Using cards in unmanned petrol stations
Discussion
Has anyone from UK had a card work in a French 24hr petrol station? I've been all over France on various hols and have never had one work, whether debit, credit, VISA, Mastercard, different banks, etc.
Have been caught by this in previous years. I'd happily take out a new card with whichever company can guarantee it works in a French petrol station.
Have been caught by this in previous years. I'd happily take out a new card with whichever company can guarantee it works in a French petrol station.
From my experience travelling overnight Calais to Le Mans several times, there are no manned petrol stations anywhere on the run to Rouen and then on the N138. There are many petrol stations open BUT they only have pumps activated by credit cards. Only French issued credit cards work these pumps so anything else is no good. There's two solutions.
1: Buy petrol as you exit Le Shuttle at Calais and trust this will get you to Le Mans where the petrol station beside the airport is open 24 hours and manned
2: Take a spare can of petrol and don't declare it as you join Le Shuttle in the UK.
R.
1: Buy petrol as you exit Le Shuttle at Calais and trust this will get you to Le Mans where the petrol station beside the airport is open 24 hours and manned
2: Take a spare can of petrol and don't declare it as you join Le Shuttle in the UK.
R.
LeoZwalf said:
You could do what we had to do last year. Wait until a friendly local arrives, ask him in your bestest francais if you can give him cash and he pays on his card!
It worked, kind french man to the rescue
It worked, kind french man to the rescue
I tried that, none of the machines would accept his card for a second filling after he'd filled his own car, was down to 6 miles on the trip computer when I finally found a manned station at 1a.m.!
CooperLola,
Since you live there - do you know answer to the question above about opening a French bank account. This would be handy not only for Le Mans but also for the several other visits I make to visit a sister in the Alps. (Never driven there is a performance car....wonder what Tuscan's are like in the snow??).
Since you live there - do you know answer to the question above about opening a French bank account. This would be handy not only for Le Mans but also for the several other visits I make to visit a sister in the Alps. (Never driven there is a performance car....wonder what Tuscan's are like in the snow??).
Edited by FLAT 6 on Wednesday 25th April 10:55
One service station between Alencon and Le Mans also has a new trick up it's sleeve during the daytime too. You park, put the nozzle in and nothing happens. They have taken their cue from the USA and now you prepay before they turn the pump on. You give them your card and fill up and they debit it and give you your receipt, or if you pay cash they'll set the pump limit at this amount. I don't know of any garages locally that take english cards although in the supermarkets the PIN machine recognises it as being english and the words are the same - in english!
FLAT 6 said:
CooperLola,
Since you live there - do you know answer to the question above about opening a French bank account. This would be handy not only for Le Mans but also for the several other visits I make to visit a sister in the Alps. (Never driven there is a performance car....wonder what Tuscan's are like in the snow??).
The reception you get in French banks seems to vary from branch to branch. Some will happily open an account for a UK address, some are beaurocratic nightmares - and it varies even for the same bank! I'll try a bit of research for you, but if your French is up to it, try BNP Paribas in the Place de la Republic because they let me open an account before I had a house here. Take plenty of documentary proof of your existence/ address etc with you : Passport, birth certificate, bank statement, electricity bill.. whatever you can think of! There's always a document they want that you won't have imagined they could have a use for. You might need to make an appointment and have a 30 min or so sit-down to sort things out but it is worth it.Since you live there - do you know answer to the question above about opening a French bank account. This would be handy not only for Le Mans but also for the several other visits I make to visit a sister in the Alps. (Never driven there is a performance car....wonder what Tuscan's are like in the snow??).
Edited by FLAT 6 on Wednesday 25th April 10:55
Then open a Nationwide account in the UK, get cash out with your N/W card and stick the euros in your new account. N/W don't charge a fee for cash withdrawals and you get better than commercial rate for exchange - you will save a packet over the years.
FLAT 6 said:
Has anyone from UK had a card work in a French 24hr petrol station? I've been all over France on various hols and have never had one work, whether debit, credit, VISA, Mastercard, different banks, etc.
Have been caught by this in previous years. I'd happily take out a new card with whichever company can guarantee it works in a French petrol station.
The definitive answer to all questions reagrding LM can be found in this thread here: Have been caught by this in previous years. I'd happily take out a new card with whichever company can guarantee it works in a French petrol station.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I have a French bank account with Credit Agricole - we have a house in France but all correspondence comes to us in the Uk and I am not sure they even asked details about the French property. Needed various proofs of ID and income etc. to open the account, but probably nothing more than you would need in the UK. The only difference was that the cheque book and card had to be collected from the branch as they wouldn't post those to us. In addition to that there is a monthly charge for the account - 6euros something a month I think. At least I have money in the account so should be able to buy petrol on my way this year.
andyps said:
I have a French bank account with Credit Agricole - we have a house in France but all correspondence comes to us in the Uk and I am not sure they even asked details about the French property. Needed various proofs of ID and income etc. to open the account, but probably nothing more than you would need in the UK. The only difference was that the cheque book and card had to be collected from the branch as they wouldn't post those to us. In addition to that there is a monthly charge for the account - 6euros something a month I think. At least I have money in the account so should be able to buy petrol on my way this year.
It's for French property owners onlyhttp://www.britline.com/g1/
There was a petrol station in central Le Mans where we filled up on Monday, although we used our French card, I'm 99% certain there was a sticker on the pump saying it now accepted UK cards. Can't remember the exact location, but it was near a big supermarket with multi-story car park, with a systen of single lane entry roads (through a mini underpass) into the supermarket car park. IIRC the pumps were Blue/Yellow. Any idea where this might be??! May be useful fill-up slot for those leaving late Sun/Mon.
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