The AA!

ShockingPink

Yesterday we were supposed to be going to Liverpool for my Aunt's 80th birthday party. We stopped for petrol 9 miles down the road, and as we pulled away from the station the car cut out. Another motorist pointed out that fuel was pouring out from underneath the vehicle.

This was at 5 p.m.

No problem, we thought - we have AA Relay. My husband phoned and explained that it seemed to be a fuel pump problem and was therefore unlikely to be fixed at the roadside, but we were told that they had to send a patrol rather than a recovery vehicle initially. As we live in the countryside they sent a subcontractor rather than an AA man.

The contractor arrived at 6.15, having come down from Ullswater. They left at 6.25, having ascertained that we would need to be transported to a garage. The contractor phoned the AA and told them this, adding that as it was an automatic 4x4 we would need a flatbed transporter rather than a trailer. The contractor said it would be 45 minutes to an hour before someone would get there.

We heard nothing from the AA (they had my mobile number) so at 7.30, I phoned to ask where the transporter was. The lady said, "On my screen it says 8.15." Well, that's very nice, but I don't have access to your screen and was expecting the recovery truck by now.

8.30 I phoned yet again, and this time got a man who asked if we'd had any text messages, and then said that the recovery vehicle had arrived at our location but we weren't there. After reiterating our location for the umpteenth time (on a numbered A road just off the junction with another AA road, at an Esso petrol station - how much more detail do you need?) I was put through to the recovery driver himself, who described where he was - he'd driven 5 miles further on, and was by 2 petrol stations, neither of which was an Esso one!

He asked me the name of the road I was on, and its postcode, so he could put it in to his Satnav system. I said I didn't know the postcode, and couldn't ask in the garage as it was now closed!

9.00 he eventually arrived - in a tow truck, not a flatbed! So the car could not be recovered by him. He took us home, having called the AA again to order a flatbed to collect the car. We had to leave the car with the key on the front wheel so the next driver could get there.

All the way home, the driver was being very patronising, explaining that roads have names and postcodes, so it would be helpful if we used them in future. When I asked how I was supposed to know the name of a road in a strange area, he pointed to the name of my road, and said, "See - this is in the middle of nowhere, and even this has got a name"..Yes, I know - because I live there!

I gave my excact location and they drove straight past because we were "in the middle of nowhere".

What's that "You've got AA friend" advert, where they rescue someone from a cliff top in the middle of nowhere? I presume that also has a name and postcode?

I am so angry it is unbelievable!:mad:

firework

what aload of pants ! whatever happened to service??????????? this made me mad when i read it.

ShockingPink

I've phoned and complained (using their "membership enquiries" freephone number rather than the 0845 one they want you to use for complaints!). My thread on here was handy as I could more-or-less read it out to make sure I didn't forget anything!

The man I spoke to was horrified at the treatment we'd endured, and said he was going to pass my complaint to higher management who would contact me to offer some form of recompense.

On the plus side, it turns out that the fuel pipe had come off, rather than the pump itself being broken. Our local garage repaired it today and wouldn't charge me because he thought I'd suffered enough!

Raggie

I once broke down.. in the middle of nowhere.. B road.. no lights.. no road names.. an area I did not know.. and no map..

(long story.. but due to accendent on M25 I was diverted off and was following the flow of trafic hoping they knew where they were going )...

Any way.. called the AA... and because I had an Origin in the car.. (GPS speed camera thingy) I offered the operator my exact GPS position..

which they would not take... they would only take the name of the road.. and nearest house number !!!!

So you have my full sympathy.. If the AA could not find me with acurate lattitude and longtidude co-ordinants.. you had very litttle chance with the name of a garage.. and road numbers..

And yes.. once the patrol arrived.. after me walking an hour along this road.. to find a house who could tell me where I was.. then waiting a further 45 mins for the patrol.. he told me..

"oh.. with the GPS co-ordinates I could have found you ages ago.... you should have given those...":mad:

nearlyrich

I once had really bad service from the AA, they sent a second patrol van instead of a recovery vehicle, eventually took 8 hours to get my car from home to the dealership 6 miles away and finally arranged a totally useless hire car whilst mine was being repaired (the passenger door wouldn't open for one thing).

I wrote in to complain and I got a lot of Marks and Spencers vouchers for my trouble so hope you get a similar result, doesn't really make up for missing the birthday though does it?

shopping_mad

My partner works for the AA as a patrol man.

One thing I think is very good is that they prioritise lone women and women with children.

A lot of the time the problem is their useless computer system, tends to 'loose' jobs in the system. :rolleyes:

ShockingPink

Well - surprise, surprise I've heard no more from the AA. Phoned this morning and the lass tried to get me to phone the 0845 number but I refused as my complaint had been taken on her free number last week. She said she had a record on the "system" that a complaint had been made, but did not know who was dealing with it as the "system" didn't say!

I asked her to get someone to contact me, and she said she would pass it on and someone would be in touch in the next few days! I insisted that I wanted to speak to someone today as the complaint had been made on the 28th. i was told someone would contact me, but I'm not holding my breath.

Strongly-worded letter this evening, methinks...:mad:

glendam

This is no help to you but I am with the RAC and my daughter and I waited once at the side of a motorway for 3 hours in the dark, long story. But they rang me the next day free 1 year with them then a huge bunch of flowers arrived.
If they can do it so can the AA.

Glenda

jobbingmusician

I know it doesn't make it better - sorry! but I would ALWAYS write in a situation like this, not phone. Keep a copy of the letter. Companies seem to take their own non-response to a letter MUCH more seriously than non-response to a phone call.

Good luck with the letter writing!

trisontana

I think the AA were better when they had a network of local offices with operators who had local knowledge Now it's been centralised the people on the end of the phone just don't know the area you are talking about. I heard a story about someone who broke down on the A12. When the operator asked the person's location and was told it was near Ipswich the operator asked the question "what's the nearest large town to Ipswich ?"

Bunny

I was once with Directline car recovery, i think they used green flag, they were VERY good, snowing on new years eve, my car battery died after dropping my parents off, a van appeared within 30 mins, got my car running and wished me a happy new year.
I'm now with RAC a free year because i've bought a toyota (better battery as well :P) but they have tried to run me off the road a few times and they went down a one way system the wrong way and looked at me as though i'd done something wrong after i had to do an emergency brake.