We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Complaint to the AA

Options
2456

Comments

  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    What it seems you really wanted was to be told what you wanted to hear. Sorry, life doesn't work like that.

    If your position is not what you thought it to be, is it better to be lied to, or have the reality explained?
  • Laz123
    Laz123 Posts: 1,742 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Yes OP, you came here to a a consumer forum which purports to be supportive but in fact is laden with smart-assed knowitalls who devote most of their forum lives to winding people up. Lesson learned.

    The difference between a male and female being left stranded alone should be pretty obvious but I'll clarify it to your two brain cells. A male is less likely to be raped and is physically stronger should an assault take place.
  • pappa_golf
    pappa_golf Posts: 8,895 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Louzrbabe wrote: »
    This is my first thread and my last! Not a very friendly forum.

    I was after some advice, not to be told what I had wrote was sketchy etc...

    I'll ask somewhere else, thanks anyway.

    watch for discarded matches as you drive off ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
    Save a Rachael

    buy a share in crapita
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Laz123 wrote: »
    The difference between a male and female being left stranded alone should be pretty obvious but I'll clarify it to your two brain cells. A male is less likely to be raped and is physically stronger should an assault take place.
    How often does that actually happen, here in the real world?

    Go on, link me to just ONE news story from the UK in the last five years...
  • Mercdriver
    Mercdriver Posts: 3,898 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    AdrianC wrote: »



    Don't play that card. Your gender is irrelevant - unless you think it should entitle you to special treatment? What would your reaction be if you were asked to pay more because of your gender, but it got you special treatment? You would - quite rightly - call it discrimination.


    To be fair to the OP, recovery companies have consistently advertised faster pickups for lone females, so it has become an expectation that people have when they buy the product. If someone doesn't provide what you expected would you complain? I'm sure you would. I know I do.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Mercdriver wrote: »
    To be fair to the OP, recovery companies have consistently advertised faster pickups for lone females, so it has become an expectation that people have when they buy the product.
    If they actively prioritised some customers on the basis of gender alone, it would actually be illegal.
  • Mercdriver
    Mercdriver Posts: 3,898 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    AdrianC wrote: »
    If they actively prioritised some customers on the basis of gender alone, it would actually be illegal.

    They have advertised getting to a lone female within a set time. They don't make mention of the response time for a man. This keeps the advertising legal. I don't have an issue with the recovery companies attending on the basis of need.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Mercdriver wrote: »
    They have advertised getting to a lone female within a set time. They don't make mention of the response time for a man. This keeps the advertising legal.

    So no discrimination - they would attend both within a similar timescale.

    What they actually promise is to prioritise VULNERABLE people. So a car with children on the hard shoulder of a motorway would be prioritised over somebody parked safely or at home. That's nothing to do with the gender of a driver, unless you make the (sexist?) assumption that the driver with children is female...
    I don't have an issue with the recovery companies attending on the basis of need.
    Nor do I.

    Need is very rarely directly related to gender. Nothing in the OP's post suggests they were in a vulnerable position.
  • Shoshannah
    Shoshannah Posts: 667 Forumite
    AdrianC wrote: »
    I don't think it unreasonable for the availability of specialist equipment to be restricted through the night, especially on a Sunday night.

    To be fair, I had a similar problem with the AA a few years ago. A front brake caliper seized on when I was driving home at 11pm at night.

    The initial patrol mechanic confirmed it was stuck and was unable to free it, so ordered a tow. They sent one of those small trucks with a wheel lift tow. The ones they use to lift the front wheels off the road so the car runs along on the back wheels.

    Trouble is, the car was automatic and rear-wheel drive. It was so long ago now that I can't remember if I thought to volunteer this information before they sent the truck - maybe not - but I definitely would have told them if they'd asked me, of course I would.

    Initially they decided to try and load it backwards, so the front wheels would run on the road instead. I expressed concern at this, since a front caliper was seized and it would be better for the wheel not to be spinning at 60mph. They didn't seem too bothered about that, so maybe my concerns were unfounded...

    Anyway the car wouldn't load backwards as the suspension structure interfered with it.

    Car was completely standard by the way, not lowered or anything, and nothing exotic or unusual. Just a RWD automatic.

    I had to wait another two hours for them to send a flat bed.

    I don't really blame AA, it's just one of those things. But my point is it's not a problem exclusive to modified vehicles.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Shoshannah wrote: »
    I don't really blame AA, it's just one of those things. But my point is it's not a problem exclusive to modified vehicles.
    No, but the OP sent that flatbed "that my car will obviously not go on" away empty, apparently without thinking to detach the front splitter or even check to see if the car would fit, then spent another six or more hours at the roadside - half of the time they're complaining about.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.