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Did anything come of this Craig??

I had to deal with the RAC the other day when my rangie blew a water pump.
I told them the whole and exact issue and that I needed a truck, not a van as that would be useless and a waste of time, not to mention my 6month pregnant wife that was getting cold.

Anyway, so an hour later an RAC van turns up n said 'ahhh I carnt do anything, you need a truck'
An hour later an a truck turned up, the bloke had a rangie himself so was very sympathetic, he even dropped pregosaurus home before taking me and the car to the garage. But all the way he kept listing what the problem could be.
'now if you've blown a water pump then it's prob taken the heads out with it, costing the best part of a couple of grand' he kept saying, didn't bother me but preggo was getting abit teary as we were on our way on our holiday and got a sprog on the way, so a couple of grand would be a big issue.

Sometimes things are best left unsaid when the wife is around lol.

Anyway. Sorry to drag on, I'm getting to my point.

The truck driver was a subcontract company and he was telling me about a woman he had just dropped off when he picked me up.

She had RAC cover with her bank, she had only had the car 3 days and something had packed up on it.
So he's driving down the a14 chatting away with her, when the RAC ring him and say, 'we have checked her registration and she only has 10mile cover. Drop her off in the next layby'
The bloke said he could just drop an oldish woman in a layby at the side of the road, and the RAc told him that he could take her as far as he wanted to but they wouldn't pay him past the next layby.
But because he was heading our direction and knew we were his next job he took her as at as us and dropped her at the services.

I thought that was disgracefull 

The simple answer is no... They offered the earth (in their opinion) free membership, a small amount of compensation etc etc... But no resolve!!!

All i wanted was an apology (preferably from the patrolman) and for them to change their policy... Nowt! They think they can chuck a small amount of money at a problem and it goes away! Its still ongoing!!!


Craig

I find this more and more, large companies & organisations seem content with throwing 'food and money' at you when a simple apology would suffice, but no they just cannot be seen to admit that sometimes they get it wrong.
I will say that my wife had to use our EuropAssist a few months back and it worked like a dream. Failure at Dover check-in, UK assistance on to a ferry, Collected off the ferry at Calais and delivered home. Next day local truck arrives and off to our nominated garage. Phone calls and updates to me throughout. I pay less for 2 nominated cars +1 [if i am with it] now than i was paying for RAC europe.
It may be worth looking into for the future.

[]

David, the point is, they could not throw enough money into the pot to compensate me for the grief and stress caused to me and my wife that night... All they need do is to listen.............. and change their working practices so this can never happen to anyone again... simples...

But,,,,, they wont!!! And thats the problem right there... Hopefully enough people will read the story here to make a difference...

Craig

I have been reading this with interest as I had to call out the RAC two years ago due to ripping the rear axle off my 94 classic on a difficult lane near salisbury. We got it down off the lane and called for assistance stating the fault and asking for a truck. They sent a patrol man within one hour. I asked why as I had already told them I needed a truck. His reply was that they, the patrol men are judged on how quick and how many repairs they can fix in a given time period. He looked at the broken bracket that should hold the axle to the rear arm and suggested welding it. As a mechanic I said I would not be happy returning 100 miles on motorways on a temporary repair. He eventually agreed and called to arrange a truck which arrived an hour later and took us home. The patrolman asked me to sign a worksheet that stated I would not agree to driving home on a temporary welded axle bracket. This he said covered him on his points system so that he would not have to go for retraining. Although they did recover me satisfactorily, I was not happy at their operating practices which seem to concentrate on putting breakdowns into little boxes on a spread sheet. This is yet again an example of modern business being run by pinstriped accountants. The Best 4x4 by far, so long as you have deep pockets.

Sorry for old thread resurrection.

Anyone got any good things to say about a breakdown provider ,
prob AA or Green Flag ?
Not planning off roading, Just want the insurance factor , as I don't know my (new) car, and rather not risk being let down.


@Craig - take some satisfaction that I won't be considering RAC just because of your bad experience ! One less punter  Alcohol and eBay is never a good mix

2006 4.2 Supercharged, Java Black

E4 GUY wrote:

@Craig - take some satisfaction that I won't be considering RAC just because of your bad experience ! One less punter

Indeed i certainly will sir

Im now a paid up member of the AA

Anything more on taking it "further"? Really interested in the poor service from RAC. Might also be worth mentioning you are an influential member of a forum of xxx number rangie owners, many of whom are eagerly awaiting a response. For what it's worth, I have been an AA member since I passed my test (I was on my mum's policy to begin with, and my membership card back then said I was a member since 8 years before I was born, but that QI snippet is beside the point). I think I have called them out once a year on average for one car or another, and have nothing but praise for them. When my wife had a blowout in the rangie on the motorway, they recovered her 100miles home even though she did not have a spare wheel onboard, and they always seem to get there fast for lone females / kids on board.

Might be worth also sending them pics of the "modified" front end to prove it wasn't?

My dad refuses to go with anyone but the AA as they have always bent over backwards to fix what they can by the roadside or at their old depots to get you mobile again.

31years this year and he has never wavered from them bar gettng discounts thru work or offers he sees to save the pennies But felt mightely let down with the buyout thing a few years back as things just got a little worse as they dont have their own repair depots anymore  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

I keep away from the RAC and the AA for the same reasons, I have always used insurance based cover (currently with the Green Insurance Co.) where they book in for a local recovery company to assist you when you break down. I never pay more than about £60 for home recovery and euro cover.

I would rather spend the money on a company that does the job rather than one that spends all my subscription on marketing to con other punters.

I have used several of these breakdown cover companies and had a fair few calls outs, especially when I had my old RR Classic and 1968 Merc 280SE V8. They were more than helpful every time, going the extra mile literally to get my car to the dealer I want and spending more than the allotted time diagnosing issues, rather than the closest and quickest.

I always have a good chat with the mechanics and more often that not they are or have been Land Rover owners/fans too. Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

I get free RAC with an insurance package I pay into at work. My experiences so far this year since joining:

We collected our caravan from Swift in Hull in February and drove it back to the site where its pitched. I managed to get stuck in a muddy field and couldn't get out. I called the RAC and they said they would come out but it would be chargeable. Funny thing that, as in a recent fly on the wall series, they were seen to stop and help stranded motorists on snow covered car parks, who weren't even members! Also stopping at RTCs to help injured drivers - I've never known an RAC or AA patrol to do this!

When we had a duff battery- Had a flat battery at work one evening, which I discovered at 10.57pm as I was about to head home. Called RAC at 11.01pm and they said someone would be there within the hour. They said they'd call first before arriving so I hung on. The last train home was at 11.25pm, and at 11.20pm, I hadn't heard from anyone so I decided to get the train. I tried calling the RAC back to cancel but I was held in a queue.
As I was travelling home at 11.30pm, the RAC man called and said he was stood next to my car and where was I. I told him I was expecting a call from him when he was on his way, not when he got there, and that I was on the way home and had tried without success to cancel the callout. He advised calling back next day if it was still flat.

Net day, I called at 10pm thinking they'd be there about 11pm when I finished. They advised two hours this time, but did say in reality it would be closer to an hour as "most are". I sat in the station and waited..and waited... and waited. At 11.15pm I had a walk outside to get some air and I could see a note flapping on the windscreen under the wiper. It sais "RAC came at 11pm- no-one here so left". This was written on a bit of scrap paper. No phone call this time!
I rang back in a rage and they said they'd have to rebook it and as they were very busy, they may have to sub-contract it out. The patrol eventually turned up at 12.15am and suggested the starter motor had gone. I said 'no', as I can't even get the electronic steering lock to disengage. He put 3 booster packs on to get it going. As he was only around 4ft tall, he couldn't even reach into the engine bay so proceeded to climb onto the front bumper!

Easter Bank Holiday Monday - Battery went flat again whilst at the caravan site. Called the RAC at 2pm and againw as quoted 2 hours. They arrived at 4.30pm. Same again - their booster pack wouldn't start the car and he ended up putting two on in series. The patrolman said "I wouldn't have a range rover- they're too unreliable. Too much to go wrong with them. I'd sell it if I were you". Cheeky !

When I was last with the RAC a couple of years ago, my Ducati stalled on the motorway. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and the battery had died on that. I called the RAC at 11.10pm and told them it was a bike and not to send a patrol but a flatbed instead. The patrolman called me around 20 mins later saying he was on his way but was at the airport and would be about half an hour. I asked him if he'd got a flatbed truck and he said they don't own any! He duly turned up in an escort van and jump started the bike with his leads, and followed me home to make sure I didn't break down again.

It's free so I can't moan too much. That said, I won't use them again and I intend to take out a Green Flag policy soon. I'll leave the RAC as a back-up/very last resort.

that's very frustrating mate...

i'm so lucky that i havnt broken down or needed the breakdown services in the last 30 years or so.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

I don't think I'll wander away from the AA again as the free one with my bank account extra service is just a subby job and is always just a flat-bed when i say range rover, they don't bother to fix really. AA never let my dad down and always went the extra mile.

I feel your pain though

Did you get a new Battery in the end? FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

thanks for the info