RAC - are all their drivers conmen?
Discussion
<rant>
Last weekend gone, I had a bit of a BBQ with some friends, but needed to erect a gazebo to fend off the impending rain.
I set to it, but like a silly sod, I thought it'd only take me ten minutes, so stuck on the car (BMW Z4 E85) stereo and went to work.
A couple of hours later, and after I'd phoned for backup, I got the gazebo up and went to move the car to the back of the drive... only to find the batter was dead.
Yup - an idiot I was.
Anyways.. the day after, I had a go (with some friends) and push starting it, but we couldn't get up enough speed (they're all lazy friends), so we gave up and by this point it was at the bottom of a hilled culdesac, with no hope of us out-of-shapers getting it back up; so we rang the RAC for a jumpstart.
When the guy finally turned up, he immediately said (without even looking at the battery) that "you've got a dead battery and you've probably fried the SAM".
I'd never heard of a "sam", so I asked what it was and was told "it's an electronic part that these cars have, and you can fry them by jump starting or push starting them".
I was then told "You'll need another, as well as a battery. I can sell you both of 'em and obviously fit them as part of the call out, but you'll need to pay parts."
Being a bit mechanically minded, and having done a bit of work on my Z4, I was unaware of this flimsy sounding part - especialy as the owners manual makes no mention of damage caused by jump or push starting.
The mechanic seemed very adamant that I'd blown it, and then when he looked at the battery in the car, he followed up with "yeh, you're batteries definately dead. It's the original BMW one, and they only last 3 years tops."
I mentioned to him that the battery wouldn't be dead, as it's less than 10 months old, to which he said it definately wasn't, as it was the BMW oem one, and if it had been replaced, then it wouldn't have BMW written on it.
I politely pointed out to him that I, myself, had bought this very battery from BMW 10 months ago, and the reason it says BMW on it, is because it's an official BMW battery.
He grumbled and said I still needed a new sam, and started fishing in his van for it.
when he came back, I told him I wanted him to try and jump start it anyway - but he went on about there being no point, blah blah.
Eventually, I told him that, at the end of the day, I phoned the RAC out to get my car jump started, and he was here to solely jump start it. If it didn't start, then he could tow it to BMW (as per my RAC membership level) and they'd sort it out under warranty.
Well, after a small argument lasting no less than ten minutes, and including such golden quotes as "I've been doing this for 20 years" he eventually hooked up his booster kit and I turned the key...
Guess what? started first time.
Was that it? oh no.. now he whips out his meter and starts measuring the charge to the battery, claiming that I should be getting much higher readings to the battery than I was, and that my alternator needed replacing.. but it's ok - he had the part in the van.
I sternly, but politely told him to give me the paperwork for the call out for me to sign and then to sling his hook.
All of this palava took the best part of an hour, which is ridiculous when you think all of this could have been avoided if my local car parts shop opened on a sunday or I already owned a set of jump leads.
(ps, after leaving the car running for an hour in the garden, the battery indicated full charge and hasn't struggled to start a single time since.)
I wonder how many people get ripped off by these cowboys in orange vans each day?
</rant>
Last weekend gone, I had a bit of a BBQ with some friends, but needed to erect a gazebo to fend off the impending rain.
I set to it, but like a silly sod, I thought it'd only take me ten minutes, so stuck on the car (BMW Z4 E85) stereo and went to work.
A couple of hours later, and after I'd phoned for backup, I got the gazebo up and went to move the car to the back of the drive... only to find the batter was dead.
Yup - an idiot I was.
Anyways.. the day after, I had a go (with some friends) and push starting it, but we couldn't get up enough speed (they're all lazy friends), so we gave up and by this point it was at the bottom of a hilled culdesac, with no hope of us out-of-shapers getting it back up; so we rang the RAC for a jumpstart.
When the guy finally turned up, he immediately said (without even looking at the battery) that "you've got a dead battery and you've probably fried the SAM".
I'd never heard of a "sam", so I asked what it was and was told "it's an electronic part that these cars have, and you can fry them by jump starting or push starting them".
I was then told "You'll need another, as well as a battery. I can sell you both of 'em and obviously fit them as part of the call out, but you'll need to pay parts."
Being a bit mechanically minded, and having done a bit of work on my Z4, I was unaware of this flimsy sounding part - especialy as the owners manual makes no mention of damage caused by jump or push starting.
The mechanic seemed very adamant that I'd blown it, and then when he looked at the battery in the car, he followed up with "yeh, you're batteries definately dead. It's the original BMW one, and they only last 3 years tops."
I mentioned to him that the battery wouldn't be dead, as it's less than 10 months old, to which he said it definately wasn't, as it was the BMW oem one, and if it had been replaced, then it wouldn't have BMW written on it.
I politely pointed out to him that I, myself, had bought this very battery from BMW 10 months ago, and the reason it says BMW on it, is because it's an official BMW battery.
He grumbled and said I still needed a new sam, and started fishing in his van for it.
when he came back, I told him I wanted him to try and jump start it anyway - but he went on about there being no point, blah blah.
Eventually, I told him that, at the end of the day, I phoned the RAC out to get my car jump started, and he was here to solely jump start it. If it didn't start, then he could tow it to BMW (as per my RAC membership level) and they'd sort it out under warranty.
Well, after a small argument lasting no less than ten minutes, and including such golden quotes as "I've been doing this for 20 years" he eventually hooked up his booster kit and I turned the key...
Guess what? started first time.
Was that it? oh no.. now he whips out his meter and starts measuring the charge to the battery, claiming that I should be getting much higher readings to the battery than I was, and that my alternator needed replacing.. but it's ok - he had the part in the van.
I sternly, but politely told him to give me the paperwork for the call out for me to sign and then to sling his hook.
All of this palava took the best part of an hour, which is ridiculous when you think all of this could have been avoided if my local car parts shop opened on a sunday or I already owned a set of jump leads.
(ps, after leaving the car running for an hour in the garden, the battery indicated full charge and hasn't struggled to start a single time since.)
I wonder how many people get ripped off by these cowboys in orange vans each day?
</rant>
forgot to mention that he made other comments such as "what's the mileage? hah it's been round the world a few times this one aint it?" and "your boot's a mess mate, you want to sort that out"
and the best: "that's a good idea mate; storing a set of tools next to the battery".
to which I replied "they're in the plastic case mate. exactly how the manufacturer made it".
his retort "yeah well, but not this spanner! That's well dangerous and probably killed your battery"
my reply? "I doubt it. It was in the open pocket of my coat, which was on top of the stuff in the boot, all above the floor carpet - until you moved it and it fell out the pocket."
and the best: "that's a good idea mate; storing a set of tools next to the battery".
to which I replied "they're in the plastic case mate. exactly how the manufacturer made it".
his retort "yeah well, but not this spanner! That's well dangerous and probably killed your battery"
my reply? "I doubt it. It was in the open pocket of my coat, which was on top of the stuff in the boot, all above the floor carpet - until you moved it and it fell out the pocket."
sam303 said:
Complain. Politely but firmly. Otherwise this joker will be fleecing people all over the shop, and the RAC will be unaware of the practice. Or if it's actually company policy, it will let them know that they won't get away with it...
CampDavid said:
Had the same thing from the AA, the guy fitted the wrong battery. Had the cost taken off the web price of next years subscription though
catman said:
Have you spoken to the RAC? They need to know about this cowboy, as he's not doing their reputation any good.
Tim
I did ring the RAC, but the guy I spoke to didn't really understand what I was trying to tell him.Tim
He kept asking if my car was fixed or if I had a fault with a newly fitted part....
maybe I'll write a letter if there's a chance of getting a bit of a discount.
Otherwise next year I think I'll end my six years of membership with them (six years - one call out... well worth it
)Had very good experience from the AA on 2 occasions. Pretty much doing exactly what I wanted them to do, including taking me to a location a little more than my cover allowed.
I was also told by one of them that if you tell them its a steering or suspension issue over the phone they'll send you a flat bed straight away, instead of mincing around with a transit before getting their mate with the flatbed.
I was also told by one of them that if you tell them its a steering or suspension issue over the phone they'll send you a flat bed straight away, instead of mincing around with a transit before getting their mate with the flatbed.
Ah but they pledged to end the "battery scam" seven years ago!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2669175.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2669175.stm
UncappedTag said:
Sk93 said:
Rags said:
My question, predictably, is: Why did you not call BMW Assist?
Sadly, My Z4 has not got BMW assist.That means I could only have got a tow to my local garage, not a jump-start at the side of the road :/
Gareth79 said:
Ah but they pledged to end the "battery scam" seven years ago!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2669175.stm
Guess in these hard times, they need to scrape up a few more pennies for the jar eh?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2669175.stm
voicey said:
You could have tried leaving the everythign switched off for a while - most good car batteries will come back to (some sort of) life after being drained. Whether it would have been enough is another matter.
yeah - tried that :/ I knew it was doomed in that respect when not even the boot light was coming on on Sunday morn Have to say that over the years I've had to call the RAC perhaps 4 times. Each time I have had REALLY superb service.
2 Specifically jump to mind. Once when the immobaliser packed up on my 400se. The RAC guy with the low loader took 30 minutes getting the car onto the truck making sure nothing was damaged. He then made sure the car was offloaded onto our drive. Not an easy fete as our drive is on a 1:3 hill !!
Second time was when I locked my keys in the boot at Waddington Airshow. It was a miracle how he managed to get them out of the boot.
I was that impressed I offered him £20 which he turned down saying they were not allowed to accept money.
Luckily he had his 12 year old son with him and the RAC rules didnt cover him :-)
2 Specifically jump to mind. Once when the immobaliser packed up on my 400se. The RAC guy with the low loader took 30 minutes getting the car onto the truck making sure nothing was damaged. He then made sure the car was offloaded onto our drive. Not an easy fete as our drive is on a 1:3 hill !!
Second time was when I locked my keys in the boot at Waddington Airshow. It was a miracle how he managed to get them out of the boot.
I was that impressed I offered him £20 which he turned down saying they were not allowed to accept money.
Luckily he had his 12 year old son with him and the RAC rules didnt cover him :-)
Definitely report him. Write a letter of complaint rather than telephoning. In the RAC's defence, I've had to use them a few times and on each occasion they've been brilliant.
This guy sounds like a total joke though, and needs to be reported for it. He may try it on with someone more vulnerable next time.
This guy sounds like a total joke though, and needs to be reported for it. He may try it on with someone more vulnerable next time.
Wifey did something similar last year.
AA turned up, jumped her (the battery...) and sent he on her way. I gave her the lecture about sitting with the engine off and all the electics on myself.
No hard sell, no scare tactics, no BS. He just jumped it, checked it and sent her on her way, probably muttering under his breath!
AA turned up, jumped her (the battery...) and sent he on her way. I gave her the lecture about sitting with the engine off and all the electics on myself.
No hard sell, no scare tactics, no BS. He just jumped it, checked it and sent her on her way, probably muttering under his breath!
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