RAC - female drivers beware

Grumpy_chap

MeteredOut said:

That says they get to "most" in 60 minutes or less. If I were a customer, I'd take that to mean >50% and would be asking for evidence of that.  

"Most" simply means "50% plus 1".
They probably achieve that without any challenge.
"Most" breakdowns do not occur at the time when demand is at the peak coinciding with low staffing levels.

teaselMay

Agree, thinking the hand full of times when I've needed to call breakdown recovery of various companies out over 30 years I think the majority have been well under an hour and most have been somewhere relatively safe. The most recent was an embarrassing run out of fuel, whilst driving to buy fuel but the gauge suddenly dropped from 40 miles remaining to zero on a windy road that I didn't know in Wales, something like 5 miles from a petrol station that shut in 10 mins, just as it got dark! I did manage to get into a layby of sorts thankfully and made it clear if need be I could stay there overnight with my hazards on. The recovery lorry arrived within half an hour and took us to an all night petrol station, very impressed. If he'd not come then though his next job sent him an hour in the other direction.

Premiums would I suspect need to be a lot higher to improve response times by increasing number of units

Grumpy_chap

cakespirit said:

I broke down in an inner city street 20 miles from home recently, on a mid week evening and requested a roadside recovery just before 9.00pm.  The RAC recovery vehicle finally came to me just after 1.00am!
As a lone woman this would have meant sitting in the car in an inner city street in total darkness, so as not to draw attention to myself - for 4 hours.

(Unbeknown to the RAC I’m lucky enough to be married to a real knight of the road. As soon as it became obvious that no-one was coming out to help me any time soon he drove to Bristol to wait with me.  In other circumstances this would have been a distressing ordeal).

Just thinking about this situation and how "unsafe" the OP really was, as opposed to how "unsafe" she felt.

The OP broke down in an inner city location at 9pm.
This is probably far safer than being on a motorway or on a remote and isolated country lane. 
In an inner city location, should anything untoward happen, there are people who will hear and come to aid in the event of calling out.
In an inner city location, there are venue that are open and can provide welfare (toilets), refreshments etc.  They may not be the venues of the OP's choice, but there is sanctuary of one kind or another.  Even if it means sitting on a pew in a kebab house or "open all hours" store or whatever.  All avoid the dangers of isolated and exposure to the elements.

The OP was only 20 miles from home. 
It means that make the car safe and get a cab was an option.  Then return the next day.
In fact, the OP's husband drove out to meet her.  Again, the option to go home and return the next day was available.  OR, the OP's husband could wait and the OP drive herself home.
If the call dispatchers were updated by the OP that her husband was now with her, this may have changed whatever priority had initially been placed on the response.  A vulnerable lone female is less vulnerable and less alone if in the company of a trusted family member.

MeteredOut

Grumpy_chap said:

MeteredOut said:

That says they get to "most" in 60 minutes or less. If I were a customer, I'd take that to mean >50% and would be asking for evidence of that.  

"Most" simply means "50% plus 1".
They probably achieve that without any challenge.
"Most" breakdowns do not occur at the time when demand is at the peak coinciding with low staffing levels.

Agreed, that's why I said >50%.

I'd still expect evidence to be provided if asked for.

Peppa537

My brother had to wait until the next day for RAC to come out when he broke down, although to be fair he had the issue at someone else's house so could stay on their couch which they knew. 
Our car wouldn't start early one evening when we'd been in town recently, it was the Saturday before Christmas. We're with Green Flag, reported it on the app and an hour later we were on our way home, they'd sent a local company out and it was a dead battery, as no garages open we paid them to fit a new battery.