The Polish Via Toll Box System – A
Reprise
Ian and Judit Shires September 2013
Following Brenda and Adrian Wilson's horrifying experience
of the new Polish system of road tolls in May this year, motorhomers
Ian and Judit Shires describe what happened to them in
September.
Ian and Judit sent us the following account, extracted from their own
website at: http://bessyonthemove.weebly.com/poland--germany-2013.html
Ian and Judit write:
“We left Camp Smok (near Krakow in southern Poland) with the
intention of buying a Via Toll Box. After all the horror stories of people
being trapped by the Police on what appears a normal road but without a Via
Toll Box we thought it wise to invest. Any vehicle over 3.5 ton should
have a Box because the detectors and the Police can catch you out. We have
heard stories of people having to pay over £1,000 in fines (see the
Wilsons' account above).
We must point out that nowhere in
Poland did we see signs stating that we should have the Via Toll Box
fitted, or any other information whatsoever. There is the website, but it
is quite confusing, even in English.
The idea is that you buy a
Box and preload it with money. Then when you go under said gantries it
deducts the toll automatically. In theory, when you get to the border
you can hand the box back and get the cash back for it, plus the
unused amount left in the Box. The roads are shown on a website but
we have seen detectors and gantries, and the tiny "card" sign on
other roads already.
The local filling station did not sell
them and said that there is just one place in Krakow but they didn't
know where. They said it should be possible to get one on the
motorway. Great! Never mind, we went into town to visit the Palace
and see if we could see any signs for Via Toll Boxes. No luck at
all.
At the first service area on the way to Auschwitz we could
buy a Box at the Filling Station counter but the staff and everyone
else were quite confused and unsure what to do. The process went
as follows:
1. Hand over Passport. Details entered into computer. 2. Hand over
Registration Documents. Details entered into computer. 3. The above
documents were then scanned into the computer. 4. The assistant then
printed out two sets of documents. Each six pages long. 5. Pay for the
Via Toll Box with Credit or Debit card. 120 PLN (about £24). 6. Sign
for above on two separate receipts. 7. Pay for minimum pre-load with
plastic. Again 120 PLN (another £24). 8. Sign for above on two
separate receipts. 9. Sign for Credit Card, just once. 10.
Assistant places the Via Toll Box on another box and does things with
computer. 11. Sign one of the 6-page documents in 5 places (three
times on one of the pages). 12. Sign the other 6-page document as
above. Assistant keeps one copy. You keep the other. 13.
Assistant hands you the Box to place in windscreen area of motorhome.
14. Leave the assistant looking confused after 50
minutes of bureaucracy. 15. We now have the Box and
three receipts plus one of the 6-page documents. All in
Polish.
On our way to Auschwitz we had to pay a “normal” toll at a “normal”
toll booth. Why, when we have a ViaToll Box? On our way
the Box never bleeped once and we never saw a gantry, yet the road is
marked as one of the Via Toll roads on the internet. Is it working?
Should we try to find a centre where we can report the problem?
There is a button and the figures 2,3,4,X may light up. Is this
good?
After a peaceful night at the Nazi Tunnels we headed for the German
border near Dresden. Our route was very pleasant through the forests
until we got to the motorway. Once again, no indication that this was a
Via Toll road, even though it is indicated on the Polish website.
Take care at the border, as there is no Polish “side”. So we went into
the German “side” where there were lots of empty offices. Luckily a
Ukrainian trucker spotted us carrying our box and directed us to the
correct office. It is not clearly marked and the VIA part of the name is
a white outline on a white wall. Once inside a bored looking lady wanted
all the papers and the box. Ian had to sign two sheets of paper
agreeing that we had NOT paid any tolls and we would get the money for
that and the box returned to our bank accounts. We'll let you know
about that.
So after all that faffing around and time wasting we actually spent
nothing other than at toll booths. Well done ... and so they should
be.”
Editor's note: faffing is Yorkshire for messing or
another word beginning with p or f, depending on the gravity
of the situation. Much Better News!
In November 2013, Tina Goodall Evetts wrote: "On our 6 month tour this year we were in Poland for 5 weeks. We bought the
viatol box from a filling station that had a huge sign outside (near Poznan)
and we also were given pages to sign that were not in English. When we arrived
in Krakow to visit Polish friends they phoned the viatol line and were told we
should have been offered the pages in English. They also worked out what we had
left on the box and how much it would be to reach the border, very helpful. We
paid 120 zloty for the box (refundable) and 120 zloty to load on the box to be deducted
as we drove under the gantrys. Very simple to use, to buy and to return.
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