Two tows for one breakdown?

meantime

I've been with Autoaid for several years and been happy enough with them the two or three times that we've had to call them out, but thinking of moving this time, in part because we're no longer running two cars, and in part because of some worrying comments on here regarding the change of ownership. Alternatives I'm looking at are the AA, RAC and Start Rescue, all of which are similarly priced for a new customer after factoring in cashback.

In my forty years of driving, it's been my experience that if you're recovered home when garages are closed you'll get a free recovery to a garage the next day - I had that happen with Autoaid only a few months ago. However I've noticed that Start Rescue explicitly rule this out in their T&Cs so I'm wondering if it's still the norm for other breakdown firms?

wazza99

When i worked for GreenFlag the 2nd tow was allowed if your recovery home was oohrs, otherwise not, that seemed logical. Seems unfair to leave you car stranded at home.

Herzlos

I always assumed they'd recover the car to the garage out-of-hours and then take you home.

Forwandert

RAC have done this for me in the past when I broke down on the motorway in the early hours of the morning but they made it very clear it was out of goodwill rather than something they usually do.

peachyprice

Green Flag still do it.

scotsbob

meantime wrote: »

because of some worrying comments on here regarding the change of ownership.

I think you will find the negative comments have come from people with a gripe against the parent company rather than the actual performance of the breakdown service.

trailingspouse

Green Flag took our car to the garage we requested (not sure if it was our of hours or not), but it was a major problem (engine seized on a relatively new car) and the manufacturer wanted to have a closer look at it - Green Flag picked it up again and took it to where the manufacturer needed it to go. We didn't think this would have been part of the deal, but it was, and from the way Green Flag dealt with it on the phone it wasn't at all unusual.

That was about 18 months ago.

meantime

scotsbob wrote: »

I think you will find the negative comments have come from people with a gripe against the parent company rather than the actual performance of the breakdown service.

When I called out Autoaid last year I met with a bit of a jobsworth attitude from their call centre (which I believe operates on behalf of several breakdown services) but managed to resolve matters satisfactorily by phoning their admin number.

meantime

To turn my original question around, has anyone been refused a second recovery in these circumstances (closed garage) by Start Rescue or anyone else?

meantime

Just found this as an exclusion in RAC policy:

"A second recovery owing to the intended original
destination being closed or inaccessible."

AJN666

Don't do it.

Just had a mare with them, had a blow out & realised I had no jack (car supplied without a spare/kit & I'd only bought a space saver).
Fitted space saver to font, the blown tyre, car wouldn't move so they towed me home and charged for the tow for not having a suitable spare.

The spare was suitable, but is only supposed to be fitted to the rear. This is something I only found after the tow. It also seems to be increasingly common amongst newer FWD cars, it's also recognised that fitting the space saver to the drive wheels is considered unsafe, this being the key reasons manufacturers are starting to make sure they'll only fit one end.

I of course complained, and was amazed that they backed the breakdown (towing) company & advised it was not practice to swap wheels around in this way. Although they did refund, this was passed off as a 'gesture of goodwill.

Steer clear, I've now moved on to the AA with a joint deal for £180ish (vs 2 AutoAid deals for £85) and await £90 TCB.

Furthermore, one negative comment on their facebook page gets you blocked from ever commenting again. That way, most of the comments & reviews are positive.