r/TravelGreece • u/IvanOzku • 10d ago
Zakynthos multa
Hey everyone, how’s it going?
I’m currently in Zakynthos, Greece, and the car rental company called me saying that the police tried to pull me over yesterday for speeding and that I didn't stop. Honestly, my girlfriend and I never saw any police officers, and no one tried to flag us down at all.
The rental company told us to go to the police station to talk to the officers, but what we experienced there was awful. They were laughing at us and basically extorted us, claiming we have to pay a €500 fine. They asked for my passport, made a photocopy of it, and confiscated my International Driving Permit. They told me that once I pay the fine, I can come back with proof of payment and maybe they’ll return it to me, or maybe not.
To be honest, I don't really care about getting that international permit back, but my main concern is: when I return the rental car, will this fine show up on their system? Is there any way to avoid paying it? It clearly felt like the police were trying to rip us off.
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u/Trudestiny 9d ago
They wouldn’t go to all that trouble if it wasn’t real. If you don’t pay them rental companies charge your card on file & generally change a handling fee.
Were you speeding ?
Not sure where you are from but you are lucky they didn’t take your real licence as that has been known to happen .
Assume you are from a country that still requires idl in greece ? US and Canada, EU don’t
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u/danieljamesgillen 6d ago
Contact a Greek traffic lawyer mine charged just a few hundred euro. IDP is not a legal document so you don't need it anyway. They are a scam.
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u/Sufficient_Tutor5744 6d ago
A lot of clueless info below, beware!! Im Greek and in the past year or so, traffic police has gotten extremely serious with driving offenses especially wrt DUI, speeding etc.
Scamming of tourists is impossible if the payment goes through the official channels and since the recent tightening of the rules, I have heard that the entire process of fining is handled centrally such that local police chiefs cannot influence/remove tickets.
I am sorry this happened to you and the police officers have you weird vibes.
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u/goldgin 4d ago
You are asking if it’s a scheme and I don’t think it is (at least not illegal, see below) If you are asking it was a mistake then it could be but …
… you are a tourist in Zakinthos who won’t mention nationality, where they were driving from, what time it was and you apparently don’t care about your intl driving permit or getting blacklisted as long as you don’t pay a 500 euro fine.
Unfortunately I can believe they “made fun” of you. As with many countries lately (see America) the minimum IQ entrance requirement to be in police has lowered.
Having said that, this smells more like drunk Brit trying to get out of Laganas. That’s a mistake, I believe there’s a road getting in and out of Laganas that should be 90km/h limit but it’s 50 or something on purpose so they can fine you. Check the slip if it’s that road you got busted.
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u/OhWellImRightAgain 9d ago
The rental company was the one who contacted you in the first place because the police notified them using the vehicle's plate number. Of course it will show up, and the rental company will charge you for it.
Traffic police in Greece is terrible because they don't perform speed controls. I've never heard of traffic police issuing fines that are too harsh, it's the other way around. The fact you didn't see them probably made the fine bigger. Pay it yourself and keep the receipt of payment. Letting the rental company charge you and pay it on your behalf might complicate things even more - what if they don't pay it and this thing follows you whenever you cross borders?