper, they will attract no-one. I hope this is not a trend as although I use mainly sites I find the aires system usefull and sometimes even a pleasant place to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 The following link relates to the camping-car installation at Millau http://www.i-campingcar.fr/aires.php?ville=millau The photos show that it's not the most 'scenic' of aires. But it's not that bad and it is close to the town and river. It's interesting to note that there were criticisms of the Millau aire before it was brought into the Camping-Car Park network. I also note with some amusement that the campingcar-infos management has decided not to add comments to Camping-Car Park entries (and has removed earlier comments) on their website, saying that the CCP network has been debated (which undoubtedly means "slagged off") enough on their forum. There are quite a few campsites in or near Millau and their tarifs may be not much above the CCP charge, but they are not open all year. When the campsites are open, there's a choice for motorcaravanners: when they are shut, it's either stay on the CCP aire or overnight somewhere else. If it turns out that ovenighting somewhere else means not at Millau, then that's the way the cookie crumbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-01-01 10:04 AM The following link relates to the camping-car installation at Millau http://www.i-campingcar.fr/aires.php?ville=millau The photos show that it's not the most 'scenic' of aires. But it's not that bad and it is close to the town and river. It's interesting to note that there were criticisms of the Millau aire before it was brought into the Camping-Car Park network. I also note with some amusement that the campingcar-infos management has decided not to add comments to Camping-Car Park entries (and has removed earlier comments) on their website, saying that the CCP network has been debated (which undoubtedly means "slagged off") enough on their forum. There are quite a few campsites in or near Millau and their tarifs may be not much above the CCP charge, but they are not open all year. When the campsites are open, there's a choice for motorcaravanners: when they are shut, it's either stay on the CCP aire or overnight somewhere else. If it turns out that ovenighting somewhere else means not at Millau, then that's the way the cookie crumbles. Derek, I was not 'getting at' the Millau aire but more at CCP aires in general, Millau happens to be the one I stayed at. As an aside, I mentioned in my recent trip report on aires we stayed at, that I had a reason to stay here, normally would not bother with Millau it has nothing much to interest me. I am sure others are quite capable of sorting out alternatives to stay for themselves if they wish to. I had a look at the Camping Car magazine site you mentioned and as you indicated it would appear I am far from being the only one to think these aires are rubbish. Another small point they advertise free wifi but in order to get it you have to phone them, on a premium rate line, to get a code, needless to say I did not bother. In fairness water is not charged for but at their rates it does not need to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 It could be claimed that the objective of French 'aires' owned/managed by local authorities (and municipal campsites) is to attract campers to a town where they'll spend money. But private aires and campsites are there to make a profit and the CCP network is privately owned. Corinne Bruel (co-founder of the CCP company) emphasised in the LMCC article that CCP has no ambition to dominate the motorhome parking scene, seeking instead to offer the option of all-year-round parking at a reasonable price and with the necessary services available. But she did not claim that CCP was a not-for-profit organisation. From €10 to €12 does not seem outrageous to me, though if 'double-charging' proved to be a common occurrence, that would be another matter. It has to be said that the entry/exit technology employed seems to be universally disliked. (I've not looked at every CCP-related entry on the campingcar-infos website, but those I have looked at normally include a wi-fi connection code.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-01-01 12:23 PM It could be claimed that the objective of French 'aires' owned/managed by local authorities (and municipal campsites) is to attract campers to a town where they'll spend money. But private aires and campsites are there to make a profit and the CCP network is privately owned. Corinne Bruel (co-founder of the CCP company) emphasised in the LMCC article that CCP has no ambition to dominate the motorhome parking scene, seeking instead to offer the option of all-year-round parking at a reasonable price and with the necessary services available. But she did not claim that CCP was a not-for-profit organisation. From €10 to €12 does not seem outrageous to me, though if 'double-charging' proved to be a common occurrence, that would be another matter. It has to be said that the entry/exit technology employed seems to be universally disliked. (I've not looked at every CCP-related entry on the campingcar-infos website, but those I have looked at normally include a wi-fi connection code.) This may be so Derek but they are not going to make money with a handful of aires that are mostly empty, no commercial sense tells you they are indeed out to gather a significant share of the market. I used one in September this year and it was €9.6 but already up to €12. The entry system is a serious nightmare, it requires you to enter all sorts of stuff, name address etc, and takes time even when you have managed to work it out. The whole thing smells of someone who has worked for some government department where providing a decent efficient service is an alien concept. The wi-fi code is indeed quoted on campingcar info but does not work. If you put in your mobile number they text you the same code but it will only do what most private wi-fi systems do and connect you but not let you go anywhere until you get the days code, which you telephone for. Personally, as I do not give a damn if these people take over the whole system, I care less about all this but am very irritated over being charged twice and they refusing to refund, smacks of a company already in financial problems, I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 We came across the one at Utah Beach, it had three vans in it, far too complicated to get into it was just a car park surrounded by chain link fencing. We did what everyone else did wild camped just down the road by the beach. Looking at their website the map location is several miles off & the photo is of the camp site opposite looking from the Aire not the Aire, rather misleading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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