 | Home > Europe > BREAKING DOWN IN SWITZERLAND |
 
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| strang Member Since: 16 May 2012 Location: Happy Valley Posts: 1381   
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I have been to Switzerland a couple of times, once in my 1957 Series One and last year in the Defender. Luckily I have not broken down.
I see that "DEPANNAGE" is the breakdown service? Is this a national breakdown service (like ADAC) or more local? Thanks for posting the warning though. Euro-Leafing to infinity and beyond..... |
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15th May 2013 6:35pm |
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| couplands Member Since: 31 Aug 2011 Location: Peak District & Cornwall Posts: 1826 
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Hi,
I would like to understand more about this. Our daughter lives in Geneva and I have driven there once in our Disco and was planning on doing again. It sounds from your description that if you breakdown that your car is impounded in some way. Is that correct..? Cheers Simon |
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15th May 2013 8:14pm |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279  
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Strange. Friend of mine got stranded two years ago. Simply called the ANWB (Dutch recovery service), they send a local dealer to pick up the car and two days later we were heading back home. No problems at all.
Never asked for any paperwork at all. |
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15th May 2013 8:45pm |
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| bpman Member Since: 21 May 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 8069 
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hopefully Ericvv or another Swiss member will be able to clear this up for us, from your initial post it does look worrying
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16th May 2013 6:15am |
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| Kitoper Member Since: 07 Dec 2012 Location: Geneva Posts: 204 
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As a Swiss, I find this quite worrying too. Can you share the name of the garages that tried to pull this off? As a general information, the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) is the most reputed break down service in Switzerland and there general contact number in Switzerland for accident of breakdown is 0800 140 140 |
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16th May 2013 10:00am |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279
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Got me thinking by the way...
In Holland you can't transfer the car on someone else's name without a seperate document you should have stored at a safe place (e.g. not in your car and not with you). |
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16th May 2013 10:06am |
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| udderlyoffroad Member Since: 18 Jul 2011 Location: Bristol Posts: 124
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I too have never heard of this - and I spent 7years of my life there. Please can you expand on this somewhat as, without details, some people might choose to interpret your post as spreading FUD - and I'm sure that's not your intention!
TCS are the Swiss equivalent of ADAC/AA but presumably you weren't recovered by them? Was the company in question sent by your Dutch breakdown company? If so, you need to tell them that they have appointed a cowboy contractor in Switzerland before someone else suffers the same fate. Incidentally, it was 1991 that women in the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden finally got the right to vote, not 1971 Real trucks don't have spark plugs |
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17th May 2013 10:30pm |
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| Arran73 Member Since: 25 Mar 2013 Location: Commugny, Switzerland Posts: 133
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Sorry but that is a load of crap (mind my French) broken down twice in my old jeep wrangler, both times the TCS came and towed me home or to a garage of my choice, they never once asked for the car papers. My wife's xc90 broke down and again TCS came put it on a trailer and dropped it off at the dealership.
I don't think your telling The Howl story, i have never heard of garages stealing french cars what would be the point. It's probably got more to do with unscrupulous people not paying the fee for the cost of getting towed thinking they can just run across the boarder and never pay kind of like the speeding tickets and parking tickets. Well that's my opinion anyway. |
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3rd Jul 2013 9:08pm |
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| ericvv Member Since: 02 Jun 2011 Location: Near the Jet d'Eau Posts: 5816
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Cannot agree more. As if such things would be possible at all here. We are exactly the opposite of a banana republic. You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I https://vimeo.com/201482507 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw |
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4th Jul 2013 7:11am |
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| JESKA Member Since: 15 May 2013 Location: MEILLONNAS Posts: 4  
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My experience is because I drive a UK matriculation and have a RAC European breakdown cover. I break down and call RAC Lyon who link with the nearest agent for depannage which is breakdown recovery not an insurance. It is the nearest breakdown soccorso stradale that is available. At San Gottardo tunnel a man arrived with a piece of wire to tow my 110 and it broke. I got RAC in 2011 to repatriate to UK as I was on my way to the UK. This time I was with my horse trailer en route for Lake Garda and broke down 40miles/60kms to Brig and Simplon which is just about my 2nd home as I travel all the time France to Italy. Lucky not with the horses. The depannage arrived and took me to Vetroz he is Garage First. That was 19 April, I was put in a Europcar with no chains or snow tyres and as at 2000m rain is snow.I did not make it up Simplon and slid down. I am an experienced driver.
Garage First did not give me his phone number and the Swiss agent is MOBI 24. There is now a huge row in court about to start. It cost me CHF3000 to buy my own vehicle back in pieces. I got a French depannage to get me into the European Union as to import parts UK to Suisse you pay tax. So the Garage First man shifted CHF600 off me to tell me the problem. First mistake. So he wants CHF2000 to fix it which cost me Euro 400 in France. He tells me he can't get the parts and the Shengen makes me pay out so I internet search for French depannage and get the vehicle out into the EU via contacts in Bourg en Bresse. I get the horse box out with some else's land rover. But he refuses to let me get the 3 loads in one go ie leave the Europcar, collect the horse box, collect the land rover. Because he tells me he is closed. He is always closed so he makes more money in parking which no one bothers to tell me I have to pay. So the day the French depannage arrives he hits me and the police come and take 2 hours to get my vehicle off him. He refuses to take CHF600 cash and a Swiss CHF cheque but wants the lot in CHF cash. So the police tell me to do a plainte, twice now I have gone back to Ardon police to write a plainte and now the Garage First files calunia as I emailed copies of my furious emails to RAC Lyon and RAC UK for their lies ie madam you will have your vehicle back next Thursday madam you must pay by credit card to Garage First for the diagnostic rip off CHF600 madam you have to pay for a diagnostic madam sorry we did not give you the address and phone number where your vehicle is being held without your consent madam should read madman So now it is in court. Never let a Swiss depannage take your vehcile. The insurance compnay NFU congratulated me in getting my vehicle back as no one ever gets their vehicle back as they run up cost ie I got CHF25 for cleaning ie a drip tray under a leak!!!! You get shifted now I want a mean nasty Swiss lawyer to file civil and penal as a police plainte is un likely to make it beyond the dustbin in the Swiss Sion prosecutors desk. Story use Mont Blanc and not Simplon. I go back to Italy after Lanrauvergne but do Monte Bianco with the horses. Court in Sion? facebook Farmain Rhonealpes facebook Giteequestrian France Aerodrome Jasseron 01250 Land Rover 88" 1963 Series 2 Land Rover 90" 1977 Land Rover Defender 110 1999 Always crossing Simplon |
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4th Jul 2013 12:05pm |
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| Arran73 Member Since: 25 Mar 2013 Location: Commugny, Switzerland Posts: 133
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If you had RAC European break down coverage they should have simply repatriated your land rover to the UK rather than have it fixed in Switzerland. Anyway seems like a pretty extreme one off case if you ask me. Good luck with it.
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4th Jul 2013 12:44pm |
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| JESKA Member Since: 15 May 2013 Location: MEILLONNAS Posts: 4
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RAC European breakdown refused to repatriate the land rover or take it inside the eurooean union. Their policy is to take it to the nearest breakdown repair. Which was the depannage who took me about 10kms off the Autoroute de Rhone. I then had to do my own search for a way to get it out of Switzerland. I am sure I am not singled out at being stuck in Switzerland. It is extreme and now faces charges of assault against me and the garage in question then filed defamation against me. I have lodged a formal complaint against RAC with the Ombudsman Financial Services which deals with customer service complaints. I am out of pocket. But if you sit at home and watch TV then life passes by but I go out and about so things happen. I do not own a TV. facebook Farmain Rhonealpes
facebook Giteequestrian France Aerodrome Jasseron 01250 Land Rover 88" 1963 Series 2 Land Rover 90" 1977 Land Rover Defender 110 1999 Always crossing Simplon |
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5th Jul 2013 10:57am |
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