RAC Battery scam?

straas

Looking for a bit of advice here;

I had RAC out the other week as my car wouldn't start - turned out to be a bad battery.

RAC man said it'd be £96.99 for the battery - I said I'd have expected around £50 - he assured me that this battery was decent and about £96.99 everywhere.

He also said if I were to 'refuse' help by not buying the battery - and then broke down on the way to buy a battery elsewhere, that I'd not be covered under my policy and would have to pay for recovery.


When I eventually got to work (Called RAC at 7.45, turned up at 8.55, fitted battery by 10.00) I looked up the exact model of battery online - turned out the battery I'd just paid £96.99 for was online for £44!!!!


What can I do about this? It really seems like RAC are taking the proverbial - especially as an organisation which purports to back the motorist!

Annoyingly a colleague had the same issue of not starting due to battery - cost him £55 from greenflag.

john_white

I found them quite competitive when our battery died. Was about £10 more, but seeing as they fitted it as well was worth it.

Presumably you were at home? Or do you have a smart phone. Seems to me you had an hour to look for battery prices if that was the case.

Also seems reasonable to not keep coming out for the same fault. Remember some people will take the pi55 and call them out all the time.

What was the battery? Was the £44 including VAT delivery and fitting?

chris-j

Call them up and ask for refund of difference, if exactly the same battery they are taking the pi**

john_white

chris-j wrote: »

Call them up and ask for refund of difference, if exactly the same battery they are taking the pi**

How so? The price of a battery there and then was higher than one arriving in 2 days. Which presumably the OP would need to take time off work to wait for it to be delivered.

Go on to any logistics company website and se how much prices go up when you need something more urgently.

The OP chose not to phone up an auto factors to get an idea of price.

scheming_gypsy

which part is the scam?

A battery being cheaper somewhere else isn't a scam.

phill99

But you aren't buying it on line are you. You are buying it from a company that have sent out a man in an expensive van with lots of kit and lots of training. None of which you had or you wouldn't have to call them out.

It's ok saying it's cheaper on the internet, but you wouldn't get it for three or four days, and what would you do in the meantime to get to work?

paddedjohn

As soon as you got to work you should have called a local motor factor and priced the battery, the time to complain was before it was fitted.

jaymidlands

was the online price the exact battery as the number may have been the same but maker...also as said it was fitted price by mobile breakdown the online price is just that a price deliverd so you still need it fitted if bought online

OddballJamie

I bought a can of coke from a convenience store for 70p ( I know, but it was a warm day and I was thirsty). I've just found out supermarkets sell the same can for 30p in a multipack. To top it off, a mate of mine was thirsty a few weeks back and bought a drink from a different convenience store and paid 50p!

Move on with you life and be thankful you got a battery quickly and it didn't have to be towed somewhere.

waynedance

OddballJamie wrote: »

I bought a can of coke from a convenience store for 70p ( I know, but it was a warm day and I was thirsty). I've just found out supermarkets sell the same can for 30p in a multipack. To top it off, a mate of mine was thirsty a few weeks back and bought a drink from a different convenience store and paid 50p!

Move on with you life and be thankful you got a battery quickly and it didn't have to be towed somewhere.

Superb, that comment should put this thread bed, well done.

RAC got them going and they moan!!! As said was the £44 delivered and fitted to the car?

Could be worse, RAC could have left the car broken down and maybe lost you money from time off work. Move on...............get over it, you bought the battery.

marvin

Why have you not written this all down and asked the RAC about it? Detail that the things you have here and ask them politely is this correct, that you would not be covered if the car broke down again before it was fixed etc if you did not accept the battery from the RAC.

Write the RAC a nice polite letter and see what they say, expect nothing if you get something it is a bonus.