AutoAid Car Breakdown Discussion

jblackmore

Just been caught out by Autoaid cancellation fee - having paid £79.21 when I read policy documents realised this didn't meet my needs so cancelled next day, autoaid initially threatened £25 + £15 cancellation and service charges, when I argued for about 20 mins this came down to £17.64 (yes really?) so feel I've been rinsed, and don't understand why MSE recommend autoaid when there are so many complaints about customer service and rip off charges/fee's which aren't made clear until after you pay and then can't cancel for refund.

Ash_Pole

Does anyone know how to set the policy not to renew without having to call them? I've logged in but there doesn't seem to be an option for this. If I click on their link from the faq's (https://customer.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/donotrenew.aspx) it just takes me back to the login screen.

daveyjp

chriswa1 said:

Spouse or partner covered? It says they are on the MSE site so I progress all the way to payment without being able to add details of my partner. I click on 'Help' which asks that very question, but when you click on it, it just tells you how you can check if they are. I emailed contact@autoaidbreakdown.co.uk , which was shown as the contact email on their site. That redirected the email to autoaidautoreply@autoaidbreakdown.co.uk , with confirmation the inbox is not monitored. I'd rather have an answer in black and white to rely on given reference to the £15 admin fee cancellation charge. With the auto reply email I could see an email address of CustomerContact@AutoAidBreakdown.co.uk , so emailed that. No auto response acknowledgement, so I don't know if I will receive a reply or not. Does anyone know the answer? Admittedly I'm having second thoughts anyway, as no doubt my query will have occurred many times before, yet is not easily answered.

If you are experiencing issues get a quote from Start Rescue.  I moved to them last year and whilst not needing them, the info on the cover is clear and the admin process works very well (i added a vehicle part way through the year, no issues).  Three cars covered for £100.

tommyzulu

Autoaid: Look elsewhere for your breakdown cover.

This company has gone to the dogs... they used to be small, efficient and friendly. Now they are big, corporate and ineffective. I waited almost three hours for help.
They ask you to use their app which is complex and slow. 
Their staff sp[eak unclearly, despite me asking them to speak more slowly and clearly.
They try to renew at a higher price than MSE offers.
No local services apparently... 
Waiting in the cold and damp and I think they will not repair - only jujst put the vehicle on the back of a truck. Beware!!!

rjsdavis

I cannot recommend AutoAid - desperately unhelpful and dangerous.

I had been with AutoAid for a number of years after finding them here on MSE and initially joining through MSE's special deal link. However, they have become less and less good value ever since. However, their specific treatment of me in a time of real need is beyond woeful.

I was using my car to travel for a series of collections which I completed on New Year's Eve when the roads were more quiet than normal. I live in Kent, but suffered a puncture down in the New Forest. As I was carrying a spare, I simply changed the wheel myself and headed home. As it was later in evening of NYE, it was not possible to purchase a replacement tyre or repair it from anywhere at all - everywhere was closed. It was NYE.

On my way home heading up the M3, you guessed it, I suffered a second puncture and was forced to pull onto the hard shoulder. As I had already had one puncture earlier in the day I had no choice but to call for recovery assistance.

Initially, AutoAid were going to send out a vehicle, but then I got put on hold and eventually a manager came onto the phone. He told me that I 'shouldn't have left home without a viable spare wheel' - honestly, if you could punch someone through the phone, that was the moment.

Despite explaining that this was my second puncture of the day, he had zero interest. He was simply interested in finding a way to deny service. He thought he was 'being clever' by indicating to me that I 'should have arranged for the punctured tyre to either be repaired or replaced" - when I highlighted to him that the original puncture occurred at around 1930, I asked him to show me where I could possibly have had the punctured tyre either repaired or replaced in the evening of NYE, he went pretty quiet. There was an ugly pause. Eventually, he realised that the only thing he was going to say was; "Our terms and conditions require you…" blah, blah, blah.

They refused service. They offered me a fully costed recovery, which was based on a mileage rate based on my distance from home - from the M3 to just outside of Canterbury was going to be approximately £375.

I could have rung a local recovery service from the phone book and got a far better price than that! In the end I told them to screw it, and had to ask my son to drive out to me with two spare wheels that I had at home. I fitted them, and I could get back on the road. In the end I got myself home, but had to wait the best part of three hours in the sub zero temperatures whilst this all went on.

Overall, AutoAid don't really give a crap about their customers. All their interested in is denying service and saving money. The personal policy cost me about the best part of £75 (older car), so when it came to renewal I shopped around. I found that I could get the full works policy (personal policy) for two people, for any car, for £158 for the year from the RAC. The RAC offered me full recovery to anywhere in the UK (AutoAid only offer a local tow within about 10 miles of breakdown - which is actually not good at all if you breakdown a long way from home, and with no onward journey), as well as full onward journey and even a hire car if needed!

Sorry, but AutoAid have gone straight into the bin and I'm switching to the RAC. The price is similar for two people, but the quality of the benefits are worlds apart. I wouldn't even use AutoAid if it was free.

I was let down a second time, fairly shortly afterwards in a different car that I had been taking for it's MOT. Once again, AutoAid found any possible reason to try and deny service, which they did.