The Cheapest Roadside Recovery Article Discussion Area

rrwfotr

Sam2007 wrote:

I have to laugh at all you people who think your £32 cover is comparable with top cover from the likes of RAC or AA. You're dreamers!

Thats like saying Tesco Value bread at 18p is just as good as Hovis or Tesco Finest, how naive can you get? Its cheaper cover because it's cheaper service, all these companies like Autoaid don't have any of their own patrols they use local contractors who can charge you labour after a 'reasonable time' which will quickly pass that £30 'saving' you made going for cheaper service.

I work in the industry and I've heard some horror stories from people using these cheaper services, half the time they don't even send out trained mechanics. So to all you people using these cheap services, do so at your own risk but please don't compare them to AA/RAC its insulting.

I have used both services the AA (for 5 years) and the RAC (for 2 years) and every time I've had to wait for them to turn up it was always an underestimate. I've always had the aa and rac bloke always trying to palm the brakdown repair work off to their mates who have garrages in the local area and surprise surprise the repairs have always cost over the odds. I have used autoaid a couple of times and basically if you need just a bog standard breakdown recovery you can't really go wrong. The downsize is that if you can't afford to pay them outwright or before you cliam then you should not go for this cover.

glenderg

Sam 2007 says Originally Posted by Sam2007
I have to laugh at all you people who think your £32 cover is comparable with top cover from the likes of RAC or AA. You're dreamers!

Well i had what he calls "TopCover" from the RAC on my car 3 years old & low miles.In my opinion a good motor. My young son 18 years old "not mechanically minded" broke down about two miles from home. He phoned dad normal i suppose, "what am i going to do?" I was very ill at the time otherwise i would have gone and had a look and towed him home with my old van if neccessary. " No problem say i we have top cover with the RAC phone them up the paperwork is in the glove compartment." Feeling very pleased with myself for having this so called "Top Cover". About two hours later i heard this almighty noise, i looked out of the window it was my son reversing my car into our drive and the RAC man waving goodbye to him.The very nice man had followed him home to make sure he didn't break down again. By this time the car was so hot you could fry an egg on the bonnet.The RAC man could not find the problem but somehow got it started with jump leads. When the car cooled down i had a look under the bonnet and spotted the problem almost immediately "A Burst Hose" resulting in lost all water from radiator leading to overheating leading to breakdown. RAC man arrives dosen't check for "fuel oil or water" which in my opinion would be the first thing to do after the driver had told you what had happened "engine died out while driving!" No he jump started a car that had no water in the radiator and told the driver it was ok to continue his journey resulting in overheating again and cracking the cylinder head.
Thats my experience with the RAC and can assure you it didn't make me laugh.

Now for anyone who is still AWAKE My experiance with the "Cheap Service"
Europ Assist in my case around about £30 at the time
My 17 year old daughter and wife broke down on the M6, same as with my son what do they do? they phone dad "What are we going to do!" Call Europ Assist i say the E-Mail they sent me is in glove comp.I had only joined two days before. Half hour later breakdown man arrives,10 minutes later he tells them water pumps seized and pobably cylinder head gasget split as well.
BTW his diagnoses was spot on we found out after.Ok he says what do you want to do? They say they want to go to their destination and gave them the address which was in N. Ireland. They had been going to catch a ferry from Liverpool to Belfast when they broke down and time was running out for the one they were booked on and youv'e guessed it DAD paid for. Ok he says "let me make a quick phone call" After he made his call he says " I will take you to the docks and leave you in the lane ready to drive onto the ship you have to do that yourself we are not allowed to , it will not harm the car to run the engine for the few minutes it takes to board and disembark and i have topped up thr radiator." He organised everything for them at the docks gave them a telephone number to ring half an hour before landing to alert his collegue in Belfast to confirm landing time so that he could collect them off the ship and take them on to their destination another 90 miles away. Everything went according to plan they diden't even miss the boat,all for £30 and three days later the little car was back on the road with a new water pump,skimed head and new head gasget as good as new.

You people can make up your own minds if it is insulting or not to compare the RAC with a company that costs far far less.

I don't have to tell you what i think. And i haven't been dreaming.

sorry to be so long winded but it might give someone a bigger picture or just confuse you even more but the bottom line is a company is only as good as the mechanic who arrives on the scene and as far as i can see the RAC have their share of bad ones.

Happy Motoring.

bs7

glenderg wrote:

sorry to be so long winded but it might give someone a bigger picture or just confuse you even more but the bottom line is a company is only as good as the mechanic who arrives on the scene and as far as i can see the RAC have their share of bad ones.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I've been trying to work out whether to take out cover from a more 'established' provider or to go with one of the cheaper ones - and from what a lot of people have said, it does seem that a lot of what's paid towards the likes of RAC and AA is merely for the name rather than any genuine difference in service (especially given the number of times RAC / AA / Greenflag sub-contract the work to other providers anyway).

Sam2007

Im sure every company has their share of horror stories and 'glenderg' has jus described one, no one can be perfect everytime!

As regards to Autoaid and claiming back costs, its around £100 for a 25 mile recovery from a contractor, imagine if you want be towed 100 miles? Are you going to have £400 + callout fees available?

The fact remains Greenflag etc could charge you labour-at-the-roadside after 'a reasonable amount of time' they only use contractors and wouldn't cover you in the event of an accident or 'driver error' at the end of the day you're paying for piece of mind if you breakdown, knowing the above how can you possibly have piece of mind knowing you could be ripped off, or your wife/partner/son/daughter could be refused service at 2am if the breakdown is caused by driver error/accident.

kellyt1981

On Moneysupermarket.com while searching for breakdown cover it came up saying Rescuemycar.com was cheapest and it had homestart and onward travel. It was about £30-40 I think.

Has anyone heard of them or used them?

Chaufeurse1956

Sam2007 wrote: »

I have to laugh at all you people who think your £32 cover is comparable with top cover from the likes of RAC or AA. You're dreamers!

Thats like saying Tesco Value bread at 18p is just as good as Hovis or Tesco Finest, how naive can you get? Its cheaper cover because it's cheaper service, all these companies like Autoaid don't have any of their own patrols they use local contractors who can charge you labour after a 'reasonable time' which will quickly pass that £30 'saving' you made going for cheaper service.

I work in the industry and I've heard some horror stories from people using these cheaper services, half the time they don't even send out trained mechanics. So to all you people using these cheap services, do so at your own risk but please don't compare them to AA/RAC its insulting.

It's very shallow to call people 'dreamers' because they make their perfectly entitled choice in which breakdown cover to use. It was quite easy for me to compare Auto Aid to the AA as I have paid for their, in my opinion, 'insulting' breakdown cover but after being left for hours at the roadside I never renewed their service again. There is another thread on MSE about car breakdown cover. Read the story from the man who was left stranded following a nasty car accident as the AA refused to recover them. He and his wife were abandoned, shocked, and left in the pouring rain, to make their own arrangements. I know he isn't laughing about their 'top cover' from the AA and will not be renewing his contact with them.

Unless I have misread the T&C's by Auto Aid it would appear they do recover you and your vehicle following an accident and other users of Auto Aid have remarked how often it's the AA, RAC or Greenflag who attend to their breakdown. If this is the case then I guess Auto Aid don't seem to mind who they sub contract the work out to as long as the repair/recovery is carried out in a timely manner.

Just as a matter of interest how many negatives are there in this post for Auto Aid compared to the AA, RAC and Greenflag? It was all the positive feedback on Auto Aid that clinched it for me.

Guess I will take my naive £32 and at least give Auto Aid a chance. Afterall MSE is all about saving money and getting good service although this is one service that I would like to avoid if our cars continue to remain breakdown free (touch keyboard!).

Christine

bornjoyful

I cannot seem to respond to the person who asked specifically about this company but i do have expereince and I also feel thatwhat is written in Matrins article is misleading-not your fault martin -the policy document is misleading.

they will not take you and up to 4 passengers home- they will either a) take you home
b) take you to garage for repair and if not repairable that day one night hotel and £100 car rental
c) take you to where you were going
WHATEVER IS NEAREST

so if you live further or are going somewhere further than it would cost them to pay for an overnight and £100 car hire (and maybe also the single fare to get back again onc eyou drop hire car back??) then you will not get home nor to your desination-they seem to choose whichever is cheapest for them and they do not, as theysay in policy booklet . discuss what would be the best option for your personal circumstnces- they simply tell you. Thank god i was with someone who also had A coverage as we were 220 miles from home and really needed to go home....

i will complain but for my money paid it is more worth my time to let other people know just what they are getting for their money with First Call.

I cannot complain enough about what we were offered.