Breakdown companies response times

dander

Are there any breakdown memberships out there that still have a reasonably fast response time or are those days long gone? I'm sure I remember when the AA had some kind of guarantee they'd be there within an hour and I know when I was much younger in the 90s and I drove more unreliable cars, the AA were very reliable and quick to respond.

I stayed with them for probably over 20 years but realised they were charging me way over the odds and then had a two breakdowns in quick succession (dodgy starter motor) where both times they took well over 3 hours to show up - which didn't feel worth the money they were demanding from me. I still hate the AA for the shady practices where they charged increasingly high prices for being a loyal customer, but the service, though poor, was at least better than Green Flag. 

In the last 2 years I've twice had to call Green Flag for tyre problems, and they are mind-blowingly slow to show up. I can't remember how long it was last time, but today I've lost patience after calling at 6, getting an original eta of 7.25, then a text moving it to 8.40, then no show and no more texts. Phoning them at 9.30 told me I now had an ETA of 11pm. 5 hours. So a combination of an incredibly long wait, with no updates, plus a clear lack of interest from helpline staff - (best offer was they'd cancel the call, rebook for the following morning, which would be a two hour slot, but with no guarantee that anyone would come in the two hour slot because I'd still be considered low priority because I'm not on a motorway). I've decided to call Green Flag tomorrow and cancel my membership - they are cheap but shockingly bad. The whole farming you out to a local supplier just seems to add layers of confusion and extra poor service into the mix.
For tonight, I've given up on Green Flag, cancelled the call and booked a local mobile tyre service for tomorrow instead - which will cost me more but might actually show up.

Question is - have I got unreasonable expectations? Are there any breakdown companies that still have decent response times - or has the market moved on and you just have to wait minimum 3 hours with everyone? I've noticed they don't talk about guarantees for turning up in adverts any more, or even make any claims at all about their response times. I'm thinking next stop for me is probably RAC, but dare I hope they will be any better? 

Sorry - long post. Share your thoughts and rants!

WellKnownSid

After almost four hours waiting for the RAC recently - they phoned to tell me that, in the reasonably sized city I was in, they "were no RAC patrols".

They also advised they could arrange to send a local contractor over if I would approve (I don't know what the alternative was).  I approved and a local firm showed up in less than ten minutes.

The chap from the local firm laughed when I mentioned RAC... he suggested that they had no coverage in the North of England, and his firm and others handled literally all of their call outs.

I guess if you lived in London or Birmingham you could get lucky?

daivid

Mostly I use Autoaid and they are the only company I've had need to call. I've never had to wait more than 30mins - but as with all companies there will be local variation and the pot luck of how many other calls being made. Break down 1/2 a mile from the recovery garage on a random Tuesday you've got a good chance of a quick response, heading to Devon on a bank holiday good luck…

dander

Interesting. I'm in Hertfordshire so maybe some chance of patrols here! Green Flag has well and truly put me off any company that relies on local recovery teams. Far too much room for blaming each other, additional calls, additional confusion etc. Green Flag told me yesterday that they could cancel the call with one garage to try and find another - but they couldn't check availability until they'd completely cancelled the man I was waiting for, so I had no way of knowing whether I was better waiting or cancelling. I just can't be dealing with that kind of chaos if I'm in a stressful situation.