# xmas disaster 2



## 88847

Before the problems of hackers on this site i posted the events about our xmas away in perpignan, france, but as some of the topics were lost, and only a few read the post, i felt a little off having posted it in the first place.....and it has taken me a few days to get back on to this site.....i did not want to mention it again, as i do not wish to put anyone off motorhoming, but after a lot of thinking i felt that is is only fair to let you know that this is happening

not wanting to dwell to much on this topic, just to let you all know that, when parking up over night (even in the best of places ) you *must always be aware and always alert, dont take anything for granted*we had an incident on xmas morning that would make your blood boil, a robbery while we slept, losing a lot of equipment and he was armed,and we were parked in the so called good spot
my wife woke me up to say there was someone in the van, he had torch and weapon.
by the time i reacted to my wifes yell he was away out of the van, and i was less than 10 seconds behind him and never saw a thing
They removed my front quarterlight window (cut the rubber) shoved a screwdriver into my locking system, ruining my central locking, cut through the ratchet strap i had between the cab doors, like it was butter.
The police were not interested, and all they would say was "everyday" "everyday"
we have learnt so much, and after a lot of soul searching we have decided to keep the motorhome and not let these twats win.

there is a lot more to this subject and if asked any questions relating to it i will try to answer what i can to help others

the good thing is we are both safe and well, and equipment is replacable

_sorry to put a dampener on the site_

my email address is [email protected]

Paul and Doreen


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## Anonymous

Glad that you are both ok but obviously a nasty experience that you will never forget. I am pleased that it has not put you off and look forward to your future news. Rowley.


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## csd4t

Redone
So sorry to hear of your trouble, we were also in France on Xmas day. Were you on a site or aire or what? Glad you have decided to carry on don't let the b######s grind you down. I know only too well what your feeling having had my house burgled while I slept. You have my sympathy.


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## Dave757

Hi Red One glad you have not left us, it was a shame the thread was lost as it contained a lot of good gen. Did you use other autoroute airs ? most of the posts recommended leaving the motorway for the night,and this is what we will do now. rgds deegod


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## smifee

good on yer RedOne don't be beaten by them.

i asked a couple of questions on the original post but didn't see a reply.

was it an autoroute service area :?: 

had you stopped there before :?: 

did you have an alarm fitted & set :?: 

was it dark when you parked up :?:


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## Anonymous

Redone

Sorry to hear of your troubles.
Sounds like the same experience my wife and I had a little further up the coast at Valras Plage, but at least I heard them breaking in. 
For your info, I now use a strap made of 6mm wire rope covered with PVC with cleats at each end forming a loop. Thread it through arm rest and steering wheel, then padlock ends together (all parts purchased from local agricultural merchant for about £6) We also have a cat 1 alarm armed at night. The side door is secured with a wooden stop through handle which can be removed quickly in case of emergency. We think after this there is not much more you can do other than hope.

Clive


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## Anonymous

I think I read on here that some burglars can unscrew the roof lights and get in that way. Have to be annorexics to get throught mine though.


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## 88781

Apologies Redone, 
I didn't see this post before replying on Gas attacks again post!

Regards Dave :roll:


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## 90136

Hi Red one, I find it disappointing that others posting in response, seem to think it didn't happen to you. I know from my own experience that the rise in crime that has occurred in the U.K ha not only happened here.

Why do they attack your van, could it be that they really only have to learn how to get in to a Fiat, they then have a choice of 90% of vans. I agree that you cannot make it *Impossible* for the sods to attack you, but you can make it more difficult, they will then perhaps try eleswhere.
It is interesting that you confirm my thoughts about the cheap but ineffective option of straps between the door, much better to solve if you can the poor locks on the doors, also of course camp sites themselves provide more protection. The attitude of the Police is no different than the UK, they cant be bothered, The government cant be bothered, it is a sad fact of life that we live in such an environment, whatever the cause.

My sympathy goes with you, and I thank you for giving me assurance that my actions are perhaps right. I will not stop my m/h use because of them.


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## Anonymous

magnor said:


> Redone
> 
> Sorry to hear of your troubles.
> Sounds like the same experience my wife and I had a little further up the coast at Valras Plage, but at least I heard them breaking in.
> For your info, I now use a strap made of 6mm wire rope covered with PVC with cleats at each end forming a loop. Thread it through arm rest and steering wheel, then padlock ends together (all parts purchased from local agricultural merchant for about £6) We also have a cat 1 alarm armed at night. The side door is secured with a wooden stop through handle which can be removed quickly in case of emergency. We think after this there is not much more you can do other than hope.
> 
> Clive


Could you elaborate on the chain thing and also tell me what you asked the agricultural merchant for. Plus the same for the wooden door stopper.


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## 88847

just to add a little bit more info

it was 0245 on xmas morning when it happened and we were parked on the autoroute with a van 5 feet to my left, a van 40 feet in front of us, a car and caravan plus an artic behind us
it was a 24 hour services, we were 50 metres from the cashier, there was enough light outside to read a book by, all the othere vans had dogs,(not us tho) 2 inch wide lorry ratchet strap between the door handles, swivel seats turned with the backs towards the doors
silver screens fitted on the inside windows of the cab, lots of stuff on the drivers seat

NO alarm, (please dont lecture me, i paid the price and hindsight is a wonderful thing)it was to be fitted the day after our return, as the auto electrician was ill, and we so wanted to get away for xmas, never thinking the worst would happen to us...........how wrong i was

security rail on the caravan door

these are my reasons why i think it was us

1 we were on the outside of the group of MH,s (they had a blind side to work)
2 only van with british plates and stupid ecosse sticker,must be full of stuff
3 no alarm, but they were not to know that at the time they chose to rob 
us
4 our bed is at the back over the garage and sits in a type of alcove, making it hard to hear most things
5 had a van full of goodies as we were from uk, so we carry everything
6as long as they (the sh**heads) could hear me snoring they had no reason to rush

there are lots more but!!!!!!!

there is no excuse for having no alarm...............circumstances

having said all the above it has made us a lot more aware and i am doing things to the van to elininate there next attempt 

cat1 alarm, linked to air horns 
gas alarms
pressure pads under carpets
flashing lights
exterios sensors
lockers all linked to alarm
aluminum strapping below any wooden slats to prevent them comin in from locker
eye bolts have been attached to cab doors and cab floor(out of window reach) and a chain is attached between
Panic button fitted in bedroom area, along with all other controls
2 door chains fitted to top and bottom of caravan door, out of there reach

in the process of fitting a piece of steel between the top of the door lock buttons and the top of the door frames
and anything else i think of

i know this sounds like overkill to a lot of you , but if you have not experienced it then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and if i have missed anything out and you think it is a good idea, please let me know

all of the inside chains have been fitted so that we can still get out in a hurry if need be

Paul


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## smifee

thanks redone for the extra info.

whenever i hear of a fellow MHomer being the victim of crime i selfishly think 'would i have got myself in that position?'

i am now able to say no i wouldn't. i could well have stopped where you did but not without an alarm and extra locks on both cab & camper doors.

having preached 'the first thing to do is get a vanbitz alarm' to friends taking up MHing i now find myself in the position of having a new van and having decided to have the electrics redesigned before anything electrical is fitted. so i'm taking a gamble like you did. you lost. i just hope i don't.


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## 88847

hi smiffee

we took the gamble and lost, but we all say , it will never happen to me.............

wrong place ....wrong time

i am hearing from others all over who are telling me so many tales of there incidents
only today a local couple told me of there MH being robbed as the cooked a bbq on the side of the road with another 8 mhomers, as they were busy , the robbers were on there blind side, opened there offside door and took a number of things without them even knowing, they were fully alarmed
What can i say

Paul


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## Boff

Hi,

not only your original post is gone, also my reply to it. So again:

First I am very sorry to hear about that. We once had our car completely robbed empty just half an hour into our summer vacation (were still travelling with a tent at that time). Had to turn back home, tent gone, money gone, clothes gone. And we had an attempted burglary into our motorhome 2 years ago. So I know how you feel. 

So here again my most important advice:

*Never ever spend the night on a motorway service station or lay-by!!!*

Especially not in France, and more especially not in southern France!

Just checked again the survey in my German motorhome mag: More than 90% of all raids on _occupied_ motorhomes happened on motorway aires! So these are *by far the most dangerous places* to spend the night.

Should you be on the motorway in France and feel tired, better leave the motorway, drive some kilometres to the next village a bit off the main road, and if this village has no motorhome aire, then just park on the car park right in front of the church. Or, even better, opposite of the local _Gendarmerie_. It is perfectly legal in France, and if really someone knocks on the door in the morning, then it is most probably only the baker who wants to sell you _baguette_ and _croissants_. :wink:

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## 89213

The saddest thing about all of this is perhaps the fact that most of the people doing the robbing are 'emigrants' or 'illegals' usually transient. It is this as much as the fact that the victim may or may not be French that makes the gendarmes shrug. It's because they have absolutely no chance of catching the ba*****s, and that it's not worth the paperwork. Unfortunately it is the people and the country that get the blame, and it must be a PR disaster for the French. The only thing I can suggest is that we set up a petition for presentation to the French ambassador with attendant reporters when it's handed over. Nothing embarasses like adverse publicity. and the French are so nationalistic it may hurt their pride and get a positive reaction. We are off on our first MH trip to France at the end of April, and we are having a Vanbitz alarm fitted on the way to the ferry. Mind you even when I drove trucks through France I never stopped at motorway services overnight, cheaper fuel and better grub on the back roads.
John


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## autostratus

I did reply to Redone's original post but as with others it was 'lost'.

We regularly stay on aires in France (never on autoroutes) and to date can number over 100 with some visited on more than one ocassion.

We have a VanBitz alarm with the overnight setting for when we sleep and use a welded chain between the cab doors.

Our current motorhome is 7.25m long and we sleep singly on the 2x6 foot bunks at the back of the van with our heads probably 6.5m from the cab windows. We had concerns that if the cab door windows were broken while we slept entry could be gained and we wouldn't hear intruders until it was too late.

When we had our alarm fitted we had as an extra a very short range sensor fitted which covers the cab only and is switched on before setting the night mode. One of the snags to this is that we can't use our internal silver screens as the allarm is tripped if one drops from the window.
Not using the screens though does make the chain visible from the ouside and probably acts as another deterrent.
We also have an extra internal siren and I doubt anyone could get to our sleeping end before we wake.

To date I've never heard of anyone else using an extra sensor in the cab and VanBitz said at the time it was the first time they had been asked to fit one.
If entry through the cab is the preferred entry point of night thieves perhaps it should be offered. Any thoughts?


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## peedee

Where do Van Blitz normal fit the sensors then? I have a Scorpion system and the cab is fitted with two movement sensors one on top of each side pillar looking down the rear of the van. The cab doors and the accommodation door is also alarmed using micro switches. i.e the major points of entry are covered. The movement sensors don't quite cover all the van and of course they are deactivated in the overnight setting.

I did buy some more micro switches to alarm the lockers but have never got round to fitting them and so far I have not bothered with chaining the cab doors together. Perhaps I should.

I have never had a problem in sixteen years of touring, whilst I do wild camp on occasions it is not usually the norm for us.

peedee


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## autostratus

The normal sensor looks down the length of the van when activated but not of course in the night mode when only the locker and door sensors are activated.
The extra sensor which we had fitted is manually switched on before going into night setting so that this very short range sensor monitors the cab area only and allows movement throughout the rest of the van without setting off the alarm.


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## 88847

i would like to *thank all *you guys for the kind words of encouragement and for the few lessons in motorhoming

it has put a bit of a spanner in the works for us but we are going to give motorhoming our best shot,

please dont stop giving me information, as i need all the help i can get
and im sure we will win in the long run

many thanx

Paul


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## 89213

Glad to hear you've not been beaten by your nasty experience, 'Nils Illigittimi Carborundum' as they say. I just wondered if you'd had a Fife sticker rather than an Ecosse sticker it would have helped, then again he may not know that 'Ye need a lang spoon tae sup wi a Fifer' This experience could just be the worst thing you'll ever have happen to you in you MHing career.
Cheers
John


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## 88847

john

i am in the process of removing the ecosse and gb stickers of my van, i am not going to advertise more than needed that we are from uk
if stopped by police then they will get it full on, how they were not interested when it happened yet they want me to tell all these sh**heads that i carry a label if you are not sure who to rob

if i thought i could carry a dummy set of french plates then that would also be on my list, but have to be sensible occasionally

my attitude has been well and truly adjusted, through no fault of my own

the accessorising of security items is ongoing, as i dont want my wife to go through that again, or me for that matter

if ever in fife drop me a line, ill look out the long spoon
Paul


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## Motorhomersimpson

Hi Paul,

Really sorry to read about your troubles, I have been trying to post before but what with the site and all.

It seems as though you going about things in the right way, keeping positive and looking forward, as said by others, don't let the low-lifes win.

Good luck to you and your wife, given time, hopefully all this will be a distant memory and you can then start enjoying your motorhome to it's fullest.

Kind regards

Rob


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## 89867

Please do not forget you may need to get out in the event of a fire. If you can release your security on one lungful of air you may just make it.


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## chrisgog

Thanks for info because hubby wanted to use the webb belting between the doors and I had my doubts. What do you suggest. Is a chain any good. We have vanbitz alarm and use it when sleeping abroad in all areas. We also won gas alarm with MMM so have to fit this ready for this summer.
Sorry, but one place I would never stay is an autoroute in South of France. You have had a frightening experience and thanks for passing on the information.


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## smifee

hi chrisgog

if your van is on a fiat then the cab is vulnerable to break in by smashing/cutting/punching the quarterlight. 

a webbing strap is another thing a thief would have to deal with but it's simple to cut - halfords even sell cutters just for cutting webbing 8O 

a chain would be a lot more difficult for a thief to deal with but can still be cut with boltcroppers unless you use the QE2's anchor chain  

i've just bought a fiat and i am having extra locks put on cab & van doors. nothing is thiefproof but i've chosen locks over chain because i think it's neater & easier to use.

i don't use the toll autoroutes in france but do use the free sections. i stop overnight on the service areas. i assess each one and if i'm not happy about it i move on to the next. i only use the larger services with a filling station. i always park in a well lit area and i try to choose a busy spot where vehicles & pedestrians will be passing during the night. 

if i'm not happy after checking 2 service areas i usually find an industrial estate and if i'm happy with the area stay there.


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## eddieo

we were in the south of france /spain last summer. Storys were wide spread about these incidents. I would never sleep on a motorway aire on the med coast.


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## 88847

I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing, when we left for our xmas break noone had said good or bad things about where and where not to stay.
I believe that it is the luck of the draw where you park, as, since we had our incident i am hearing stories from many people and they were all parked in different places.............not a specific motorway aire, 
Even on this site we have heard some bad stories and some terrible incidents happening to others

SO MY THEORY is...................Beware were ever you park and expect the unexpected, but most of all dont let the bad guys win.................

Paul


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## BERTHA

I have just taken delivery of lockable bolts for the Fiat Ducto door.

There is no drilling required has it uses the existing fittings.

The bolts are tough and cannot been from the outside.
I paid £155 + £5 delivery/

They do seem a lot sturdier than straps etc.

J


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## Anonymous

Clive sent me these some weeks ago which I thought impressive and visible....














































and he said...Quote:

Please find attached pictures of cable and wooden door jam.

It is really easy to make. I am sure if you can drive a MH then you can make this. 
Make sure you buy at least 6mm wire rope, the 2 or 3 mm is to thin, although will be strong enough it does not look much of a deterrent. As you know looks are as important to put off the would be thief.
The plastic covering is just normal plastic pipe. If agricultural merchant does not have it, then a aquatics centre or DIY shop will. Make sure it is big enough to slip over cable easy. Another tip is cover cut end of cable with a piece of tape or plastic (see picture) otherwise the strands will prick you (or worse still scratch your beloved MH!).

I think from the picture it is fairly self explanatory how to make and use it. Result strong, cut resistant and cheap.

The picture of the wooden block is also attached. Again I think it is self explanatory. This will only work if you have a internal handle like mine. It simple slips in and out in a second. Of course only useful at night, but that is when we had our unwanted visitor. I use a Fiama 'safe door' lock and side door when leaving van parked, put cable lock on and set alarm. Not much more I can do really.

Hope it helps any problems drop me an email.

Clive

Unquote

I shall be doing this prior to our big holiday end Aug.


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## Brambles

Jess,
Do you have details or a link for the bolts you mentioned?

Thanks, 
Brambles.


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## BERTHA

Brambles - Sorry I have not responded earlier but will send you link now


HEOSafe Locking Deadlocks for Fiat/Peugeot post 2002 
Model/Ref: HEO244
Internal Locking Deadlocks for Fiat/Peugeot Cab Doors
For Ducato/Boxer cab doors post 2002
Pack contains 2 locks, 4 keys and window stickers.

Price: £149.00 (Including: VAT at 17.5%) 
(c) Leisurepower Ltd. 2000-2005 - Sales: 0845 082 0888 - Fax: 01925 576050 www.leisurepower.co.uk

PAUL,

Not sure I would have had the guts to give chase!

You mention about bar lock on living area door and also outdoor sensors have you more detail and could you point me to where I can find site to purchase from

Many thanks
J


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## Brambles

Thanks Jess for info. I did wonder if it was the Heosafe you had purchased but was not sure. 
Jon.


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## 88847

Hugh 

hi, i have fitted reversing sensors on a seperate switch to the body next to the cab doors, switch them on when i go to bed if anyone stands near the doors they beep if the stand close to the doors the are continuous sounding
They worked great at the beverly rally when my friend woke at 3 in the morning and walked past our van, we knew about it

Paul

will post a picture


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