First Call GB - Recovery options

fox2319

I broke down on Saturday while in the South Shields area (visitng rels) on my way from Somerset to Scotland. Following the article on MSE last year we had a breakdown policy with First Call.

First the good points, I called them and they came out very quickly, determined the car was not repairable at the roadside and I'd need a tow. In the T's & C's it stated that:

7 B If repairs cannot successfully be carried out at the scene of the breakdown then we will pay the cost of recovery of the vehicle driver and up to 4 passengers to the nearest suitable garage able to effect a repair, or recovery to your onward destination, or home address whichever is nearer.

I would interpret this as saying they would either

a: recover the car and passengers to a local garage or
b: recover the car and passengers to your onward destination, or home address whichever is nearer.

However, when I called the helpline on saturday, I was told that a: was my only option.

As a result, my car got towed to a garage in Shields and I'm now driving a rental car round Fife. Tomorrow I get to make a 400 mile round trip to get my car back.

Is this right for the policy? Surely that would mean that if you broke down at your home, they wouldn't bother towing it anywhere.

Anyway, the policy is due for renewal this weekend and this will affect my decision on what to do.

Ta in advance

Jeff

scatz

I would read it as they would recover the car to whichever is the nearest of the three. Not having ever had recovery breakdown myself I have no experience in what should be the case, but the previous is my interpretation. When you are due to renew, I would search for the cheapest and get advice from the outset before purchasing so you do not end up in the same situation, should it arise.

fox2319

Funnily enough, I'm going to renew this weekend and won't be going with First Call again. Other parts of the service are pretty good but I'm pretty miffed about the day of my hols and 400 mile round trip I'm going to do tomorrow...

sigh.

Jeff

fox2319

Just seen that you can get Green Flag recovery plus for £48 after quidco. That'll do me.

bornjoyful

IO had a similar experience with First Call GB ltd.

we broke down on the way back from Scotland going to Dorset. It was bank holiday monday night. we had to get home before the morning and they refused saying that their policy says they will either take to garage for repairs or get us home or get us to our chosen onward desitnation -WHICHEVER IS CLOSEST.

well a garage is always closer- but then they have to pay for rental car up to £100 and a hotel if it is past rental car closing time-
so it seems they choose what costs them less.it is £1 a mile , or at least it is on a bank holiday and we had a 440 mile round trip as the driver of breakdown truck has to get back too!

in our case we were offered a hotel and £100 rental car and a train ticket home when we dropped car back which would have cost them about £200 but would have meant my daughter missed her pick u[p for her holiday the next morning and we would have to drive 440 miles round trip to drop car off about 2 days later (£100 worth).They also offered to pay 50 miles of our trip (£100) but we had to pay for the other £300

i was with my boyfriend who fortunately has AA and they agreed to get us home on the same breakdown truck that first call sent but it was 2 hours later. if i had bene on my own with my daughter I would have been even more distraught.

On a final noter- they would not give me the managing directors name and were clearly on the phonme to him to get advice-spo possibly a one man show?? they also decided what they wouldoffer us without looking at our personal circumstances as states in their policy booklet and they also tried to lie and say that the driver could not take us that far due to EU regulations despite the driver then taking the phone ansd stating this wa suntrue as their truck was the police emergency vehicle too. as far as he is concerneed the driver, who was wonderful says that greenflag is the best company he knows of and he is called out by all of the major companies. No-one at the depot had heard of any compnay doing what first call did.
i am writing to ombusdman but would like to get word out on this forum and maybe get others to co,mplain. if i wanted breakdown cover that did not get me home from where-ever i am in the uk I would have chosen a basic and cheaper service not one that calls itself first call GB and implies (as is also written by martin) that it will take you home- IT MAY NOT GET YOU HOME IF OTHER OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE- tania 01308861376

bornjoyful

as for the response that it reads as whichever is nearer therefore one would have to be very close to home not to have a garage nearer!! i live in the middle of no where and there is a garage 2 miles away and 1.8 miles away-so this is worse than the basic coverage which will recover you up to 10 miles away form home.

fox2319

I'm with Green Flag as of last weekend. £20 back from Quidco made it an attractive deal.

I would definitely NOT recommend First Call to anyone and think Martin should post a note of caution on his article. First Call ended up costing me a lot of money and causing a lot of hassle. If you break down outside your house, will they just leave you there (that is, after all, always going to be closer than your nearest garage)

They were useless.

bornjoyful

'fox'
i am on phone now dissecting policy with First call office manager Paul Sage - managing director ( the one who makes the decisions on individual call outs ) still away from office and still nameless!

I AM PUTTING COMPLAINT INTO WRITING AND THINK HAVING SPOKEN TO Mr SAGE THAT I MIGHT GET A REFUND BUT YES THEY HAVE CONFIRMED THAT AS THE POLICY READS- THEY DECIDE WHAT IS BEST OPTION

they also said that there is a maximum mileage for recovery allowed before a supervisor must be called to make decision.

obviously if it is daytime and a battery needs changing I would not expect it to be reasonable to get a 200 mile recovery as presumably someone could help within 48 hours

BUT if you are on holiday and only half way home or to destination this breakdown policy is not usefull- no one wants to be stuck for days waiting for a car to get into a garage appointment and then fixed and then have to return back in middle of holiday to collect car from 200 miles away. similarly, if one needs to get home after holiday this policy is useless unless you breakdown about 100 miles from home only.

i have contacted the financial ombudsman to investigate the wording of this policy and have already got green flag instead !!

stumpjumper

it's not just firstcall that have this for their basic cover RAC have the same for their basic cover (which is more expensive):

from RAC site solution 1: http://www.rac.co.uk/web/breakdowncover/uk/packageDetails;jsessionid=38BD3C761A7DC55764DC4D546D71C5E4?affinity=NA0001_3&promotion=WB0001&drc=WEB003&serviceLevelCode=81
"Roadside

Roadside assistance anywhere in the UK 24 hours a day, 365 days a year providing you are at least a quarter of a mile from home. If we can't fix your car at the roadside within a reasonable time, then we'll give you a tow to a nearby garage within a 10-mile radius.
Recovery

If we can't fix your vehicle locally, we'll provide Recovery for up to 8 people to UK destination."

stefingos

Hi All,
I have just been reading the thread on First Call with interest!

Like others I am currently complaining against First Call - I had to call them recently when my car broke down - they did nothing but quote T&C's at me and refused to send anyone until I had provided credit card details - in the end I had to pay an additional ~£100 to be recovered to a local garage

In short - they make an assumption that we are all mechanics and can diagnose the problem before they send someone out - also they expect you to know your T&C's off by heart...

As mentioned in a previous post the company name suggests they would be the "FIRST" breakdown company you would "CALL" - but having experienced their desire to earn additional revenue over providing valued customer service - I would suggest other MSE's look elsewhere for their breakdown cover.

I would be interested to hear whether anyone has been successful in their "appeal" against First Call?

Martin - there is a balance between money saving and value, unfortunately in this example First Call appear to fall short of offering a valued service their customers - I don't think they should be advertised on this site...

- Stefingos

KM1976

I've put this post onto another forum as well, but think it needs to go here too!

I had a poor experience with First Call on Saturday. My car started overheating so i rang them (on the motorway). Someone turned up 3 HOURS later (bearing in mind i was also a lone female. Priorities?!). And he was just there to tow my car away, not to try and fix it. He told me that he had said to them he was really far from me and that there must be someone nearer, but they didn't listen. He also told me that they pay recovery companies such poor rates that most garages etc don't want anything to do with them, which is probably why he was the nearest to me who actually said yes to them.

Complete rubbish. Will probably go with the RAC/AA next time - more money but at least they're reliable.