At completion of August my companion and I took place a biking vacation in France with our folding e-bikes. We passed by Eurostar and had no worry en route out.
However, on the return trip we were quit by safety at Paris Gare du Nord and informed our batteries would certainly not be permitted on the train as “they were at risk of exploding”.
We remain in our very early 70s and prior to I scheduled I checked out the Eurostar support on e-bikes meticulously. They are permitted, supplying they are nabbed and adjust with dimension demands, which ours did.
We might not obtain the safety personnel to transform their minds so stored the batteries in left baggage to prevent confiscation.
We missed our train, however were given with a ticket for a later on one, nonetheless that did not make our link to Somerset.
The batteries deserve greater than ₤ 1,000, so I grumbled to Eurostar and attempted to obtain it to schedule them to be moved to St Pancras for us to accumulate.
It informed me to increase an issue with SNCF, the French nationwide train firm. However, it informed me that safety at the terminal is not its obligation
After a number of weeks of phone calls and e-mails it got to the factor where we felt we had no option however to take a trip back to Paris (by automobile and ferryboat) to obtain the batteries.
I desire Eurostar to repay us for all the costs sustained– virtually ₤ 1,000– as a result of this blunder, and to transform the suggestions on its internet site.
I would certainly never ever have actually thought about taking a trip with our e-bikes if I had actually understood there was a danger of confiscation
CS, Bridgwater
With e-bikes a significantly preferred setting of transportation, it is worrying to listen to records such as this. I spoke to Eurostar and it has actually apologised and supplied to totally reimburse the added prices you sustained.
“Foldable e-bikes and their batteries are permitted on our services,” it states. “Unfortunately, an error occurred in this instance, and we sincerely regret the difficulties it caused. We are addressing this with the security provider at Paris Gare du Nord to ensure all contracted staff are fully aligned with our policies on restricted and prohibited items.”
We welcome letters however can not address separately. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or contact Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please consist of a daytime telephone number. Submission and magazine of all letters goes through our terms.
