So much for passport control!!!

[Mrs Reject]

Went through customs in France to get back to England. The guy asked me if I was British so I said I was in a fake foreign accent. He asked to see my passport which had the wrong name on it and I said do you want me to take my motorbike helmet off and he said Nah...just waved me through.
I COULD HAVE BEEN A FECKIN' TERRORIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So much for all this talk about better security on boarders to stop terrorism. It's all bollox :mad:

[xjtriker666]

typical frogs ,,,,

[Creature]

I COULD HAVE BEEN A FECKIN' TERRORIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

ok only when y abikes not working :) :) :)

seriously tho glad you both had a great time and got home safe

[griff2000]

Had very similar experiences in the not too distant past. Once in a van and once on a bike. On both occaisions i turned up earlier than expected in Calais and went to the office of Sea France late at night. I was passenger in the van and didnt have a ticket, having flown out to spain for a walkabout. Got aboard straight away courtesy of a very nice madamoiselle, no ticket, unseen passport. The second time was also late at night, in the thunderstorms of late August last year, no rear light at all on the bike, again no ticket as i didnt want to tie myself down to a set journey back out to spain. Waved right through. Their whole attitude was one of, "i do nut care if you 'ave no ticket, i do nut wunt you in ma cuntry, get on ze boht and fuckoff".
Result for me but yeah, what if i was a terrorist or illegal immigrant? The beauty of this at the time was that as i was rushed onboard, the french authorities were unloading a truck of its illegal cargo. Toowit:- about 20 dark skinned, unwashed and unkempt looking gentlemen. Made oi snigger! He he.

[Mrs Reject]

It wsn't a gallic type, it was an english person at the passport check!!!!

[Mrs Smudge]

i've only been out of the country twice... and got stopped by customs both times COMING BACK IN!!!
the first time was when we went to germany on the bike for a long weekend... so no surprise there then!
the second time... we took the kids to disneyland paris, coming back into the country, kids piled high with mickey mouse toys, clothes, the lot... got stopped 'can you open your boot please sir?' they went through the whole car! then asked to look in the suitcases... 'go ahead' i said (with a big smile cos smudge's socks have been in there for about 5 days now!!! :D )
it was bloody obvious where we'd been, but the car in front was a volvo estate with it's back bumper scrapping on the floor due to booze crammed in the back.... they went stright thru!! :mad:

[Urban Terrorist]

All the times when I went to france through dover, I never once showed my passport. Haven't got a passport now, but wonder if i could just go straight through anyway? :D

[STEViE]

Jus' 'cos I'm feelin' in a moody feckin' mood today I'll pose this question to Mrs R an' others who may have/will try this out for themselves.

Just how much would you have moaned an' bleated on here if you had have been stopped an' your bike searched an' possibly stripped of some of it's parts. I love it when folks go on about poor security at the ports an' airports by tryin' to test it, then tell all an' sundry except for the security services mannin' the ports an' airports.
I came home one time from a couple of gigs in France with a band an' as we were comin' back into England the question was asked where we'd been an' what was in the back of the van. The feckwit of a singer said "only the drugs we ain't used yet". After a two hour wait whilst our van was searched thoroughly we were on our way with the smartarse singer complainin' about harrassment. WANI<ER !!
It's really easy to knock the system, but did you bother to think that in the time that it would have taken them to search you an' your bike if they had have stopped you just how many 'real' terrorists may have gotten into the country.
I do see the point you're tryin' to make Mrs R, but I'm sure there are better ways to make it. BTW, did you explain to the authorities afterwards what you had been able to achieve so as they may be able to rectify the situation ?

[Abb]

Indeed, and white skinned people with red hair are not generally Islamic Terrorists.

[BikerGran]

Well I've NEVER been able to think of the reason why this happens to us....

As we live about 9 miles from the port at Poole, we quite often pop over to France for a day trip to refill the wine rack, or a few days camping. But nearly EVERY FECKIN TIME we go, ON OUR WAY OUT OF ENGLAND we get pulled out of the line of card loading onto the ferry and our car is 'searched'. I put that in quotes cos they make us open the boot then ask stupid questions like "Whats in that bag" to which we say "tent poles" or whatever. "Whats in the cool box?" - "Ice packs". They don't make us open the bag or box or whatever, so it's not really a search - this is not customs, it's Brittany Ferries staff. And when we ask why, they just say "It's for your own safety" which is complete rubbish as it's not a thorough search.

Next time we go for a day trip I'm going to demand to speak to someone and find oput why they are doing it - maybe they will keep us back till we miss the boat but i don't care, I'm fed up with always being the ones that get stopped!

[Mitch]

Poor lass, confused as ever... :D

This whole thing came about as we were going out to France not coming back... I think the Duvel had quite a lot more of an effect that I'd imagined... :eek:

The passport control was the french side and all he said was
"are you engleesh?" and that was it... he just let us go through without needing the passports. It was only on the way back we were asked for them BY THE FLAMIN' BRITS!!!!! So much for 1992 and all that! :rolleyes:

[STEViE]

Maybe I've missed the whole point on this Mitch. But what is wrong with being asked to show your passport ?

[Mitch]

Maybe I've missed the whole point on this Mitch. But what is wrong with being asked to show your passport ?
'fraid so, Stevie - we wouldn't have minded if either side had asked us ... we had them! WE even had them in a convenient spot ready to hand over! but we thought the french attitude summed up what the whole European Union was supposed to signify, not the english version - they had even closed down the gate for non-EU nationals which is a bit mad really considering Sangatte's not that far away!

[STEViE]

So it wasn't that you had to show your passport that pi55ed you off, it was the fact that the French didn't seem to care an' the British did ?

Chances are Mitch they've probably logged your reg no.s now so you may find you get stopped a few more times as you travel out or come back. We had that with one of the cars we had. It was stopped every time we used it to travel OUT from the UK, don't know what was goin' on there but we changed our car an' it hasn't happened since.

[Mrs Reject]

I probably haven't explained myself very well, this incident happened in France before we boarded the train to come back to England........I would prefer they had looked at my face, checked my passport etc to make sure I was who I said I was and no I wouldn't mind being searched (I had very little luggage anyway). No one asked me to take my helmet off although they asked to see my passport. It worries me that passport control seems to be too lax. It would be nice to know that passport control cares who comes into the country........I could have been any kind of weirdo or wanted criminal. How can they see I match my passport photo when I've got my full face helmet on.
Yes it can be inconvenient to have to take the helmet off etc but I'd feel safer in my bed at night knowing immigration control are doing their jobs properly.
On the other side of the coin tho' I know it isn't necessarily a good way of controlling terrorism as a potential terrorist may have been born here and not even have ever left the country.

[STEViE]

This one'll be a member of that Tabbyban lot then. :D
Shoulda got a full face helmet.

[Mitch]

I probably haven't explained myself very well, this incident happened in France before we boarded the train to come back to England........I would prefer they had looked at my face, checked my passport etc to make sure I was who I said I was and no I wouldn't mind being searched (I had very little luggage anyway). No one asked me to take my helmet off although they asked to see my passport.
And that was the British! They asked to see her nose of all things (so she lifted her full face lid up a bit). What if Mrs R'd had a nose job, then she'd be completely nadgered.

[BikerGran]

. We had that with one of the cars we had. It was stopped every time we used it to travel OUT from the UK, don't know what was goin' on there but we changed our car an' it hasn't happened since.

That's what I was on about - I've changed my car now, will be interesting to see iof we still get stopped on our way out!

Funny tho, I met the previous owners and they were ever so respectable!