RAC Patrol & Breakdown Cover

Notrealname123

Have had a really bad experience with the RAC and looking for any advice.

The short story is I have had an unsatisfactory services provided by the RAC patrol exacerbating a simple electrical problem and they then would not provide cover without receiving an £85 call out payment. Tried many attempts to resolve the matter, I have had no reply from their team as yet.

The long story is my son broke down in my vehicle and did not have breakdown cover. I am a Motor Mechanic but live 400 miles away from where he was so in the panic I called the RAC and they took a one off payment to attend. The Patrol told my son he replaced an earth strap but could not get the vehicle to start. I upgraded the policy to include free call out and nationwide recovery. I had a local auto electrician do a call out and simply replaced a fuse, got the vehicle running again in 5 minutes flat. There was still an issue with the lights and wipers not working though so I called the RAC back. They wanted to charge me to attend and if required an extra £850 for recovery?

I arranged my own recovery at a fraction of the RAC quote and got the vehicle back home. I noticed the N/S/F splash guard had been removed and placed in back of vehicle so went to put it back on. This is when I noticed the Earth strap the Patrol man had fitted was insecure and a terrible fix. I addressed this and hey presto all the lights and the wipers worked.

I understand that the cover these companies provide is actually just an insurance service so when you talk to someone they have no technical knowledge but when their 'technician' does not have any knowledge either it beggars belief!

I am well out of pocket but the question is do you think I am due a refund for what I have payed the RAC?

ConsumerWarrior

Its obvious to me that the RAC is incapable of providing the services they promise. At this very moment my son is broken down in Chobham,Surrey only a few miles from his home. His motorcycle developed a transmission fault and he called the RAC at 5pm. Using their rescue tracker he was informed at 6:30 PM the rescue van would be with him between 9 and 11 PM. When he checked at 9:15 PM the tracker stated recovery is between 12:20 and 3:20 AM. He is not very amused to say the least.

I have a family RAC policy and I absolutely will not renew at the end of its term.

I have instructed my son to keep a precise account of the proceedings because the Financial Ombudsman Service covers all insurance policies and he will need to submit a claim direct to them bypassing the RAC's complaint system.

QrizB

ConsumerWarrior said:

I have instructed my son to keep a precise account of the proceedings because the Financial Ombudsman Service covers all insurance policies and he will need to submit a claim direct to them bypassing the RAC's complaint system.

If you haven't first exhausted the RACs complaints process, the FOS will reject your complaint.

born_again

ConsumerWarrior said:

Its obvious to me that the RAC is incapable of providing the services they promise. At this very moment my son is broken down in Chobham,Surrey only a few miles from his home. His motorcycle developed a transmission fault and he called the RAC at 5pm. Using their rescue tracker he was informed at 6:30 PM the rescue van would be with him between 9 and 11 PM. When he checked at 9:15 PM the tracker stated recovery is between 12:20 and 3:20 AM. He is not very amused to say the least.

I have a family RAC policy and I absolutely will not renew at the end of its term.

I have instructed my son to keep a precise account of the proceedings because the Financial Ombudsman Service covers all insurance policies and he will need to submit a claim direct to them bypassing the RAC's complaint system.

No he won't.
He needs to go through RAC complaints 1st.

Hot weather means they are inundated with call outs. So a low risk, like someone near home. Will get bumped down the list so they cover the more vulnerable situations 1st.

QrizB

TBH when my son's motorcycle broke down a few (2-3) miles from home we didn't bother the recovery service and just pushed it. Took an hour or so.

Admittedly that was a 125. Might not be so easy with an 1100!

Hoenir

ConsumerWarrior said:

Its obvious to me that the RAC is incapable of providing the services they promise. 

In a friends car suffered a breakdown on the M40 at 2.40pm.  In total 3 different recovery vehicles were used to get us back home. Eventually at 3.15am the following morning. No complaints.  As we learnt that day scheduling of recovery vehicles is extremely complex. Not as if they are sitting around doing nothing. For what the service costs it's a bargain. 

Mildly_Miffed

I needed to call the AA out yesterday. 150 miles from home, 3.5t campervan that wouldn't even limp to safety from the side of a dual carriageway with no shoulder. (Cat had collapsed, blocking the exhaust internally, leading to it running abysmally and exhaust smoke through the dash from the EGR)

First truck - 15min from call. Took me to safety in services.
Patrol van - 50min from call. Diagnosed problem, considered options, decided there was little that could be done to get it driveable, but disconnected EGR to at least make it run enough to limp.
First recovery - 5hrs from call. Took me most of way, but would have run out of tacho hours.
Second recovery - waited at services to transfer me, took me all the way home. Arrived 10hrs after my call.

Every one of the drivers was a delight to deal with... I'll be sending the AA a glow-o-gram later to pass on thanks.

Can I really whine about the 5hr delay? I don't think so, not really.

Grumpy_chap

Mildly_Miffed said:

I needed to call the AA out yesterday.

First truck - 15min from call. Took me to safety in services.

Out of interest, was this first truck an AA response, or was it initiated by Highways England following logging a call via the roadside kiosk phone?

I could quite imagine that Highways England would have some "scoop and drop" to get a vehicle that is blocking the carriageway and a potential safety hazard simply out of the way.

Mildly_Miffed

Grumpy_chap said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

I needed to call the AA out yesterday.

First truck - 15min from call. Took me to safety in services.

Out of interest, was this first truck an AA response, or was it initiated by Highways England following logging a call via the roadside kiosk phone?

AA response from app/mobile notification. It wasn't a National Highways trunk road.