AA renewal rip off.

sumomoggy

I am in a similar position and need to renew my AA cover but am looking around at better deals. The usual story, renewal grossly expensive etc. I begrudge giving them my money even at a cheaper rate...

So I wondered if anyone used GEM before? GEM seem 'ethical' and get lots of reviews but I never heard of them until today. They are called motoringassist.com online. Since 1932. The are much cheaper.

Wondered if anyone had experiences of them?

bazster

I use these people:

http://www.insurancechoice.co.uk/breakdown-cover

Called them out just once, they were excellent. Got the car started, and told me exactly (and correctly) what was wrong with it, which I was later able to fix myself having got the relevant new parts (but was so obscure I'd never have diagnosed it myself).

Often much cheaper to buy your breakdown cover with your insurance, if you can get the dates to tie up. You might well find you are with the AA gain, only for much less money!

islasgranny

I'm using autoaid for the first time this year, following MSE's recommendation.
I recently had a flat tyre on the motorway and phoned for help. Fortunately I was just inside the free recovery area because the local guy took an hour and 50 minutes to arrive! According to his job sheet and my receipt, he was not allocated the job until an hour before he got to me - 50 minutes after I phoned. This is not acceptable. OK, by then I was waiting in a warm room with a loo and a coffee machine, but when I phoned I was on the hard shoulder in the rain in poor light and made sure they knew that I was a woman in my 60s travelling alone.
I shall go back to the big boys and alternate them so that I'm always a new customer. I want a setup with dedicated breakdown vehicles on the road, not an overworked one-man company contracted to another.

thegirlintheattic

We swap between AA and RAC, taking advantage of household cover to cover both of us.

mbftw

just wanted to add a quick review re autoaid. have been with them for 2 years and had the misfortune of breaking down 2 weeks ago.

called autoaid who arranged for a mechanic to come out to me -arrived in 30 mins. he diagnosed a turbo failure and suggested the car be recovered. paid him £42 by card.

i opted to get the car recovered to a garage i use a lot for my servicing which was 49 miles away. this was organised and i paid £174 by card. admittedly i had to wait 1hr 15mins for the recovery truckbut these things happen.

sent a letter and claim for £216 the next day, and received a cheque for the same today no quibbles.

thanks very much, i just hope my premium doesn't shoot up!!!

my take home message is -they will sort you out and refund all expenses, although there may be a wait depending on demand. if it were AA/rac to get their package which allows transportation anywhere in the uk for you and your spouse you'd be paying much more i'm sure.

property.advert

islasgranny wrote: »

I'm using autoaid for the first time this year, following MSE's recommendation.
I recently had a flat tyre on the motorway and phoned for help. Fortunately I was just inside the free recovery area because the local guy took an hour and 50 minutes to arrive! According to his job sheet and my receipt, he was not allocated the job until an hour before he got to me - 50 minutes after I phoned. This is not acceptable. OK, by then I was waiting in a warm room with a loo and a coffee machine, but when I phoned I was on the hard shoulder in the rain in poor light and made sure they knew that I was a woman in my 60s travelling alone.
I shall go back to the big boys and alternate them so that I'm always a new customer. I want a setup with dedicated breakdown vehicles on the road, not an overworked one-man company contracted to another.

This is the nightmare scenario which is the flip side of having a newish, well maintained vehicle which should rarely if ever break down. When the unthinkable happens, you want help, fast.

What you do not want is a process which has multiple layers of administration. At each level, it requires everyone involved to act correctly and without error. One screw up and you are stuck on the hard shoulder for hours.

I have never claimed from a breakdown service as my vehicles have never broken down. I have been lucky. However, I have experienced requesting repair of a washing machine under warranty. The manufacturer deals with you and then deals with a sub contractor. After them is another sub contractor and after them yet another. The people at the top of the tree don't even know who is supposed to be fixing your machine.

In my case, I kept pushing for a number and went down through the levels of sub contractors. At the lowest level, the guy who was supposed to come out to help me didn't even know he had a job because the antiquated system he was supposed to review to check for jobs had not brought him any new jobs in two years. Had I not phoned him up, I would have waited until the end of the earth and still have not received a repair.

So there is the moral if not the proof. Introduce more idiots to a process and you only get a clown of a service.

poppasmurf_bewdley

mbftw wrote: »

just wanted to add a quick review re autoaid. have been with them for 2 years and had the misfortune of breaking down 2 weeks ago.

called autoaid who arranged for a mechanic to come out to me -arrived in 30 mins. he diagnosed a turbo failure and suggested the car be recovered. paid him £42 by card.

i opted to get the car recovered to a garage i use a lot for my servicing which was 49 miles away. this was organised and i paid £174 by card. admittedly i had to wait 1hr 15mins for the recovery truckbut these things happen.

sent a letter and claim for £216 the next day, and received a cheque for the same today no quibbles.

thanks very much, i just hope my premium doesn't shoot up!!!

my take home message is -they will sort you out and refund all expenses, although there may be a wait depending on demand. if it were AA/rac to get their package which allows transportation anywhere in the uk for you and your spouse you'd be paying much more i'm sure.

That's all very well, but it's of no use for those people who couldn't afford to lay out more than £200 in the hope they get it back. How much do they charge you for letting you pay for the service in the hope you get it back?

im-lost

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

That's all very well, but it's of no use for those people who couldn't afford to lay out more than £200 in the hope they get it back. How much do they charge you for letting you pay for the service in the hope you get it back?

From £38

The same as some companies charge for a years cover with no
faffing around with paying and claiming refunds.

Ive never understood the appeal of autoaid, pay for the service, then have
to pay again to be picked up, then have to pay more to claim a refund, then
you get a refund sometime within the next month, then have to wait for the
cheque to clear etc etc

Really whats the point? when using a cashback site etc, brings the
cost of the AA, RAC, Greenflag etc etc down to roughly the same amount

mikey72

AA is dearer, I pay £60 a year for personal cover, to cover older cars, just roadside and recovery, for joint membership. But I don't want the hassle of paying out and claiming back. This year was up to £90 for family membership.

grizzly1911

Just had Green flag renewal.

Recovery plus has jumped from # £65 last year to £138 this year:mad:

New policy on line is £91 or £62.50 with no "plus" bit (2 cars).

Going though cashback sites recovery is £98 - £30 =£68 with RAC, or £62.50 -£20 = £42.50 with GF.

The recovery "plus" at GF would be £91-£25 = £66 through cashback..

I know these companies rely on inertia but these differentials are tacking the ****. Even more frustrating is the cost of churn for all is being paid for by us the consumer.

Choices choices:think: