Start Rescue - Worst Breakdown Company Ever?

Higgy1

I would say avoid Start Rescue like the plague! I tried to use them for the first time on Tuesday night, after coming out of work and finding my battery was flat. I called them at 5:25pm, was told they would be with me by 6:30pm, and to call them back if they hadn't arrived by then. I called them back at 6:30 to say nobody had turned up. They said they were fifteen minutes away. 6:55, still nothing, and they then called ME to say they were ten minutes away. By this time, my mobile phone battery had only 3% left. I told them my phone battery was virtually flat, and that it was only five degrees, and I had now been waiting 90 minutes. They said that someone would definitely be with me within a few minutes.

7:30, they called me AGAIN to say that they now could not get anyone to me until at least 8:30, and it might be as late as TEN, as "the roads are blocked and we cannot get access to the area"!! I said that my phone was about to die, and stressed I needed someone to get to me ASAP, no matter what.

8:00, still sat there, freezing, nobody doing anything at all to help me.

At this point, I called my girlfriend and asked if she would drive the ten miles to me with a set of jump leads. She arrived within 25 minutes, had no trouble whatsoever reaching me, and we got the car jump-started in seconds.

By this time, my mobile phone was completely flat, and the temperature was down to 2 degrees.

I finally got home at 9:15pm, almost four hours after ringing Start Rescue. I put my phone on to charge at 10pm, and then got a call from Start Rescue asking if I still needed assistance, as they thought they might now be able to send someone to me!!!!!!

Basically, if you need a reliable breakdown policy, then look elsewhere, as Start Rescue can in no way whatsoever be relied upon to help you out when you need them. I complained via their website and five days later, have still had zero response. I even resorted to Twitter, and they just removed my comments from their Twitter page.

All in all, they were completely shocking, and I will now have to fork out for a new breakdown policy, probably with RAC again. It looks like you get what you pay for, and I won't be touching these clowns again.

motorguy

I've used them for several years and have had to call them out twice. Both times they recovered me within the hour, on a low loader and brought me and the car back home.

No issues with them. Cheap - and they generally use the same third party contractors as the AA send out.

Personally - i keep in the boot

• a set of jump leads
• heavy coat
• boots
• couple of 2 litre bottles of water
• electric tyre compressor