What's the best way to complain about the AA???

bettyboo333

I'm after some advice...I want to put a complaint in against the AA, I'll try and keep it short but It's a bit of a long story. Myself , my husband and our young son were on the way back home to North Wales last saturday from Northampton about 20 mins into the journey smoke started coming from the bonnet, we managed to pull into a large Tesco car park and promptly phoned the AA as I had Roadside cover with them, we told them where we were and that we were in quite an intimidating area [ young lads on motorbikes racing around the car park, I also informed them that I was a type 1 diabetic and needed to get home the driver arrived nearly an hour and a half later after phoning me up and giving me a telling off that he was in the wrong Tesco!...he had a look at the engine and stated that it was a small fault but as it was saturday evening he could do nothing for us. My husband explained that I was Diabetic...but all the driver said was that we could be towed home at a cost of nearly £600!! We don't have that kind of money....so we begged him for any help by this time I was in tears and was freezing cold. He stated that there was a hotel about a mile and a half away and that would be our only option!! I explained that I had a relative that lived 30 miles away and I literally begged whether he could get us there somehow he promptly refused,,, said good luck and left.... I spoke again to the AA and they were really offensive on the phone stating that even if we upgraded at the cost of £120 to ave the Relay option they would only tow us up to a maximum of 50 miles at this point we were 170 miles from home and my much needed insulin!! The AA said that they would call me back straight away but half an hour later I had to call them back again and they basically said that it wasn't their problem and the only option would be to upgrade and get towed to my relatives house.....the tow truck arrived over an hour later and we arrived at my relatives. But it has left me with a sour taste in my mouth I was really unwell over Sunday as my Diabetes is very brittle and the AA couldn't of cared less and we've also been forced to cough up a eleveated price for cover that we couldn't use I really wan't to complain but am unsure where to go can anybody help please.

forgotmyname

Sorry i dont want to sound harsh but its not their fault you wont pay for the cover you need.

They offered you the upgrade option and you refused. Elevated price for cover you cant use? But you used it?

If you have health issues you could have called an ambulance.

Again sorry but you chose a cheap breakdown cover when you actually needed a better package. That would get you home.
Not having enough medication is a bit silly. But a hospital is not usually that far away.

You can write to them and complain but i dont see where they are at fault.

Mindless_Clone

Sympathies OP, it's never fun to be stranded, especially not with little ones in the car. A couple of things come to mind.

Waiting an hour and a half for a mechanic on a Saturday night is pretty good going all things considered. There's only so many operators out there so you can't help if there is nobody available to come straight away. Not sure you can really complain about the time element here as it's largely outside anyone's control.

You only have Roadside, which only covers the AA for fixing your car by the road. If fixing your car by the road was not possible at that point, then I am not sure what else you thought they were supposed to do? The driver did give you an option though - to tow you at cost - which, on a Saturday night for that distance probably would be pretty expensive! As you are not covered for being taken home under your policy, you can hardly complain they wanted to charge you for it. Again, I don't think you have much to complain about there.

As a type 1 diabetic, you ought to be well aware of your condition and have taken enough to cover emergencies, including being delayed on your journey. If you ran out, then clearly you didn't plan any contingency well enough. Frankly if it were that much of an issue you could have called a cab and asked to be taken to the nearest hospital who would have been happy to prescribe you a dose I am sure. For that matter, the cost of a cab to the nearest hotel and a room for the night probably would have been cheaper than upgrading your cover anyway. Again, you can't really complain to AA about that.

I actually think you're only complaint might be if the driver had a poor attitude and was rude to you, or if he could have fixed your car at the roadside and simply chose not to because it was late on a Saturday night. If that's the case, complain away, but the rest of it, I think you're just looking for someone to vent your frustrations at.

I do understand that if wasn't a pleasant experience for you and I'm sorry if this is not the response you were hoping for. I'm getting it in here before you get, shall we say, the less savoury replies you are going to inevitably get from some members here.

Just out if interest, what was the fault with the car? Perhaps some of our more mechanically minded members might be able to say if you've a case to complain that he could not fix it by the road?

EDIT: Posted at almost the same time as forgotmyname. GMTA!

Torry_Quine

I have to agree with the previous comments and sorry if it seems harsh. As a diabetic you really need to have supplies with you in case of problems which delay you. You weren't covered for towing so why should they do it without charging extra and its always dearer if you pay at the time of need.

Hope you are recovered now.

dacouch

I think you're being a bit harsh on the AA, however if you want somewhere good to complain about the AA this forum is a good place as they have a rep who will reply and look into the matter for you.

slyracoon

I agree with the others, its not their fault you have the wrong level of cover. You have Roadside cover which means they attend at the roadside and tow you a minimal distance to a local garage if they cannot fix it at the roadside, roadside cover won't tow you 170 miles home!

If your health was in danger you could have called an Ambulance.

motorguy

Have to agree with the others on here.

Not the AA's fault if you chose the cheap and cheerful option which really doesnt suit your specific needs.

Also, next time, use the information that Martin has kindly provided with regards to getting the best deal on breakdown cover, i'd say you'd be able to get the cover you need for what the AA charges for their basic cover.

The MSE site isnt just about these forums, theres a wealth of information on here, if people just look.

bettyboo333

Thank you for all your comments but I need to make things clear I did plan for my two day journey and did have some insulin but it needs to be kept in a fridge and the cool pack that I had would not last for days...I have brittle diabetes and any stress can cause havoc... I did have snacks to eat so I was prepared...I only had roadside assistance as It is all we could afford but I was under the assumption that the driver would at least take us to a local garage which he refused!!! and was quite happy to leave us in a dark carpark....where our car would be at risk of being damaged.....I'm probably just a bit fragile after everything but I didn't come on here to be told off

motorguy

bettyboo333 wrote: »

Thank you for all your comments but I need to make things clear I did plan for my two day journey and did have some insulin but it needs to be kept in a fridge and the cool pack that I had would not last for days...I have brittle diabetes and any stress can cause havoc... I did have snacks to eat so I was prepared...I only had roadside assistance as It is all we could afford but I was under the assumption that the driver would at least take us to a local garage which he refused!!! and was quite happy to leave us in a dark carpark....where our car would be at risk of being damaged.....I'm probably just a bit fragile after everything but I didn't come on here to be told off

I dont think there are too many telling you off, just giving you the info as we see it objectively.

Definitely, definitely use the info that has been put together on this site next time, you will get the cover you need for your budget.

bettyboo333

Thank you MiNDLESS CLONE you seem to have heart xx the fault on the car was a small plastic bit that costs around £20!! the tow truck driver stated that the AA drvier could of easily fixed it!!
By the way I am an avid money saving expert fan and get great deals on here but the AA was something I just couldn't get much cheaper!!

giraffe69

but I didn't come on here to be told off

You posted that the AA gave you a very bad service but it seems clear that you didn't take out the cover that you needed (you said "I only had roadside assistance as It is all we could afford"). Did you check what that covered? Why did you make an assumption about what the AA man would do? I don't think he was "quite happy" to leave you in a Tesco car park but rather that he could do nothing else as you did not have the required cover(a tow requires more than just roadside assistance). They are not a charity and I don't see that you have a legitimate complaint about them.