AA... What the f*** am I actually paying for?
Discussion
Try Autonational rescue - they use local garages so none of the waiting around I've also experienced with AA (cambelt failure, explained on phone, three hours wait because they sent the wrong van 
).
With Autonational I think we pay 120ish for the full works including homestart on three cars, not too bad
).With Autonational I think we pay 120ish for the full works including homestart on three cars, not too bad
martin84 said:
People mock my Rover.
You may even be one of them.
Which of our two cars have progressed through the last week in fully operational fashion?
You may even be one of them.
Which of our two cars have progressed through the last week in fully operational fashion?
Does it really matter? The OP hasn't tried to convince us his car isn't worthy of a breakdown, yet for some reason you're hellbent on letting everybody know that your Rover hasn't broken down. Want a medal?Unless I'm missing something I don't see the point in boasting that your Rover has lasted a week without a breakdown. Even mine lasted about 11 months before deciding to break up with its gearbox.
(oh, and seeing as I'm stuck at home with some b
ding cold and unable to sleep, I fully reserve the right to be a miserable cock.)AA seemed alright for me when I overheated on the M25 and blew a head gasket, though bizarrely I didn't actually see anyone from the AA once. I called from a hard shoulder phone as my mobile was dead, gave the (lovely) phone operator my AA number and said the car needed to be on a flatbed because it was fked. She called me back and said they'd be with me in 45 minutes, a guy from another recovery company turned up and loaded my car onto his flatbed, drove me to (membury?) services on the M4 where another truck arrived 10 minutes later to take me back to Bridgend. Happy days!
Edit, to add to the above post, Rovers are great. Mine only blew a gasket because I didn't notice a split hose until it was too late.
ked. She called me back and said they'd be with me in 45 minutes, a guy from another recovery company turned up and loaded my car onto his flatbed, drove me to (membury?) services on the M4 where another truck arrived 10 minutes later to take me back to Bridgend. Happy days! Edit, to add to the above post, Rovers are great. Mine only blew a gasket because I didn't notice a split hose until it was too late.
similar story to yours, although not as long a wait.
head gasket went on e46 3 series,
i believe i was waiting around 3 and a half hours on the side of the m74. every half an hour i would get a call saying they will be 20 minutes, then another 20 minutes and another, i went through sun, rain, wind, snow and hailstones behind that barrier watching all the cars go bye. eventually someone they had contracted came, filled up the coolant and got it running enough to get it off the motorway before it cut out on the next junction. took me back to their garage to transfer to another truck to take me home, their garage was a 15 minute drive from where i broke down. but i stood at the side of the road for about 4 hours.
renewed with aa this year, but they did the whole renewal game on me so next time i will probably go elsewhere.
head gasket went on e46 3 series,
i believe i was waiting around 3 and a half hours on the side of the m74. every half an hour i would get a call saying they will be 20 minutes, then another 20 minutes and another, i went through sun, rain, wind, snow and hailstones behind that barrier watching all the cars go bye. eventually someone they had contracted came, filled up the coolant and got it running enough to get it off the motorway before it cut out on the next junction. took me back to their garage to transfer to another truck to take me home, their garage was a 15 minute drive from where i broke down. but i stood at the side of the road for about 4 hours.
renewed with aa this year, but they did the whole renewal game on me so next time i will probably go elsewhere.
Vixpy1 said:
Been with the AA for years, always been with me within 30 mins and never had a problem
Back in July 2007, when some plonker in a VW rear-ended my wife's MG ZS I lent her a spare Rover 620ti for her trip up to the Lakes with a couple of her friends. Times and Place all to my own for a few days ... bliss. Three days into her trip get a call she's lost all the coolant ~ leaking radiator ( later found out a stone had holed it ) so parked the car up and called the AA. She has recovery to home only cover, no roadside assistance, just recovery.It was during that exceptional weather of July 2007 in Gloucestershire when most of the county was flooded. Nice weather in the lakes apparently... typical .. actually untypical for the Lakes.
Long story short, AA arranged a flatbed and the ladies with my Rover recovered as far as Liverpool. Handed ladies and Rover over to another flatbed for the rest of the journey south and a few hours later, they all arrive home. Excellent all things considered. I had a good used spare radiator and the car was fixed next morning. My wife is fairly sensible about car related stuff and stopped using the engine before any harm was done.
My advice to anyone is to read the small print of their recovery agreement. Tailor it to suit your needs so you do not pay for something you'll never or rarely need. This is what my good lady did and added me to the cover and I have a card too.
In now over fifty years of driving, many of my own new and company cars came with an AA cover package. I have never had to call out a recovery service in all those years. That may surprise many here as most of my cars during that half century of driving have been and still are "They all do that" MGs and Rovers.
...
Check the small print of the package you have. Read it carefully. No good finding out what you have not got and need when stranded at the roadside in the middle of nowhere.
Cancelled my AA membership 2 years ago after a farce described on the "run out of petrol" thread.
The very short version was; wouldn't start, they misdiagnosed the fuse as the fuel pump despite me saying repeatedly "I don't have the manual with me so I've not checked the fuse". By the time I'd got towed home (1hr drive), it was about 7 hours after I first called. The people on the phone were nice but useless, the first guy was a lazy ahole, the second guy was actually quite a nice chap but wouldn't check the other guy's work & just towed.
They still call me asking why I cancelled.
The very short version was; wouldn't start, they misdiagnosed the fuse as the fuel pump despite me saying repeatedly "I don't have the manual with me so I've not checked the fuse". By the time I'd got towed home (1hr drive), it was about 7 hours after I first called. The people on the phone were nice but useless, the first guy was a lazy a
hole, the second guy was actually quite a nice chap but wouldn't check the other guy's work & just towed.They still call me asking why I cancelled.
Edited by ImpossiblyDaft on Tuesday 6th November 01:51
So you were annoyed at that? Last time I used the AA it was far worse.
Car overheated on the M50, a motorway, so I rang the AA spoke to a lady who I got annoyed at after 15 minutes of her listing generic Volkswagens, till I got to the point where I asked to speak to the oldest bloke who worked there, and he knew my car straight away, anyway explained problem, car is toast need low loader, no problem he says.
Bear in mind I am on a motorway, should be 15 minutes pick up and rescue (IIRC) 30 minutes later I get a call from a garage a mere 30 minutes away, they farmed it out to them, Overbrook Monnow Garage I still view as complete and utter dick stting s, if I ever get the chance to drive past you one day I will vent my anger, even after 6 years I still hold the grudge.
They tell me they will be 15 mintues, on a motorway....15 mintues come and go....30 minutes come and go....45 minutes, I get a call, "oh so is the car definitely broken?"
"Yes it requires a low loader"
"Can I not rigid bar you?"
"To Rotheram?" (was going to a show, where I had procured another engine to fit)
"yeah"
"ignoring the fact my car is sat on it's belly and the towing eye is rendered useless and the rigid bar will drag along the floor"
"Just low loader is expensive to run"
"not my problem really, the car needs to go on a low loader"
30 minutes later, rings again, pretty much same conversation
at the third hour of waiting, on a motorway, they ring to tell me, they are 10 minutes away. As you can probably guess I have had enough, my mate and myself have run out of knotweed to sword fight with in the wooded area by the side of the M50, and he had run out of beer.
It was no approaching 4 and a half hours, I am hungry, dying for a drink, I don't care anymore I got in the car, begged it to start, it did, it wasn't happy, but not waiting any longer, only real option was M50/M5 services, got in and drove, think it is about 11 miles, plume of smoke coming from the no 1 piston which had melted, car full of smoke, driving almost Ace Ventura style out the window, really helpful people telling me my car was on fire as I drove past, but close to 5 hours on the side of a motorway I had enough.
Pulled into M50/M5 services to "clonk clonk clonk bang" coasted into a parking space, called AA, who then told me I couldn't have another recovery today as I had already a recovery today, I then explained the situation that those utter fking bangsticks they farmed the job out to, hadn't turned up, I got the car started, limped it here, the car is now officially dead, and needs a low loader to drag it back to Wales, their response, was to tell me they needed to send out a man in a van to have a look at it, I pointed out, that I had run the car with no oil for 12 miles, it went clonk clonk, nearly seized and was currently bleeding all over car park, it was fked....still needed a patrol van first, it would be 75 minutes as I wasn't on a motorway.....
close to two hours later patrol man turned up, one look at it, "hmm that's fked, and that's being polite"
"I know, I told the woman on the phone this, to just send a low loader"
"yeah, I know what you mean, I will order one now....2 hours for low loader"
"excuse me whilst I rage"
2 hours later, AA low loader turns up, guy was a and total retard, complained that my car was dripping oil on his trailer, complained that I told him to fill the damage report out properly, not just circle it and write all over.
Then the complete moron decided the best way to get to just past Monmouth from the M50/M5 services was over the Severn Bridge, another two hours then whilst he drove down to Bristol, past Monmouth, into Newport, back up to Monmouth and across to where I needed to go, he then complained even more about the pool of oil (no idea where it kept coming from) on his flat bed, I told him I couldn't give a fk.
2 and a bit hours, what was that near enough 9 fking hours being dicked around on the motorway by the AA, if I was 5 miles from my house I would have just walked home.
Car overheated on the M50, a motorway, so I rang the AA spoke to a lady who I got annoyed at after 15 minutes of her listing generic Volkswagens, till I got to the point where I asked to speak to the oldest bloke who worked there, and he knew my car straight away, anyway explained problem, car is toast need low loader, no problem he says.
Bear in mind I am on a motorway, should be 15 minutes pick up and rescue (IIRC) 30 minutes later I get a call from a garage a mere 30 minutes away, they farmed it out to them, Overbrook Monnow Garage I still view as complete and utter dick s
tting s, if I ever get the chance to drive past you one day I will vent my anger, even after 6 years I still hold the grudge.They tell me they will be 15 mintues, on a motorway....15 mintues come and go....30 minutes come and go....45 minutes, I get a call, "oh so is the car definitely broken?"
"Yes it requires a low loader"
"Can I not rigid bar you?"
"To Rotheram?" (was going to a show, where I had procured another engine to fit)
"yeah"
"ignoring the fact my car is sat on it's belly and the towing eye is rendered useless and the rigid bar will drag along the floor"
"Just low loader is expensive to run"
"not my problem really, the car needs to go on a low loader"
30 minutes later, rings again, pretty much same conversation
at the third hour of waiting, on a motorway, they ring to tell me, they are 10 minutes away. As you can probably guess I have had enough, my mate and myself have run out of knotweed to sword fight with in the wooded area by the side of the M50, and he had run out of beer.
It was no approaching 4 and a half hours, I am hungry, dying for a drink, I don't care anymore I got in the car, begged it to start, it did, it wasn't happy, but not waiting any longer, only real option was M50/M5 services, got in and drove, think it is about 11 miles, plume of smoke coming from the no 1 piston which had melted, car full of smoke, driving almost Ace Ventura style out the window, really helpful people telling me my car was on fire as I drove past, but close to 5 hours on the side of a motorway I had enough.
Pulled into M50/M5 services to "clonk clonk clonk bang" coasted into a parking space, called AA, who then told me I couldn't have another recovery today as I had already a recovery today, I then explained the situation that those utter f
king bangsticks they farmed the job out to, hadn't turned up, I got the car started, limped it here, the car is now officially dead, and needs a low loader to drag it back to Wales, their response, was to tell me they needed to send out a man in a van to have a look at it, I pointed out, that I had run the car with no oil for 12 miles, it went clonk clonk, nearly seized and was currently bleeding all over car park, it was fked....still needed a patrol van first, it would be 75 minutes as I wasn't on a motorway.....close to two hours later patrol man turned up, one look at it, "hmm that's f
ked, and that's being polite""I know, I told the woman on the phone this, to just send a low loader"
"yeah, I know what you mean, I will order one now....2 hours for low loader"
"excuse me whilst I rage"
2 hours later, AA low loader turns up, guy was a
and total retard, complained that my car was dripping oil on his trailer, complained that I told him to fill the damage report out properly, not just circle it and write all over.Then the complete moron decided the best way to get to just past Monmouth from the M50/M5 services was over the Severn Bridge, another two hours then whilst he drove down to Bristol, past Monmouth, into Newport, back up to Monmouth and across to where I needed to go, he then complained even more about the pool of oil (no idea where it kept coming from) on his flat bed, I told him I couldn't give a f
k.2 and a bit hours, what was that near enough 9 f
king hours being dicked around on the motorway by the AA, if I was 5 miles from my house I would have just walked home.oldcynic said:
No it's not - it's broken!
As for the AA I eventually realised that you're better off with an insurance-based policy which calls out the nearest available local contractor - because there are only so many yellow vans in the country and they'll pop round to see you when they've finished their other jobs and fitted in their mandatory breaks; however a private contractor wants to get as many jobs as they can in the least possible time so the 'technician' will show up driving a flatbed and either get straight to the root of the problem or start loading your car whilst getting approval for recovery costs.
As for the AA I eventually realised that you're better off with an insurance-based policy which calls out the nearest available local contractor - because there are only so many yellow vans in the country and they'll pop round to see you when they've finished their other jobs and fitted in their mandatory breaks; however a private contractor wants to get as many jobs as they can in the least possible time so the 'technician' will show up driving a flatbed and either get straight to the root of the problem or start loading your car whilst getting approval for recovery costs.
. It's a good daily s
It's sIt was ever thus. Here's a letter I wrote on behalf of a friend, about 10 years ago. Sorry it's a bit long but he does go on a bit...
Dear Sirs
As you should be able to tell from your records, l currently subscribe to the "pay us a fortune and we'll rescue you from just about anything" service (also known as rescue, home start and relay). I pay this amount principally for the peace of mind of knowing that, if my wife's car should break down, particularly with the children in the car, she will not be stuck in the middle of nowhere for long.
That's the theory.
Unfortunately I recently put that theory to the test, and to say that I was unimpressed with your performance would be a slight understatement. Allow me to explain.
At about midnight on the night of Sunday 26 June, I set off for home from Bridge of Cally just north of Blairgowrie. Look it up in your AA Atlas. Found it? Good!
I drove south into Blairgowrie and then south on the A83 towards Kirriemuir. Still following me with your finger in the Atlas? Excellent!
About 2 miles south of Kirriemuir, my Land Rover broke down. No, up a bit, yes, there! See that spot there? That's where I was when I phoned your control centre at 1am on Monday 27 June. I described exactly where I was from my own more detailed maps. I was carrying more detailed maps because I had just finished teaching a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition group, the skills of navigation, self-sufficiency and survival they would need to get their award. Little did I realise I would shortly need all those skills just waiting for an AA man.
Anyway, the point is, I know how to read maps, ok? So did your control room staff, apparently (although by the time I had been put on hold while they figured it out, my mobile phone battery was flat). Nevertheless, it held out long enough for me to be assured that a patrol was on its way. Great," I thought, "Not long to wait now."
Wrong.
2am After an hour I was starting to wonder (not wander, I'd done miles of that over the weekend). Unfortunately, there wasn't enough charge in my phone to give a gnat even a moderate thrill if it was wired to its gonads, so phoning to check your progress wasn't an option. I got my primus stove out and made a nice cup of tea and some nice warming soup.
3am Another hour after that and I had finished setting up Land Rover base, with sleeping bag on standby and the stove on full reheat.
4am. Another hour passes. No wonder Robinson Crusoe craved human contact. I have a walk round the Land Rover for signs of human life or AA bootprint. Nothing.
5am I make a phone charger out of a piece of wire and a broken seat spring (told you I was good at this survival lark) and phone the AA. "He's on his way" I am assured. From where, Lapland? No choice but to wait (well there is a choice, but at this rate, my corpse might never be found). Back into camp Land Rover aka Intranquility Base for more soup and tea. And here's me with no Portapotty. C’est lavvy.
5:30. A moving speck of light on the horizon grows larger as it comes closer. I hope I am about to have a close encounter of the fourth emergency kind. It turns out instead to be a YTS in a clapped Astra van.
Oh I forgot to mention that I had also told your control room staff exactly what was wrong with my Land Rover. The distributor was broken.
So who did they send? Mr" Hmm I dunno nuthin about distributors, heard about them once on a course though", that's who. I wasn't confident that I would be on my way soon. More to the point, neither was he. He said I would need a relay home. I knew that, but feared it might be quicker to rebuild my garage around the Land Rover in situ.
The relay lorry turned up at 8 am. I got home at 11:30 am - a total of just under 12 hours for a 70-mile journey. Not exactly excellent, I think you'll agree.
Now, if I had known you were going to have to get White House approval for the expense, or a UN resolution at their monthly meeting, I would have realised that I had time to phone home, train my wife to the extent that she recognised what a distributor looked like (which would have placed her one step ahead of Astraman, at least - he thought a distributor was the man in a van from Unipart), then give her two hours to unearth the spare one I have safely stored in the random pile of scrap in my garage, then wake the kids from the land of Nod, give them their breakfast, and then set off apace to my rescue, stopping only for the McDonalds happy meal inevitable in any child-accompanied journey longer than 4 miles, and then for me to fit the distributor in the dark, set the ignition timing, drive home and maybe still have time for a couple of hours kip before I got to work. If only I'd known.
But I didn't. I actually believed that you really were the fourth emergency service.
I was interested then to read that you have lost that claim anyway, to the Mountain Rescue service. And, like the first three, that is at least free. And if you fall over and break your leg in 3 places (personally I'd have given up and stayed in the first place) and you need a helicopter, they don't send you a chimpanzee on a rickshaw, do they? No.
I rest my case.
I would like to say that I am disillusioned but it's difficult to spell and even harder to pronounce, so instead I'll say I'm extremely pissed off, that after paying a personal membership for so long (to say nothing of my company's fleet membership), you let me down like that, the first time I need you.
Now if it had been my wife and kids, stuck in the middle of nowhere, I'd have been considerably more than "pissed off", and I wouldn't even be writing to you, to give you an opportunity to comment and put things right. As it is, I would be grateful if you could dispel your apparent expectations that your members should exhibit the tenacity and endurance of Ranulph Fffffeinnes while they wait for some part-time pre-qualified apprentice to get out of his pit, should they be unfortunate enough to break down further than 4 miles from the bacon roll shop round the corner from your depot.
I was going to display the same urgency as you did, by tying this letter to a balloon and releasing it in a favourable wind. Unfortunately the balloon was back in his van, and probably back in bed long before I got home, so I am stuck with Royal Mail, the 27th emergency service, but moving up the leaderboard.
I look forward to hearing from you with some urgency (urj-en-si, n. meaning: extracting digit, performing quickly, not akin to a fossilised sloth).
Dear Sirs
As you should be able to tell from your records, l currently subscribe to the "pay us a fortune and we'll rescue you from just about anything" service (also known as rescue, home start and relay). I pay this amount principally for the peace of mind of knowing that, if my wife's car should break down, particularly with the children in the car, she will not be stuck in the middle of nowhere for long.
That's the theory.
Unfortunately I recently put that theory to the test, and to say that I was unimpressed with your performance would be a slight understatement. Allow me to explain.
At about midnight on the night of Sunday 26 June, I set off for home from Bridge of Cally just north of Blairgowrie. Look it up in your AA Atlas. Found it? Good!
I drove south into Blairgowrie and then south on the A83 towards Kirriemuir. Still following me with your finger in the Atlas? Excellent!
About 2 miles south of Kirriemuir, my Land Rover broke down. No, up a bit, yes, there! See that spot there? That's where I was when I phoned your control centre at 1am on Monday 27 June. I described exactly where I was from my own more detailed maps. I was carrying more detailed maps because I had just finished teaching a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition group, the skills of navigation, self-sufficiency and survival they would need to get their award. Little did I realise I would shortly need all those skills just waiting for an AA man.
Anyway, the point is, I know how to read maps, ok? So did your control room staff, apparently (although by the time I had been put on hold while they figured it out, my mobile phone battery was flat). Nevertheless, it held out long enough for me to be assured that a patrol was on its way. Great," I thought, "Not long to wait now."
Wrong.
2am After an hour I was starting to wonder (not wander, I'd done miles of that over the weekend). Unfortunately, there wasn't enough charge in my phone to give a gnat even a moderate thrill if it was wired to its gonads, so phoning to check your progress wasn't an option. I got my primus stove out and made a nice cup of tea and some nice warming soup.
3am Another hour after that and I had finished setting up Land Rover base, with sleeping bag on standby and the stove on full reheat.
4am. Another hour passes. No wonder Robinson Crusoe craved human contact. I have a walk round the Land Rover for signs of human life or AA bootprint. Nothing.
5am I make a phone charger out of a piece of wire and a broken seat spring (told you I was good at this survival lark) and phone the AA. "He's on his way" I am assured. From where, Lapland? No choice but to wait (well there is a choice, but at this rate, my corpse might never be found). Back into camp Land Rover aka Intranquility Base for more soup and tea. And here's me with no Portapotty. C’est lavvy.
5:30. A moving speck of light on the horizon grows larger as it comes closer. I hope I am about to have a close encounter of the fourth emergency kind. It turns out instead to be a YTS in a clapped Astra van.
Oh I forgot to mention that I had also told your control room staff exactly what was wrong with my Land Rover. The distributor was broken.
So who did they send? Mr" Hmm I dunno nuthin about distributors, heard about them once on a course though", that's who. I wasn't confident that I would be on my way soon. More to the point, neither was he. He said I would need a relay home. I knew that, but feared it might be quicker to rebuild my garage around the Land Rover in situ.
The relay lorry turned up at 8 am. I got home at 11:30 am - a total of just under 12 hours for a 70-mile journey. Not exactly excellent, I think you'll agree.
Now, if I had known you were going to have to get White House approval for the expense, or a UN resolution at their monthly meeting, I would have realised that I had time to phone home, train my wife to the extent that she recognised what a distributor looked like (which would have placed her one step ahead of Astraman, at least - he thought a distributor was the man in a van from Unipart), then give her two hours to unearth the spare one I have safely stored in the random pile of scrap in my garage, then wake the kids from the land of Nod, give them their breakfast, and then set off apace to my rescue, stopping only for the McDonalds happy meal inevitable in any child-accompanied journey longer than 4 miles, and then for me to fit the distributor in the dark, set the ignition timing, drive home and maybe still have time for a couple of hours kip before I got to work. If only I'd known.
But I didn't. I actually believed that you really were the fourth emergency service.
I was interested then to read that you have lost that claim anyway, to the Mountain Rescue service. And, like the first three, that is at least free. And if you fall over and break your leg in 3 places (personally I'd have given up and stayed in the first place) and you need a helicopter, they don't send you a chimpanzee on a rickshaw, do they? No.
I rest my case.
I would like to say that I am disillusioned but it's difficult to spell and even harder to pronounce, so instead I'll say I'm extremely pissed off, that after paying a personal membership for so long (to say nothing of my company's fleet membership), you let me down like that, the first time I need you.
Now if it had been my wife and kids, stuck in the middle of nowhere, I'd have been considerably more than "pissed off", and I wouldn't even be writing to you, to give you an opportunity to comment and put things right. As it is, I would be grateful if you could dispel your apparent expectations that your members should exhibit the tenacity and endurance of Ranulph Fffffeinnes while they wait for some part-time pre-qualified apprentice to get out of his pit, should they be unfortunate enough to break down further than 4 miles from the bacon roll shop round the corner from your depot.
I was going to display the same urgency as you did, by tying this letter to a balloon and releasing it in a favourable wind. Unfortunately the balloon was back in his van, and probably back in bed long before I got home, so I am stuck with Royal Mail, the 27th emergency service, but moving up the leaderboard.
I look forward to hearing from you with some urgency (urj-en-si, n. meaning: extracting digit, performing quickly, not akin to a fossilised sloth).
I had a similar joyful experience with the AA. Couple of months back. The RS got a large hole in the radiator rang them at 19:00 telling them I needed recovering as it wouldn't be repairable and would need a low loader. 20:00 man in a van arrives, 'yep can't fix it' and you need to pay an extra £108 to upgrade your cover. So I did was told the low loader would be 40 mins. It arrived at 00:15. I finally got home at 04:00.
I've had a similar experience, just with their orange-jacketed rivals.
My head gasket went as I'd pulled out of work (got about 100 yards to be greeted with a huge plume of smoke and no power etc), pulled off the road and phoned. Explained the problem and that it would definitely need a loader, OK they said, 2 hours. Being tea-time, I thought "Hmm... Not great, but never mind".
The usual flurry of missed appointments and faffing later, I finally get a low loader only to be told, when the guy starts it up to pop it on the trailer "Not your head gasket mate, the power steering belt's come off."
Of course, I've waited 4 hours and given a clear diagnosis of the fault only to stop because my steering's gone all heavy.
Anyway, a 10 mile recovery ended up taking 5 hours because rather than use local contractors the Orangey breakdown folks would rather farm it out to regionals, who aren't that reliable... I won't be renewing.
My head gasket went as I'd pulled out of work (got about 100 yards to be greeted with a huge plume of smoke and no power etc), pulled off the road and phoned. Explained the problem and that it would definitely need a loader, OK they said, 2 hours. Being tea-time, I thought "Hmm... Not great, but never mind".
The usual flurry of missed appointments and faffing later, I finally get a low loader only to be told, when the guy starts it up to pop it on the trailer "Not your head gasket mate, the power steering belt's come off."
Of course, I've waited 4 hours and given a clear diagnosis of the fault only to stop because my steering's gone all heavy.
Anyway, a 10 mile recovery ended up taking 5 hours because rather than use local contractors the Orangey breakdown folks would rather farm it out to regionals, who aren't that reliable... I won't be renewing.
chrisr29 said:
Am I missing something here? If you knew the car was buggered when you got to work why didn't you just call them a couple of hours before you were due to leave, from the comfort of your work place?
Been with AA for a few years now,
never had a bad experience....touch wood.
Because I still wouldn't know when they would arrive, plus I don't park outside my work, more half a mile down the road so couldn't just get them to come during the day and nip out to them.Been with AA for a few years now,
never had a bad experience....touch wood.
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