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Complaint about car breakdown/recovery company?
This is probably going to be long winded, but I'm going to do my best to keep it simple.
Basically, yesterday I was stupid enough to get my car stuck on what I can only describe as a 'concrete island' (like a curb, but not attached to pavement or a sign/street light etc) in an entrance/exit to a train station car park. I couldn't get the car off myself.
So I called my insurance company (Diamond) as I didn't know what else to do, and was unsure if I had breakdown cover. They informed me that I did not have breakdown cover, but that they would give me the number for their recovery service. So I called the number, aware that I was going to have to pay myself for whatever service I recieved. This was at 18.01. Went through all the information etc, and was about to pay when then I had a problem with my card. I solved it and called diamond recovery back and successfully paid and was told I would be sent a text within a few minutes with an expected wait time (initially I had been told two hours, then at this point I was told it was an estimated wait of 1 hour). It is now 18.54
This is where my trouble and reason for wanting to complain starts.
I called a friend at 19.01 while I waited for the text and was chatting to her for 30 minutes, having been assured that the job had been passed on to a recovey service. I had checked my phone repeatedly during this time and had had no contact from them. So I called them back at 19.33 to check what was happening and was told they'd 'been trying to contact me for 20 minutes' as they needed me to email over some photos of the situation so they knew if they needed to hire a crane. I had recieved no contact from their end at all, but took the photos and was sent a text message at 19.42 containing the email address to send them to. I heard nothing and continued waiting. I called my friend again at 19.50 and was chatting for 22 minutes. I still had heard nothing else from them so called again at 20.14 to be told 'they needed to forward the photos to the recovery service' and that she'd do it now and would send me a text within 10 minutes with the estimated wait time. That call lasted 10 minutes. By 20.37 I had still heard nothing so I called them again and was told that her colleague was actually dealing with my job and so she transferred me to her. Apparently the recovery service were very busy and weren't answering or replying to her but that it 'wouldn't be much longer' (call lasted 10 minutes). A lovely man (who I think was a taxi driver) then was offering to try and help me move the car, and bless him he stayed for a good while trying to help me before we gave up. I missed two calls from a private number at 21.26 and 21.28 just before he left. The number called again at 21.30 and informed me that the recovery service decided they needed the crane and that they could book it for the following morning. I asked why tomorrow, and was told that they 'wouldn't use the crane in the dark'. I think I actually kind of worried this girl as she actually seemed to try and do something (or perhaps she just put me on hold to make it seem like she was doing something) as I nearly cried while (frustratedly) explaining I was in the entrance to a train station car park and could not really leave my car there, and that I had been there since before 6pm and that it had been daylight (very bright direct sunlight no less) for most of that time and they had only managed (or decided) to sort me out once it was a bit dark. Once she came back she told me that they wouldn't use the crane in the dark as it was dangerous and they could damage my car. She then suggested if I was worried about leaving my car that I could inform the police that it was there. I asked about whether I needed to be there when they collected it and she said she'd call them and get back to me (call lasted 5 mins and 38 seconds). She called me back at 21.37 and said I didn't need to be there and that they would recover the car to my house, I then checked if they would check my car or damage and she initially said no. But when I said I had been told in an earlier phone call that they would check it once they'd moved it and if it required taking to my home then it would cost extra. Obviously it was already costing me that extra I wanted to know why they wouldn't still check it as that is what was offered in the first place. She said she'd put a note on the job asking them to check for damage. So it's now 21.40 and I am still sat in the car park. I call the non-emergency police number and informed them about my car and that is when my boss came back (he'd come through the station a couple of hours previously) with some planks of wood and helped me to finally move my car, we looked at it and he drove it round the car park for me and everything seemed in order. My dad then also arrived we checked it again and I drove home sometime after 10pm. After having been stuck in a car park for over 4 hours in direct sunlight on the hottest day of the year so far, with no food, no drink and no toilet break, with the only place to sit being the floor or my (very hot) car, largely by myself, having to direct other cars to use the exit beside me as I was stuck and couldn't move (as if that wasn't obvious) every time a train came into the station.
Basically I want to know how, where and if I can make an official complaint. I still had to pay a £90 callout fee after I called them to cancel (which strangely was the quickest easiest phonecall I had had to make), which I don't expect to get back but I would like it to be known that their service was horrific at best. :mad::mad:
I have never been in a position like that before and didn't know what to do. I'm a 25 year old woman who had been at work since 7.30 and hadn't even finished my work day when I got stuck. Even the lovely 101 police lady was baffled that they wouldn't use the crane at night as if there had been a car accident or if the car had been in a more dangerous location they would have had to use it at night anyway. Considering I was actually meant to be paying at least £250 for this 'recovery' I was surprised at their lack of any service except when expressly pressed by myself.
Sorry this is so long, I tried to keep it to facts at the top....but it was very longwinded!
Basically, yesterday I was stupid enough to get my car stuck on what I can only describe as a 'concrete island' (like a curb, but not attached to pavement or a sign/street light etc) in an entrance/exit to a train station car park. I couldn't get the car off myself.
So I called my insurance company (Diamond) as I didn't know what else to do, and was unsure if I had breakdown cover. They informed me that I did not have breakdown cover, but that they would give me the number for their recovery service. So I called the number, aware that I was going to have to pay myself for whatever service I recieved. This was at 18.01. Went through all the information etc, and was about to pay when then I had a problem with my card. I solved it and called diamond recovery back and successfully paid and was told I would be sent a text within a few minutes with an expected wait time (initially I had been told two hours, then at this point I was told it was an estimated wait of 1 hour). It is now 18.54
This is where my trouble and reason for wanting to complain starts.
I called a friend at 19.01 while I waited for the text and was chatting to her for 30 minutes, having been assured that the job had been passed on to a recovey service. I had checked my phone repeatedly during this time and had had no contact from them. So I called them back at 19.33 to check what was happening and was told they'd 'been trying to contact me for 20 minutes' as they needed me to email over some photos of the situation so they knew if they needed to hire a crane. I had recieved no contact from their end at all, but took the photos and was sent a text message at 19.42 containing the email address to send them to. I heard nothing and continued waiting. I called my friend again at 19.50 and was chatting for 22 minutes. I still had heard nothing else from them so called again at 20.14 to be told 'they needed to forward the photos to the recovery service' and that she'd do it now and would send me a text within 10 minutes with the estimated wait time. That call lasted 10 minutes. By 20.37 I had still heard nothing so I called them again and was told that her colleague was actually dealing with my job and so she transferred me to her. Apparently the recovery service were very busy and weren't answering or replying to her but that it 'wouldn't be much longer' (call lasted 10 minutes). A lovely man (who I think was a taxi driver) then was offering to try and help me move the car, and bless him he stayed for a good while trying to help me before we gave up. I missed two calls from a private number at 21.26 and 21.28 just before he left. The number called again at 21.30 and informed me that the recovery service decided they needed the crane and that they could book it for the following morning. I asked why tomorrow, and was told that they 'wouldn't use the crane in the dark'. I think I actually kind of worried this girl as she actually seemed to try and do something (or perhaps she just put me on hold to make it seem like she was doing something) as I nearly cried while (frustratedly) explaining I was in the entrance to a train station car park and could not really leave my car there, and that I had been there since before 6pm and that it had been daylight (very bright direct sunlight no less) for most of that time and they had only managed (or decided) to sort me out once it was a bit dark. Once she came back she told me that they wouldn't use the crane in the dark as it was dangerous and they could damage my car. She then suggested if I was worried about leaving my car that I could inform the police that it was there. I asked about whether I needed to be there when they collected it and she said she'd call them and get back to me (call lasted 5 mins and 38 seconds). She called me back at 21.37 and said I didn't need to be there and that they would recover the car to my house, I then checked if they would check my car or damage and she initially said no. But when I said I had been told in an earlier phone call that they would check it once they'd moved it and if it required taking to my home then it would cost extra. Obviously it was already costing me that extra I wanted to know why they wouldn't still check it as that is what was offered in the first place. She said she'd put a note on the job asking them to check for damage. So it's now 21.40 and I am still sat in the car park. I call the non-emergency police number and informed them about my car and that is when my boss came back (he'd come through the station a couple of hours previously) with some planks of wood and helped me to finally move my car, we looked at it and he drove it round the car park for me and everything seemed in order. My dad then also arrived we checked it again and I drove home sometime after 10pm. After having been stuck in a car park for over 4 hours in direct sunlight on the hottest day of the year so far, with no food, no drink and no toilet break, with the only place to sit being the floor or my (very hot) car, largely by myself, having to direct other cars to use the exit beside me as I was stuck and couldn't move (as if that wasn't obvious) every time a train came into the station.
Basically I want to know how, where and if I can make an official complaint. I still had to pay a £90 callout fee after I called them to cancel (which strangely was the quickest easiest phonecall I had had to make), which I don't expect to get back but I would like it to be known that their service was horrific at best. :mad::mad:
I have never been in a position like that before and didn't know what to do. I'm a 25 year old woman who had been at work since 7.30 and hadn't even finished my work day when I got stuck. Even the lovely 101 police lady was baffled that they wouldn't use the crane at night as if there had been a car accident or if the car had been in a more dangerous location they would have had to use it at night anyway. Considering I was actually meant to be paying at least £250 for this 'recovery' I was surprised at their lack of any service except when expressly pressed by myself.
Sorry this is so long, I tried to keep it to facts at the top....but it was very longwinded!
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Comments
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You can complain to whoever you had the contract with, that is the company to whom you paid money.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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Due to the wall of text I couldn't read it all. Did you ask for recovery and the only action taken involved the provider and potential recovery company talking on the phone and looking at pictures. Try asking for a reduction as the only work done was clerical.0
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It's a rather expensive lesson in concentrating a bit more whilst you're driving in future, take that lesson and it may have been money well spent.0
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Surely a frustrating experience for you but.... I can't see what your complaint is, you ask for recovery and then ignore their calls before cancelling. It seems reasonable they wouldn't want to drag your car off the kerb and risk damaging it and also wouldn't want to use a crane in the dark.0
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It's a rather expensive lesson in concentrating a bit more whilst you're driving in future, take that lesson and it may have been money well spent.
Never made that kind of mistake yourself then? I have and I know how it feels. The difference in my case was that my car was badly damaged.
I was leaving a filling station new to me. The exit was an inverted "U" - shape turn to the left, followed by a 180º turn to the right. As I turned to the left, on my nearside, unseen, was a flat concrete horizontal projection, about 18" wide and only 6" high. I had driven half over it before I could stop and ripped out the sill, bottoms of both doors, front wheel, suspension and dammaged the drive shaft. I was recovered by an RAC - nominated truck, who tried to return me home by a roundabout route until I realised that his words "I'm paid by the hour on recovery" sank in. I made him take the right route. Fortunately I was well insured via Motability, but it took me over a month to get the car back.
I attempted to get Motability to sue the filling station for their costs: I had taken photographs which clearly showed that the barrier could not be seen from the driver side on driving out. I was also told by another driver that locals were aware of the barrier, but drivers new to the station, like me, were not and there had been other incidents. Motability were just not interested and simply paid up.
I think the OP is a lady, possibly young and obviously more and more terrified about what had happened whilst she was experiencing the wait. She was also alone for all the time that she waited in vain for the recovery company to take the action promised. Lectures about her driving do not help, which is what this forum is supposed to be about, is it not? Do you not have young female relatives, can you not imagine them in that position?
At the time of the incident to my car, I had been driving since 1968. I have had only 2 other traffic accidents and both were the fault of other drivers. I sympathise with you, OP, but I think you will be unable to achieve anything with a complaint. Try to put it behind you, and arrange for some realistic recovery/breakdown cover.I think this job really needs
a much bigger hammer.
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I would suggest in future not spending ages on the phone - twice - when you're waiting for contact from the recovery people.0
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Never made that kind of mistake yourself then? I have and I know how it feels. The difference in my case was that my car was badly damaged.
I was leaving a filling station new to me. The exit was an inverted "U" - shape turn to the left, followed by a 180º turn to the right. As I turned to the left, on my nearside, unseen, was a flat concrete horizontal projection, about 18" wide and only 6" high. I had driven half over it before I could stop and ripped out the sill, bottoms of both doors, front wheel, suspension and dammaged the drive shaft. I was recovered by an RAC - nominated truck, who tried to return me home by a roundabout route until I realised that his words "I'm paid by the hour on recovery" sank in. I made him take the right route. Fortunately I was well insured via Motability, but it took me over a month to get the car back.
I attempted to get Motability to sue the filling station for their costs: I had taken photographs which clearly showed that the barrier could not be seen from the driver side on driving out. I was also told by another driver that locals were aware of the barrier, but drivers new to the station, like me, were not and there had been other incidents. Motability were just not interested and simply paid up.
I think the OP is a lady, possibly young and obviously more and more terrified about what had happened whilst she was experiencing the wait. She was also alone for all the time that she waited in vain for the recovery company to take the action promised. Lectures about her driving do not help, which is what this forum is supposed to be about, is it not? Do you not have young female relatives, can you not imagine them in that position?
At the time of the incident to my car, I had been driving since 1968. I have had only 2 other traffic accidents and both were the fault of other drivers. I sympathise with you, OP, but I think you will be unable to achieve anything with a complaint. Try to put it behind you, and arrange for some realistic recovery/breakdown cover.
No, I haven't, rarely made a minor mistake but always stopped before any major damage and got myself out of the situation.
Im not sure what you mean by at the time of the incident you had been driving since 1968, surely you have been driving since then both now and in 1968. If this occurred recently then maybe it's time you gave up driving.
In virtually all of theses situations then the issue isn't that hidden or it would be occurring very frequently, and in that case it would eventually be modified in some way.
One thing to have checked out would be to see if the railway car park had recovery services itself, I know the major supermarkets for example have deals with AA, rac etc as I used them several years ago after getting a puncture and not being able to change the wheel.
The lady in question was so terrified that she had near continuous chats on the phone which meant that the recovery service couldn't get hold of her, and of itself no doubt led to some of the delay.
Why do you continuously need to refer to motability in your threads, it just makes it appear that you are so keen in emphasising that you're not actually paying for your own motoring? In this case it means that your own lack of attention has simply been paid by others with no repercussions on yourself, and doesn't reflect well on you at all.0 -
I don't think this was a "breakdown" its an accident (like driving into a ditch) ring insurance and get them to recover it as part of your insurance policy, it probably needed repairs to the underside - or at least inspected for damage, then you may even have got a free hire car while it was off the road0
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Reality is that you spent half of the evening on the phone to a friend while the recovery people were trying to contact you. If you do not make yourself available, then a lot of the blame falls at your door.Eat vegetables and fear no creditors, rather than eat duck and hide.0
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Did you get it fixed, or was it alright in the end?0
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