Is AA Warranty from Car Giant worthwhile?

maowang

I ended up, as I think I mentioned earlier, getting the work done in an approved dealership. I simply could not afford to wait the amount of time required to get the fault looked at by the Halfords Autocentre and then have another wait for a decision on top of that. I was extremely unhappy about the situation. In the event, the brake calliper had locked up and needed replacing, and the total cost was £750, which was completed in a day.

This is where it gets interesting. I had in the meantime written to the Independent newspaper's consumer money guy, Paul Gosling, and his column, "Questions of Cash" and initially had not heard back. He eventually enquired whether I had been successful in getting my claim looked at and I replied that I had not. He offered to look into it for me and lo and behold... I was called pretty soon afterwards by a person from AA Warranties, who apologised for the poor service I had received and asked for a copy of the bill for the repair, which I promptly sent him. One hour after that he called back to again apologise and to inform me that the bill would be covered in full, despite the bill including £114 for brake pads, which are not covered under the warranty, as a sign of contrition for their lack of acceptable service.

This is of course a great result and I thoroughly credit Paul Gosling and his influential column in getting this outcome for me. The outcome is what I would have hoped for without having to resort to national shaming in a national broadsheet, given the fact that even after they have paid the full cost of the repair (including the brake pad contribution), they are still £250 up on the deal, the initial premium having cost me just shy of £1,000!

The cheque arrived today, about 12 days after receiving the call from AA Warranties, and the manner of how it came about makes it feel like a lottery win as opposed to a legitimate claim. Because I had already "written off" the cost, this feels like a bonus! However, I do wonder how many others would have received the same outcome as me, without the might of a national consumer naming and shaming threat to help tilt the balance towards the right outcome.

In any event, I hope this tale helps some of you out there deciding whether to get one of these policies or not. I am happy with the eventual outcome of this claim, though am cynical about the procedure of getting in touch with the company in the 1st instance, which proved extremely difficult. I am also cynical about the Halfords AutoCentre diagnostic procedure, which appears to be designed to make the whole process of claiming a difficult waste of time.

mluton

Nice result.

fivetide

Power of the press. Advise everybody to contact the local paper at the very least if they have an issue. Nothing like a good hard luck story and a bit of embarassment to get things going!

5t.

blacksta

What about people , who cant contact the press.

fivetide

blacksta wrote: »

What about people , who cant contact the press.

How can anyone not contact the press?

They have phone numbers listed in the cover. You don't even need to buy one. Most local papers have an office in town. Simply use a bit of thought.

5t.

alexlyne

blacksta wrote: »

What about people , who cant contact the press.

"Hi, my name is Paul Gosling of the Independant, I am enquiring about a customer of yours who is receiving substandard service..."

Ok, not strictly legal to impersonate another person..

Oh, if you're female, call yourself Anne Robinson

poppasmurf_bewdley

Zach2k wrote: »

It doesnt. It simply says if the part isnt listed below then its not included. They list 'exhaust valves' but the damaged part in my car is 'exhaust gas recirculation valve' not just 'exhaust valve' hence they wont cover it.

What complete and utter bo**ocks!

That's like saying your insurance at home covers 'coins' but rejects your claim because you're claiming for 'gold' coins.

An exhaust gas recirculation valve IS an exhaust valve. It's a valve in the exhaust system. Plain and simple and any court would support that.

Nigel_Willis

tmonkey wrote: »

I've been quoted £700 for the warranty for a used Honda purchased a few days ago, and have taken it as part of the finance as I was told I could cancel within 14 days if I changed my mind. It's been 2 days already and I'm really not sure if it's worth sticking with, alot of posts on various forums say car warranties in general are useless but I'm not sure what to believe!

Anyone have any recent experience of using the AA warranty?

Thanks :beer:

This is not worth the paper it is printed on, it OK until you need to claim, you will be paying for everything. They told me that I need to pay for the diagnostic £49.99 and as there approved garage (Halfords) cannot fix the problem on my Renault I will need to take it to a main dealer and pay again for the another diagnostics £64.99. they will pay the £39.50 per hour for labour, however the dealer cost is £89.99 per hour, guess what, I will need to pay the difference £50.49 per hour. If you call there ‘Customer Service Line’ you will also be wasting the cost of a phone call, my advice, take a chance Hondas are very reliable.

mluton

The costs are highlighted in the policy depending on the cover. My gold cover pays main dealer full cost labour. Yes I have to pay for the car to be diagnosed, but this is recovered if its a valid claim.