RAC Car Breakdown Discussion

rjsdavis

Smartsaver7 wrote: »

The only problem I have had with the RAC is that at night they outsource their rescue to contractors , so your breakdown is passed to a nearby garage , if the contractor is a small outfit and their truck is on a job then you have a long wait, I have been left waiting for 4hrs with the RAC call centre operator lying about how long the rescue would take , on my last occasion the garage didn't even get passed the job until 2hrs after my call.

This is interestingly familiar.

A couple of months prior to the European debacle, I was stranded in my saloon after the clutch pushed to the floor and wouldn't return. Air had got into the system.

I was with my sister and her newborn baby.

A patrol arrived within about 60-80 minutes, and actually !!!!!!ed the car up. He tried to bleed the system, but actually managed to "thread" the slave cylinder bleeding nut, so that no pressure could be retained in the system (I didn't know this at the time).

We then had a five hour wait for the Recovery truck to arrive. Like the post above, the recovery contractor wasn't even passed the job until 2 hours before they arrived to pick up my car. The fact that we were abandoned with a newborn baby made no difference to the speed of recovery at all.

User00001

The Mrs and I have been with RAC for 2 years, fortunately not had to use their services. Our renewal came in at £169 but managed to get key cover elsewhere and haggled RAC nationwide & home recovery down to £100. Needless to say that sweet deal went straight in my basket!

EdGasket

Use Tesco vouchers to get RAC cover for a third of the price.

Whenever I've used them they have been good.

As far as I am aware there is no age restriction on the car for personal membership (unlike the post above that suggests a 10 year limit).

Tinkerbell637

Earlier this week my husband, who is a Member of 39 years standing and has always received a good service from them, received his renewal quote from the RAC. This quote was for family personal membership (i.e. 3 people in any vehicle), for Roadside; Recovery and At Home. The quote was for "just £334.98".
We looked on the website this morning and could get the same cover for £204.99 and this included free Onward Travel.
Needless to say, he got on the phone to them straight away. Amazingly it took quite a bit of haggling, with the person at the other end coming down in increments but eventually we got the £204.99.
It's incredible to me that they could seriously try to charge us £130 over the odds! How many years have we let them get away with this? Doesn't bear thinking about. So if your renewal is due, check that you're not been ripped off too.

fern.poppy

My mum called the RAC out June 2nd 2017, has the top level of cover (over £200 a year!) they said there was a delay as it was a busy time for them. Three hours later still waiting. Another hour passed, 8 p.m. by this time and they called to say ' could we come tomorrow instead as we are very busy? I can guarantee someone will be there at 0800 in the morning.' So she had to get a lift home and leave her car at the side of the road. The next day, guess what?, they didn't come! So she got someone to work on it for her and they managed to get it going again!
She called RAC to complain and they said ' would you like to make an official complaint?' Are they serious?? Of course she would.
She has since changed her bank account so roadside assistance is included and so she called the RAC to cancel and they will not give her a refund nor compensation. Surely this is a breach of contract and she should be offered a full refund as they didn't honour their obligation and compensation as she had to arrange a lift, taxi back to her car and get someone else to get her car going again? If you have any advice please let me know. She's in her 70's and the woman on the phone said 'we don't give refunds and you can go to the ombudsman if you want to.'
This is appalling don't you think?

rjsdavis

Fern

That's disgraceful. Really disgraceful, but sadly par for the course.

Bypass the call centre completely and email the CEO direct at:

dhobday@rac.co.uk

cc in:

ops@rac.co.uk

and I'd also cc in the rest of the Executive Board which can be seen here:

http://www.raccorporate.co.uk/about-us/executive-management-team

Make you request read and receipt requests on the email, and bcc in yourself!

Catsgore

Just phoned the RAC about my renewal which was quoted at £266 for me & my wife's cars (incl. At home & Onward travel). I said i was going with AutoAid (£43) & they came back with £66 to renew my policy. I'm impressed by the drop but just goes to prove how outrageously they bump-up renewals!

Stevemking

Have been with RAC since 2011 and only had 1 call out. Got my renewal notice for Roadside/Recovery/At Home/Onward Travel/Key return. Quote was for £245.24 (last year was £184.11). Phoned to ask why increase was so high. After no more than 2 minutes on the phone, quote was changed to £133.40. It really does pay to haggle and not to auto renew each year.

broke_id_dad

Had RAC renewal of £257. Called them and immediate offer of £133 ! Been a member since 1983. Told them that didn't appreciate being ripped off and was not going to renew even at the lower price. Gone with Auto-aid for £43 even if cover is not the same.