What are the chances of getting my money back from the AA?

Drea

Regardless of what the OP should have or should not have done I think the time it took is ridiculous.

I work for a pretty well known car insurance company who offer breakdown cover, never heard of anyone waiting so long, nevermind a lone female, she would have been prioritised by us.

motorguy

opinions4u wrote: »

To all those who are playing the "should have got a taxi" card, the OP was told that the wait would be 1 hour 20 minutes.

In those circumstances, how many of us would ring a taxi to take us home and leave our car where it was?

The O/P has been very much playing the personal safety card, both on here and no doubt on the phone to the AA. What price do you put on your own personal safety?

And yes, i had a driveshaft snap 15 mins from home last year and got my wife to pick me up and the AA bloke to ring me when he was 20 mins away. The O/P's brother in law or a family member could have done that for the O/P.

motorguy

unless the AA have a clause in their contract that says 'all cars recovered within X hours' i dont think the O/P has any chance of her money back.

motorguy

lawstudent100 wrote: »

I want my money back in full from the AA and I am going to go with Green flag after hearing good reviews. What are my chances? Has anyone managed it before? :mad:

During the extreme weather conditions we have had, i dont think any breakdown service could have coped.

Also, most of the lesser known providers generally farm the work out to third party recovery trucks, especially as busy times, so you would have been no better off.

And i've towed many cars with a rope that have airbags.

motorguy

Drea wrote: »

Regardless of what the OP should have or should not have done I think the time it took is ridiculous.

I work for a pretty well known car insurance company who offer breakdown cover, never heard of anyone waiting so long, nevermind a lone female, she would have been prioritised by us.

And you can make that sweeping statement knowing that it was one of the snowy nights when all services were stretched, and knowing for a fact that your breakdown cover wouldnt have passed the call onto a third party recovery company - all of whom would have been stretched beyond their limits?

mikey72

We had the same sort of thing with the RAC a few years ago.
After a complaint we got an extra 6 months cover (including the european cover we had).

bigjl

I have waited 4 hours for a recovery in an Ambulance before and obviously we were an Emergency resource out of action, like everything, when usage outstrips available supply then you have delays, it is entirely possible that a bloke around the corner had to wait an hour longer than you did, as a lone female is always prioritised, in the same way as an Emergency Ambulance is, but if they are busy then they are busy, by all means complain, you may get a discount on next years membership, but it would have been the same story in the RAC or Greenflag, especially when you realise that a lot of the subcontract recovery drivers subcontract for all three.

Historicallt the British never complained and they had a stiff upper lip, over the last few years there seems to have been a change, now everybody expects perfect service and feels they are entitled to it, without taking into consideration demand and prevailing weather conditions. And therefore winging seems to be more prevalent.

If the AA had deliberately delayed your AA patrol then that is different, but if they experienced excessive demand that can't be planned for then long waits are unfortunately the order of the day.

Anybody that has worked in a City based A&E dept will have seen similar, a form of entitlement syndrome with a complete lack of empathy for those trying to help, the AA can only do so much, and over Christmas and in such cold weather there will be delays, remember that over the last few weeks there would have been similar delays for GreenFlag, actually with their smaller fleet you may have actually been waiting longer.

I don't want to sound harsh but I would assume that the OP is a student so probably in her late teens or early 20's, and as such has little life experience, life doesn't just work in the way you want it to, and a bit of consideration for how things can go wrong in extreme circumstances needs to be used, the AA tried to send a patrol but they were let down by a subcontractor, as mentioned before this subby would very likely have been the same if you had been in the RAC or GreenFlag.


If you want to leave the AA the do so, they won't cry that much about it, but did you consider that the reason the patrol didn't arrive might just be because he had an accident or got injured fixing the previous persons car, perhaps considering why the delay was so large might have been changed your opinion.

The talk about airbags made me chuckle, it isn't standard practice to crash just because you are being towed, and since cars have had airbags for over 20 years and still been towed quite happily then why is is a reason not to be towed.

"That which does not kill you only makes you stronger", don't sit for hours like an idiot when the simple answer was to limp the car home or get collected, you have now learned this lesson and will know better if it happens again, this is called growing up and experiencing what life can throw at you, if this is the worst thing you think could have happened over the last couple of weeks then you need to take a broader view of the world around you, it doesn't just revolve around you and your needs, and everybody needs to take some responsibility, it is not as though they did it deliberatley, though who knows how you spoke to them when you asked about how long you would wait, so maybe they did.

Ms_Chocaholic

opinions4u wrote: »

To all those who are playing the "should have got a taxi" card, the OP was told that the wait would be 1 hour 20 minutes.

In those circumstances, how many of us would ring a taxi to take us home and leave our car where it was?

The OP was originally told 1 hour 20 mins yes but at 6.20 pm she was told it coudl be 10.00 pm before anyone got to her.

If you were only 15 mins from home, are you telling me that you would wait in your car for 3 hours 40 mins for the breakdown service to arrive.

Drea

pgilc1 wrote: »

And you can make that sweeping statement knowing that it was one of the snowy nights when all services were stretched, and knowing for a fact that your breakdown cover wouldnt have passed the call onto a third party recovery company - all of whom would have been stretched beyond their limits?

We use local agents, so yes, it very much would have been passed on like I said, speaking from experience I have never heard of anyone waiting so long.

Hammyman

opinions4u wrote: »

To all those who are playing the "should have got a taxi" card, the OP was told that the wait would be 1 hour 20 minutes.

In those circumstances, how many of us would ring a taxi to take us home and leave our car where it was?

If my house was 10 minutes away, I bloody well would in this weather.

What hasn't been mentioned is that the AA and RAC RECOVERY DRIVER ASSIGNED TO YOU RINGS YOU EITHER AFTER FINISHING THE JOB PRIOR TO YOURS OR 10-15 mins BEFORE THEY GET TO YOU so the apparently scared witless female could have gone home, waited in the nice warmth until she got the phone call and then got a lift back to the car to meet the AA man......

Personally when I hear of them saying they give lone females priority, I feel like putting in a complaint about sexual discrimination. What they are doing is in effect ILLEGAL under equality laws.