Roadside Recovery: AutoAid Feedback

Premier_2

KettleFish wrote: »

After reading all the good feedback, I signed up for Autoaid a while ago. The other day I made a call to them after what was admittedly a silly human error. The man on the phone was unbelievably rude and undermining.

I ended up calling over a family friend who is a mechanic to sort out the problem.

I'm surprised nobody else has pointed out the apparent conflict of interests. If you call AutoAid for a roadside repair/recovery even ONCE, they have pretty much made a loss on your custom already. As such, it is in their interest to avoid you requiring assistance.

Much better to just call out a local garage on your own, then send in the claim.

You could make that accusation about almost any breakdown service.

At least AutoAid gives their customers the choice of arranging their own repair/recovery or allowing AutoAid to arrange it for them.
However I can see a huge possibility of abuse of the service where the customer arranges their own repairer/recovery service.

[Deleted User]

Unlike other MSE'rs my experience on the one occasion I had to call for breakdown assistance with AutoAid has been extremely poor and I would recommend against using them because (i) they don't pay out on claims unless you write to them repeatedly and (ii) they use "budget" (i.e. useless) roadside repair firms.

I've only made one claim with them and have no experience with the AA/RAC etc so I can't comment on whether the alternative firms are as bad or maybe my experience was not representative, but even so...

My two gripes with them are:

First concern: They used an incompetent "budget" road side assistance firm when my car broke down with a minor problem.

In the end I had to fix the car myself using the repair man's equipment which took five minutes, after he'd spent 45 minutes trying to fix my car the wrong way, steadfastly ignoring me when I told him what to do. I'm not a mechanic; and I don't think he was either! To be fair; the repair company did turn up extremely quickly (within about 30 minutes of my call) so not too much time was wasted.

Anyway, that might just have been bad luck, but my second gripe is more serious:

- When I sent in my claim form together with the invoice the repair man had given me, AutoAid rejected my claim!! They said that I couldn't use the invoice the repair man had given me and that I had to request for an invoice to be sent to me via post, and then send THAT in.

What???

This makes no sense and is the kind of trick that the mobile-phone cashback companies use to wriggle out of paying. I had been led to believe that AutoAid did not use "tricks" and paid up quickly, but obviously not.

Luckily I'm persistant and so I've obtained a copy of the invoice sent by post and will now be sending this in. If they still don't pay up I will post back further with more details on what I do next.

Grrr.

In summary; the one saving grace of AutoAid is that its very cheap and so I'll probably carry on using them, but only because I'm organised and persistant and thus not worried that they'll be able to wriggle out of paying.

But if you're the kind of person who wants an easy life then avoid. Grr.

KettleFish_2

Hi,

I totally sympathize with your issues. As an aside, I fired off a claim today and I too just sent in the repair mans invoice and not the invoice I was told to expect in the post. I do hope they pay out regardless.

My one bit of advice would be to avoid using their call out number if at all possible. Search the internet and find reliable breakdown recovery services (preferably those with their own websites) for the areas you live in or regularly travel to. Like I said in my previous post, the conflict of interests is far too great as the people you call up for help will also be the people paying for said help.

The only decent thing about AutoAid is the price and the fact that you get to go ahead and arrange your own cover.

If I receive my payment within the next week or so, no doubt I shall be singing their praises like everybody else in this thread. If I am fobbed off like your good self, I will be less enthusiastic, particularly as I will have to make time to visit the post office and also pay for postage again.

jaks111

hi i have had my renewal quote in from rac inc home start etc for myself and my daughter my daughter really needs roadside cover for travel back and forth to uni how will this work if she has no credit card on her and breaks down also what will it cost inc home start we both have the same surname

thanks

KettleFish_2

If she has no cash or debit/credit card, it may take longer to find receive assistance as AutoAid (or you) would need to find a recovery company that is happy to invoice later.

It will cost £37 each and that will include "homestart" (breakdown at home or anywhere up to a mile from home) up to a maximum of £65.

Cover is only for one's spouse, not for children.

lisyloo

jaks111 wrote: »

hi i have had my renewal quote in from rac inc home start etc for myself and my daughter my daughter really needs roadside cover for travel back and forth to uni how will this work if she has no credit card on her and breaks down also what will it cost inc home start we both have the same surname

thanks

It doesn't sound as though Autoaid is the right policy if you have no credit card.
One option would be for a parent to give her and additional card on their account for emergencies only.
You will have to pay twice as you aren't married or in a civil partnership.

Amba_Gambla

If she breaks down, she could call you up and ask for your cc details, which she could then pass to the breakdown people?

lisyloo

If she breaks down, she could call you up and ask for your cc details, which she could then pass to the breakdown people?

I wouldn't like this as a plan.
What happens if your mobile battery goes flat or you are away on holiday?
She's stuck.

Autoaid is great but it's not suitable for everyone.
Does she not have a debit card?

jaks111

lisyloo wrote: »

I wouldn't like this as a plan.
What happens if your mobile battery goes flat or you are away on holiday?
She's stuck.

Autoaid is great but it's not suitable for everyone.
Does she not have a debit card?

yes but she does not always carry it as you know what girls are like for changing there handbags etc also if you have to pay for each person as in our case im not sure if this would be any good

thank you

geordie458

Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this before but Autoaid not only covers an individual plus spouse for the car they are driving, but also motorcylces too. So for £30 odd quid me and my wife are covered for whatever car we're driving and i'm covered when im on my motorbike too. I had a puncture on my bike last december and the recovery van turned up at exactly the time they said they wouild. I was then taken to a motorcyle dealer some 20 odd miles away. When we got my bike out of the van i signed the form the recovery fella gave me and as i got my credit card out he said no payment was necessary. I had to pay for a new tyre but i was on my way about 30 mins after reaching the bike shop. Last week i got my car out my garage, it had been sat there a fortnight without being used, to find both front suspension springs had fractured. I rang autoaid who had my car recovered to the local garaged i ask it to be taken to. The recovery firm sent me a receipt in the post which i have returned to Autoaid and im now waiting for a cheque from them. So so far ive had good service from Autooaid and would recommend them to anyone, as long as they dont mind paying up front of course.