Roadside Assistance Response times

vikingaero

Chomeur wrote: »

The thing is, I find out that the car isn't working when I have somewhere particular to go to. If two hours is normal then I will know next time to get a taxi and call the assistance service when I'm back home and planning to be there for several hours.

That I agree on. Maybe Britannia don't have robust communication policies in place.

Last time I called out recovery I had a seized caliper. I called Green Flag under my NatWest policy and 1 minute after a call I received a text with the name, registration number and estimated arrival time of the agent. He then called me to tell me he was at x and would be approx 35 minutes depending on traffic.

I would make a complaint to Britannia in your instance.

wazza99

10 minutes to change a wheel ? load of tosh.....

There is no way on this earth you can fully change a wheel in 10 minutes and i'd bet £50 on that ! and yes i can change a wheel, done loads..never in less than 10 minutes.

takman

wazza99 wrote: »

10 minutes to change a wheel ? load of tosh.....

There is no way on this earth you can fully change a wheel in 10 minutes and i'd bet £50 on that ! and yes i can change a wheel, done loads..never in less than 10 minutes.

How do I claim my £50?.

Changing a wheel is pretty simple:

-Jack Car up
-Remove 5 bolts
-Remove Wheel
-Put on Wheel
-Put in 5 bolts and tighten
-Lower car

10 minutes is more than enough time even with the slow windy jack you get with alot of cars, I have no idea how your doing it if it takes longer.

mattyprice4004

wazza99 wrote: »

10 minutes to change a wheel ? load of tosh.....

There is no way on this earth you can fully change a wheel in 10 minutes and i'd bet £50 on that ! and yes i can change a wheel, done loads..never in less than 10 minutes.

If you're in the North West, I'll happily forward my address and you can witness me doing so yourself.

You'll need to bring £50.

Tyler119

Only used the AA once and it was home recovery. They arrived within 15 minutes and promptly arranged for a tow truck to take my car 45 miles to the Audi dealership.

BeenThroughItAll

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

If you're in the North West, I'll happily forward my address and you can witness me doing so yourself.

You'll need to bring £50.

Yeah, and if you happen to pass by Durham on the way home, pop in and drop off my £50 as well. I can (and regularly do) change two wheels in 10 minutes.

BeenThroughItAll

wazza99 wrote: »

10 minutes to change a wheel ? load of tosh.....

There is no way on this earth you can fully change a wheel in 10 minutes and i'd bet £50 on that ! and yes i can change a wheel, done loads..never in less than 10 minutes.

This bloke can do it in just over 10 minutes, including pointing and showing the world how to do it, holding a video camera, and talking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=314HE4aMG-g

wazza99

99.9% of people couldn't change a wheel at roadside in under 10 mins. That video shows nothing, he's on his drive all tools out and using a trolley jack.

It would you take 5 mins just to unload the boot, dig out all the tools and the spare and get the jack set up, take into account stubborn wheel nuts, stuck alloys and after changing putting everything back.....no way on earth its < 10 mins.

BeenThroughItAll

wazza99 wrote: »

99.9% of people couldn't change a wheel at roadside in under 10 mins. That video shows nothing, he's on his drive all tools out and using a trolley jack.

It would you take 5 mins just to unload the boot, dig out all the tools and the spare and get the jack set up, take into account stubborn wheel nuts, stuck alloys and after changing putting everything back.....no way on earth its < 10 mins.

I don't need to unload the boot. I just lift up the base, pull the wheel and toolkit out, and I'm ready to go. I know where the jacking points are from the nice little arrows on the sill cover, and I know my wheel nuts won't be stubborn and alloys stuck because my car is looked after.

Even then last time I changed a wheel in the car park at work for one of the young lads in the office, it took me less than 10 minutes on an unfamiliar vehicle. It really is not that difficult.

macca1974

In answer to the "how long is reasonable" question, it really does depend. I've got RAC cover and when my tyre blew up on the motorway (no way that the gel repaid kit could have fixed it, although probably could have done with being changed earlier) with my Wife and two kids in the car it took them about 30 minutes. When I was on my own late at night at Luton airport having left a light on, it took bloody hours as they didn't have many people on. They do I suspect get to people as fast as they can.

I reckon 10 minutes on a quiet road in decent conditions is plausible (and have done it previously when I did have a spare type), but only if the nuts aren't on too tight as sometimes you need the chap to use a better tool than the one you get as standard. I'd also quite happily sit away from the car on a busy road as cars going past at more than about 50 mph scare the begezuz out of me.