Motorway ‘blipper’ / smart tags - For ALL news, advice, how to get one and what’s best, irrespective of the country

[wessie]

I've been a client for quite a few years now.
They never asked any ID when I signed up to be fair, but I suspect a lot of those companies send out the blippers to people in the UK, they are then not able to set SEPA payments and the blippers are never returned. Hence the request for ID.

surely they could just do a dummy SEPA transaction? This is what Fulli seems to do. They have done it every time my credit card has expired and I entered new details. Probably 3 or 4 times since I joined in 2018 (when they were APRR and accepted card payments)

 

[leadfarmer]

Just a heads up

Fulli have merged or something with a company called Mobilis so don’t panic if you see a payment to Mobilis on your bank statement, it’s just your motorway tolls

 

[er-minio]

surely they could just do a dummy SEPA transaction?

Surely there are a lot of better ways.
My experience with French digital services (and a very brief stint working in them) is that they have appallingly badly designed processes quite often, even worse than Italian ones.

I wrote about this before, but I think I tried two other companies before I finally managed to set up with ULYS (using Wise).
The previous company wasn't able to set-up the SEPA, despite doing, if I remember correctly, a one-off test transaction (HSBC).
This is entirely their fault. As they also advertised these services as "for the UK", but they do not check properly in advance and surely they didn't properly check what they can do with all the available UK banks.

What they do is turn almost immediately defensive and then go on the offensive as if you are trying to steal money from them (not returning the blipper and so on).
All communications, at least in my case, are in French and it's a bit of an effort to manage all the translations.

If I have to say something negative about ULYS is that all the comms are in French.
For a service that is marketed to UK users (or at least the part marketed for the UK), you might consider to have a translation service or some dedicated support people. But, no.

Apart from that, it works fine.
I've been using it for years now, the billing is accurate, they send notifications in advance of the billing, cannot fault them.

Only once I got billed in the wrong category (bike as car) and, in France, it makes quite a price difference. I emailed them and they sorted it within a couple of weeks.

 

[Sly]

I've been a client for quite a few years now.
They never asked any ID when I signed up to be fair, but I suspect a lot of those companies send out the blippers to people in the UK, they are then not able to set SEPA payments and the blippers are never returned. Hence the request for ID (probably one of the above).

I initially set up with a different company before ULYS, they weren't able to set-up the SEPA, they blamed me and they got aggressive at some point.
I returned the blipper, but never checked if they actually got it.

I also think Ulys charged me a deposit (40 euros) at some point when I exchanged a blipper. Never checked if they actually returned that money to be fair... I should.
I have 2 active blippers with Ulys, but over the years I had to swap another couple (one dead battery and once they sent me the wrong blipper) so we had quite a lot of back and forth.

Works perfectly fine otherwise.

Seems to be quite a pain to set these things up - thinking I might just add an extra day and stay off motorways going down France or pay after the trip somehow. Really seems to be a lot harder then it ought to be..

 

[wessie]

Seems to be quite a pain to set these things up - thinking I might just add an extra day and stay off motorways going down France or pay after the trip somehow. Really seems to be a lot harder then it ought to be..

most of them are still "take a ticket and pay at exit with a card" or a flat fee for those without a TAG. The only ANPR section most Brits will encounter is either side of the Pont de Normandie near Caen/Le Havre on the A13. If you use this section, the warning signs are massive and you can go online to pay afterwards, just like crossing the River Mersey at Runcorn.

 

[er-minio]

Seems to be quite a pain to set these things up

Using Wise (free) goes super smooth as you'd have an European IBAN.

thinking I might just add an extra day and stay off motorways going down France

You can still just pay by card at the tollbooth as the vast majority of the population does.
The blipper facilitates the transit, but it's an extra. Not necessary.

I, personally, travel quite a lot between Italy and France, both car and motorbike, having the blipper is non negotiable for me.


BTW, are you sure they are asking all those documents, or one of them, or proof of address?

 

[Sly]

most of them are still "take a ticket and pay at exit with a card" or a flat fee for those without a TAG. The only ANPR section most Brits will encounter is either side of the Pont de Normandie near Caen/Le Havre on the A13. If you use this section, the warning signs are massive and you can go online to pay afterwards, just like crossing the River Mersey at Runcorn.

Ah right.

In that case I have a "spare account" I could load with some euro's and when I need to pay, just tap that card and put it in my tank bag.

 

[siddo]

Anyone used ULYS?

They want a copy of my national identity card, passport, driving license and bank statement to get my tag sent out - thinking they can GTFO.

Go elsewhere.

 

[Skippy]

It's the SEPA transaction, or more appropriately, non-transaction, that pushed me away from Fulli. Awful to deal with too, taking ages to respond, nobody you can actually talk to, everything in French and refused to deal with the problem sensibly. All sorts of threats and warnings issued to me, despite me replying immediately, using Google translate so they didn't have to.

EMOVIS - 180 degree the opposite. UK based, phone support, easy transaction, use the same tag on any vehicle without transferring it (not sure if that's how it should be on a bike and then a car though - I'll give them a call and have a chat to find out).

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

 

[er-minio]

True, Emovis works way better. And are super fast at delivering the blippers as I think they ship them directly from the UK.
I think I didn't use them as they don't (or at least didn't at the time) offer the Italian motorways payment options that I need.

 

[Sly]

It's the SEPA transaction, or more appropriately, non-transaction, that pushed me away from Fulli. Awful to deal with too, taking ages to respond, nobody you can actually talk to, everything in French and refused to deal with the problem sensibly. All sorts of threats and warnings issued to me, despite me replying immediately, using Google translate so they didn't have to.

EMOVIS - 180 degree the opposite. UK based, phone support, easy transaction, use the same tag on any vehicle without transferring it (not sure if that's how it should be on a bike and then a car though - I'll give them a call and have a chat to find out).

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

Oh I forgot about them! Thank you, want to sign up with them today so that's ticked off my list. I would prefer to just ride through the booth then stop, gloves off, get a ticket / pay, gloves on, sod off etc

 

[Sly]

It's the SEPA transaction, or more appropriately, non-transaction, that pushed me away from Fulli. Awful to deal with too, taking ages to respond, nobody you can actually talk to, everything in French and refused to deal with the problem sensibly. All sorts of threats and warnings issued to me, despite me replying immediately, using Google translate so they didn't have to.

EMOVIS - 180 degree the opposite. UK based, phone support, easy transaction, use the same tag on any vehicle without transferring it (not sure if that's how it should be on a bike and then a car though - I'll give them a call and have a chat to find out).

Emovis Tag UK

Travel without stopping on European Motorways. Emovis Tag UK can provide UK customers with a tag for automatic payment of motorway tolls in France, Spain & Portugal.

www.emovis-tag.co.uk

Only thing with EMOVIS is I need two tags if I'm going France to Spain:



Be nice to have one tag to use in all 3 countries..

 

[er-minio]

Ye, same reason as me above.

Be nice to have one tag to use in all 3 countries..

Go with ULYS then.
If you do not mind opening a new "account", sign up for Wise. Open an Euro balance and use that for the SEPA (you will get an IBAN).
It's free. It works wonderfully. Also extremely handy and cheaper for Euro/foreign transactions.

Easy.

 

[Sly]

ULYS then.
If you do not mind opening a new "account", sign up for Wise. Open an Euro balance and use that for the SEPA (you will get an IBAN).
It's free. It works wonderfully.

Easy.

I do have WISE, stupid me forgot to use them for ULYS.

I'll do a new ULYS account then.

 

[Burridge01]

Just found this thread, had a read and went over to my Emovis account and had a look(not really paid any attention to it before,just paid it)Seems on more than 1 occasion over the years I've been charged as a car when on me bike. Will certainly pay more attention to it now.
Never had an issue with me tag,be it bike,camper or car,always worked without any problems at the gates.

 

[Sly]

Just spoken to Emovis - they recommend for bikers to get an arm band and put the tag in that to keep it out of the weather etc. Do you guys just put them in your tank bags or where?

 

[Burridge01]

Ah right.

In that case I have a "spare account" I could load with some euro's and when I need to pay, just tap that card and put it in my tank bag.

I did this once with the post office card,for some reason it never worked at the toll booths(worked OK at petrol stations)Was a few years ago so may be better now,but worth finding out what cards do work.

 

[Burridge01]

Just spoken to Emovis - they recommend for bikers to get an arm band and put the tag in that to keep it out of the weather etc. Do you guys just put them in your tank bags or where?

Put mine on bottom of me screen,left side.

 

[er-minio]

Post in thread 'Shopping for a trip away'

May 28, 2024

its just a job to do or spend on bracket

Don't get a bracket. OJ makes a little bag that you can fix with velcro straps on the bike.
Been using it on the GS for a while now, I just take it off at the end of the day.
Cheap and does what it says on the tin.

I have no arm pockets on my jacket and keeping it on the chest pocket mostly didn't work.

Motorway ‘blipper’ / smart tags - For ALL news, advice, how to get one and what’s best, irrespective of the country

My 2 Mango tags arrived yesterday, so I’m really pleased. £0 up front cost and £0 monthly charges when I use them, until Sept I noticed that they came in Faraday pouches and they suggest that you keep the tag in these in the car, ready for when needed. So did mine....very quick delivery so...

www.ukgser.com

...

• er-minio

• 

You can take it away at the end of the day (velcro) while the straps/plate stay in place.

 

[siddo]

Just spoken to Emovis - they recommend for bikers to get an arm band and put the tag in that to keep it out of the weather etc. Do you guys just put them in your tank bags or where?

I use security guard SIA arm band display .