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Vehicle recovery - Thursday rant
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Not sure what a rant is exactly...this is a true story!
I had to call a well known recovery agency yesterday. I was told that contract did not include this level of service and it would cost me £185. I agreed and paid there and then. I of course gave the very polite customer service employee the exact location I was with plenty of details...at some point because he could not figure out what I was saying  I gave my phone to the lovely police officer sitting next to me...no possibility of misunderstanding him.
The way I see it, if the job is subcontracted, a. I should be informed so I do not jump in anybody's truck and b . all my details should have been passed onto the third party and there should have been no problems.
The recovery guy called and asked me 'where are you?' so I explained again..to which he responded..'But I am parked on the Roundabout at the top of the exit slip road, do you think you could push the bike up the ramp (182kg/360lbs of metal)?' Bear in mind I had just hit the back of a car and flown over the handle bar soooo not in any state to do that... he asked to speak to the policeman with the hope they'd let him reverse down the slip road at rush hour . He was told by the police officer that if he wanted he could walk down the 300yards and push the bike up himself. Too much effort so he decided to drive one junction up the motorway to come back down to where I was...the northbound carriageway was packed....waited another 30 mins.
He arrived and the police left. He tried to get the ramp at the back to operate – remote's batteries were flat so he said ..'I'm going to push the bike...can you operate the manual controls on the side?' and he proceeded to show me how to do that. Without waiting for my answer he got the bike and was half way up the ramp when he saw me take a picture of me operating the controls – By that time I was really quite put out and shocked...he then said 'If you're going to be like that...we'll just wait for the batteries to charge' I will spare you the vile attitude of this obnoxious person and just give you a quick recap:
The third party did not know where I was
Was made to wait 60 minutes for a truck that should have arrived within 30
I was asked to operate controls on a recovery truck because his tools were not in working condition
Had to wait a further 40 minutes until the remote was charged up
All of that in the rain and without being offered if I wanted to site in the cab
The call to the recovery agency was made at 17:37
I got home at 19.26
I have today checked my contract and it it included.
RAC is refunding and investigating
That is all! I hpe the above is within forum rules.  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I used the RAC years ago.. until one dark night when the head gasket went on my corsa.
The Rac man tipped up, told me what was wrong and said he'd take it to a "Approved" garage. I wanted it taking to my garage, the one I'd been using for years. He basically bullied me with bullshit to take it to the "approved" garage after confirming a repair price with said garage owner.
So off my car went, no idea where.. within a few hours the price had shot up and the mechanic became abusive when I refused to pay.
I reported him to the RAC who informed me they didn't have approved garages! 
When I insisted I wanted my car recovered to my garage the RAC agreed to pay, although they wouldn't take responsibility for their mechanic clearly on the take.
The mechanic my car was with became threatening, telling me I was making trouble for him and he knew where I lived.
I ended up going to some back street garage, getting my car with a recovery vehicle and two very large male friends. My car was in bits and he refused to give it back unless I paid £100.
I haven't used the RAC since, and all my family have cancelled their contracts. Incredibly poor service and very frightening at the time. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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The other road side recovery company once left me and 3 others 2 being very young children on a on slip road for a motorway that was about 100m long infront of a big brick wall for nearly 5 hours because they kept on sending the wrong type of truck out to pick my car up. They were even told on the phone that there was no clearance under the car what so ever due to it being heavily modified but still mucked up 4 times.
It got to the point were the highways agency was going to put a rolling road block on at the junction before to allow me to turn the car round and limp back off the motorway.
They then took 27 hours to get me 160 miles home.
They did put me in a motorway hotel to let the kids sleep for a bit after numerous arguments but 3 hours after climbing in to bed the phone rang to say they were outside to carry on the journey home.
So I know how you feel.
They have me the rest of the years cover for free. I had 2 months of it left. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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The other assistance services did exactly the same to me recently although Bambi I wasnt in pain and shock from having had an accident ............. and I feel your pain ........... and they are soooo wrong - they take our money and treat the customer appalling ........... sorry you had all this hassle as well xxx |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I've been with Green Flag now for over 10 years, on the two occasions I needed them they arrived within 30 mins and did exactly as requested/required. No fuss, no grief.. and they're the cheapest around.
I'll never use any other recovery company  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I'd send them a bill fur your time operating the button- of course you only work per hour and its a hazardous environment at the road side so £60 is reasonable. I'd also add a 14 day payment term with a weekly compound interest charge for late payment |
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The really astonishing thing about all these companies is that they consider that they are doing you a 'favor'.
Thanks for reading my rant/story..!
I doubt that all employees of that company are as rude as he was, and would not name the company for that reason.
There is no problem with RAC/AA/GF etc...using sub-contractors as long as the person in distress knows who will be turning up.
Have a good evening all xxx |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I've had to use green flag twice and they were great, I don't think they use anyone but subcontractors but are the cheapest and offer a no claims discount if you don't use their services during the year.
Rac/AA seem to get more expensive year in year out even if you are a loyal customer so whilst I'm sure the no claims will be as a percentage hopefully it won't go up. The two times I've used them in the past was through an insurance company. The only thing I'm not covered for is breaking down at home, I live at the top of a hill though so that won't be a problem |
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During a spate of breakdowns I spent a fair bit of time chatting to recovery drivers and got some interesting info.
Some of them do work for more than one of the recovery companies. But they all recommend green flag.
Apparently green flag give them a bonus if they arrive in less than 30 mins but also penalise them if they take longer! So it's worth the drivers while to arrive early. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Don't start.me
Left waiting four hours at the side of the road waiting for collection by the RAC or their 3rd party ....
After.my wife's car had been totaled in a rear ender.
She was 4.months pregnant at the time with our daughter, and dashed off to hospital.
I was left in limbo, and they couldn't care less  |
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I drive a recovery wagon and we also get jobs in from the R A C although it would appear we do things rather different we all ways make sure we have the full info of were how long and is there any special requirements before we set off oooo and also make sure our wagons are in a fully operational condition with all that said I do hope you experience was a one off and hopfully the rac will compensate you and dump the company in question xxxxxxxxxx |
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By *umpkinMan
over a year ago
near the sounds of the wimborne quarter jack! |
For years I had basic AA cover with my bank account.. Never used until about 4 years ago when I blew my Discovery up on the M5. The first bit was a bit strange as a company obviously on contract recovered me off the motorway and dumped me in the nearest town (Cheltenham) but it was in the car park of a chain hotel which had a pub attatched. Then when I was in the pub trying to get some food an AA van turned up and arranged recovery after I had paid an upgrade and a towing fee. I didn`t mind this as I was a couple of hundred miles away from home. I then broke all the rules, left the keys in the ignition and got a taxi to go to the railway station along with my friend as we were going to Chams! When I got back to w*rk my car was there so can`t complain there! Next time I needed recovery I was stuck in Bristol. First upgrade had expired, needed to upgrade again - no problem! Got recovered then had upgrade refunded!  Have since been recovered on a rigid bar twice (NEVER tell the AA man you`ve been on a rigid bar before as chances are he`ll drive like a nutter if he`s doing you a favour by towing you twenty miles instead of "following you home to make sure you don`t stop again" and I`ve had to wait for a flat bed to recover me home 3 miles away from where I broke down! And he left a usefull spanner in the engine compartment!
I`m happy with the AA! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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When with ex .....travelling from kent to bradford....we broke down in between newark and worksop on a1.....phone rac informed them we had 3 children youngest been 4 months old sent a recovery truck with no rear seltbelts...so had to wait another hour on the road side with recovery truck as they sent a rapid response unit to take me n.kids back to newark to a garage that the car wasnt even going to ....tried to leave me there but i refused to get out .....so after about 20 mins of argueing with someone on.phone they decided to take me n kids to worksop where they had taken car ......never used rac after this |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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He was in the wrong in every way and i hope you get it sorted and ask for comp as you were just messed about with and they will be wanting u to rejoin at end of the year tell them the big yellow trucks have offered u a great deal and better service |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A few years back we did a few 'repatriations' for a 'well-known motoring organisation' - taking people home from the roadside on our bit of the M25 usually, as that is where their contract insists they must be taken, when their car has broken down and had to be transported home. They couldn't ride in the recovery truck on this contract as they are not licensed private hire vehicles with the correct insurance - hence we did it, among others.
It was complete luck of the draw as to how well the 'repats' were organised, but the last straw for us came when we were asked to send a car to pick up just after J5 on the M25 at about 3am one morning. 'How many people?' we asked. 'Two' came the reply. 'And do they have any luggage?'
'Just a small case each'.....
I got one of my guys out of bed to go and pick them up, and when he got there he found there were actually..... five people, one of whom was in a wheelchair, plus 11 or 12 cases. They had already been on the roadside nearly two hours at this point. Fortunately, we were able to send an 8 seater fairly quickly.
The second driver loaded them up, and confirmed where they were going. I can't remember the name of the town, but the one they wanted (it was a sort of 'St Ives, Cambs v. St Ives, Cornwall situation) was 200 miles further than the one the 'motoring organisation' were paying us for... for a CAR, not an 8 seater. Despite a series of rows with them during the following day, they refused to pay the right rate for the correct vehicle or distance. We've never done a job for them since, and never would again. It's a fairly well known contract in my industry, but everyone who joins it thinking it's going to earn them nice money gets caught just as we did... It works both ways - the motorist in trouble gets crap service, and the sub contractors get stitched up all the time..
ted. |
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We Abused the Recovery System and got £120 into the Bargain..
We went down to South-Wales for a Meet and after meeting - they Wanted to Buy our car.. as it was up for sale at the time..
They had an old car that was fooked and they were going to scrap but it was legal for about another month or something..
On the saturday we joined one of the Recovery guys selling the stuff in a Shopping Center and filled in all the paperwork..
On the sunday - they were phoned to say we had Broken down in Wales..
We both got the return Journey Back to Scotland for a direct debit of £7.95 and also Got £120 from the scrapyard for the car..  |
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My fella broke his key and rang the RAC it took them 30 mins to answer the phone and was told he would have to wait up to 3 hours for them to come out he was also told he would have to pay £175.00 to have his car recovered 40 miles as the service he had didn't cover broken keys....He had the top cover you couldn't get higher.He argued with them that a key was an integeral part of any car and if any engine part had broken they would recover it so why not because of a key.They wouldn't have it. In the end he rang his mate who came around ours and picked up his spare key and took it to him. He cancelled the RAC and went to the AA....will have to wait and see what they are like as havent had to use them yet |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I used to work for the AA and have been called out to some strange calls like keys locked in cars cars in rivers they do deal with most jobs but if u are in a crash they dont class that as a break down and do charge but if ur fully comp they tend to pay you back when you claim |
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