Sanef Reviews 402

I apparently incurred a 4.50 euro peage fee at 3.05 am on the way to catch a ferry. I had no idea that it had happened as I saw no signage for a peage. I was out of the country for four months. When I returned I found the Sanef penalty notice and promptly wrote via their website and provided proof of travel etc. I got this reply:
"We have received the request you submitted following receipt of payment notice no.FA2504707592‑1.
We regret to inform you that it was received after the deadline; your case has been referred to the Police Court.
In accordance with Article 529-6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if payment is not made or a claim is not lodged within two months of the date of dispatch, the fine notice is forwarded to the Police Court.
For any enquiries regarding this offence, please contact the Police Court handling your case."
No info on which court and as it's a no-reply email I can't ask them for the info. I'm sure they could withdraw it if they could be bothered but obviously they can't be, despite the fact that their letter accompanying the PN admits that signage for the peage may be inadequate.
They signed-off their reply:
"We look forward to seeing you on our motorways soon"
Are they taking the piss?

I recently incurred a toll fine of about 24 euros using a rental car on a month long holiday. By the time it arrived to me in Australia (about a 6 week delay) it had risen to 114 euros, in an attempt to explain my plight an error occurred TWICE on there website , including a simple feedback chat box!!!. The fine has now amassed the princely sum of about 900 euros. One attempt to contact them resulted in a reply to keep trying on their no-reply dialogue boxes which only frustrated me more. Our wonderful trip to France for a month has now left a bitter taste in my mouth and since I am unlikely to receive and satisfaction in paying the discounted amount, any further travel will avoid France and not include it 😬 ( in the further 4 weeks of travel in the hire car, no further problems)

N° de reçu : FA2504510684-2
montant : 100.30 €
Immatriculation : FR - HD524PG

In November I rented a car in Paris. In December I received a message from my credit card company about a payment from Enterprise/Alamo. I received an email explaining that it was a penalty. So, I authorized the payment through my credit card.
But for some reason the operator did not authorize the payment.

A few days later I received another message from the card company, requesting a new payment. However, I didn't receive an email explaining the reason. Because of this, I didn't authorize the payment via credit card.

The company Alamo should have contacted me to inform me of the payment failure. Then I would have resolved the issue.

Now, in January 2026, I received mail at my home from SANEF, which I believe is the agency responsible for issuing traffic tickets in France.

I made a payment with my credit card on the Sanef website, but I made a mistake. Besides paying my fine, I also selected the second option, which involves fees unrelated to my trip. I made the purchase on February 2nd, 2026, on my credit card, and the card issuer told me that only the company that received the payment can reverse the purchase so that I can correctly redo only the first payment of €100.30. Therefore, I need you to kindly reverse/cancel this payment, as it is not due to me, so that I only pay the amount that is my responsibility. I count on your help.

I already contacted them through the form on the sanef.com website - I haven't received a response.

Message n°429027

In my opinion, Sanef is definitely a theft organization. If you rent a car in France, beware that they will get you for absorbent tolls. They say you have a traffic violation through you car rental place (who also charges $100 to tell you this) and then they say these are really tolls, but you cannot get any information on these, nor a bill. When you are finally on to them and setup an account, they have already charged you high late fee for bills that you do not know exist. Expect $350 late fees for $250 toll charges to who know where. To drive through some areas in France and back, they charge $250 US dollars without notifying you that these tolls even exist, and then $350 additional dollars if you do not pay. You cannot contact them, nor can you report them. I have tried for days and no one in France cares about this. I hear they like to scam USA people and the government does not care! I will never even rent a car in France, nor will I ever recommend that anyone travel there unless they are okay with getting scammed with no recourse. Please avoid France! I drove from Paris to Normandy. A big mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since there seems to be no way to contact a live person at Sanef (I've tried many times), I'm posting here.

I recently received a payment notice for an unpaid toll on one of the free-flowing toll roads, presumably Paris-Normandy. This was for a car I was renting from Enterprise (I don't own the car). I logged onto the Sanef website today and discovered two additional payment notices, both with hefty fines. The only problem is that I never saw any of these charges posted on the Sanef site within 24 hrs of incurring the charges. Therefore I didn't think I owed anything and thought that was the end of it. I even checked a few days after returning the vehicle to see if anything was posted. Nothing. My question is simple...how can I be charged a penalty for tolls that were never shown on the Sanef site in the first place?

The sanef "free flow" website is TERRIBLE!!!!
As if the internet has been discovered just a few weeks ago. Interface is clunky.. weird squares seem to suggest checkboxes but are actually menus.
But most importantly: it DOESN'T SAVE your ACTIVATION for payments. It sends the confirmation email but in reality it hasn't activated. Recent trips are NOT AUTOMATICALLY PAID!! And on the account I get the advice to activate the payment... duhh!!!
Trying to use the "contact us" gets in into a classical loop - with login again - which never leads to the option to send a message...
Maybe you folks should take a course on how to create and TEST a website...

What a scam! Free Flow BS (I have a toll tag, thank you very much, that does not work with their system) to justify atrocious fees. They have a bunch of blabla wording that I could not understand until I received the paper notice ... 1 month late. I do not understand how they keep their license to operate.

I wanted to register myself. For this you need to trigger a verification code which is „valid for 15 minutes“. However this code is only sent to me hours (!!) after I have asked for it. What does SANEF think that I am sitting there patiently for hours waiting for the code? Fix your system and process and get customer-oriented!

I would give them zero if it was possible. The worst, biggest scammers in the whole of France. I wish them all the worst, bankruptcy, cheating wives and all seven biblical plagues. 10 euros for a road? AND don't forget about taxes. Wait a minute... hmm I remember that i already paid taxes, SO WHY I HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS STUPID ROAD!

I HATE SANEF...

I would give them a zero if I could. I live in the US and never got notices of the toll. Two 6 euro tolls turned into 180 euros with penalty and were about to double again. So I wrote to them and told them the situation, and they did not respond. So I was left with the decision to pay or wait for a response. If I pay, I lose the right to challenge, but if I wait they double the fee again and send it on to the authorities. What kind of shit ass company is this? What a scam.

Ich habe mal die Kommunikation, die ich mit SANEF habe kopiert und jetzt angehängt.

Send
23/03/2025 at 00h00
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
ich verstehe nicht, dass Sie jegliche Kommunikation: Antworten auf meine Mitteilungen; ignorieren.
Ich komme zurück auf meine Antwort auf Ihr Schreiben vom 18.03.2025:
Sie geben vor, dass ich meine Bank, mein Kreditkarteninstitut wegen der Akzeptanzprobleme meiner Kreditkarte kontaktieren müsse.
In meiner Antwort erkläre ich, dass dies im Vorfeld zur Kontaktaufnahme mit SANEF schon erfolgt ist.
Sie schweigen daraufhin! Warum?
Ist das die französische Art, zu kommunizieren?
Ich bin auf Ihre Antwort gespannt!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
J. Hoffmann
20/03/2025 at 12h54
Mesdames et Messieurs,
nous roulerons à nouveau sur l’A1 et l’A2 la semaine prochaine. Avez-vous réussi à résoudre les problèmes liés au paiement du péage avec une carte de crédit Visa Targobank entre-temps ?
Sinceres salutations
J. Hoffmann
18/03/2025 at 12h04
Good morning,
Before sending my request to SANEF, I had contacted the credit card department of my bank.
They know the problem from a lot of other customers. SANF on A1 and A2 does not accept Classic Visa Cards from Targo Bank since several months. Targo Bank had contacted SANEF about these occurrences but received no answer from SANEF until now.
So handle this problem carefully again and find a solution in a short time please.

Best Regards

J. Hoffmann
18/03/2025 at 11h36
Good morning,

We have read carefully your message..
The following credit cards are currently accepted in the toll lanes: Eurocard / Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Electron.
If you are experiencing problems with your Visa card, please contact your bank.

Best regards,

Charlotte
Sanef Conseil
18/03/2025 at 11h05
Sujet: Le péage et son paiement > Payer une CNP Sanef

Immatriculation : FR - XXXXXXXXXX

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
wieso kann ich mit meiner Classic-Visa-Karte der Targobank an SANEF-Mautstationen der A1 und A2 nicht bezahlen?
Mit freundlichen Grüßen

J. Hoffmann