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I got one recently and used it all last week on a trip to Normandy (car only).

It worked verywell and was very convenient with significant time savings even out of seaon - havn't had my Visa statement yet though!  There was a significant amount of arm waving from French drivers who until the barrier went up sometimes thought that an Englishman had gone into the telepage lane by mistake.

The total deposit is 33€ (incl VAT) and you are charged 2€ for every month that the transponder is used.

I ordered it through the http://www.sanef.com website and it was charged to my Visa card and delivered to my home in about 10 days.  The  website is all in French but with my smattering of knowledge I found it to be reasonably easy to navigate.

I'm keeping mine in the short term (hopefully without any charges in the months I don't use it) as I usually go across three times a year but if you want to return it and get your deposit back on the way home I understand you just do so at a Sanef office (see their site for locations, there's one by the toll booths on the A16 just outside Boulogne for instance).  I think you can get one at the same offices if you don't trust the web.

I've posted on this on a number of occasions before ..... and I'm not going through the list of problems we've encountered again (they're somewhere on here!) ..... suffice it to say that it's darned embarrassing when the thing doesn't work and trying to sort out problems on the phone with Sanef is a nightmare, unless you speak perfect French. Even a French friend got fed up trying to sort it out for me.

Great idea .... and when they get the technology spot on and the back-up right it will be brilliant.  But then everyone will have one so there won't be any advantage. 

They are a prime target for thieves - so leave it on your windscreen and it's quite a risk.

Oozat

I ordered mine from the Sanef website a couple of years ago, and it came within a week.  It's been brilliant - especially as I do a lot of driving in France on my own, and it's not funny doing all the unbuckling, jumping out, running round etc...

I have always dreaded it not working, I must say!  It only happened to me once, in a tiny rural peage thank goodness, where there was only one lane anyway; so I just took a ticket and paid at the exit.

I do shut it away when leaving the car, though the carrier is stuck to the windscreen so I suppose someone might break in on the off-chance.  I carry the paperwork with me, just in case I have to call Sanef and cancel it if that should happen.  Though judging from the comment above, that might not be too straightforward.

Apparently their batteries can run down, and then you just pop into a Sanef office (i.e. near Boulogne) and swop the transponder for a new one.

Also, if you are charging the tolls to your credit card, you MUST inform Sanef when you have a new credit card (i.e. when yours is replaced every three years or so), otherwise the gadget will stop working.

Angela

Hi Caddy,

I have one of those telecard passes, they work a treat, as long as u stay under about 2m, I have always had a trailer and usually have bikes on it, and that just about fits under the barrier, some of the booths have no height restrictions, but as a rule its safer to stay under the 2m mark.

I would guess that your folding camper would easily it under the barrier.

Apart from the deposit fee, the €2 is only charged in the months you actually use the card, so if you complete your journey in the same month, you only get charged €2 for that month.

They save loads of time, especially at peak traveling times.