Car Breakdown Discussion

pje

I never auto renew anything

AA drastically hiked my home insurance after one year - bye bye AA

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole

MalMonroe

pje said:

I never auto renew anything

AA drastically hiked my home insurance after one year - bye bye AA

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole

You don't have to auto renew. All you have to do is phone them. I got my last AA breakdown cover for £42 for twelve months extended to 18 months when I phoned them last December. The auto renewal for twelve months only was £85. I do touch them with a bargepole because I think that's not bad for everything, including home start. I phoned them and was pleased with the deal I received. 

murphydavid

Just got an email out of the blue; so to speak; from Auto Aid saying they have used my payment card details to enroll me into their auto renew program. I have not given them permission (and they have not asked for it) to use my payment data in that way. Is that legal?
I think it is a security issue that they keep my card details long after I made a one off payment.
They may be the cheapest? But that kind of behavior may well mean I don't use them ever again. Depends how easy they make it to opt out.
As Auto renew (or anti auto renew) is a major factor in my decision I think this should now be mentioned in Tony's main MSE article.   

pje

There are a lot of companies now who sneakily add auto-renew, without your consent, or it is an opt-out rather than an opt-in

It should be outlawed

Munchie63

Just had a renewal quote from AA for breakdown cover. £252

Now, I'm a tad embarrassed to say we've had Breakdown Cover with them for 23 years. 
TBH I usually shop around and then go back to them to match the offers.

Looked today and if I was a 'brand new customer' I could get Better cover for £146

So they want to charge me over £100 more for my loyalty to them. I called the customer services team who said 'new members only' and all they offered was to match this years price of £240.

Bye Bye AA.

I thought this kind of practise was going to be stopped by the Ombudsman. Seems they just find more ways around it.

RAC - new member price £180

theshed

I completely understand Munchie, I was with RAC for over 30 years due to some strange loyalty ?
Fortunately MSE snapped me out of that and now I shop round every year. Always check cashback sites also.

sjday

We had a very poor experience with RAC European breakdown cover early in August. Essentially they didn't provide us with the service advertised and purchased. 
The reasons were "because France, because Sunday, because Brexit".
We have claimed but inevitably they are being extremely slow in processing.

What would be helpful here is an honest appraisal of what the services actually offer rather than just the cheapest.
I've looked but can't find a company which offers prompt emergency tyre replacement as part of the cover. 

The recovery firm used by RAC in France said that the car would be taken back to a depot, not assessed until the next day (Monday). Tyres ordered and possibly fitted by Tuesday or Wednesday. 
We were supposed to be 500km away that evening and on the tunnel crossing the next day. 
We found alternative accommodation and replacement tyres independently.
We were about 7 hours late for our tunnel crossing in the end. 

I'll never buy a car with just an sealant and inflation kit again.

theshed

Tyre repair kits are the scourge of many a motorist, introduced under the guise of economy for the driver, but more like saving money for the manufacturer.
Unfortunately many new cars do not even have space for a spare, 'space saver' or normal.
It has become the norm and not sure what we can do about it ?

biscan25

theshed said:

Tyre repair kits are the scourge of many a motorist, introduced under the guise of economy for the driver, but more like saving money for the manufacturer.
Unfortunately many new cars do not even have space for a spare, 'space saver' or normal.
It has become the norm and not sure what we can do about it ?

Keep a spare in the boot anyway? For the money saving calculations your car will use about 1% more fuel.

spankydata

Dynamo Cover just auto renewed breakdown cover I had purchased for my sons without any contact. Mine was the email they had for contact and I checked spam. On the renewal email I was sent the link for contact didn't work. I had to find their portal through the internet. Then I got a message saying they had shut down for the queens funeral apart from emergencies. Eventually to cancel I had to agree to paying costs of over half the insurances even though I was trying to do it on the day or a few days after the autorenewal. I have contacted my bank for repayment, but I guess I won't get anywhere there either due to accepting the cancellation with a fee. In the meantime my sons have no breakdown cover. I am abroad at the moment for a few months so rely on email for communication from the UK. I can understand auto renewal for car insurance, but it seems over the top for car breakdown. Personally I have the Nationwide account which gives various insurances for £13 per month. There must be some mal practice here.