AA Membership Renewal - Stand your ground!

yalisrib

My AA membership was £9 a month but last month it ran out and they put it up to £12. When I rang and cancelled the guy said they can do a special offer of £10. I said no and 30 seconds later bought cover from their for £8 on their website. Sadly no free fuel because I pay monthly but I would love to know who sets their prices, unless they just pick a number randomly from a hat!

Daz2009

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Also I meant does the OP really need "Relay" cover hwen they only travel 3k miles a year, I was not suggesting not having breakdown cover.

You are correct in what you say re AA cover but I still wouldn't be happy not having relay and I only do about 3,000 miles a year too.

Ms_Chocaholic

What's the farthest you travel from home Daz?

thor

I just alternate from the AA to the RAC and vice versa every year to maximise claiming cashbacks.
I don't do much mileage so basic roadside assistance is more than enough for me. My RAC renewal has come in at 30 quid after they included a £44.51 membership discount(yeah right) so I'm going to take advantage of Topcashbacks £21 cashback for the AA which will bring the cost down to less than £11.

Muscle750

They sent my wife hers £184 I phoned them told hem they were "Avin a bubble" next the plank on the phone goes off to so say "talk with the manager" returns and promptly bangs off a total of £106 pounds with same cover when I asked why wasn't this offered in the first place and wether they wanted business or were trying to loose it I was told that I had to remember they didn't put VAT on the bill ........ Are they part of Starbucks?
When I did have to call them out earlier this year the man whom came didn't have a Barry and told me I wanted new throttle body new battery I tried to tell him all it wanted was a re set as the ECU had lost its memory however he wouldn't have it when I took it to work and plugged it in a few days later it was sorted within two minutes it was only the fact that it decided to die on me in the dark on a Friday night that I called them out.

Daz2009

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

What's the farthest you travel from home Daz?

That's the point,normally only a few miles but it's sods law the 1 time you go outside your comfort zone you brake down.......I know because it happened to me about 4 years ago and I had similar cover to you.I broke down 10 miles from the nearest town,the car was neither driveable nor repairable on the spot.I had no money on me,no credit cards
Luckily the rescue guy took pity on me and took me to a garage he knew who turned out to be a sound bunch and they repaired my car at a reasonable cost after my brother paid for the repair on his credit card over the phone.
I was lucky but I would still rather my car had been recovered to home because as it happens I'm in the motor trade and could have repaired it myself for a lot less money and I wouldn't have lost a full days work while I waited for the garage to get parts and repair it.
It could have been worse if it had happened at night.

If I had a choice I wouldn't bother with basic break down cover I'd just have recovery but that's not an option and anyway it doesn't cost that much extra over the standard cover.....not compared to what it might cost if you have to pay a firm to come fetch your car.

We're getting sidetracked here,my advice to the OP is too forget loyalty and 'standing your ground',go for cashback deals or use your tesco clubcard point if you have them

Ratboy

My car broke down in the running lane of a Motorway once, the temp gauge rises, then goes to nothing, as the lower rad hose came off.

As the hard shoulder was being used as a live lane, I was petrified something would hit my car, and vehicles swerved at that last minute, as that section of motorway wasn't lit either!

The 3rd lane was closed off, and it was a contra-flow?

I used the emergency phone, they came, told me that my engine was seized, filled the rad up with water, and towed me to the exit of the motorway. No charge. No AA/RAC..

I managed to drive - no seized engine, for about 10 miles, then filled the rad with water again, My Levi 501 jacket was destroyed in the process! Steam! Managed to fill up with water again, and get within 3 miles of home. Walked the rest - next day - filled up again, and back home. Faulty Thermostat. Capri.

I got hell from my Girlfriends parents for not taking her home, instead taking her to my parents house which was 3 miles closer. :j

zipdip

Hi it pays to change every year,I was with RAC and now I am with the AA I used cashback and got a great deal and money back,it pays to change insurance every year too,thankfully the very same tool the companies use to try to push up their premiums the computer is also your biggest friend to find cheaper quotes,to the person who had been with the same bank for 50 years,I would suggest they go to the bank people love to hate,Santander their 123 account is fantastic.:beer:

jonny7227

I am a long standing AA member with joint membership including relay and get free home start plus gold membership.
Renewal this year meant a price hike to £150.
I called AA and said this was way too much and what could they do.
They reduced it by £55 straight away.
This took about 3 minutes of my time.

I did consider shopping around for cheaper alternative but we rely on our cars for work and AA brought my wife and her car home last year after she broke down on a Motorway despite her being several hundred miles away. They even dropped the car at our favoured garage then brought my wife home with her luggage.
- In my opinion well worth the revised asking price of just under £2 a week.

Brian_Steele

My renewal this year was up 50% (as it was 2/3 off last year coming across from a car-manufacturer's branded AA policy). My brother had got absolutely nowhere trying to get a discount from them a few months ago, so I just bought from the RAC. I then had to call the AA up to cancel as my DD had already gone through and when I told them why, they beat the RAC price on the spot. Accepted, then cancelled RAC under the cooling off terms.