AA Underhand Sales Technique

jimjames

daivid wrote: »

As above this is standard practice across many companies.

With regards to 0845 search for the number on saynoto0870 for the geographic number that will be included in your call plan.

Also be prepared for them to try and put you off. I cancelled m RAC auto-renewal last night, took a couple of minutes to get through all the press 1 for... options then I was played a message telling me to expect a long wait why not phone another day. I spoke to a human within 10 seconds of that message so have decided its nothing more than tactic to make people give up or procrastinate until after the renewal date.

I had problem getting through so just used the contact form on the RAC website to cancel.

Next day received an email informing me it had been processed.

Couldn't have been easier.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

It amazes me on this site how frequently so many posters seem to think dodgy sales technique is just fair game. That went out in the 70s when Valerie Singleton and Sue Lawley amongst others fronted consumer campaigns and we got used to a world where the customer was king.

It seems that many posters on this site are in a 1960s timewarp or just think that customers are fair game to be had and if they are had they deserve it.

In this case it was essentially unsolicited services. I had a similar problem with NatWest some years ago when they dropped Airmiles but if you paid £3/month you could continue. They did it as an opt out not an opt in and so, not really reading all the junk they stuff their envelopes in I got a £3 charge. Straight on the phone. Result:

- charge refunded.
- credit cards never used again.
- still get monthly statements for -2.75 due to a payment error and there is no means of refunding it.

So their little marketing scam backfired.

As a matter of course, I never accept any x months free, then it starts paying.

Similar trick was Amazon who kindly threw in their film service with Prime. However, their service is entirely useless to me as we have no equipment which is compatible with their service. Come renewal time, they expect to get £40ish more out of me for something I don't want and can't use. Instead, I'll put up with 3 day free delivery and order less from them because I will not order on a whim for tomorrow.

Homeserve of course got thrashed over their dodgy mis-selling.

If it was physical goods, this would be unsolicited goods and you would be under no obligation to pay for them (though of course you should allow them to be collected or wait 6 months before claiming them if they haven't been notified). Doing it with services is just as bad.

Fundamentally, as a consumer, you have a basic right not to be scammed by companies and all contracts by law have to be fair and clear. You cannot hide costs away in small print, they have to be up front. Older and wiser consumers know about these scams and never sign up for free offers that are of no use.

As you can tell, I'm in the "this is underhand". Any sales technique that is designed to use customer ignorance or inertia rather than informed consent is inherently underhand,

Suggesting that as a customer I am obliged to read through the small print of each and every piece of apparent junk that comes through the door to avoid getting scammed for charges is just nonsense. A renewal should be clear and concise and should not require detailed inspection to find some hidden contract. That's not just opinion, it's consumer law.

Crabman

roonaldo wrote: »

1. It wasnt junk mail. It was policy and renewal information.
2. It was his fault for throwing it away.

Not sure where the fault of the AA lies in customer stupiditity!

Wasn't should contain an apostrophe and you didn't spell stupidity correctly either.

Specifically, why do you think the AA helps itself to customers' money instead of inviting them to renew after the free policy period has elapsed?

There has been no stupidity on the part of the customer here. Just rogue behaviour on the part of the AA.