RAC turned up without correct tools then charged me for tow home

IanDMcC

Hi all, can anyone advise if I can possibly get the £199 'emergency tow home' fee refunded? The circumstances are of my own doing but the fix was very easy. I was NOT an RAC member until I called for a repair and joined over the phone for this repair. I had bought the part to fix my oil leak and decided to stop on a side road to fit it as it was very straightforward. An old Vauxhall Astra 1.4l oil pressure sensor was leaking. It's easily accessible at the top of the engine and can be removed with a 22mm or adjustable spanner. I had the part and the spanner and started removing the faulty sensor which snapped leaving the 'bolt' stuck. Nothing I could do so called the RAC and advised them that I need a mechanic to turn up with a bolt extractor (reverse threaded 'screw') to remove the bolt and I could then fit the new part. After over 4 hours waiting a mechanic with towing facilities turned up WITHOUT a bolt extractor and had no choice but to tow me home at a cost of £199 which I had to pay over the phone. 

Because I had advised them of exactly what was needed before agreeing to join in the first place and their complete failure to provide this information to their 'team' to see if any one of them could turn up with the correct tools should I have to pay their emergency towing fee? I could have left my car on this empty side road, got a taxi home and returned the next day with the tools to fix it. I did this at home with the right tools the next day and it is fine.

I totally appreciate this is all my own fault but the tow wasn't necessary, just the bolt extractor was but there was nothing else I could do than call them to try and get it fixed.

Thank you.

user1977

IanDMcC said:

a mechanic with towing facilities turned up WITHOUT a bolt extractor and had no choice but to tow me home at a cost of £199 which I had to pay over the phone. 

Because I had advised them of exactly what was needed before agreeing to join in the first place and their complete failure to provide this information to their 'team' to see if any one of them could turn up with the correct tools should I have to pay their emergency towing fee?

Well, did you have to pay it? Or could you have sent him on his way when you realised he didn't have the tool?

teaselMay

It's often just how their system works. I was taken on the back of a recovery lorry to a petrol station when I, to my shame, ran out of diesel (gauge appears to not read well at low levels!). I did ask if they could bring a can of diesel but their system works in a way that meant taking me to a petrol station ticked the box but bringing me diesel didn't (I hadn't run it dry it didn't need priming). 

paul_c123

I'm not sure you're even covered for what they did, which was to try and put right your botched repair at the roadside. The vans have tools but there's limited space and weight - and a lot of the tools are geared towards recovery of 99.9% of the cars on the road, not roadside repairs - for example jump pack, towing dolly, spare wheel, various jacks, towbar, etc etc. They don't carry bolt extractors because the technicians don't snap bolts.

You paid the money and got recovered, and the price seems about right for an emergency tow.

Anyway, unless it snapped in a weird position, I'm assuming although leaking it didn't jettison oil out, you could have gotten home? Oh hang on, you DON'T carry oil in the car (with an oil leak)?

facade

paul_c123 said:

<snip>

Anyway, unless it snapped in a weird position, I'm assuming although leaking it didn't jettison oil out, you could have gotten home? Oh hang on, you DON'T carry oil in the car (with an oil leak)?

If it was a snapped off oil pressure switch then oil will jet out at full line pressure.

You'd need many gallons of oil, and you'd leave a trail that someone would follow to send you the bill for cleaning up the road.

The moral of the tale, as the OP is aware I'm sure, is never to mess with your car when not safely home!

(followed by never trust a "professional" to do a job that you can do yourself )

Herzlos

I'm actually surprised they came out at all since it wasn't a breakdown as such but a bodged repair.

You can certainly try and see if they'll offer any kind of good will but you agreed to the recovery at the time so I don't think they'd be under any obligation to do so.

Mildly_Miffed

"I tried to fix my own car in the road, but made a mess of it, and the RAC wouldn't rescue me from the consequences!"

ohnoes.

RAC breakdown Ts & Cs, top of page 18
https://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/breakdown/310314-drive-uk-breakdown-terms-and-conditions

"Your policy conditions
The following conditions apply to all sections of this policy. If you don’t keep to them, we can refuse cover or cancel your policy (or both).
...
3. Callout to avoid repair cost If we have reason to think you have called us out to avoid the cost of repairing your vehicle, or to correct a repair that’s been tried by someone else, we won’t provide cover."

I'd say that's pretty much squarely why you called them, wouldn't you?

400ixl

Not a repair I would be expecting a roadside technician to be trying on the side of the road whether you told them what the fault was or not. Recovery to a garage would be what I would expect the outcome to be.

Is a bolt extractor even one of the tools they carry on their van?

Grumpy_chap

IanDMcC said:

Hi all, can anyone advise if I can possibly get the £199 'emergency tow home' fee refunded? The circumstances are of my own doing but the fix was very easy. I was NOT an RAC member until I called for a repair and joined over the phone for this repair. I had bought the part to fix my oil leak and decided to stop on a side road to fit it as it was very straightforward. An old Vauxhall Astra 1.4l oil pressure sensor was leaking. It's easily accessible at the top of the engine and can be removed with a 22mm or adjustable spanner. I had the part and the spanner and started removing the faulty sensor which snapped leaving the 'bolt' stuck. Nothing I could do so called the RAC and advised them that I need a mechanic to turn up with a bolt extractor (reverse threaded 'screw') to remove the bolt and I could then fit the new part. After over 4 hours waiting a mechanic with towing facilities turned up WITHOUT a bolt extractor and had no choice but to tow me home at a cost of £199 which I had to pay over the phone. 

Because I had advised them of exactly what was needed before agreeing to join in the first place and their complete failure to provide this information to their 'team' to see if any one of them could turn up with the correct tools should I have to pay their emergency towing fee? I could have left my car on this empty side road, got a taxi home and returned the next day with the tools to fix it. I did this at home with the right tools the next day and it is fine.

I totally appreciate this is all my own fault but the tow wasn't necessary, just the bolt extractor was but there was nothing else I could do than call them to try and get it fixed.

Thank you.

I would have thought that a bolt extractor is a rather more specialist item of equipment than a breakdown service would carry on the van as standard.

The way these response services operate is to send the nearest available responder.

Why did you chose to attempt the repair away from home?

Keep_pedalling

Grumpy_chap said:

IanDMcC said:

Hi all, can anyone advise if I can possibly get the £199 'emergency tow home' fee refunded? The circumstances are of my own doing but the fix was very easy. I was NOT an RAC member until I called for a repair and joined over the phone for this repair. I had bought the part to fix my oil leak and decided to stop on a side road to fit it as it was very straightforward. An old Vauxhall Astra 1.4l oil pressure sensor was leaking. It's easily accessible at the top of the engine and can be removed with a 22mm or adjustable spanner. I had the part and the spanner and started removing the faulty sensor which snapped leaving the 'bolt' stuck. Nothing I could do so called the RAC and advised them that I need a mechanic to turn up with a bolt extractor (reverse threaded 'screw') to remove the bolt and I could then fit the new part. After over 4 hours waiting a mechanic with towing facilities turned up WITHOUT a bolt extractor and had no choice but to tow me home at a cost of £199 which I had to pay over the phone. 

Because I had advised them of exactly what was needed before agreeing to join in the first place and their complete failure to provide this information to their 'team' to see if any one of them could turn up with the correct tools should I have to pay their emergency towing fee? I could have left my car on this empty side road, got a taxi home and returned the next day with the tools to fix it. I did this at home with the right tools the next day and it is fine.

I totally appreciate this is all my own fault but the tow wasn't necessary, just the bolt extractor was but there was nothing else I could do than call them to try and get it fixed.

Thank you.

I would have thought that a bolt extractor is a rather more specialist item of equipment than a breakdown service would carry on the van as standard.

The way these response services operate is to send the nearest available responder.

Why did you chose to attempt the repair away from home?

Did not want to oil on his drive 😈

FlorayG

NO. That's not what recovery services are for. I think you are lucky they even agreed to assist you at all, just pay up and learn the lesson