AA - and their sneaky tactics

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Evening all

Please merge if this is a known AA tactic but we're raging right now.

Today we got a 'we have renewed your AA cover and will be taking money out of your account unless you tell us not to' letter.

a - we scrapped that car 3 years ago
b - that bank account hasn't been in use for the same amount of time
c - we've not been with AA at all with either of our 3 vehicles for 3 years
d - eh?

So...Himself calls up the AA and asks what the heck they think they are doing.

She says 'you suspended your account and after 3 years it automatically gets reinstated'.

No - says himself - we cancelled our AA membership.

AAh she says - shall we change it to your new car then.

No says himself - you won't. In fact, after this stunt I never ever want to hear from you again.

Oh, I'll send you your cancellation documents then.

No - you won't as I haven't cancelled anything.

So basically, they wait 3 years, use the same details as they already have for you on the system, charge your account and hope that you think it's a circular and chuck the letter away or think 'oh is it that time of year already' and by then, they've taken the cash.

Despicable behaviour.

worried_jim

A new low.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Oh - I'm posting so that if anyone else gets a circular after a while of not being with them - they open it and check. Otherwise a nasty surprise might fall on them when money disappears for no apparent reason.

GolfBravo

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

b - that bank account hasn't been in use for the same amount of time

They don't care - the AA don't use direct debit, they use continuous payment authority to charge bank accounts.

A recurring transaction is a regular payment you arrange, which authorises organisations to take payments from your credit card account, or in the case of debit cards, your current account. A recurring transaction is an agreement between you and a specified organisation, NOT between you and your card company or bank; so if you wish to alter or cancel it, it is best done through that organisation. The card issuer cannot cancel the agreement, so you are advised to keep a record of agreements and contact details in case of future queries with the organisation. If you close a credit card account this does not automatically cancel the recurring transactions on that account. Your credit card company is obliged to honour your agreement with the organisation with which you have made the agreement. To stop this from happening, when closing a credit card account or changing your card you must contact all the organisations that take recurring transactions from your credit card and either cancel the agreement or move the payments to another account. Where it can be shown that you did not authorise a transaction or have advised a retailer to cancel a recurring transaction but payments still continue, your card company should refund you.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

It's been 3 years!

Under what clause in the terms and conditions can they just 'reinstate' cover?

Funky_Bold_Ribena

45 minutes later...

Apparently the process they use is under the term 'suspensions' and is not in the general public terms and conditions booklet, and it's our fault for suspending the membership and not cancelling.

I pointed out that as the suspension process is not known by customers that there is no way we would have suspended membership on a vehicle that was being scrapped.

I suggested that it was a ruse to steal money, and I would be going to the FSA if they couldn't prove that himself requested that the account is suspended and they went rather quiet and got a supervisor.

The supervisor is apparently investigating.

Anyway - check your post people - it's underhand and it could well be you too.

forgotmyname

I read the 1st post and thought Nah, No way.

That couldnt happen, I must be reading it wrongly...

Im still thinking surely not.. What a brilliant excuse though. Suspended and the timer has run out. But we are not going to tell you 1st.

Have you seen the thread where they are apparantly the easiest company to haggle with.. So you should have no worries.

Im in a state of shock. Maybe we all need to check our outgoings more carefully?

Funky_Bold_Ribena

forgotmyname wrote: »

I read the 1st post and thought Nah, No way.

That couldnt happen, I must be reading it wrongly...

Im still thinking surely not.. What a brilliant excuse though. Suspended and the timer has run out. But we are not going to tell you 1st.

Have you seen the thread where they are apparantly the easiest company to haggle with.. So you should have no worries.

Im in a state of shock. Maybe we all need to check our outgoings more carefully?

Yeah, after a long conversation, the supervisor said 'you probably can't remember asking for a suspension'. Well...funnily enough no, because we didn't. 'Three years is a long time ago', well I remember it like it was yesterday as I bought a new car, cash, and scrapped the old one. Hence knowing that I wouldn't be needing AA cover full stop. Obviously the script infers its the customer's memory playing them up, as three years is a long time, eh?

TrickyWicky

worried_jim wrote: »

A new low.

I'll second that. Terrible. The things companies in the UK will try to pull on customers these days.

Richard53

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

Yeah, after a long conversation, the supervisor said 'you probably can't remember asking for a suspension'.

That is the point at which I would have gone totally batsh*t ballistic.

Take it all the way. This needs stopping.

albionrovers

+ 1 Richard53. Maybe they'll throw in a time-share too?