AA Problem

andy1957689

I’m stuck in a weird situation with the AA.

On Monday 8:30am, my car broke down, it wasn’t anything I could fix so called the AA. The AA got there in an hour or so and they couldn’t solve the problem either so called for a recovery. The recovery lorry didn’t come until 8pm by which time the garage that it was booked into had closed so they said they’d take it to their depot and move it to the garage in the morning. At this point I also found that it wasn’t the AA but a partner Westbourne Motors that were recovering the vehicle and they would be storing it in Bristol (I’m based in Coleford). Slightly annoyed that it took so long but all ok at that point.

Here’s where it gets ridiculous, Westbourne Motor won’t release my car, they just keep it in Bristol. I call the AA multiple times every day, they say Westbourne Motors will deliver the car tomorrow and then they don’t. AA says they can’t do anything despite it being 5 days now. I’ve shouted, I’ve pleaded all to no avail.  Any ideas on what I can do? 

Just to say the garage, Auditechnik in Gloucester, have been very accommodating saying they will accept it any day.

Stateofart

Tell the AA they need to pick up the car from Westbourne Motors and give them a reasonable date (a week's time) otherwise you'll be reporting the AA and Westbourne Motors to the police for theft of a vehicle.

prettyandfluffy

I have heard of similar happening with the RAC, the company who collected the vehicle didn’t notify the RAC correctly of where the vehicle had been taken to so for a week or so it was “lost”.  The vehicle in question was a motorhome which makes you wonder how on earth they managed to misplace something so big!

Okell

Have you asked Westbourne Motors what the problem is?  Are they waiting for something?

Bigwheels1111

Well that’s a pickle is it not.
No way would I have let them take my car anywhere, buy the garage I had picked or my home address.
I would report my car as stolen, it’s been taken without your permission and is being withheld.
Inform the AA and Westbourne Motors to inform them of you plan going forward.
Do you have home insurance, they might be able to help.
Looking like legal proceedings my be in your future.

pjs493

I had something similar recently. My car wouldn't start after I'd had lunch with a friend somewhere within walking distance of my home. (Walking there involves crossing and incredibly busy road and I have two small children which I why I drove and didn't walk). It took the AA several hours to attend, by which time my neighbour kindly offered to wait with the car so I could do the evening routine with my children.

The AA couldn't repair the car so said they'd arrange for it to be recovered to my place of choice. I chose a garage also within walking distance of my house. They said it would be recovered within three to six hours. It was in a family friendly pub car park that was well lit and the six hour mark would take us to midnight so I agreed that the AA guy could leave the keys on the wheel arch for the recovery driver to move the car.

0800 the next morning rolls around and I get a call from the third party recovery company telling my car won't start (shocker! That's why I called the AA!). I explained that the battery had probably drained but if he gave it some juice to the battery it would be enough to allow him to turn the key to get the car into neutral to get it on the recovery vehicle. I expressed my displeasure that the car had been left overnight which wasn't the agreement with the AA. He said he didn't know anything about that basically just did what he was told.

1200 I get a call from the recovery company saying my chosen garage had refused to accept the car because it had been booked in under the AA Smart Care cover and not as a private arrangement. My car was apparently on it's way to the recovery company's depot over an hour away. I reiterated that my house, the pub, and the garage were all within walking distance of each other and if it wasn't for the fact that the car was 4 wheel drive, I could have just had my neighbour tow me to the garage.

I spent two hours on the phone to the AA and spoke to 9 different people before they informed me that my car would be returned to the garage of my choice. One of the people I spoke to said he'd have to transfer me to a colleague after we spent 20 minutes talking through the issue because his shift was about to end.

When I spoke to the garage when they eventually took in the car it turns out my car had made the journey twice to the garage, to the recovery depot, to the garage, back to the recovery depot, and back to the garage again before it was accepted for the work to be carried out.

Annoyingly the story doesn't end there. After the garage charged me £500 for fixing my car, it wouldn't start so the mechanic had to fiddle about under the bonnet and jump it from his own car to get it going. He suggested I take it for a run to recharge the battery, I did that, got it home and got it in a few hours later and it was dead again.

Called the AA again and this time a third party from the main dealer for my car brand showed up and immediately diagnosed the problem which wasn't what the local garage charged me £500 for and the car was recovered to the main dealer.

I need to raise a complaint with the AA, but I need the time and strength to make the call without losing my temper. I'm surprised I managed to remain calm the last time I was given the run around. Now I'm £500 out of pocket and the offending garage are refusing to give me a refund or the part they replaced so it can be examined by the main dealer.

Two weeks later I'm still without my car due to a back log with the main dealer.

andy1957689

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went with persistance in the end, just kept calling through Friday and I think eventually they all got fed up of listening to me rant and so finally got the car to the garage. 
I have a complaint filed with the AA so we'll see what happens with that (probably not much!)
In response to some of your comments:
Westbourne had come up with every excuse but my guess is because they took it to Bristol and the garage was in Gloucester, it was a long drive that they didn't want to do.
On the moving it front, I was torn as I was reasonably confident I could fix but I have quite a steep drive and with no power and the small chance it could be an ECU fault, I thought it better to get it to a garage (I actually thought that would be the quicker option at the time!!)
Anger management was certainly the theme of the day, I just had to keep reminding myself it's not the poor operators fault.

So just waiting on the garage now...

andy1957689

Re: pjs493
OMG, that sounds awful. Hope it gets sorted soon.
I started with the AA "Smart" booking too but realised they don't communicate with the Breakdown at all, so contacted the garage myself. The garage had got pretty annoyed with AA constantly changing the booking but not telling them anything, but once I told them the situation they were good.

Good luck with it.