Is the RAC taking advantage of the consumer and the present weather conditions?

spadoosh

Teresaevans. Your saying that its unfair for RAC to charge more for a battery when there allowed to charge what they want. As for the vulnerable customer, well, its similar when you go to a service station and would like a drink. you pay over the odds for the drink because of location and the fact youll struggle to get one elsewhere, the same with all goods at service stations.

I genuinely believe the RAC have acted fairly otherwise i could buy a new engine (for my broken car) and say my car isnt working but heres the parts and try and get them to fix it. Now this is unsustainable, its a service that if abused would cost RAC lots of money and that would hike prices elsewhere.

Annual cover is about £40, now RAC only need 1 call out from a customer paying £40 annually and they will no longer be making a profit from that customer, the business kind of relies on peoples cars not breaking down (as well as breaking down obviously) but a typical tow of the motorway can cost upwards of £200 and as they gurantee coverage across the whole country they have lots of mechanics working all over the country all the time, again this is expensive. If im honest i would expect RAC to charge more on parts and labour than joe bloggs garage down the road because the garage doesnt offer a lot of what RAC do.

You say your not going back with RAC, fair enough, however greenflag and the other national breakdown companiesw will have similar procedures in place and similar prices. However you could try your local garage for breakdown cover but would expect this to be 3 or 4 times the cost of RAC's.

It really looks like you have little case for an argument, i dont think they are exploiting vulnerable people, is a plumber exploiting people by having an out of hours call out charge?! Or because they charge 20%+ on parts they fit!? No. Sorry this has upset you, but i feel this is just one of those scenarios were the company are expected to charge more to help subsidise costs in other areas of the business.

colino

I'm sorry that everyone else is wrong and no one has agreed with your point of view OP. We've all confused the RAC with a commercial organisation while you really know it is just a beneficial, cut-price mobile-mechanic service. We've also probably taken into account that the RAC make money on supplying parts (batteries are their number 1) and to help drive that profit source, Patrols get a commission on selling them.

teresaevans_2

Colino…not upset that people do not agree with my point of view. We are each entitled to our views and mine happens to be a different one to everyone else’s on here. This doesn’t, as has been suggested, make me stupid.
I happen to still believe I have a valid view point, though I concede that I should have read the terms and conditions before contacting the RAC.
I prefer the terms and conditions/policy set out by the AA and shall take out cover with it, though I don’t imagine being able to obtain the same level of cover that I have now for £40.00. Mine was £100+

spadoosh

teresaevans wrote: »

Colino…not upset that people do not agree with my point of view. We are each entitled to our views and mine happens to be a different one to everyone else’s on here. This doesn’t, as has been suggested, make me stupid.
I happen to still believe I have a valid view point, though I concede that I should have read the terms and conditions before contacting the RAC.
I prefer the terms and conditions/policy set out by the AA and shall take out cover with it, though I don’t imagine being able to obtain the same level of cover that I have now for £40.00. Mine was £100+

We do all have different views. And hope i havent incinuated you were/are stupid. However i do think that you feel like a victim here and as such are struggling to see beyond 'their wrong'.

Like i said in my earlier post, they are an organisation that needs to make money inorder to deliver a service. I wouldnt say a decorator is taking advantage of a customer for charging £15 per msq when there only payin 50p p msq for the paint. I would just say thats a service i dont want and as such wouldnt use it.

So in answer to your OP No, i dont believe RAC are taking advantage of the consumer and the present wether conditions. I think this will be the widely accepted view of most people obviously cant speak for most people though.

Hope you find a company that delivers what your after but i will say i think it would be harsh to pursue this against RAC as they do deliver a good service to the majority of their members and that they are happy with this service. Obviously this is upto you though.

michaelvintner

boyse7en wrote: »

I bought a chicken from Tesco yesterday, and despite being a member of their Breakdown Service, when I called them they refused to drive to my house and turn it into a Roast Dinner for me and the missus.

The £30 difference between RAC battery price and local motor factor price is a) because at the side of the road you are unable to shop around so much and b) to cover the fitting costs.
Try calling up the shop you did buy the battery from and asking how much they charge to fit it for you.

Disgusting customer service. Have you informed trading standards :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

teresaevans_2

The title of my post is presented as a question. Those who have expressed views have answered the question.
I don’t’ see myself as a victim. As I have pointed out I was not stranded, I was able to buy a battery at my leisure and shop about, as recommended by the Office of Fair Trading. My fear is for someone stuck on the road and I believe that the RAC is taking advantage of that. I acknowledge it is a business, but so is the AA and it doesn’t operate this way. Thank goodness there are some ethical businesses still out there!

slyracoon

There should be a minimum IQ for you to be allowed to own and drive a vehicle in a public place. I think an IQ test should become part of the driving test.

boyse7en

I welcome constructive criticism such as left by Shain from Africa, but not when people feel that they need to be nasty with it. Do one!!!!!

If you are so upset about people being nasty then don't dish it out yourself.

…feel sorry for your missus!

Strider590

teresaevans wrote: »

The title of my post is presented as a question. Those who have expressed views have answered the question.
I don’t’ see myself as a victim. As I have pointed out I was not stranded, I was able to buy a battery at my leisure and shop about, as recommended by the Office of Fair Trading. My fear is for someone stuck on the road and I believe that the RAC is taking advantage of that. I acknowledge it is a business, but so is the AA and it doesn’t operate this way. Thank goodness there are some ethical businesses still out there!

Something much less ethical is theme park security staff, searching your bag's to make sure your not carrying a packed lunch, as you would attempting therefore to dodge paying michelin star resturant prices for a few rubberised chips, stale chicken nugget's and fake cola that's been watered down by the splash back from the log flume ride.

The fact is, most people would never check the prices of batteries and would just pay the RAC for the convenience.
In a way, it's taking advantage of peoples inherent fear of dodgy garages and abusing the customers trust in a well known organisation.... On the other hand it's just business.

mikey72

I've never had any theme park complain about food.
And we've taken it in to every one we've been to.
As to bag searches, I'm behind them 100% for the reasons they actually do them for.