The RAC have lost my car.

Rilot said:
Guardian contacted RAC which set a fire under them. I've had contact from their chief engineer who is making things right. I'll update when I know more but it looks like I won't be out of pocket.
It's looking like RAC didn't know the screen was being replaced. I think the 3rd-party contractor did it and thought they could cover it up. Doesn't excuse no one talking to me though.
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or looking at it from another point , todays culture....rac probably new all along and now caught they pass the blame to a sub contractor....
i believe its ....not our fault someone else did it......
 
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My wife had to wait about 8hrs for RAC to turn up sat in the dark, luckily it was relatively local so a friend was able to pickup our son instead of him having to wait there as well.
I'd say it seems to be a trend these days but obviously they have a lot of customers so it might still be a relatively small proportion that experience problems.
 
HangTime said:
My wife had to wait about 8hrs for RAC to turn up sat in the dark, luckily it was relatively local so a friend was able to pickup our son instead of him having to wait there as well.
I'd say it seems to be a trend these days but obviously they have a lot of customers so it might still be a relatively small proportion that experience problems.
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They don't have a lot of customers, they have an insufficient resource for their customer base.

The only time that I have broken down in the last twenty years I am with Green Flag, the chap turned up within twenty five minutes, diagnosed the fault in five (cracked plastic thermostat housing on 13 year old fiat 500), I am not cursing Italian car manufacturers at that age. He then lent us his smartphone for us to contact a garage who would take it in, no luck, and then drove us from Ormskirk to near Warrington towing the Fiat behind. Smashing service.

We declined a free years recovery with RAC on our new car, staying with Green Flag.
 
Not that I'm defending the RAC in anyone else's case but I've had cause to call them out twice, once for my car when the gear cable snapped and once for the Mrs' car when invariably the electrics fried (Citroen). In both instances I've not waited more than an hour and the 2nd incident was on a Sunday.
 
I helped a lady the other day who was stuck broken down on a dual carriageway and had called the RAC. They gave her a time of 45 minutes. We got there about 15 minutes later and got her to somewhere safer (500 metres further to a service station) and she called them back and let them know she was now at the service station waiting for the recovery truck.

They told her as she was now in a place of safety, it'd be 8 hours!
 
I can't remember when I last saw an RAC van, I do recall seeing AA though. I wonder what the market share is, or do they farm most things out like Green Flag?
In fact, I would say RAC are now the third breakdown company behind AA and Green Flag - a position that used to be held by Green Flag.
 
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Been with the AA for since 2003 and, unfortunatley for me, had to use them multiple times, even being low-loaded from from Wick in Scotland to Ellesmere Port etc and I've never had a single issue with them over the easily dozen plus times I've used them, but no-ones perfect and eventually they'll do something wrong I guess, but the knowledge of years of great service will temper my reaction.
 
As I've mentioned before I've used the RAC personally and both AA and RAC through work and the only negative I've experienced personally with the RAC has been the longer wait times, though nothing like 8 hours but in the 1-2 hours hasn't been unusual while the AA has usually been within 40 minutes. That said the other night one of our drivers got a van stuck in a farmer's field and it took the AA 90 minutes to turn up, decide they needed a 4x4 recovery vehicle which took 3 hours to turn up.

The RAC customer service and the recovery person's approach were much more customer focussed in my experience, the AA was much more an impersonal cut and dried approach and the recovery people kind of off-hand.
 
We have bmw roadside assistance cover and they failed to answer the phone at all. Rang them several times and waited, but they never picked up.
We ended up giving up, and got the issue sorted in a garage the next morning. Instead.
 
EdwardTeach said:
We have bmw roadside assistance cover and they failed to answer the phone at all. Rang them several times and waited, but they never picked up.
We ended up giving up, and got the issue sorted in a garage the next morning. Instead.
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Dealt with them a couple of times, never had an issue.

Also been with the AA for 15 years now, used them on several occasions and never let me down, always quick to respond.
 
Rroff said:
As I've mentioned before I've used the RAC personally and both AA and RAC through work and the only negative I've experienced personally with the RAC has been the longer wait times, though nothing like 8 hours but in the 1-2 hours hasn't been unusual while the AA has usually been within 40 minutes. That said the other night one of our drivers got a van stuck in a farmer's field and it took the AA 90 minutes to turn up, decide they needed a 4x4 recovery vehicle which took 3 hours to turn up.

The RAC customer service and the recovery person's approach were much more customer focussed in my experience, the AA was much more an impersonal cut and dried approach and the recovery people kind of off-hand.
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As far as a recovery service goes, I'd rather be abruptly told there will be someone with me in under an hour than a friendly "see you in 8 hours"

I've been with Autoaid the last 4 years, only had to use them once, and they were out within 45 mins. This was as a male on my own, middle of the day in a safe place, so definitely waaaaaay down the priority list
 
I get AA cover through my paid for bank account and I’ve never had any issues with any callout or felt I was treated differently to one of ‘their’ customers. TBH it’s probably the main reason I continue to pay it, but the mobile cover is handy and the travel insurance useful if I ever go abroad. Or even take a holiday in the Uk.
 
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MissChief said:
I get AA cover through my paid for bank account and I’ve never had any issues with any callout or felt I was treated differently to one of ‘their’ customers. TBH it’s probably the main reason I continue to pay it, but the mobile cover is handy and the travel insurance useful if I ever go abroad. Or even take a holiday in the Uk.
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which account is that with?
 
I must be quite lucky. I've had my driving licence for 20 years, only owned awful cars and yet only once twice broken down. Both times very near home, and got the issue solved by a local garage.

I have however had a few occasions where I should have got the car recovered. I drove 35 miles home with a broken clutch pedal once. I also drove a car that was literally jammed in 3rd, not only did I get it home but I also got it to the repairing garage.
 
MissChief said:
Mobile insurance for myself and my laddie, AA cover including Home Start and Travel insurance that covers the whole world, for less than £17pm? Show me. I'm happy to pay it for the AA cover alone.
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Same here, I couldn't get all that for even close to 17 quid as well as a 1k overdraft.
 
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