AA renewal - no longer able to haggle a better deal?

BigAde

Ok, first some background.

I've been with the AA for 18 years, and every year my renewal comes in at some ridiculous amount, so I play their little game. I phone up, say with cashback RAC can do it for x, and after a little grumbling they agree to match it, or at least come close enough to it.

I have joint cover: breakdown, home start, relay.
This year my AA renewal comes in at £211.
I phone up and say with Quidco cashback I can the same level of RAC cover for £80 (which I can). The best they can do mine for is £160. I point out that their price is still twice as expensive as RAC, he then runs through some spiel about having Gold membership benefits. I said I still would cancel, so he said "Fine" and cancelled my renewal.

I don't mind in a way, I wasn't bluffing, I won't pay £160.

I want a good level of service - i.e. someone who has a very good knowledge, good equipment and will try their damnest to fix the fault at the roadside. I don't want some random monkey turning up to just tow me to a garage; for this reason I've stayed with the AA for some time.

I'm now planning to join the RAC as I think they come closest to AA in terms of service.

I'm just a little surprised that AA are happy to lose their long term members like this.

colino

As the AA (and the RAC for that matter) have been trading heavily on their "members" loyalty, I'm surprised you didn't, after this rebuff, actually go the whole hog and shift to AutoAid. Even when they were both, "member-focused" your very high annual fee has always been subsidising the massive fleets paying peanuts for cover.

BigAde

colino wrote: »

As the AA (and the RAC for that matter) have been trading heavily on their "members" loyalty, I'm surprised you didn't, after this rebuff, actually go the whole hog and shift to AutoAid. Even when they were both, "member-focused" your very high annual fee has always been subsidising the massive fleets paying peanuts for cover.

I don't accept that price is the only factor and to an extent you get what you pay for. After all Which? magazine still rate AA as the best breakdown cover for levels of service.

I've also been put off by comments from a colleague who's been with AutoAid. On the one occasion he had to call them out, some uncommunicative knuckle-dragger turned up, he didn't even attempt to fix the car at the roadside (parked safely in a lay-by) and just recovered him to the nearest garage and left him there.

nidO

I think basically what it boils down to is that both the AA and RAC will, if you phone and ask them, lower their renewal price to match what they or the other will charge for the same cover for a new member, pretty much no questions asked.
The tricky bit is then trying to negotiate them down to the "final" price you'd pay after taking account for other things, like cashback.

So in your case joint cover with homestart and relay is currently £159.99 with AA and £154.99 with RAC so the £160 offer they made could probably have turned into £155 pretty easily, but then you struggle trying to negotiate down below the headline new member price for themselves or the other, as you're then trying to fight against a cashback deal rather than the actual "price".

BigAde

nidO wrote: »

I think basically what it boils down to is that both the AA and RAC will, if you phone and ask them, lower their renewal price to match what they or the other will charge for the same cover for a new member, pretty much no questions asked.
The tricky bit is then trying to negotiate them down to the "final" price you'd pay after taking account for other things, like cashback.

So in your case joint cover with homestart and relay is currently £159.99 with AA and £154.99 with RAC so the £160 offer they made could probably have turned into £155 pretty easily, but then you struggle trying to negotiate down below the headline new member price for themselves or the other, as you're then trying to fight against a cashback deal rather than the actual "price".

True, but it's not been an issue in the past. I suspect there may have been a change in policy at the AA when it comes to haggling the price down. Would be interested to hear experiences from anyone else who's done this recently.

Hoof_Hearted

We just yo-yo between the RAC and AA each year.

reeac

Personally I won't indulge in these haggling games. I left the AA a few years ago and told them the reason. Likewise , if any insurance renewal premiums show an increase above 3-5percent I go elsewhere courtesy of the meerkats -and then tell the offending company that I've moved. I know that we've become a Bazaar Economy (i.e. Loads of time spent haggling instead of working productively) but I don't want to join in.

OnanTheBarbarian

I too have ceased playing games with insurers now. I get the renewal figure through, see they are taking the pish and get alternative cover elsewhere and then call them to say I don't wish to auto renew.

They then start some spiel in a silly attempt to keep me, to which I retort "I thought the renewal was the best price from your panel of insurers, as it says in your letter" and that I'm not going to play games. Either offer your best price or do one.

Same rules with breakdown cover. Last time the dude at RAC was trying to reduce my level of cover to compete with the new punter deal the AA had, muppets.

castle96

renewal £150.
Haggle - now £88
worth a 0800 call/5 mins

fred246

I am with ADAC about £90 for full european cover. If I breakdown I phone Germany and they send the AA. Be interesting to know if I get any less priority than AA customers. I think ADAC are reluctant to do long recoveries if the car can be fixed which sounds reasonable to me (until I get a silly bill from a garage for a job that would have costed me peanuts).

gilbert_and_sullivan

Its nice not to be alone in the i aint playing your stupid games any more reaction.

As Reeac and Onan, stupid price equals cheerio.

AutoAid for us too, it might be a budget supermarket experience but you're not going out to dinner or on holiday with the breakdown bloke, you want your car and yourselves transporting on to home or a garage of your choice, and not pay through the nose for it.