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

motorguy

newbie007 wrote: »

Very wrong to think and say this. Should be 'the chance of a guy getting raped is next to nil' (even this would be wrong) . Prioritising female is a must.

So why sit there six hours when she was just 15 mins from home?

I would say a young male sitting there were have more chance of being assaulted that of a young woman being raped.

You cannot just simply prioritise all calls based on someone bleating down the phone that they are a young woman on their own - as is the case in this instance, the OP was just fifteen minutes away from home.

Also, i havent read any news stories of women getting raped directly because of the inclement weather conditions, however i have read stories of people freezing to death because of the weather conditions.

motorguy

I think the most important lesson here is 'be prepared'.

My wife, and my wifes elderly parents live in the same house as us and i can honestly say there wasnt one journey made in the last month by any of us whereby the others didnt know where we were and werent carrying extra coats, water, and a mobile phone. My wifes car had jump leads in the boot and i'd a booster jump start pack in mine. Had any of the three of our cars broken down the priority would have been to get the occupants home, the car would have been the second priority.

On two occasions we had a car not start, but thankfully they were both on separate mornings outside our house, and we were able to get them going by jump starting.

No way on earth would any of us have sat there for six hours - and not knowing that you can tow a car that has airbags....

atrixblue.-MFR-.

im not being sexist but women are easy targets for muggers, rapists, etc because their not a strong a fighter as men. i too believe in equality but dont compramise on safety for men or women, yeh 15 mins away by all means, but it was snowing and snow on the ground perhaps OP didnt want BIL to come and get her for his safety and possability of getting stuck himself.

the OP's actions should/could have been different i agree she should/could of sought shelter at a cafe or even a nearby shop where theres public and wormth, no shop or petrol station would of turned her away in just being able to get warm coz her car had broken down.

but the AA should have treated her case differently in their info wich makes the OP having a very valid point against them for a complaint. not because she claims she was vunerable, but the timescales given to her and her treatment. if they said we'll be at least 3-6 hours in getting to you then the op may have decided to either go home,seek shelter untill help arrived.

there a difference to what the AA said "we'll be with you within hour and half" wich means turn up anytime! hence the wait around and what could of been said wich is were stretched and our contractors are we ar NOT going to get to you for some time, this could of led the OP to make her decision to go home and not wait

motorguy

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

but the AA should have treated her case differently in their info wich makes the OP having a very valid point against them for a complaint. not because she claims she was vunerable, but the timescales given to her and her treatment. if they said we'll be at least 3-6 hours in getting to you then the op may have decided to either go home,seek shelter untill help arrived.

True, however, as often seems the case these days, the O/P wants 'compensation' in the form of a full refund for this.

mikey72

pgilc1 wrote: »

True, however, as often seems the case these days, the O/P wants 'compensation' in the form of a full refund for this.

I quite agree with her view.
I completely disagree with your peculier use of the word compensation with the quotation marks.
The money was paid for a sevice which was not provided in this case. The AA quoted a time, they didn't meet it, or even come close, so how is it "compensation" to ask for your money back, for something you never received?

As I posted earlier, I asked, and received "compensation", in the form of extra cover for no charge, when the RAC did the same to me, and I'd do the same again, provided I wanted to stay with them afterwards. The op clearly dosen't, so why should she be out of pocket for wanting to leave and get the service she paid for elsewhere?

eco

i used to work for Green Flag, and like many people have said in extreme weather conditions and remote locations getting to people on time is difficult,at GF the job details are passed to the garage in minutes and they either accept or refuse straight away, many people ring in after an hour if they are still waiting and are given a ETA from the garage, if we think it will be over an hour we had to say when the call first came in, it's better to give a reasonable expectation than have people ringing in ,later in a rage.

motorguy

mikey72 wrote: »

I quite agree with her view.
I completely disagree with your peculier use of the word compensation with the quotation marks.
The money was paid for a sevice which was not provided in this case. The AA quoted a time, they didn't meet it, or even come close, so how is it "compensation" to ask for your money back, for something you never received?

As I posted earlier, I asked, and received "compensation", in the form of extra cover for no charge, when the RAC did the same to me, and I'd do the same again, provided I wanted to stay with them afterwards. The op clearly dosen't, so why should she be out of pocket for wanting to leave and get the service she paid for elsewhere?

Do the AA quote that they will have addressed all callouts within a specific time?

Will you be asking the Post Office for your money back on stamps because the letters arrived later than they predicted due to adverse weather conditions?

Is there ANY actualevidence that any other breakdown service could have got there any quicker, given most if not all would have outsourced the callout to a local recovery company - quite possibly the one the AA used in this case too?

I think a complaint should be lodged with the AA, however i think the response will come in the form of 'adverse weather conditions, swamped with calls, blah blah blah'. As someone else has suggested i would be asking the AA for an extra six months cover or something like that.

mikey72

pgilc1 wrote: »

Do the AA quote that they will have addressed all callouts within a specific time?

Will you be asking the Post Office for your money back on stamps because the letters arrived later than they predicted due to adverse weather conditions?

Is there ANY actualevidence that any other breakdown service could have got there any quicker, given most if not all would have outsourced the callout to a local recovery company - quite possibly the one the AA used in this case too?

I think a complaint should be lodged with the AA, however i think the response will come in the form of 'adverse weather conditions, swamped with calls, blah blah blah'. As someone else has suggested i would be asking the AA for an extra six months cover or something like that.

I, probably like the op, wouldn't really care about all callouts.

"They told me that a patrol would be with me by 6.10"

That would be the one I'd be calling about.

Someone else? Read the posters name maybe?
(You actually quoted me here in fact, just above the part you highlighted.)

bigjl

It isn't the fact the OP is female that has annoyed me about the thread, it is the tone of the OP's post, it is the bleating "me, me, me" that is ruining this country.

There is no sense of personal responsibility anymore in some parts of the community, it is all look at me I am important, look at the OP's login name, that is more descriptive of the character of the OP than they may realise.

I'm a professional, look at me, I want the best service at all times, regardless of the problems that anybody else faces, only I am important, and if I don't get it I will moan and complain because I am more important than anybody else.

That is how I see this thread, the OP has no consideration for the problems faced by the AA or anybody else.

When my wife broke down (not recently) I arranged for the AA, when they didn't turn up after 40 mins I drove the 20 miles to go and see if I could sort things out and make sure the wife was safe, it is called being responsible, yes we have recovery and breakdown cover, but that doesn't absolve you of any responsibility in the situation you find yourself.

The very same attitude is seen every day at A&E departments and by both the Police and Ambulance workers, there is a social breakdown in this country, where it is always somebody elses problem and nobody takes any responsibility.

If the British had the same outlook back during WW2 we would all be eating sausage and speaking German, I for one have seen plenty of this bleating.

I have more sympathy for the person that answered the phone and the staff that tried their best to come and help this person.

If I was the AA I would advise her to join GreenFlag and close the door on the way out.

mikey72

No, the problem is no-one expects decent service any more. If the AA say 6.10, they should be there at 6.10. If the actually mean past 10.00, they should say past 10.00pm.
No excuse for poor service, never has been.
If the British have the same outlook in WW2, I don't think the Germans would have waited if we kept showing up 4 hours late every time.