Mieke van Gansewinkel is on her way to Lisbon with her two daughters. A hundred kilometers before the first stop, a campsite in the south of France, all kinds of lights started to burn on the dashboard. “The car was picked up the next morning. It should be repaired within 48 hours.”
Lack of information
Then the long wait started. If the car is not ready on time, she would have to get a replacement car. “At least, that is the ideal picture that is sketched,” she tells RTL Nieuws. “But that turned out differently.”
She took her daughters and all their belongings to a nearby hotel. But the next day the repair was still not finished. There was also no replacement transport. “What bothers me most is the lack of information. You’re trying to get in touch for three or four days. You want clarity. Sometimes you hear: we’ll call you back. But then they don’t. a lot of unrest. A lot of tension.”
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Mieke and her daughters are not the only ones who have found themselves in such a situation this summer. Director Emergency Centers at the ANWB Victor Geskes acknowledges the problems in conversation with RTL Nieuws. “It is getting busy this summer. It is thirty percent busier than in the summer before corona.”
According to Geskes, the problems have multiple causes. “We can go on holiday again, and we do that en masse. Partly due to the problems at the airports, many people choose their own transport.” The heat in southern Europe plays an important role in this, he says. “The engine has a harder time in the heat. We see that again: many reports have to do with engine problems.”
Personnel and spare parts
It is very often possible to help people along the way, but if that does not work, the problems quickly pile up. Geskes sums up: in many Southern European garages there is a shortage of personnel, there is a severe shortage of spare parts, and rental cars (which the ANWB wants to offer as replacement cars) are scarce.
“We know of examples of garages where twenty cars are already waiting, while there is only one mechanic. Then the car of an ANWB member is the 21st. We try to ensure that they are helped with priority, but you can imagine that repair will take longer than you expect.”
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It produces, he says, many ‘angry and frustrated phone calls’. “We fully understand that. Because car trouble, especially abroad, is just very, very annoying.”
Solved myself
Mieke van Gansewinkel was one of those callers. “I understand they’re busy,” she says, “but why aren’t they communicating? That’s so frustrating. They assume you’re sitting still and waiting. You just never get the sense that they’re the problem of your situation. see.”
She eventually solved the problem herself. She is participating in the world tennis championship for ‘young seniors’ in Lisbon. That tennis tournament isn’t waiting for her. “I rented a taxi bus and drove to Barcelona. That was already 800 euros. There I rented another bus for the coming weeks. We drove to Madrid with that, and from there on to Lisbon.”
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A considerable amount, she admits. “But it’s important to me. I used to play tennis at a high level. But now I’ve been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Lisbon is my last tournament before I have to stop.”
Extra roadside assistance
According to Victor Geskes, the ANWB has prepared itself as well as possible for a busy summer: “Since October we have been busy recruiting staff and purchasing replacement cars. We also have extra roadside assistance in the areas where many Dutch people come, such as the Ardèche, the Dordogne and the Italian lakes.”
Still, he expects problems next summer: “The lack of personnel in particular will remain a reality for a while, especially abroad.”
Finally, Geskes adds: “Prepare yourself, make sure your car is in order before you go on the road. And oh yes: don’t forget to bring your spare key. We also had a phone call from someone who gave the key clogged the microwave, but it stopped working after someone else used that microwave to heat up milk.”
And Mieke van Gansewinkel, who hopes to be able to pick up her broken car on the way back.
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