Cost of AA renewal !! - long standing member

vikingaero

I think that as consumers in todays society we need to re-examine our personal views of being a long standing customer of any large organisation. Rewards for loyalty rarely exist and if they do they are laced with conditions. I've been a customer of Vodafone since they started their mobile network in the 80's. Do they care about me? No. All they care about on renewal of a contract is my level of phone use for the last 3 months. Organisations nowadays are very short term based and you should think nothing of switching. Being a shopping !!!!!! is the way forward!

I often take out a policy with one company and sign up as a new customer at renewal.

grizzly1911

vikingaero wrote: »

I think that as consumers in todays society we need to re-examine our personal views of being a long standing customer of any large organisation. Rewards for loyalty rarely exist and if they do they are laced with conditions. I've been a customer of Vodafone since they started their mobile network in the 80's. Do they care about me? No. All they care about on renewal of a contract is my level of phone use for the last 3 months. Organisations nowadays are very short term based and you should think nothing of switching. Being a shopping !!!!!! is the way forward!

I often take out a policy with one company and sign up as a new customer at renewal.

Do you have any problems with your "registered" email address blocking this?

I just flip companies at present.

Unfortunately we have to more for this "competitve" market:mad:

alan.n

The AA trying it on again sending me a renewal notice and wanting a payment that was £54.50 more than potential new customers are asked to pay for the same service. I have paid-out over £1000 to them since joining with my partner using the service once to have the spare wheel fitted after having had a punctured tyre. They try it on every year (or rather their computer does) and I simply inform them of my disgruntlement, which results in them agreeing with my point of view and offering to match the reduced rate that new costumers get - Simples.

MrsLAB_2

I received my renewal notice today and thought it was a bit steep at £155.86 for Joint cover on Roadside and Relay. I've been with the AA for 18 years. I went on the site and discovered I could add an extra option of garage parts and it still came in at £4.86 less than I was quoted for fewer options. I went on the RAC website and their introductory offer was really good, so using that a bargaining tool I called the AA. I spoke to a really lovely chap who informed me that with the amount of members they have, they couldn't possibly look at each case individually (I bit my tongue and decided not to tell him that with computers it's not difficult). I told him I was disappointed with the quote and the fact that I've been a member for so long. Magically he brought my quote down to £92 with free Relay for life. Result! Off to check out the dining discounts and take MrLAB out for dinner with the savings.

Enfieldian

dkeight wrote: »

I always thought !!!!!! Turpin was a roadside highwayman, not a roadside repair man !

Oh, do the repair men set the renewal prices?

I thought that they would be a bit busy fixing cars to deal with the membership fees as well......

Sstripey

I'm normally pretty keen on every way of saving money but had been completely blind to what the AA have been doing. I've been a member since 1983, and was nicely softened up a few years ago when the AA gave me free Home Start, and then again last summer with Gold Membership. But then I joined MoneySavingsExpert and now that I'm retired there's a bit more time to go into things. Previously, the AA renewal would come at a really busy time in the school year, and I just let it go through.
SO I looked back at what I had paid over the years - I have my bank statements going back to 1994. My first finding was that I had spent just over £2000 since then in renewal fees. Secondly, I found that the renewal costs had doubled in that time, whereas the CPI was up by 43%. When I then looked at the AA website to check prices, all I could find was the cost of joining as a new member. I paid £168 this year, and a new member on the same cover would have paid less than £100.
When I then read on these forums and on others that many members had achieved a significant discount when they telephoned the AA to contest the high renewal premium, I knew it was time to write a formal letter of complaint to the AA. I have suggested that they reduce premiums for everyone to the level paid by new customers (of course they won't) and also told them that they should refund me for the difference between what I have paid over 29 years and what others have paid. My guess is that that would be in the region of £800. I'll let you all know if I get any response.
The AA advertises "Breakdown cover from a name you can trust." Let's see how they stand up behind that claim.

Daz2009

I've been with the RAC for a few years because I use my Tesco points and got it for about £32 but I don't shop at Tesco much any more so don't have enough points,subsequently the renewal is a lot more expensive.

Looking on Topcashback they won't give you any money off if you're renewing so instead I went with the AA and I should get £35 back.
Next year I'll probably go back to the RAC if they're offering cash back thru TCB.

The point here is....Don't be loyal !

Sstripey

Daz2009 wrote: »

The point here is....Don't be loyal !

I'll give them one chance. This is just Round One!

mkirkby

Sstripey wrote: »

I'll give them one chance. This is just Round One!

I don't even bother doing that. I just go online and join as a new customer while cancelling last years. That way I always get the new customer 'carrot' deal while without the hassling of ringing up and haggling.

The new customer deal is almost always going to be their cheapest offer in ordere to get new people in.

I do it with everything. House insurance, car insurance, bike insurance. The lot.

Last year I got a quote for £130 for the bike insurance renewal with AA. Best online quote was £85 from the AA. So I bought that to start on the day my old insurance ran out. Sending them the proof of my no-claims discount was amusing to say the least.

hethmar

I have to ring AA every year now and this year was no exception - press the "Im thinking of leaving" button and they will make you a much better offer. I think it was £90 off this time, for a couple of minutes on the phone. Ridiculous we have to go through this pantomime every time though.