Britannia rescue long waits what are other services like?

littlerock

We have been members of Britannia Rescue for a long time. it always seemed like a good model, if you broke down they sent out a local garage to rescue you so you did not have a long wait. Now this model seems to have broken down

Last year in Wales my oil warning light came on although I was not short of oil.I did not want to drive back to London with it on and called BR to identify cause. I had to wait 2 1/2 hours for an "agent" to come out ( on a Tuesday afternoon not anywhere remote or in a city.) When I asked him why it took so long ( I kept been ringing for updates and being told he was on his way), the guy who eventually arrived said he had only been called out half an hour earlier. I did put a complaint in the questionnaire BR send me afterwards but had no response. I hoped it was a one off. Sadly not to be.

OHs clutch went out of the blue two months ago in West London. He had to wait 3 hours to be rescued by BR. But that did need a recovery van. Not so my latest bad experience with them.

I am in Norfolk and got a flat tyre this morning and phoned it in to BR at 1130. I got a message saying as their local "agent" was very busy they were advising 90 minute waits. After 90 minutes I was still waiting. I phoned again. I was told there was heavy traffic. Mechanic eventually arrived at 1410 from miles away . He said he had been despatched to me at 1330 ,and there was no heavy traffic locally. He said they covered a very wide area of Norfolk for BR and could not expect to be staffed up to respond to every request so some delay was inevitable. But that was why the original BR model used a number of local garages.

Now it seems like BR have an exclusive deal with a breakdown service in an area, maybe a large area and you have to wait your turn for a mechanic to become free.Sometimed it can be
a long wait. Increasingly so.

If BR is relying on a limited number of agreements with local breakdown services with only a few staff, covering large areas, so everyone is queued up, it is hardly surprising we have been experiencing such long waits. The garage wants the business so stalls so as not to pass on the call and the customer suffers.

It might be worth mentioning i am a middle aged female and not a car savy guy. So rely on the service for help when I breakdown. What are the other breakdown services like these days?

Gloomendoom

Never waited more than an hour for the RAC to turn up even when the vehicle was on our drive. Of course, that could just be luck.

caprikid1

I have always had nothing but praise for Britania Rescue. Last time I broke down they quoted me an 1 1/2 hours. The car was on a hill on a bend of a busy road and I have my child with me.


Fortunately the garage call room staff were knowledgeable enough that between us we managed to identify a fault on the fuel system and I was on my way in 15 minutes.

Aylesbury_Duck

I've had to call the RAC out twice in three years. First occasion they came out in 45 minutes, second time was about an hour.

EcoR1

My last BR call out, about 3 months ago, also took about 3 hours to get to me. Something appears to have changed.

mchale

Why didn't you change the wheel yourself.

alan_d

mchale wrote: »

Why didn't you change the wheel yourself.

Exactly what I was thinking. Not exactly difficult, could have been on your way in 15 mins.
Or found a local tyre garage thanks to Mr Google on your phone

silverwhistle

mchale wrote: »

Why didn't you change the wheel yourself.

Possibly no spare, or a dangerous position? But yes, I'm an over 60 female, so consider myself almost middle aged.. but change 4 tyres twice a year - summer to winter.

littlerock

I do not have the kit or indeed the experience to change car tyres. It is one of the reasons why I have breakdown insurance.

What seems to have changed with BR is that whereas before they would contact a local garage to get someone to you in a reasonable time depending on your problem - eg all garages can change a tyre - now, going from what happened to me this week, they have local deals with a particular breakdown service to be answered within 90 minutes. I assume this enables them to negotiate good rates. But this destroys the flexibility to call out the nearest garage for simple jobs or where the breakdown service is very busy as the breakdown service games the system by never admitting it's waiting list is over 90 minutes on any call.

The breakdown service that came out to me said they handle all the deals locally for BR (and Green Flag.) They have a deal to respond within 90 minutes of getting a call although I assume this is meant to be the limit not the norm, after which it is passed on to another garage. But the breakdown service wants the work, so does not going admit they cannot get there in that time, instead just says they are very busy and it will take up to 90 minutes - however many calls they have backed up.

And the call handler at BR cannot pass the call on before the 90 minutes is up. Even for a simple thing like a flat tyre which does not require a fully equipped breakdown truck. So you the customer get the worst of both worlds, access to a limited number of mechanics in an area and no way out when the local breakdown service games the system by claiming they can do the jobs assigned by BR in the agreed timescale, when they cannot.

In my case I phoned after 75 minutes to ask for an update and BR got onto the breakdown service who said they were being delayed by heavy traffic ( The mechanic confirmed there were no local traffic delays when he eventually arrived.) I phoned again after 90 minutes for an update and was told a mechanic would be arriving in the next 30 minutes. It was actually nearer an hour before he turned up. And he had only be given the job a short while beforehand ( I asked him.).

So even when the breakdown service took the job from BR they knew they might not be able to respond in 90 minutes but said they would to keep the job and then prevaricated while it went out to 2.5 hours. And because they did not admit they could not respond in time, BR could not reassign it to another service under the terms of their agreement.

This is not how BR used to work. it seems a fairly recent development and BR seem to have changed their business model. Last time I complained on the phone at the time and later in my questionnaire but nothing happened I did not even get a response.

. The mechanic who turned up said they cannot keep a lot of highly equipped vans on the road unless there is enough work for them. But a flat tyre does not need a highly equipped van any local garage service would do, it's just that BR no longer has access to them like it used to.

[Deleted User]

Change the wheel yourself. Being a woman is no excuse not to have some basic car knowledge. No wonder the call out times are hours and hours if they are having to attend to every flat tyre and empty fuel tank.

If your car doesn't have a spare wheel - get one!

littlerock

Look I know how to change a tyre but I am not young, or strong- ( I am a small lady) plus I have 2 cracked disks in my back. So I have breakdown insurance.

My comment was about Britannia Rescue taking ages to come out, due to changing how they work, and seeking comments on what other breakdown services are like. Not on whether I should change tyres myself. If BR breakdown services worked ok I should not have had tonwait do long.

So once again, what are other people's experiences of alternative breakdown services.?