gerannpasa Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Like many others, I can only offer my sympathy on this nasty attack. However, I think your comments about Holland are a little strong, but probably understandable in the circumstances. We recently spent 9 days in the south-east of Holland, in a variety of campsites, including one straight off the TomTom preloaded poi. We found the Dutch to be friendly, courteous and helpful, and we absolutely loved the country. We will definitely be returning to explore more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norma Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Mel - So sorry to hear about this awful ordeal you have gone through. My feelings about the Dutch is mixed - often very helpful. But - the one time we stayed on a Dutch owned site in the Czech republic came as a rude shock. We felt completely excluded by the other campers. The owners were very helpful but the atmosphere was very odd! We obviously had no right to be there! It was very strained. Anyway - we are off to Amsterdam in October- another marathon to run. Thankfully we will be staying on a site but I'm not enthused about staying in the Netherlands now... Hope we won't need any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkmoy Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 My feelings about the Dutch is mixed - often very helpful. But - the one time we stayed on a Dutch owned site in the Czech republic came as a rude shock. We felt completely excluded by the other campers. The owners were very helpful but the atmosphere was very odd! We obviously had no right to be there! It was very strained. Perhaps you didn't smoke the right baccy!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 MEL B The message received from my Nijmegen contact is as follows Dear Bill, I have had a phone with the townhal. The best thing ( the Dutch way) are going to the officer from the public sector of the police at the townhal. Gemeente Millingen Heerbaan 115 6566 EG Millingen the Netherlands. The Mayers in the Netherlands doing nothing. If you need more help please let me know Greetings. Gertjan. So there you have it, from a Motorhome user in Nijmegen. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Hi I am really sorry to read of your troubles, it is so sad when a few spoil things for meny. We to have had nothing but pleasurable experiences when involved with the Dutch people. I am saddened to say that we too will have to think twice about a trip to Holland or go with extream care and stay at known campsites. My best wishes to you, and in typical British Fashion do not let them beat you! Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I think we ought to keep this in proportion. While I fully understand Mel's feelings re Holland and camping after her traumatic incident lets not all stop going there eh? One person has reported an incident on a Dutch Stellplatz and all of a sudden there are peole calling for a boycott of the country almost. On the other side of the coin there have been (probably) hundreds of reports of people getting broken into, robbed and or vandalised on French Aires yet all I ever here from motorcaravanners is "you should try France, its a wonderful country!". Well maybe it is but there are more reports of motorcaravanners being "done" in France than Holland so, as already planned, in late August we will go to Dusseldorf via Holland although I do plan to use full commercial campsites rather than Stellplatz. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Hi Dave Unfortunately in my investigations since returning home I've found out that this doesn't appear to have been an isolated case, whilst I too have read about people being robbed in France etc, it still isn't right, but I've never heard of wanton vandalism for the sake of it, and that's what this was. They weren't trying to break in to steal, and therefore just damaging say a door, window etc, which I appreciate must be very traumatic for the victims, no, they were trying to do as much damage as they could and to hell with the consequences. They did not know that we were asleep in the rear and out of harms way, they did not know that the bricks would be stopped by the blind and that is the most worrying thing, this is something which the children are doing, not adults, and unfortunately the children do not stop to think of the 'what if I injure someone' scenario, the burglar, I assume, wants to avoid hurting people, he wants to be in/out as quickly and quietly as possible. I haven't heard of a case of vandalism for vandalism's sake anywhere else, burglaries yes, pure unadulterated malicious vandalism, no. My contact at the Netherlands camping club himself says there is a real problem, he tells me that the attitude of quite a lot of the Dutch residents is not welcoming to motorhome owners, that is not the case, I believe, to such an extent in such places as France, Germany etc. I haven't said don't go there, all I have said is my experience of what happened and the Dutch reaction to it, both motorhome owners and the Police, virtually zilch! If anyone goes to Holland then take care, that's all. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Remembered why I came on here tonight!!!! Update - insurance assessor will NOT be coming to see us tomorrow as planned!!! >:-) Got a phone call this afternoon with message to say he won't be coming and that the an independent assessor will be contacting us instead on Monday or Tuesday to arrange to inspect it. 8-) We'd already arranged to get time off work in the morning to take the van to the repairers for them to see it there. Anyway, upon contacting the insurer's underwriters (Alliance) we were told they were actually coming to see us on Monday! "Oh right ... when" ... " ... don't know ... but you don't have to take the 'van to the repairers this time, they'll come to see you at home instead!" "... er ... we won't be there, we'll be at work!!!" *-) To cut a long story short, they first message, about them contacting us was the correct one. Hubby has rung them again and told them that we're not happy with this as by the time they get their acts together to come and see it and give permission for it to be repaired, another week will have gone. As the windows have a 6-8 week delivery on them (from Italy) my hubby told them there's a good possibility that it won't be ready for our next (fully paid up) holiday at the end of August if it doesn't get sorted soon! "Oh ... we'll ring them and ask if they can contact you as soon as possible to sort it out ....". 8-) I must admit this is the first time we have had to make a claim on motorhome insurance since we started with our first camper back in 1996 and I'm not impressed .... once we get it all done and dusted I'll let you know who we're with etc but for not I'm keeping stum. Oh, nearly forgot to say, we got another quote today for the repair work - over £3,700!!!!! The labour is down as £1,800 and the cost of the side decal on the passenger door ... over £200!!!! Would have the whole van done for that! 8-) At least we've got something else to show the assessor ... whenever that may be. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Hey Mel chill ;-) . I didn't say you personally were calling for a boycott and I certainly didn't intend to trivialize your experience in any way, shape or form. There were a couple of others who posted on this thread however who did make comments such as "tell us where it was and we'll all avoid it"! I don't doubt that there is a problem in Holland with mindless vandalism, there is in most European countries I would think, certainly here in Britain (and even here in Telford :$ ) there are places I wouldn't want to spend a night in a motorhome for fear of a brick through the window. My point was, and still is, that some posters to this thread have displayed a knee jerk reaction to your unpleasant and traumatic experience. While I could easily understand your own desire to not go there again I do find others reactions slightly baffling. There are fairly regular reports of motorhomes being attacked, yes mostly with the prime motive of theft rather than vandalism, in France yet almost every motorhome owner I meet raves about the place. Yours is the first report I've seen, and I'd wager the first that many viewers of this thread has seen, regarding problems in Holland yet we've already had several members saying they'll avoid the place. Could this be because problems of this nature are actually quite rare in Holland? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Norma - 2008-06-10 3:46 PM Mel - So sorry to hear about this awful ordeal you have gone through. My feelings about the Dutch is mixed - often very helpful. But - the one time we stayed on a Dutch owned site in the Czech republic came as a rude shock. We felt completely excluded by the other campers. The owners were very helpful but the atmosphere was very odd! We obviously had no right to be there! It was very strained. Anyway - we are off to Amsterdam in October- another marathon to run. Thankfully we will be staying on a site but I'm not enthused about staying in the Netherlands now... Hope we won't need any help! I'm with dave - what is it with you lot - the quote above is blaming the site owner for the attitude of the other campers - someone else has said that they've had good times in the past but now won't be going back - because of one reported incident of mindless yobbery vandalism. we had problems last year at a site near deventer - the problems were caused by 1 german who got drunk - following the logic here we should not go to either the netherlands or germany ?? Mel I'm really sorry to hear of your appalling experience - I hope everything gets sorted with the van and you can put the event behind you and continue to enjoy camping - imo netherlands is great - but then I'm biased - it was my first ever proper visit to a foreign country - they celebrate my birthday with nationwide street parties - and they do a mean apple pie cream n coffee B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 libby - 2008-06-04 7:24 PM Mel, If you post an address of the place we'll all avoid it. LB Just as an example of knee jerk reaction and someone choosing to speak for all without consultation! D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 The comment to avoid a site was referring to Millingen only from the description and pictures submitted by MEL B, which I considered was a reasonable suggestion in the light of what happened. I cannot comment on anywhere else in the Netherlands. Perhaps it came over in a different way to what was intended. I do visit Nijmegen so perhaps I will look at the site myself. The reason I then asked my contact in Nijmegen was because he lives only a few miles away and may have been able to provide a better reason for the disturbance. I believe someone mentioned that Motorhomes are not welcome. Having been a regular visitor over the years many of that nation really hate each other, even when working on a similar project in the same town, possibly an inborne connection and dislike of their own countrymen collaborating during WWII. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 this thread title should actually say: Gelderland - Attacked Motorhome B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 Twooks - how many people would know where Gelderland is? I think most people know where Holland (or the Netherlands) is and can look Millingen on the map if they want. I wish I could adequately describe to you all how horrible it is, quite apart from the attack itself, we are now left with a very scarred looking motorhome. Our pride and joy - it takes a lot to make my husband feel tearful and that's just what he was like when he realised what they'd done. It doesn't get any better day to day having to look at it. It is just an awful reminder. We look after our vehicles very well, so to have this happen and even once it is fixed, we will know what has had to be repaired (hopefully we won't actually be able to see it anymore!) so it always going to be 'damaged' to some extent in our minds. The independent insurance assessor rang my hubby on Friday and should be coming tomorrow to see the 'van so hopefully we can get things moving. We've been away this weekend to our annual microcar rally, we've had a good weekend, some kind souls took pity on us yesterday and gave us a lift in their car so we could do the treasure hunt and not have to sit on site all day. It's been mainly dry, some sunny spells, with the odd rain shower but today, just after we finished the prize-giving it absolutely threw it down (about 2.45 pm) and I mean bathtub fulls!!! At least the gaffer tape is holding and keeping the 'holes' dry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moncayoman Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Like everyone else I sympathise with you. A truly shocking ordeal and I am just grateful to hear that none of you (including the dogs) were hurt. Soon get the van mended (although battle scars give character) and a couple more nights away, and I hope that all the reasons for doing what we do will be there. Good luck to you and best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 Hi gang, once again, thanks for all the good wishes, it's nice to know there are some 'friends' our there! Update for today - the insurance assessor came and had a shuftie, took a couple of photos, had a chat to my husband about it, then said he'd authorise the work to go ahead and would ring the garage today to get it moving along!!!!!! Yippee!!!!! There's hope for another holiday this year after all!!! :-> It was interesting though, he said he had had many dealings with a certain large outfit in North Lincolnshire ... one of the most memorable being when he had been down to look at a van that they'd had for a few weeks, when he got there they wouldn't let him see it (he spotted it in their yard). When he later spoke to them on the phone, they claimed it was because they didn't have it ... he said, "Go look in your yard, it's there on the left!". 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Im glad your making progress Mel , which insurance are you with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Mel, pleased to see things are moving for you, and the insurance have given the go ahead, at least now you can look forward to your next holiday. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 Grrrrrrr ... why can't people do what they say they'll do! >:-( The chap hasn't rung the repairers, hubby check with them today and he hasn't been in touch, hubby has been trying to contact the chap all day to no avail ......... :-( We're not meant to get it fixed are we ..... :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 Further update ... they dont' know what they're doing this lot! Hubby kept trying to get hold of the chap who did the inspection but only got his answerphone, left a message but he hasn't come back to him. This afternoon, late on, he managed to get hold of the insurance claim company and they confirmed that they had had his report yesterday and that it was all okay and approved and that the repairers should have been told to go ahead by the chap!!!! Hubby rang the repairers ... they've not heard nowt!!! Hubby is going to ring the claims company again in the morning and play merry hell!!! The insurance company is Safeguard, the claim handling company is Alliance ... anyone else had a similar problem? 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Hi Mel, sorry that you are still having trouble. It seems that the assessor has been the weak link for you. We made a claim with Safeguard last year and the assessor used his phone to send pictures of our damage to the repairer and we were able to fix a date for the job to be done.He was very helpful in finding a convenient repairer for us. I wonder if it's Safeguard or the underwriters who employ the assessors? Hope you get sorted soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 Further update on the insurance. Hubby rang claims company again yesterday and the office person had a copy of the 'confirmation' letter in her paws and said it had definitely been faxed over earlier in the week and was going to be posted out that night ... so why was it on her desk waiting to be posted ... do they think we're daft or what! *-) Hubby got a phone call from the repairers at 8.50 am this morning to say they'd finally received the fax - it must be a very SLOW fax from the claims company to take 4 days to get there! But at least they've got it now and can finally get the windows etc ordered, which they said they would do today :-> (I really hope they did!!! :-S ) There's hope, albeit slim, that we'll get it sorted before we go off again in August .... I need you all to do something for me if you will - cross fingers, toes, legs, and everything else you can (including eyes! :D ) and keep them crossed ... we need all the help we can get ...!!!! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Got everythng crossed for you Mel. 8-) Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moncayoman Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Everything crossed ..... good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janschrik Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Mel B - 2008-06-09 9:46 PM Apparently this is not an uncommon occurence in Holland!!!! It happens to Dutch campers as well as others so at least that seems to rule out the 'racism' angle thank goodness. There appears to be a problem there with a lot of people not being happy about motorhomes parking, no matter whether in official stopping areas or not, it appears to have even happened on some camp sites. There seems to be some hostility and resistance by Dutch residents to the creation of any type of stopping areas for motorhomes, no matter how unobtrusive and inoffensive the places that are so designated are. I replied and said that unfortunately whilst this is the situation I couldn't recommend that anyone visits their country. Sorry to hear 'bout your misfortune Mel, I'm pleased to read that you can have the dammage repaired. The comment by the "nice dutch chap" you quote makes me react. I don't recognize myself in his view of the dutch MH scene. There is no atmosphere of hostility going on. The only thing I see is that the MH scene is growing and growing and that ther are anti-social moves from both sides. e.g. on a popular parking on the river bank about 20 MH's have parked, there is no more place for anyone who wants to spend his time there and who arrives by car. You can understand that it is reason for some irritated remarks from both sides. Problems with youth you have in all countries, I see it in france, Germany, belgium even in Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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