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AA and their contractor have damaged my car
Long one this but just incase any legal types are lurking could do with a bit of advice.
Last Thursday night the battery in my car died, so I called out the RAC (whom I have a years cover with already paid for, but I dont have home start but every other service). They came out and jumped my car, and I got home lovely. The next morning I went and pruchased my own battery because ironically I know you can get ripped off with these. Because its a pain in the !!!! to get a new battery in my 51 plate corsa, I called the AA out (Who I have homestart with through my bank account) to fit the battery that I had bought. When the guy arrived to fit my battery, he said he couldnt fit it due to 'the handle being in the wrong place'. He sold me one of AA's batteries for 75 quid. I took the original battery that I had bought for a refund and was told that i'd been tucked up, and that the handle comes off easy and the guy will have known that (he showed me how easy in the shop). So I rang the AA and complained and they agreed it sounded like the guy had tried to do me for commision, refunded the money and organised a patrol to come and swap the batteries over and recover their battery. The AA guy had also left the battery clamp lose - so could have meant my battery sliding from side to side.
The next day a well known contractor came out and removed the aa battery to put my battery in. When he did, he put it on top of the battery clamp, and after closing the bonnet, it earthed - possibly writing my car off. There was a small bonnet fire and my negative cable was burnt so bad you could see the wire, the nut and bolt on the positive had gone through the bottom half of my bonnet and caused damage and also the nut and bolt had fused together. I got the guy to ring his controller and state on his paperwork the damage he had done.
I rang the aa and they put me through to their claims department, and also the contractors as I needed to be at work for 4pm, and it was about 12.30, knowing that if I was late for the job i'd started that monday i'd lose my job (no lateness or sickness within first 2 weeks). The contractor provided me with a courtesy car for 3.30 and I was 15 mins late and had to explain (now on a fine line with work) and advised me to go through them and cut out the middle man (the aa) and they would have the problems sorted out. They initally offered me my car being repaired by them in one of their workshops, which i refused and said i'd like the work done in my garage and they can pay the cost. My garage have told me that it was about 200 - 300 pounds worth of damage. They also said that they do tests and repaired everything that the tests said needed to be, but I know a few months down the line another wire might go costing me money. I have asked the garage to visually check all the wires theycan and charge the company the labour if they have to to avoid this. The company who did the damage also want to provide the new bonnet to be fitted to the car by my mechanics.
I have been speaking with a shirty little !!!!!, the companies operations manager, who seems to think im unreasonable with my demands but I cant afford repairs or a new car if it goes wrong again so need to make sure everything is 100%. I said Im thinking of making him pay for one of these warranties on my car for a period of time, and he got all 'i'll take it down the insurance route'. I haven't informed my insurance yet as I know it puts it up even if it is a non fault claim, but I do have legal cover and courtesy car on it. They have already accepted liability. I know my car had 3/4 of a tank of petrol in it, but had to fill up the courtesy car - causing me unreasonable expense - as it was delivered with an empty tank (plus left indicator bulb out, rear wiper perished and smears and the tracking is well off). It also cost me half an hours wages, a stupid amount of stress and inconvenience. Also having to plead for your new job after 4 days isnt always great. Also ruined my few days off I do get having to be on the phone all the time trying to arrange things etc.
The operations manager also says he has yet to recieve a call from my garage with either a quote or to say work has commenced, after ringing my garage the owner says they rang him yesterday with a quote and was told 'do what you need to to get it started' - I dont want it started, I want it fixed back to normal. I've told my garage this and they agree.
What are my options etc? Apologies for the long sensible post but I know theirs a few law types on here that may be able to help. Thanks in advance!!
Last Thursday night the battery in my car died, so I called out the RAC (whom I have a years cover with already paid for, but I dont have home start but every other service). They came out and jumped my car, and I got home lovely. The next morning I went and pruchased my own battery because ironically I know you can get ripped off with these. Because its a pain in the !!!! to get a new battery in my 51 plate corsa, I called the AA out (Who I have homestart with through my bank account) to fit the battery that I had bought. When the guy arrived to fit my battery, he said he couldnt fit it due to 'the handle being in the wrong place'. He sold me one of AA's batteries for 75 quid. I took the original battery that I had bought for a refund and was told that i'd been tucked up, and that the handle comes off easy and the guy will have known that (he showed me how easy in the shop). So I rang the AA and complained and they agreed it sounded like the guy had tried to do me for commision, refunded the money and organised a patrol to come and swap the batteries over and recover their battery. The AA guy had also left the battery clamp lose - so could have meant my battery sliding from side to side.
The next day a well known contractor came out and removed the aa battery to put my battery in. When he did, he put it on top of the battery clamp, and after closing the bonnet, it earthed - possibly writing my car off. There was a small bonnet fire and my negative cable was burnt so bad you could see the wire, the nut and bolt on the positive had gone through the bottom half of my bonnet and caused damage and also the nut and bolt had fused together. I got the guy to ring his controller and state on his paperwork the damage he had done.
I rang the aa and they put me through to their claims department, and also the contractors as I needed to be at work for 4pm, and it was about 12.30, knowing that if I was late for the job i'd started that monday i'd lose my job (no lateness or sickness within first 2 weeks). The contractor provided me with a courtesy car for 3.30 and I was 15 mins late and had to explain (now on a fine line with work) and advised me to go through them and cut out the middle man (the aa) and they would have the problems sorted out. They initally offered me my car being repaired by them in one of their workshops, which i refused and said i'd like the work done in my garage and they can pay the cost. My garage have told me that it was about 200 - 300 pounds worth of damage. They also said that they do tests and repaired everything that the tests said needed to be, but I know a few months down the line another wire might go costing me money. I have asked the garage to visually check all the wires theycan and charge the company the labour if they have to to avoid this. The company who did the damage also want to provide the new bonnet to be fitted to the car by my mechanics.
I have been speaking with a shirty little !!!!!, the companies operations manager, who seems to think im unreasonable with my demands but I cant afford repairs or a new car if it goes wrong again so need to make sure everything is 100%. I said Im thinking of making him pay for one of these warranties on my car for a period of time, and he got all 'i'll take it down the insurance route'. I haven't informed my insurance yet as I know it puts it up even if it is a non fault claim, but I do have legal cover and courtesy car on it. They have already accepted liability. I know my car had 3/4 of a tank of petrol in it, but had to fill up the courtesy car - causing me unreasonable expense - as it was delivered with an empty tank (plus left indicator bulb out, rear wiper perished and smears and the tracking is well off). It also cost me half an hours wages, a stupid amount of stress and inconvenience. Also having to plead for your new job after 4 days isnt always great. Also ruined my few days off I do get having to be on the phone all the time trying to arrange things etc.
The operations manager also says he has yet to recieve a call from my garage with either a quote or to say work has commenced, after ringing my garage the owner says they rang him yesterday with a quote and was told 'do what you need to to get it started' - I dont want it started, I want it fixed back to normal. I've told my garage this and they agree.
What are my options etc? Apologies for the long sensible post but I know theirs a few law types on here that may be able to help. Thanks in advance!!
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Comments
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In my view you should only be dealing with the AA. The contractor is their agent and your contract is with the AA.
Get a quote to fix everything but don't go ahead until you have passed it onto the AA. They may well decide to remove the car and use a preferred supplier of their own.
So, go back to the AA, tell them what they've done, what you have been quoted to fix it, inform them of your expenses incurred so far and tell them to deal with it.0 -
Just as a further bit of information - just phoned the operations manager of this company and he's insistant that I cant claim for personal expenses - loss of wages, filling up the hire car for the first time (had filled up my other car and put me in my overdraft so i could get in and out of work every day that week, so had to double up on petrol costs for that week.). Surely their must also be a charge for inconvenience as any time where I'm not at work or asleep, im working on this to get it sorted and to be honest it's stressing me out. Must be some sort of fee they are going to have to pay for all this?0
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Yet another person who uses a breakdown company as a garage and gets stung.....
Here is a clue: When your car breaks down, you phone a breakdown company. When you want something repairing, you go to a garage.0 -
In my view you should only be dealing with the AA. The contractor is their agent and your contract is with the AA.
Get a quote to fix everything but don't go ahead until you have passed it onto the AA. They may well decide to remove the car and use a preferred supplier of their own.
So, go back to the AA, tell them what they've done, what you have been quoted to fix it, inform them of your expenses incurred so far and tell them to deal with it.
My vehicle is in a garage of my choice as the AA claims department have already agreed to before I started dealing directly with the contractor. The garage has already started work on the car, and I won't trust the AA or their contractor to further work on my car for fear of creating extra damage.0 -
Firstly it was very cheeky to ask them to fit a battery you'd bought elsewhere, they're a break down service not your own personal mechanic.
The AA guy should have told you where to go.....
Secondly, through incompetence they've now caused damage to your car and you've incurred unreasonable costs.
It's a very complicated situation!!
The original AA guy should not have fitted the battery you bought, but he should also not have tried to sell you one you did not need. It really is all his fault that this chain of events has happened.
You need to keep records, logs and maybe even record the phone calls. You MUST be able to present an accurate account of your losses. The AA will be insured against this, but you'll need to kick them into action, it could take a very long time indeed.
Question though..... You had the new battery, why didn't you fit it yourself? A chimp with an adjustable spanner could have done that job. Better to be done by someone who care's, than by someone who's trying to meet targets.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
<><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><> Don't forget to like and subscribe \/ \/ \/0 -
Strider590 wrote: »Firstly it was very cheeky to ask them to fit a battery you'd bought elsewhere, they're a break down service not your own personal mechanic.
The AA guy should have told you where to go.....
Secondly, through incompetence they've now caused damage to your car and you've incurred unreasonable costs.
It's a very complicated situation!!
The original AA guy should not have fitted the battery you bought, but he should also not have tried to sell you one you did not need. It really is all his fault that this chain of events has happened.
Question though..... You had the new battery, why didn't you fit it yourself? A chimp with an adjustable spanner could have done that job. Better to be done by someone who care's, than by someone who's trying to meet targets.
Because its more than just a slot in slot out job with my car - you must remove all the plastics around the bottom of the windscreen, I also dont own the tools to do so. I enquired on the phone before calling the aa out if it was ok to fit my own battery and they said that this was not a problem, and was within my rights as a member to request this.0 -
Pete283
You should get together with the author of this thread from a few days ago with a not-disimilar problem with the RAC :
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3785937=
to discuss mutual problems. The OP in that thread would definitely be interested in your statement :I enquired on the phone before calling the aa out if it was ok to fit my own battery and they said that this was not a problem, and was within my rights as a member to request this.0 -
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The AA shouldn't have fitted a battery they didn't supply looking at that.0 -
Never use a breakdown company for repairs. Been there done that, had the damage, had them mend it, came back even more damaged..
Yes, you can claim for your expenses. It's called public liability insurance. They are liable to YOU. They damaged your car, they left you without transport, they left you with additional costs which you should not have incurred. If you have the receipts etc, then tell them that you want to claim from their liability insurance for this.
No If's, no but's, they are liable and are insured to cover it.0
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