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Mobilty Scooter Hire


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I am in the process of buying one, and in the end it is coming from the UK as the prices are lower and people seem much more 'aware'.

This may seem irrelevant to hiring one, but in fact I have found it difficult to get any sense out of my local pharmacie.

I haven't seen any in my large town (80.000), only electric wheelchairs. There certainly isn't any system to hire one to go round shopping centres such as I have seen in the UK.

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Thanks all. I was asked by a friend who is visiting Blois. I looked through the other threads, and had a quick "surf", and now you'll all confirmed what I thought I was seeing. I think my friend is now resigned that he wont be hiring one!

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If he travels by car a lot get him to invest in a baby one of his own.  I recenlty bought a second hand three wheeler for £325 second hand in the UK.  It's a doddle to take to bits (once you get the knack) and is a real liberator.  Will fit in any car boot.
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I have finally found, and managed to log into, this forum after the change.

I have used mobility scooters in France for several years now, all of which were purchased in UK as they were much cheaper there.

It is possible to buy them in France but they are very expensive, and difficult to find.  There is nowhere to buy them anywhere near where we live.

However, buying in UK has one major drawback in respect of servicing and breakdown.  For annual servicing, and also for repair, I have had to take the scooters back to UK.  I did find one shop in France which advertised servicing and repair, but they would not service or repair my scooter as A) It was bought in UK and B) They had not sold it.  A local disability shop offered to service and repair, but after some expensive fiddling about obviously not knowing what they were doing, they had to send it away.  I tried this only to be charged 250 euros for carriage charges to and from the repair depot, which then said they could not repair the scooter.

So buy in UK, but beware.  If anyone can recommend a scooter shop in France I would be grateful as I will need a replacement scooter soon.

David

 

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I am getting one from the UK, a rather larger one than mentioned, and will have the same problem about servicing.

Perhaps we can keep in touch in case either finds a solution?

Mine is coming from the UK by a carrier, but I can't imagine sending it back in that way as the cost would be prohibitive.

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Because the o/p was discussing a portable one, and he lives in the UK, I don't think servicing and repairs would be an issue.  As for me, I can just pop mine in the boot and take it with me to the UK (which I'll be doing anyway) if it needs to have anything done to it.

Mechanically, I don't think that there is a lot of difference between the scooters and electric wheelchairs, the latter of which there are certainly thousands in France.  I wonder if it's worth your while going to your local MDPH and asking them what the form is to get them serviced?  You may even get some state help.  If you are registered disabled, you could ask for some help from APPAMH if you have a local branch.  They service and provide my non-motorised wheelchairs and other kit.

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That's a good tip, as far as servicing etc is concerned. Mine is arriving soon thanks to the contact you gave me [:D], but is a rather larger (Category 3?) one which I don't think is so easily moved around.

However I am not actually recognised as disabled, even though I can't walk out side without either a Rollator/crutches  or  a scooter.

That is a whole other ball game in France once you are past 65, if you weren't accepted as handicapped before.

I had an appointment with a Neurologist last week who reckons that I

haven't got Parkinson's (No jokes about Norman  P thank you), but is

sending me for a battery of tests. While this is very good news of course it does have the downside that I don't fit easily into a slot, and the French do prefer to put you into a category...

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It seems to me that there is an opportunity waiting for someone here, (if only I was a year younger[Www]); near me in the UK is a very popular mobility shop with a range of stuff, but mostly scooters, manned (or should that be womanned) by a lady whose partner works out of Transit Van delivering, fixing and servicing the scooters. Good luck til then for you . . .
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there is an English owned company based in St Claud in the Charente who have been selling mobility scooters for the last 6-7 yrs in France. They are called Mobility Dynamique - google for their details. They cover most of France, but specialise in the South West region
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Hi Norman,

Well, as you live about 60 km north of Perpignan you probably have researched all facilities in that area.

I have looked at the Mobility Dynamic web site that Betoulle kindly provided but they are expensive.  They sell the Paris scooter for €2200, but you can buy it in UK for £660.  Why such a huge difference, and why not sell at a more reasonable price to expand their business?  Service charges also seem expensive, and seem to rely on a technician coming to your house.  I am a bit suspicious of this as he may not have the diagnostic equipment sometimes needed, and he may not be able to carry all the spares needed in his van.  What happens if he does not have the replacement parts?  Does that mean another full price call out?  On the web site there is no indication as to whether they would service scooters which they have not sold.  Nor is there any indication as to whether they have a repair workshop on site, or whether you can take the scooter there and browse new scooters and other aids while waiting for the repair, which is what we do in UK.  For you with a category three scooter, and living in the south, if they will service scooters that they have not sold, then this may be the way forward for you, and for me also as these days we are having difficulty in lifting the scooter into the estate car.

I was stunned to read that you were having difficulty in being recognised as disabled in France because you have passed 65.  What does age have to do with it?  Surely you are disabled or not!  I now cannot walk, even with crutches, and must use a wheelchair.  I am recognised as 50% to 79% and had been putting off applying to be recognised as over 80% disabled while my shoulders were examined.  I now wish that I had applied sooner, but I have now turned 65, and the condition of my shoulders now mean that I cannot use crutches, so wheelchair only.  Good luck with your application, and I will give it a try forewarned by your post - thank you.

Coops - unfortunately after your accident, you have become the fount of all disabled knowledge - do you know if MDPH and APPAMH (what is APPAMH?) will assist those who are in difficulty but are not recognised as 80% plus disabled, or any sort of disability?  Do you know why the rules change once you have passed 65?

Just John - you are correct, there is certainly a huge gap in the market in France for someone selling mobility scooters at reasonable prices and witth full service facilities.  Do you know anyone who might be interested?  If I was younger and fitter I would give this a try.

 

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Definately not a fount of all wisdom!  I am nowhere near 50% disabled but I do get kit from the Association Pour Pret d'Appareillage aux Malades et Handicapes if I get a referral from a doctor or ergo', just as I get a parking permit via the MDPH once approved by the doc and then them.  I have a leaflet of theirs which says they are affiliated to CPAM plus several other caisses and work associations (EDF/GDF; MGPTT; MDE etc). 

"Formalites: Presenter une prescription medicale.  Justifier d'une ouverture des droits aupres les organismes cites precedemment en presentant une carte vitale ou l'attestation de droit.  Obtenir, selon le cas, un avis favorable du service medicale."

I have an e-mail address but it's for the Sarthe only. 

I'm not sure about the rule changes - Norman knows more than I.  It has something to do with taxation and being over pensionable age, afaik.  I'm not sure that it's so much that you cannot be registered after that age, as who takes responsibility for you, but that's all more Norman's field than mine, as I don't qualify for any tax breaks.

 

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I was referring to the sort of issues I raised in this thread:

http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/2628182/ShowPost.aspx

Past 60/65 you are no longer classed as employable, so you no longer come under L'AAH (Allocation pour adulte handicapé)

L’AAH n’est plus

versée à partir de 60 ans en cas d'incapacité de 50 à 79%. A cet âge,

les bénéficiaires basculent dans le régime de retraite pour
inaptitude.
En cas

d'incapcité d'au moins 80%, une AAH différentielle (allocation mensuelle

réduite) peut être versée au-delà de 60 ans en complément d'une

retraite inférieure au minimum vieillesse

This is all very well if you are already in the system when you get to retirement, but even then there seem to be problems (see 5e's posts about her husband in the other thread)

I realise that you may not be after financial help, even though it could be welcome, but as with me it is useful (especially in France  with its rigid 'box' mentality) to be seen to be in the appropriate official  category.

That is what I mean rather than getting particular equipment.
I have had  a rollator prescribed for example, and I had an ordinary wheelchair hired to me on a previous occasion.

The MDPH are only interested in those of working age, which cooperlola is..

http://www.handroit.com/aah.htm

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I received this recently, but since it's not applicable for me at the moment I thought I'd pass it on for your benefit[:D]

L'âge de la retraite va être porté à 67 ans minimum dans quelques années surement ...
La vignette autoroutière va arriver !
Les montants des pensions vont diminuer de plus en plus ...
Le prix des carburants, lui, grimpera !
Et plus besoin d'avertisseur de radar !!!!!!!!!
Mais heureusement, nous sommes de notre époque et nous aurons notre véhicule électrique !
Et nous voilà, tous les deux ensemble !
 
Ne souriez pas... Nos politiques ne préparent rien de bon pour votre avenir... pensez-y !

FAITES SUIVRE À VOS COPAINS EN ACTIVITE... et ceux déjà en retraite !!

[IMG]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/classic69_72/deuxieme.gif[/IMG]

ps apologies for the Moiré pattern, it wasn't visible until after I posted it through photobucket

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  • 3 weeks later...

The only time I’ve ever seen one in France, it was an English tourist.’[:D]

Coming under scrutiny here by the Department for Transport and in Holland, where the vehicles are subject to road traffic laws; the problem is being taken seriously, transport minister Norman Baker has commissioned officials to investigate, citing evidence that in at least one area of the country young people are using the scooters ‘because the insurance and tax is less inhibitive than with cars or motorbikes’.


  Britain-mobility-scooter-capital-Europe-300-000-roads.

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A typically nasty article from The Wail which tries yet another slur

While I agree that it is shameful to pretend to be handicapped I can't

agree with the idea that it is necessarily a bad thing that  that " younger, able-bodied people

are buying mobility scooters."

I am neither young nor able bodied, but if young people find that this

clean and safe and environmentally- friendly  method of transport is

practical why not? It would be a good idea if they replaced the noisy polluting

little mobylettes that are a pest in many villages over here

As for the effect of getting one on me

I am absolutely delighted with the scooter and the effect on my life.

 

The rear basket and stick holder are excellent:I  used this yesterday

to collect my dry cleaning.

The scooter is very flexible: I have been able to go  both on the road

and also inside public buildings (there are many fewer in France with

good access than in the UK) so I have been able to get to our new

Mediathèque  http://www.mediatheque-beziers-agglo.org/Typo3/index.php?id=10

(a sort of super library with spaces for CDs DVDs, but also for

Computer terminals and rooms for performances) sign up AND go up and

down in the lifts and around the bookshelves all without having to get

out of the scooter, as on the 'slow' setting I can creep forward

without any danger to others.

I was even able to go to the 'guichet' in the CPAM inside the building.

On Tuesday I was able to go to a conference at the IUT ( the

Polytechnic) which has also been designed for wheelchair access

I have been able to transport plants and even bags of compost (under

my feet) from the Friday Flower Market

(http://www.sports-sante.com/index.php/le-marche-aux-fleurs-de-beziers-herault)

and so have transformed the tiny patio of my hovel into something much

more pleasant to live in.

All these places were either just too far to get to with my rollator,

or it was  too difficult to transport items (I bought a small orange

tree and a small olive tree as two example I could not have carried

before)

My horizons have been greatly widened, and I have regained part of my independence

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The problem is that there are really quite a lot of these mobile scooters about and frankly some of their owners are plain dangerous and inconsiderate - they pay no road tax yet feel free to behave as a car when it suits yet other times expect the rights of a pedestrian.......

They are meant for the disabled, not for youngsters wanting to lark about

My mother, in theory could have had one of these, but she has never driven, it would have been a nightmare........

My feeling is that there should be some sort of basic test for them to make sure users are considerate to others....I'm sure you are a good and considerate driverNorman, but when one of these machines goes over your toes or into the back of your legs, it's no joke......
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As I am the only person with a Class 3 scooter I have ever seen in my town (I have met one other on a smaller machine) I am obviously in no position to comment on the situation in the UK where as you say there are quite a lot about.

For once I am a pioneer [:D]

On the other hand I still think that they could provide a way forward for urban transport not only for the disabled.

Obviously if that happened there would need to be new regulations, but in comparison with the problems caused by diesel buses coughing out fumes, 4x4 in tiny urban streets, and the noise of motorbikes,  those caused by electric scooters don't seem out of order..

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