Anyone been thrown out of the AA for calling them too often?

[Huntsman]

I've been an AA member for over 20 years, I joined the AA cos it was me covered in any vehicle, at the time I rode scooters, motorbikes and drove silly cars and it made sense, over the years I have called them many times.

About 7 years ago I had a rubber bumber MGB, bloody thing kept breaking down. Fuel pump, alternator, ignition switch, alternator again, all in a matter of weeks, they wrote me a rude letter threatening to throw me out!

Anyone actually manageded to be thrown out? TVR owners perhaps? (sorry).

[HellDiver]

My aunt was, two years ago. She was driving an '83 Passat. It broke down a lot, so the AA told her they'd throw her out if whe called again. She got a brand new Polo TDI which died, she rang the AA and they told her to GTFO. She's with the RAC now.

[Chris71]

Yes.

Well, I wasn't thrown out as such. On my fourth call out I was told I wouldn't get any more. I wasn't amused as it was a fully paid up private membership not a bank/club freebie. Nowehere in the small print could I find any reference to this and they then kept charging my direct debit memberhsip for two years after I'd told them to stop twice.

ETA I hasten to add this was before I had the TVR. I was a nice sensible mass produced hatchback at the time. It was a Peugeot though.

Edited by Chris71 on Friday 17th September 11:45

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Have been advised "we break down alot" when renewing the family cover.

To be fair the old TVR's we have had have been the more reliable cars in the family....

[Parabola]

My MGB saw to me being politely told by the AA that 'Due to our fair usage policy....!'

[TommyBuoy]

It seems really harsh when you're a paid up member.

Used the AA for the first time this week (most non-pistonhead reason you could imagine too!)

I surpose if they didn't limit call outs they would be maintaining non road worthy vehicles instead of the owners though.

Edited by TommyBuoy on Friday 17th September 11:52

[Parabola]

My MGB saw to me being politely told by the AA that 'Due to our fair usage policy....!'

[Shaw Tarse]

I worked with someone who was with theRAC, she was told that she would be charged if she called them out again. Though she had called them out 5 or 6 times in a month.

[Eviltad]

With my renewal this year I was moved up from an allowance of four call outs to seven. Whoop!

[hairykrishna]

Not yet. They got a bit shirty with me when they had to transporter my XJS 300 odd miles the day after I joined though...

[Shaw Tarse]

hairykrishna said:

Not yet. They got a bit shirty with me when they had to transporter my XJS 300 odd miles the day after I joined though...

The day after

[john_p]

TommyBuoy said:

Used the AA for the first time this week (most non-pistonhead reason you could imagine too!)

Not the old "wheel stuck on the hub" trick

My uncle's old Mk3 Escort was summarily dismissed from the AA after being called out once too many times. He said "what about the last 10 years we've paid you and not had one claim" which was a fair point.

Not long after, they sold it and it spontaneously combusted one day. Not one of Dagenham's finest

[anonymous-user]

I believe it does state in the terms somewhere that generally they will allow you up to 5 call outs per year.


I've not had to have them out that much, but they were very helpful last night when my new BMW stipped off the back of my flat bed (yes, I'm a tt)

[Mars]

I got the same letter - albeit one advising that an additional payment would be required if I continued along the same lines. I owned a crap Orion which kept failing (electronic spark producer on top of the dizzy), but also called them out whenever my (then) girlfriend's crap Golf because "you're the member, not the car".

Moved to RAC because I got a deal through work at the same time I bought a new car so the problem went away.

[ShadownINja]

The small print does state how many times... it's like anything, though... fair use policy.

[aka_kerrly]

i got chucked out the RAC for calling them out too many times over a 3month period. It pissed me off though because everytime they came out they either got the car running or towed it to a garage to get it looked at.

3 different garages an 4 RAC guys could not figure out why the car sometimes wouldnt start. At the time i was no expert so WTF are you meant to do when a car doesnt start and a professional cant figure it out. Id call the RAC out, they would start the car id say thanks drive off and then be stuck again a couple of days later even after having mechanics look at the car and tell me there is nothing wrong - typically it would behave itself when a pro looks at it but not me. It turned out to be a dodgy key in the end.

Been with the AA ever since, they do a good joint policy with all the trimmings for £150odd

[anonymous-user]

How can they 'throw you out' of a service you have paid for unless it's in the small print?

I heard the AA were ste so I joined the RAC and pay anually.

I only phoned them once when my Kawasaki broke down (shock horror!) and they left me sitting on a grass verge for 4 AND A HALF HOURS!

Eventually sent a low loader and the guy didn't even take one look at the bike with an eye to fixing it, just told me to 'push it on' up a long steep ramp onto the back of the truck bed (the bike weighed over 200kg!) and I couldn't manage so a passer by had to help while RAC man stood and watched.

I got no apology or anything from them when I complained and they even tried to put up my membership costs due to me 'having made a claim'.

So what I can deduce from this is that they are both ste.

Edited by NinjaPower on Friday 17th September 12:27

[NoNeed]

TommyBuoy said:

(most non-pistonhead reason you could imagine too!)

Edited by TommyBuoy on Friday 17th September 11:52

Do not test the imagination of PH'ers

As the likely responses may also include such things as... your wife was stuck on the gearknob whilst balancing a tin of custard on her head for the photo.


You may aswell tell us now you have mentioned it!

[fido]

AA chap got arsey with me when i called them out twice over a period of 18 months. Subtle digs at my choice of car [968], 'why don't you buy a Toyota Corolla?', etc.

So i cancelled my membership just before it got renewed. Customer services did ring me up to find out why i had cancelled, but i didn't bother with explanations - just told them i had found a cheaper breakdown provider.

[therealpigdog]

Parabola said:

My MGB saw to me being politely told by the AA that 'Due to our fair usage policy....!'

Same here - must be an MGB thang!