Campsites and Passports

[Bulletguy]

The site i'm currently on in Poland I have stayed at before and each time I have the same issue with them. On arrival the Reception want to hold my Passport until departure. I always refuse to hand it over pointing out that 1) it is a document that I may be asked to produce as proof of personal id by the Police (if away from the site for the day) and 2) it also belongs not to me, but the State.

 

I have no problem with any Campsite noting detail from my Passport, but flatly refuse to hand it over to anyone.

 

Does anyone else experience this at Sites in Europe?

 

There are three couples from Netherland, two from Belgium, and one from Sweden by me, each of whom arrived not long after and I asked them if the Camp Reception had asked any of them to leave their Passports. Reception didn't even ask to see their Passports!

 

 

 

[malc d]

I've only been asked to leave a passport with reception in Croatia.

 

I told them I wasn't prepared to leave it with them, but let them take a copy.

 

Since then I've carried a copy of our passports, so i could give them to reception if required - but no-one has ever asked for them since.

 

 

:-|

[lennyhb]

Fairly stand request in most European countries always get asked for it in France, Germany & Italy but they are always happy to accept a Camping Card (formally a Camping Carnet). Although we rarely stay on sites I always carry a Camping Card it can save a lot of hassle for the 3 or 4 quid it costs.

[Bulletguy]

malc d - 2013-07-30 12:20 PM

 

I've only been asked to leave a passport with reception in Croatia.

 

I told them I wasn't prepared to leave it with them, but let them take a copy.

 

Since then I've carried a copy of our passports, so i could give them to reception if required - but no-one has ever asked for them since.

 

 

:-|

 

Likewise too for me in Croatia a few weeks ago. I refused and as it turned out a good job too as on checking out the sites computer system had crashed and there was one heck of a lot of very angry people wanting to get on the road......but couldn't because of their Passports.

 

All any site needs to do is copy name and Passport number.......nothing else.......and that takes seconds.

 

[malc d]

lennyhb - 2013-07-30 12:22 PM

 

Fairly stand request in most European countries always get asked for it in France, Germany & Italy

 

 

 

My experience is different.

 

I've only been asked the once ( in Croatia ), for my passport, in the last 40 odd years of touring

 

But I have always used either a carnet, or, in recent years, the ACSI card.

 

;-)

[Muswell]

I always use the carnet or ACSI. Sometimes they keep the card if I haven't paid upfront. That's probably why they want your passport. Same as some filling stations in Spain wanting your credit card before they release the pump.

[Bulletguy]

malc d - 2013-07-30 12:53 PM

 

lennyhb - 2013-07-30 12:22 PM

 

Fairly stand request in most European countries always get asked for it in France, Germany & Italy

 

 

 

My experience is different.

 

I've only been asked the once ( in Croatia ), for my passport, in the last 40 odd years of touring

 

But I have always used either a carnet, or, in recent years, the ACSI card.

 

;-)

 

Yes this particular site in Poland (Camping Korona near Krakow) i've been on three times and each time they want to retain the Passport. I've travelled extensively in Poland and have to say this is the only site (in Poland) which wants to keep my Passport.

 

Very odd though that they never even asked to see my 'neighbours' Passports. Maybe the site owner thinks as i'm from UK I could be a terrorist! :D

 

 

[Bulletguy]

Muswell - 2013-07-30 1:13 PM

 

I always use the carnet or ACSI. Sometimes they keep the card if I haven't paid upfront. That's probably why they want your passport. Same as some filling stations in Spain wanting your credit card before they release the pump.

 

Tried offering payment upfront and even that doesn't satisfy 'em. *-)

Also they have a big chain drawn across the exit so nobody is going anywhere without a pair of bolt cutters!

 

I just find it very odd after all this time they still seem to be living in the past, yet this is just a few miles down the road from Krakow centre! More odd that they never asked my foreign 'neighbours' .

[malc d]

Bulletguy - 2013-07-30 1:14 PM

 

Maybe the site owner thinks as i'm from UK I could be a terrorist! :D

 

 

 

Yep. Or he's seen your avatar and knows you call yourself " Bulletguy " --- !

 

 

( I wouldn't let you in )

 

(lol)

[Bulletguy]

malc d - 2013-07-30 1:38 PM

 

Bulletguy - 2013-07-30 1:14 PM

 

Maybe the site owner thinks as i'm from UK I could be a terrorist! :D

 

 

 

Yep. Or he's seen your avatar and knows you call yourself " Bulletguy " --- !

 

 

( I wouldn't let you in )

 

(lol)

 

What I used to do is perhaps seen as a bit "unusual" or "strange" in my own country but outside UK is little more than passing conversation. My key ring has a 7.62mm round on a chain but the only place that did cause some interest was on the Bulgarian border where they wanted to know how many more rounds I had in the van!! :D

 

They knew enough about munitions to know it wasn't a 'live' round and were just having a bit of fun. (lol)

 

Very simple to tell.......if you know what you are looking at.

 

 

 

 

[PJay]

Bulletguy - 2013-07-30 1:24 PM

 

Muswell - 2013-07-30 1:13 PM

 

I always use the carnet or ACSI. Sometimes they keep the card if I haven't paid upfront. That's probably why they want your passport. Same as some filling stations in Spain wanting your credit card before they release the pump.

 

Tried offering payment upfront and even that doesn't satisfy 'em. *-)

Also they have a big chain drawn across the exit so nobody is going anywhere without a pair of bolt cutters!

 

I just find it very odd after all this time they still seem to be living in the past, yet this is just a few miles down the road from Krakow centre! More odd that they never asked my foreign 'neighbours' .

 

Maybe they have some-one who looks like your photo, and wants a quick entry into UK??? OR maybe because you are travelling on your own?

PJay

[colin]

I've often been asked to leave passport if not paid up front, now always carry a camping card and if nessasary leave this.

[maggyd]

We usually get the Camping Card International from either of the clubs, I forgot to order it this year, but when asked for our passports I showed it but refused to leave it, the receptionist just needed to copy it and when we left she gave me the copy back when I paid. Its really only your passport number they need along with your name and address.

[Iain Strachan]

I use ACSI camping carnet, which has my passport number and address on it. We are unfortunately not like most of our fellow european neighbours by being given an identity card at birth. Which gives you right of return to your place of birth within Europe. No her Britanic Majesty insists that we buy an over priced passport every 10 years. Just to go to France, have you seen their ID cards?

[Keith T]

Now use ACSI card, sometimes retained, though no logic to this - previously had Caravan Club Carnet, but don't bother with this any longer. Over recent times have not been asked for the passports ,and no way would I agree to them being retained!.

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2013-07-31 10:29 PM

 

We usually get the Camping Card International from either of the clubs, I forgot to order it this year, but when asked for our passports I showed it but refused to leave it, the receptionist just needed to copy it and when we left she gave me the copy back when I paid. Its really only your passport number they need along with your name and address.

 

BIB is absolutely correct.

 

In fact the only information they really need is the number and nothing else. If the Site believes it to be fake, invalid or stolen its easy enough and quick to run a check. But under no circumstances should anyone ever let go of their Passport. If it gets lost or stolen, it's your responsibility.

 

No C/Sites should be asking for Passports to be left at Reception at all.

 

[Bulletguy]

Iain Strachan - 2013-07-31 10:46 PM

 

I use ACSI camping carnet, which has my passport number and address on it. We are unfortunately not like most of our fellow european neighbours by being given an identity card at birth. Which gives you right of return to your place of birth within Europe. No her Britanic Majesty insists that we buy an over priced passport every 10 years. Just to go to France, have you seen their ID cards?

 

Iain

 

When I had my Passport and all id stolen a couple of years back I had to apply for a new Passport. It's not counted as a renewal but an application, so not quite as straightforward as a simple renewal.

 

Erring on the side of caution I decided to have new photos taken and sent off the form. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply back from the Passport Office stating "application refused". I decided to phone them and nearly fell off my chair at the response......"well we don't think the person on the photograph is you." So I asked how could he know what I really looked like and exactly who the hell did he think he was speaking to on the phone?!!

 

I then asked if they still had record of the stolen Passport on their database. They did. So I asked if he would look very very carefully at the photograph. I asked if he noticed anything in particular, and he replied, "well you seem to have more hair on the current one.....". "That's because i've not had my hair cut since the previous photo."

 

Eventually after much consultation with his 'boss' he came back on the phone and said, "ok we both agree it is you and we will send a new Passport out."

 

It was like something out of a Monty Python sketch! :D

 

[Tony Jones]

Travelling around Central Europe a few years ago, some sites asked for passports but happliy settled for a "carnet" instead.

 

This year, in Spain they routinely wanted to photocopy (not retain) BOTH our passports, saying the police insisted on this, and ACSII carnets WEREN'T acceptable.

 

In France, the very few times we used sites, no-one wanted to see either kind of document - so I suspect it's a matter of national law in each country.

[Bulletguy]

Tony Jones - 2013-08-01 1:47 PM

 

Travelling around Central Europe a few years ago, some sites asked for passports but happliy settled for a "carnet" instead.

 

This year, in Spain they routinely wanted to photocopy (not retain) BOTH our passports, saying the police insisted on this, and ACSII carnets WEREN'T acceptable.

 

In France, the very few times we used sites, no-one wanted to see either kind of document - so I suspect it's a matter of national law in each country.

 

BIB is interesting Tony.....especially after my 'experience' there! Maybe the Police have now been told to tighten up more and take control? Personally I have no problem if a C/site wanted to photocopy my Passport as i doubt a photocopy could ever be used to fake one.

 

As for each countries laws, having toured Poland many times and stayed on a variety of C/sites here I can say this is the only site which persists in asking to keep the Passport so I don't think 'law' comes into it. I've stayed at Camping Korona three times now and each time they've asked to keep my Passport.......and I won't let them have it.

 

If I could find out exactly who manages the site there are two questions I would like answers to; 1) why do you ask to retain the Passport and 2) why is the site only asking certain people for their Passport?

 

Four biker guys from Belgium have just arrived on site and none were asked to leave their Passports at Reception, just as neither of my Dutch 'neighbours' were either.

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

Bulletguy - 2013-08-01 2:46 PM..........................If I could find out exactly who manages the site there are two questions I would like answers to; 1) why do you ask to retain the Passport and 2) why is the site only asking certain people for their Passport?...............

Perhaps they are afraid the UK will leave the EU while you are there, and want to cover themselves both ways! :-D

 

More seriously, if you want logic, forget it! We have been asked for passports at some sites, and not at others, in pretty much every country we have visited. Most have been happy with a carnet, some with an ACSI card, many with a photocopy (which they invariably had to keep the passport at least an hour to take). Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Rep were probably worst, Croatia a close second, parts of Spain and Portugal occasional, Italy here and there, even France on the odd occasion. Most of western Europe is fairly relaxed, but the odd town hall sends the local police to check who's where, especially on municipal sites where they also employ the guardien.

 

The receptionist at one Czech site near the Greman border was very insistent, and got quite agitated when I challenged why. The local police chief demanded he kept passports he said, and he was so agitated at the prospect of not being able to produce it on demand, in the end I gave it to him. He almost broke into a sweat when I light-heartedly suggested he challenge the police chief!

 

Old habits, I think. He was middle aged, and like a lot of others we came across, was still having difficulty deciding whether he was allowed to think for himself, how much, and what about. Same was true in much of Hungary as well. The younger ones were far more relaxed. I think it is the shadow of the various flavours of the Soviat era secret police. I guess once you've had a run-in with them, you tend to be a bit more cautious second time around!

[Bulletguy]

Brian Kirby - 2013-08-01 7:11 PM

 

Perhaps they are afraid the UK will leave the EU while you are there, and want to cover themselves both ways! :-D

 

I think it is the shadow of the various flavours of the Soviat era secret police. I guess once you've had a run-in with them, you tend to be a bit more cautious second time around!

 

Could be Brian yet the strangest I ever came across was the first time I was on a site in Hungary about eight years ago. The Site Reception handed me a sheaf of forms to fill in and one of the questions was "date and time you crossed the border...". I dreamt up some non-existent date then wrote 1400hr 33min 24seconds.

 

I felt it was pretty strange given that during DDR times Hungary was the first country to relax it's borders and indeed many ex-DDR citizens crossed there before those in Germany.

 

There does still exist an element today in Germany of "Ostalgia" (a longing for times of the East) and to a point I can understand why. But when The State sets itself up as the sole provider of everything, when things go wrong then there is only The State to blame. I've met some very interesting people in East Germany over the years, each with very different views and stories to tell of 'life behind the Wall'.

 

 

 

 

[maggyd]

Bulletguy - 2013-08-01 12:10 PM

 

Iain Strachan - 2013-07-31 10:46 PM

 

I use ACSI camping carnet, which has my passport number and address on it. We are unfortunately not like most of our fellow european neighbours by being given an identity card at birth. Which gives you right of return to your place of birth within Europe. No her Britanic Majesty insists that we buy an over priced passport every 10 years. Just to go to France, have you seen their ID cards?

 

Iain

 

When I had my Passport and all id stolen a couple of years back I had to apply for a new Passport. It's not counted as a renewal but an application, so not quite as straightforward as a simple renewal.

 

Erring on the side of caution I decided to have new photos taken and sent off the form. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply back from the Passport Office stating "application refused". I decided to phone them and nearly fell off my chair at the response......"well we don't think the person on the photograph is you." So I asked how could he know what I really looked like and exactly who the hell did he think he was speaking to on the phone?!!

 

I then asked if they still had record of the stolen Passport on their database. They did. So I asked if he would look very very carefully at the photograph. I asked if he noticed anything in particular, and he replied, "well you seem to have more hair on the current one.....". "That's because i've not had my hair cut since the previous photo."

 

Eventually after much consultation with his 'boss' he came back on the phone and said, "ok we both agree it is you and we will send a new Passport out."

 

It was like something out of a Monty Python sketch! :D

 

 

 

(lol) (lol) They must have thought you looked younger!!!!

[Bulletguy]

maggyd - 2013-08-02 3:47 PM

 

(lol) (lol) They must have thought you looked younger!!!!

 

If only that had been the case!! :D

 

What amused me was when he said. "we don't think it's you in the photograph...."!! How could they know how somebody looks when they've not seen them? And the only difference in the photo I sent to the one they had on their database (from the stolen Passport), was a few millimetres of hair! I even purposely wore the identical t-shirt!

 

 

[Geee246]

Recently come back from northern France with my wife and son. My sister in law and husband were also with us in their van. We stopped at 6 sites and were asked to leave one of our passports at 2 of them (Camping Joncal in Grandcamp Maisy and Camping Vitamin near Dieppe). The receptionists at both said that this was policy and in exchange for the "gate fob" and will be returned when we leave.

Wasn't at all happy with this but didn't want to create a fuss. The second site, Camping Vitamin actually lost my passport when we were leaving and denied that we had even left it. The receptionist was not the same as who booked us in and could speak little English. After creating an almighty fuss and pointing at various cupboards and drawers for her to check, she found it in a random drawer, shrugged her shoulders and said sorry.

My sister in law on the other hand refused to give her passport and they accepted the paper part of her driving licence. Why these sites feel the need to ask for such an important document is beyond me. If its for the purposes of a fob then surely a repayable cash deposit would be favourable. Not sure if I would want to leave my passport with anybody again after that experience.

[Bulletguy]

Geee246 - 2013-08-03 10:34 AM

 

Recently come back from northern France with my wife and son. My sister in law and husband were also with us in their van. We stopped at 6 sites and were asked to leave one of our passports at 2 of them (Camping Joncal in Grandcamp Maisy and Camping Vitamin near Dieppe). The receptionists at both said that this was policy and in exchange for the "gate fob" and will be returned when we leave.

Wasn't at all happy with this but didn't want to create a fuss. The second site, Camping Vitamin actually lost my passport when we were leaving and denied that we had even left it. The receptionist was not the same as who booked us in and could speak little English. After creating an almighty fuss and pointing at various cupboards and drawers for her to check, she found it in a random drawer, shrugged her shoulders and said sorry.

 

My sister in law on the other hand refused to give her passport and they accepted the paper part of her driving licence. Why these sites feel the need to ask for such an important document is beyond me. If its for the purposes of a fob then surely a repayable cash deposit would be favourable. Not sure if I would want to leave my passport with anybody again after that experience.

 

Had the C/Site who lost your Passport failed to recover it you would have been held responsible for the loss......not them......plus of course you'd have had to shell out for a replacement. And this is why I won't ever let any Site hold my Passport. They have no legal right. They can take copy by all means.......but no more. It's an outdated practice that has to stop and people must refuse to hand them over.

 

When my son was in the Forces and based in Germany for a number of years, part of his job was to sort out Banking for new lads arriving on base. To his horror he discovered the local Bank branch was holding several lads Passports where they had only supposed to take copy. Livid with fury he marched off down to the branch and demanded the immediate return.

 

After all, when packed off out to Iraq or AG it was with very little notice so you could imagine the consequences........"oh ermmm.....I haven't got my Passport Sarge...it's at the Bank!" *-)