Complaint AA Breakdown repair, peace of mind???

shazarda

hey,

Just had an issue with the AA, car brokedown and it didnt feel safe to drive, so called out THE AA, and the guy came early so i thought brilliant, then the patrol man says its your camshaft has gone not your tappets and thats a failure, it has to be covered, so i take it to the garage and they say the same....i thought okay,

then i have an AA representative ring me and say its not a failure its wear and tear, but if two people who are both specialists say its a failure how can the third person then say the absolute reverse?

I rung membership services as he wasnt being helpful and being quite forceful on the phone, which i tried to think he is just doing his job but i am paying for a service, peace of mind.....not to ring round everyone to say come fix my car and tell people how its a failure and not wear and tear? If i knew i had to diagnose my vehicle each time an AA person came out why would i need them?

Any help would be appreciated,

Shazarda,

DaveF327

I'm not sure what it is that you want...

You paid for a patrol to attend in the event of a breakdown. A patrol attended.

If you paid for the onward recovery of the car to the nearest garage (if it couldn't be fixed at the roadside), did this happen?

What more did you want them to do? What was the purpose of the AA phone call afterwards?

GiveMeMyCashback

I'm assuming he's asking whether this should be fixed or coughed up by the AA..under warranty/policy/terms of taking out the cover?

Something along those lines.

One of my mates had the same issue with the AA...but i think they did something by the roadside, (to do with oil etc), he drove it away after they said it was ok, and the engine blew!

They didn't pay up, nor admitted to any fault..until he took them to court!!..he got it all paid in the end!

Its the general trend with nearly ALL the insurance/warranties etc you take out...they will have enough tactics under their knowledge base to refuse you...its easy way out to say "wear & tear" in the policy, cos they can use that one on anything....THATS HOW THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY!!

shazarda

As GiveMeMyCashback rightly said The AA should have fixed it as thats why i buy the policy for, for peace of mind, not for someone to turn round on me at the last minute when all they have said is we will fix it and say its Wear and Tear when the Patrolman and the Mechanic both agreed it was a failure and couldnt possibly be a wear and tear fault as there is a gaping hole indicating it!!!

If you buy a top end policy with all the trimmings, you expect Peace of mind and to be look after not to be told, sorry we dont care, and we wont fix......

As the AA say theyre the fourth emergency service so if you buy their service and they dont fix it, well who else is supposed to fix it then?

They then said in membership services that oh well since we cant really say anything nor do anyting (whats the point of ringing) but what we will do is send an inspector down to look at the vehicle and then heres the kicker, this can take up to five days, well how am i supposed to get around til then, AA only offer up to 3 days while your car is in the garage but since its been declined my claim thats not going to happen even if i had it or not!!

I did send an email stating to the CEO

"I have a policy with yourselves Membership Number: 6356 **** 1736 2546, buying a full policy with every option taken for peace of mind, in the hope that if anything went wrong i would be fine, as thats what the AA say on the phone, they are the fourth emergency service...

I have been with yourselves for the last two years covering my car and my parents car and have heartily recommended your breakdown repair policy to my colleagues making them aware how good the policy is, the peace of mind offered and the care supplied by the AA patrolmen,

However when it came to my vehicle breaking down, the AA man promptly came out well before the time indicated, showing once again how reliable the AA service is, he came out, diagnosed the car and said its the Camshaft that has gone on the car, i said to the patrolman, will it be covered by the AA, unsure whether it would be or not and he said yes it would definetely be covered as its a failure, theres no way it couldnt be covered,

he had offered to take me to a garage as well, which i was most surprised at and said i wouldnt be able to at this time but there is a garage i will be taking it into later, I rung the garage and scheduled the car in, a VW specialist i took the car to and its a VW Bora 1.9tdi OY52 VJE,

The mechanic assessed the car and said to me the hydraulic lifter or tappet has a whole in it and its failed, so he told me he would contact the AA and get it sorted for me and i was thinking isnt it great how reliable the AA is, that garages know that the AA will cover faults or not....shows that AA has a lot off communication within businesses,

I then had a phone call today stating from the AA person that the car wouldnt be covered as its wear and Tear and i am thinking how can it be wear and tear when a) the patrolman has confirmed its a failure b) a specialist garage has confimed its a failure so it cant be wear and tear and the AA person was adamant and wouldnt allow for any reasonable outside the box thinking that it could be a failure....

I spoke to membership services who were cordial whilst speaking to them, but I didnt feel they did anything to give me any peace of mind, as i had bought the policy for the very reason of peace of mind, knowing that whenever i get in my car if theres an issue i have peace of mind, and now to my distress thats what i dont have, i have bought a policy with yourselves which is causing me great distress and would like yourself to look into the issue,

I could understand if this was something i had done to the vehicle or anything else, but i have serviced it regularly, with the cam belt done just 10k miles ago so for someone to say to me its wear and tear when its clearly being pointed out its a failure is an outrage,

Please could you look into the issue and contact me back on 07507****** as i have over the years heartily recommended yourselves and renew with you year on year and for this to be left unresolved may change who i renew my policy with"

flashg67

OP, it might just be me, (but hopefully not) - please clarify - is this the AA as in the breakdown service, whose job is to either do a minor or temporary fix roadside (if they can), or recover the car to a garage - that's all they do.
Or do you have an AA warranty policy that covers repairs, and the AA are refusing to cover the repairs?

thefishdude

flashg67 wrote: »

OP, it might just be me, (but hopefully not) - please clarify - is this the AA as in the breakdown service, whose job is to either do a minor or temporary fix roadside (if they can), or recover the car to a garage - that's all they do.
Or do you have an AA warranty policy that covers repairs, and the AA are refusing to cover the repairs?

im reading this as the same as you, if you just have breakdown then they wont do anything they do not fix cars for free if it rquires parts you pay for them. they are there to get you off the road to a garage or home either vie a temp fix or a tow, they dont do major repairs.

how ever if you have soem sort vechile extended warranty then that is different and you may have a fight on ya hands to prove its a breakdown and not wear and tear.

what car is it btw ???

Robisere

flashg67 wrote: »

OP, it might just be me, (but hopefully not) - please clarify - is this the AA as in the breakdown service, whose job is to either do a minor or temporary fix roadside (if they can), or recover the car to a garage - that's all they do.
Or do you have an AA warranty policy that covers repairs, and the AA are refusing to cover the repairs?

"I have a policy with yourselves Membership Number: 6356 **** 1736 2546,

A Breakdown/Recovery service is not covered by an Insurance Policy.

OP I believe you have a case for AA to answer if you have a Policy with them that insures your car against mechanical breakdown. The company is part of a huge, privately-owned conglomerate which includes Drakenfield Insurance and SAGA, to name just two. I have had success in the past against companies like this, by finding the CEO and writing to that person personally. I would try to send a typewritten/printed letter and mark it "Personal for -"

Mr Andrew Goodsell, Chief Executive Officer

Acromas Holdings limited

Enbrook Park
Folkestone, CT20 3SE
However he receives your letter, someone at the AA will get a rocket. CEO' s do not like to be informed that parts of their business interests are attracting attention like this and they do not appreciate being bothered about it.


I have also noted that you wrote your post in anger, very quickly and the words almost spilling out of you. Try to keep calm when you write to this guy: keep it short as possible and just put down the facts. Read your letter, re-read it until you have it as short as possible.


Good luck!

flashg67

Quote:
"I have a policy with yourselves Membership Number: 6356 **** 1736 2546,

A Breakdown/Recovery service is not covered by an Insurance Policy.

Thanks for bolding, but I did spot this, but it's still not clear, and I'm not sure that you're correct on this - the membership number quoted looks just like the AA 'breakdown' membership format and, AFAIK, breakdown services are also insurance-based, and are referred to as 'policies' - the ones I've had include insurance tax etc, which would infer that they are 'insurance policies'

flashg67

Just seen that AA also offer 'parts and garage' cover as a membership add-on, which covers parts & labour, but excludes wear and tear.


Wear & tear is often contentious - perhaps an independent report would be needed, but a hole in a hydraulic lifter could certainly be down to wear - not usually something that fails suddenly due to defect in my experience.

colino

If you've managed to wear a hole in a cam follower without noticing the racket from the poor oil starved engine, there isn't a policy that is going to cover that.

shazarda

hey guys,

Thanks for the advice, my policy with the AA covers parts and garage repair, so if the car does breakdown, AA will cover up to £500 with the breakdown so AA are supposed to assist if it affects the drive of the vehicle and with the car camshaft gone thats definitely affecting the drive of the car,

Will try write an email to him and write something much more politely,

Thanks for all the replies guys!

Shazarda