We waited 5 and a half hours!

dieter

2 pensioners left in a layby on a duel carriageway for 5 and a half hours after 9 phone calls, being told twice they were coming within 20 mins, call out escalated to critical 3 times only to find when they eventually arrived that the recovery man was only notified 10 minutes ago!!!!   None of this is in dispute.  I wrote asking for compensation and the offer is that they would add 3 months free cover to my next renewal!   This is not acceptable as there is no way I'm going to renew with them every again.  Am I wrong to ask for a cash compensation and if so, how do I get it please? 

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes, you would be entitled to compensation for any financial losses you incurred as a result of the delay.

Grumpy_chap

How likely is a repeat breakdown?  If not very likely, then the 3 months extra cover is probably as good as it will get by way of compensation.  The only way to get cash compensation is if the Ts&Cs specify this, or a maximum response time.

foxy-stoat

If that was me I would of called a taxi if the response time was over an hour, once they turned up take another taxi back, after telling them that I was 20 minutes away a few times.  Charged them the fares.

Jfk1988

dieter said:

when they eventually arrived that the recovery man was only notified 10 minutes ago!!!! 

Recovery drivers are usually only informed of their next job when they are free to take it, ie not on another job or a break.

It is unlikely he was doing nothing for the prior 5 hours. 

elsien

Being a pensioner doesn't always make you vulnerable, in the same way that as a single woman I would not consider myself more at risk that anyone else in the majority of circumstances. There's a bit of a difference between a healthy 65 year old and an 80 year old. For example. Yes it's a long wait, yes you're annoyed, but did any  harm actually come to  you?  

forgotmyname

I had an RAC guy spend hours on my car once, clutch pedal stuck down.  I was expecting a tow home but no he tried fixing

it and even took me to get a part. He kept resetting something in his van that starting beeping every so often, assume new

calls.  He failed to fix it so towed home anyway.

AdrianC

dieter said:

2 pensioners left in a layby on a duel carriageway for 5 and a half hours after 9 phone calls, being told twice they were coming within 20 mins, call out escalated to critical 3 times only to find when they eventually arrived that the recovery man was only notified 10 minutes ago!!!!

That particular guy may have only been allocated to your call ten minutes previously.
That particular guy is unlikely to be the only one on shift in the area.

Am I wrong to ask for a cash compensation and if so, how do I get it please? 

Of course you can ask.
Will they agree? Unlikely.
Let's face it, they've not got much of an incentive, since there's no way they can keep your future business...

The_Fat_Controller

I think you'll have a duel to get anything more.
I am a pensioner and do not understand the "pensioner card" that people try to keep playing to get special treatment.

facade

The_Fat_Controller said:

I think you'll have a duel to get anything more.
I am a pensioner and do not understand the "pensioner card" that people try to keep playing to get special treatment.

So am I.

It is because you realise that you are wasting a sizeable portion of your remaining healthy life waiting for things.  When I had 70 years left, a 5 hour wait would be nothing. Now it represents half a day I'm never getting back out of the 10-20 years I have left and it is getting significant.

The biggest thing I've noticed about getting old, more than the creaks and pains, is my patience has run out.

NottinghamKnight

It's a bit ironic as time is probably less valuable to a pensioner than most of the working population.