RAC or AA ?

[C. Grimsley]

Have to agree regards the aa, called them once or twice in the ten years I have been with them and there renewal quotes are untrue, I get so busy at work I never get chance to call them and sort it out, I think that's why they do it, some may call and argue, others don't.

Buggers. I also like the start join date on my card, am I sad.

Carl

[dave_s13]

bad company said:

Just took a look at that. Not right for us as we never did get married tho 'Mrs' BC & I have been together for c25 years. Also don't fancy having to pay for work then claim back from them.

But you'd be happy to pay the AA/RAC 4x the price for a subscription??

The fact you are paying cash money for the recovery means the guy in the van is more motivated to get out to you (in my experience).

I had absolutely zero bother claiming back the cost of recovery.

For info the last time I used them they recovered me and my dead Honda Blackbird about 40miles back to a local garage (they will drop you anywhere. Cost £110ish....got it paid back to me withing the week. Oh and they sent out a Flat bed truck that could take a bike on the back of me telling them it couldn't be fixed a the roadside (melted reg/rec). I've heard stories of people telling other recovery co's the same and they still get a van sent out.

[mp3manager]

I've been with RAC for 3 years and just received my renewal yesterday. £105.21 for the blue-badge cover, which includes Roadside, Recovery, At Home, Onward, Accident Care & Motor legal Care. As a blue-badge holder, they say I get priority over everyone else. The only time I've called them, was for a flat-battery and they were there within 20 minutes. So quite happy with that.

[Dog Star]

This sneaky price increase at renewal for insurance and breakdown - is this a British "thing"?

Got my ADAC renewal through and it was the same price as last year - a quick phone call to the lovely Katerin in Munich with my credit card and all was sorted.

€114 for me and the OH. A similar level of cover with the AA was about £350 last time I looked.

[wildcat45]

I don't understand why people pay for cover. I get it as part of a load of other benefits through my bank when I pay a monthly fee.

It's bloody useful and worth the money.

It gives me, my wife, and our cars AA membership. I've used them a few times and I think the AA is great.

Had a problem with my ZT-T last summer. The AA man came out, said he wasn't an expert on them but then called a fellow patrolman who advised him on how to fix it.

I called them out to a binding brake this weekend. I was at home. The man was out witching 45 minutes, fixed the problem without fuss, gave me a bit of advice on the suspension, gave the paintwork the once over showing me how to spot a good v bad repair. And he managed to push a little dent out which was easily accessible.

Can not fault them at all.

[Sir Bagalot]

wildcat45 said:

I don't understand why people pay for cover. I get it as part of a load of other benefits through my bank when I pay a monthly fee.

Maybe, just maybe, because may of us don't pay fees for bank accounts?

[bad company]

Just joined the RAC. Joint roadside rescue, recovery (like AA relay) and home start for £118 with the TVRCC discount.

Happy with that but lets see if I need to do all this again next year.

[ch108]

rovermorris999 said:

DuraAce said:

Anyone used them for call outs?

The site seems to say you pay out for costs incurred and the claim them back, an odd way to do things with potential for problems I would have thought ?

It works well. I've not had any problems and the money refunded within 5 days. The good thing is you get the nearest local recovery truck rather than a van who then orders up a recovery vehicle. I can't see why anyone would pay any more. The vehicles that have come out to me also worked for other breakdown companies but liked Autoaid callouts as they get the money on the day.

So are Autoaid just a recovery service then, or do they try to fix at the roadside first? Last time I had to make a call to the AA he fixed an obscure problem that was preventing the car from starting in about 20mins. That meant I was on my way late at night with no further issue. If I had just called a recovery wagon I would have got home okay but then have the inconvenience the next day of trying to get someone to fix the car, and also try and get to work.

[ecsrobin]

I've had 2 experiences of the AA years ago in the middle of nowhere my friends alternator went, a quick call an hour later arrived and a temp fix to get us home. The AA also insisted that he follow us the 30min journey home so that we were safe. Very impressed.

My second experience was with a work land rover the engine decided to die on me on the A303 a quick look and there was a 2cm hole in the engine. When briefing this to the call centre I kept insisting it's not a road side fix so they could send a truck which I was assured but also informed it was busy due to the snow and cold and would be nearer 2 hours for them to arrive.

90min later in the freezing cold (luckily a sleeping bag and some rations to keep me going) guess what arrived..... A van. The guy took a look despite me trying to point out the hole and oil before him turning round to me and informing me there was a hole in the engine and it was a tow job. 3 hours after leaving me again at the roadside a contracted flatbed arrived to take me to my destination!

[morgrp]

Mrs Morgrp works fairly high up in RAC and I have had this discussion many times about why existing customers get prices jacked up with nearly all breakdown services and insurers (I don't want single out a specific company as many do this) - the answer is simple, many people don't bother contacting them at renewal and simply auto-renew with direct debit and will happily pay the increase without even noticing, this combined with a desire to bump up acquisition figures to meet targets and impress shareholders results in new customers getting tidy discounts. Its daft really as a low risk customer (i.e. no call outs is something they should hang on to). RAC and AA's biggest area of money making now is with car companies and their own individual breakdown covers offered on their new cars e.g. things like VW assist, club Toyota etc

Underhand? well maybe, but its not isolated to the motor industry, thinking about it, I still pay 30-something quid a month to have an out of date Iphone 4s and a mediocre package of calls and data when really I could leave my current provider, go somewhere else and get a cheaper deal with a brand spanking new phone - why haven't I? because I'm lazy I guess?

[lamboman100]

The UK car-recovery industry is experiencing major price-wars right now.

If you bargain hard enough, cover could be as little as 18 quid a year.

This tells you everything you need to know:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/bre...

[lamboman100]

morgrp said:

Mrs Morgrp works fairly high up in RAC and I have had this discussion many times about why existing customers get prices jacked up with nearly all breakdown services and insurers (I don't want single out a specific company as many do this) - the answer is simple, many people don't bother contacting them at renewal and simply auto-renew with direct debit and will happily pay the increase without even noticing, this combined with a desire to bump up acquisition figures to meet targets and impress shareholders results in new customers getting tidy discounts. Its daft really as a low risk customer (i.e. no call outs is something they should hang on to). RAC and AA's biggest area of money making now is with car companies and their own individual breakdown covers offered on their new cars e.g. things like VW assist, club Toyota etc

Underhand? well maybe, but its not isolated to the motor industry, thinking about it, I still pay 30-something quid a month to have an out of date Iphone 4s and a mediocre package of calls and data when really I could leave my current provider, go somewhere else and get a cheaper deal with a brand spanking new phone - why haven't I? because I'm lazy I guess?

That is the answer / reason in a nutshell.

British consumers are very lazy. And fearful of negotiating.

As many as ~80% of UK consumers under-negotiate on negotiable deals, like breakdowns, insurance, loans, mortgages, etc.

I know someone who pays ~20% interest on a credit-card debt -- but he won't shift the debt to a 0% deal (widely available) because he "can't be bothered with the paperwork stress". It's madness.

[Nobby Diesel]

Sir Bagalot said:

Maybe, just maybe, because may of us don't pay fees for bank accounts?

Wildcat,

this works for me too.
When i work out what would be the monthly cost of AA/RAC cover, paying the small fee for a Premium bank account works out well.
It's cheaper that the membership alone, plus you get a load of other benefits.

[wildcat45]

Sir Bagalot said:

Maybe, just maybe, because may of us don't pay fees for bank accounts?

What Nobby said.

Plus

I thought it was a standard thing to pay fees on a bank account. I'm not talking about a private bank, just your ordinary High Street bank. Most banks offer accounts like this. In the last two weeks this months fee has paid for its self. The AA call out, plus a locksmith on a Sunday afternoon when the front door lock to the house broke. All covered. There's other stuff like travel insurance, airport lounge membership, all for something like £15-£20 a month.

Edited by wildcat45 on Wednesday 9th July 04:12

[ch108]

wildcat45 said:

Sir Bagalot said:

Maybe, just maybe, because may of us don't pay fees for bank accounts?

What Nobby said.

Plus

I thought it was a standard thing to pay fees on a bank account. I'm not talking about a private bank, just your ordinary High Street bank. Most banks offer accounts like this. In the last two weeks this months fee has paid for its self. The AA call out, plus a locksmith on a Sunday afternoon when the front door lock to the house broke. All covered. There's other stuff like travel insurance, airport lounge membership, all for something like £15-£20 a month.

Edited by wildcat45 on Wednesday 9th July 04:12

I don't pay fees on my RBS account. They moved me onto a Royalties account saying they were phasing out normal accounts. The fees went up over a few years, I didn't have any need for any of the so called "perks". Their breakdown cover was their own branded breakdown cover which was basically Green Flag that RBS owned at that time. Eventually phoned the bank and told them if they didn't move me to a non fee paying account I would go elsewhere. They moved me back as requested!

[magpies]

been with the RAC for 20+ years then when I needed them (diving holiday in Scotland and tow van alternator failed) found out that at some time they would not take the boat/trailer and 300 miles from home!!

Which magazine found that Britannia Rescue came out best and also less than 1/2 the RAC cost. 2 named persons plus one named car = less than £80 including trailers/caravans/rally cars/boats etc.

[mp3manager]

magpies said:

been with the RAC for 20+ years then when I needed them (diving holiday in Scotland and tow van alternator failed) found out that at some time they would not take the boat/trailer and 300 miles from home!!

Can't see a problem with that.
Did your boat break down or was it the vehicle? Did you pay for extra cover for trailers?

[Tyred]

I don't pay an annual fee. Both the RAC and the AA (and the others) will sign you up immediately if you breakdown and pay the £120 + fee over the phone.

So there's zero point in paying them an annual fee 'just in case'.

I've not been a member for forty years of motoring, saving around £4000+ in membership fees. I do keep their numbers in my mobile phone.

[SEE YA]

I was with the RAC for years, I used them on call out very good. However I needed a policy, that covered Europe and the U/K as one price. They could not do it, so got a very good price with LV.

I have not used it for help, so far time with tell on that one.

[surveyor]

ecsrobin said:

My second experience was with a work land rover the engine decided to die on me on the A303 a quick look and there was a 2cm hole in the engine. When briefing this to the call centre I kept insisting it's not a road side fix so they could send a truck which I was assured but also informed it was busy due to the snow and cold and would be nearer 2 hours for them to arrive.

90min later in the freezing cold (luckily a sleeping bag and some rations to keep me going) guess what arrived..... A van. The guy took a look despite me trying to point out the hole and oil before him turning round to me and informing me there was a hole in the engine and it was a tow job. 3 hours after leaving me again at the roadside a contracted flatbed arrived to take me to my destination!

Late in the day.... I once had a new that was going into repeat limp home mode. It was a long term hire, and I had been told that next time I should not let it be reset, but insist it be returned to dealer. AA/RAC (I really can't remember) saw this on his screen and rang to say no point him attending and that they would sent the recovery truck. Was quite impressed with the forward thinking.