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Author Topic: No Fuel on Crete  (Read 6464 times)

Offline Susan K

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No Fuel on Crete
« on: July 29, 2010, 09:02:29 AM »
Just had a call from my husband who was listening to the Today programme. There was a report on the Lorry Drivers strike in Greece and apparently, Crete has been badly hit with no fuel getting through to petrol stations. Drivers are abandoning their cars at the side of the road. This will obviously affect transfers from the airport.

Has anyone any further information?

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2010, 12:26:13 PM »
Quote from: Susan K
Just had a call from my husband who was listening to the Today programme. There was a report on the Lorry Drivers strike in Greece and apparently, Crete has been badly hit with no fuel getting through to petrol stations. Drivers are abandoning their cars at the side of the road. This will obviously affect transfers from the airport.

Has anyone any further information?

Saw this dated today on another forum :-

PM signs order for civil mobilization; gas stations to resume serving customers today
Gas stations around the country are due to be refueled today after the government took the rare decision to order the civil mobilization of striking truck drivers, whose protest has led to widespread gasoline shortages.

John R

Offline Mike G

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2010, 01:26:35 PM »
Quote from: Susan K
Just had a call from my husband who was listening to the Today programme. There was a report on the Lorry Drivers strike in Greece and apparently, Crete has been badly hit with no fuel getting through to petrol stations. Drivers are abandoning their cars at the side of the road. This will obviously affect transfers from the airport.

Has anyone any further information?
Just one more reason to stick with a tour operator (in spite of the limited choice, etc, etc) IMHO. Greece is a very unreliable place at the moment.

Mike

Offline Susan K

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2010, 02:58:07 PM »
Mike - I'm inclined to agree with you about it being being unreliable at the moment. It seems to be changing day to day and we have to keep our fingers crossed that when it's our turn, there aren't too many problems.

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2010, 07:59:56 PM »
Quote from: Mike G
Just one more reason to stick with a tour operator (in spite of the limited choice, etc, etc) IMHO. Greece is a very unreliable place at the moment.

Mike

I'm not going to disagree with the above sentiments. If there is a major problem then the tour operator has to sort you out at their expense - though this may be time consuming and tedious etc. and the holiday could still be cancelled (with money paid back). We go independent and I have potential plans in my mind. If it had to be all called off then my costs would be limited to the airfare which was cheap enough (this year anyway) and I should get that back if it was called off due to flight cancellation by the airline. I don't pay up front any other money.

If we get stuck out there then I would not be over concerned - I would make the best of it extending the holiday as necessary - albeit slightly inconvenient. I ask for my hire car to be delivered with a full tank and pay for it to be returned with an empty tank so I always make sure there is enough fuel in the tank just to get back to the airport - at all stages of the holiday. I have 100% faith in the hotel where we stay (Stella) in that I would not get thrown out of for any reason not of my own making.  So we will set off with a degree of confidence. Air traffic control and airport related strikes are my biggest fears for delayed, cancelled or prolonged holidays. The biggest (financial) problems for a cancellation for some people would be for those booking independently who had paid large sums up front prior to departure.

lets all hope for the best for an enjoyable time at Plakias

John R

Offline Susan K

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2010, 04:48:47 PM »
Just been reading this on the BBC news site. It's not so much the report but the readers comments at the end with 2 being from Crete. I think it's really worrying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10822911
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 04:49:09 PM by Susan K »

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2010, 05:53:24 PM »
Quote from: Susan K
Just been reading this on the BBC news site. It's not so much the report but the readers comments at the end with 2 being from Crete. I think it's really worrying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10822911


Yes very worrying. All I can do is to be optimistic and hope things are a little better when we go - mid September. If my hire car has enough petrol to get to/from the airport - with no more available then I'll be happy enough in the circumstances. Stuck in Plakias for two weeks is no bad deal. My hire car people are very communicative  and helpful and I'll know at the last minute whether our car has fuel or not (before departure)

John R

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2010, 06:01:43 PM »
Sorry - made a duplicate post
« Last Edit: July 31, 2010, 06:03:34 PM by John R »

Offline Susan K

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2010, 09:20:07 AM »
Perhaps someone returning can tell us how it really is.

Offline Peter&Dawn

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2010, 05:37:19 PM »
The Greek lorry drivers strike is over. They return to work on Monday.

Have just found this article,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10833197

Peter&Dawn

Offline Mike G

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2010, 01:38:41 PM »
Quote from: John R
Quote from: Susan K
Just been reading this on the BBC news site. It's not so much the report but the readers comments at the end with 2 being from Crete. I think it's really worrying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10822911


Yes very worrying. All I can do is to be optimistic and hope things are a little better when we go - mid September. If my hire car has enough petrol to get to/from the airport - with no more available then I'll be happy enough in the circumstances. Stuck in Plakias for two weeks is no bad deal. My hire car people are very communicative  and helpful and I'll know at the last minute whether our car has fuel or not (before departure)

John R

The expression "cutting your nose off to spite your face" springs to mind. Imagine what this publicity is doing to those who are quite happy to go anywhere in the Med. area.

Mike

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2010, 09:23:36 AM »
I see that the truckers are on strike again in Greece raising the prospects of another fuel shortage at the pumps. I go on Friday and I have contacted my my car hire company who have proved so reliable over the past few years and they have have promised a car with a full tank. As long as I always have enough fuel in tank to get back to Heraklion then Plakias is not a bad place to be "stranded" in if we cannot use our car while we are there.

John R
« Last Edit: September 14, 2010, 09:24:02 AM by John R »

Offline Peter&Dawn

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2010, 12:26:56 PM »
Quote from: John R
I see that the truckers are on strike again in Greece raising the prospects of another fuel shortage at the pumps. I go on Friday and I have contacted my my car hire company who have proved so reliable over the past few years and they have have promised a car with a full tank. As long as I always have enough fuel in tank to get back to Heraklion then Plakias is not a bad place to be "stranded" in if we cannot use our car while we are there.

John R


When we were there (last 2 weeks of August) there was no problem getting fuel, however there was a massive difference in prices.
I paid 1.57 Euros / litre at the second garage coming out of Plakias. (It was 1.09 Euro's / litre last year)

The cheapest I saw was 1.519 Euro's / litre about 6 kilometers the otherside of Spili, and the most expensive was 1.699 Euro's / litre around Heraklion.

Buyer Beware  

Peter&Dawn

Offline John R

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No Fuel on Crete
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2010, 01:36:50 PM »
Quote from: Peter&Dawn
When we were there (last 2 weeks of August) there was no problem getting fuel, however there was a massive difference in prices.
I paid 1.57 Euros / litre at the second garage coming out of Plakias. (It was 1.09 Euro's / litre last year)

The cheapest I saw was 1.519 Euro's / litre about 6 kilometers the otherside of Spili, and the most expensive was 1.699 Euro's / litre around Heraklion.

Buyer Beware  

Peter&Dawn

Yes - I realised this when my hire car company very apologetically told me how much they were charging me this year for a full tank. We have an arrangement whereby they fill it full and I can leave it "empty" on its return.

John