street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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May 29, 2006 16:25:53 GMT
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What a day I had last friday I went out in the Mongtego to give it a right good blast down the lanes to try and clear the dodgy running problem. But like most mechanical problems, a damn good thrashing is exactly what it did'nt need, and I innevitably ended up sat on the grass verge with the hazzards on gently tapping the steering wheel with my forehead Not bieng part of any national breakdown service, my options were pretty limited. Despite not having any tools with me (unless you count the quirky little bottle opener key ring attatched to mt car keys) I optimistically opened the bonnet and waited for the no-tools-required problem to be sitting their waiting for me to fix and get on our way, but it was'nt to be. Then I thought- why not ring the AA? Join up over the phone, ask for their assistance, wait for them to come and rescue us and be home in time for tea and 'deal or no deal' - "Hello? Yes i'd like to join the AA!" - "Of course sir. £40 for our basic cover sir. Is it a breakdown situation your in at the moment?" - " Why yes it is actually, its a funny thing really because its usually very reli....." - "Well then its £90 to join. BURN!" - WTF??!!??!!one! I think thats disgraseful, just because I was down shizzle creek without a paddle they jack the price up to more than double! The rest of the conversation was taken up with me asking what would happen if I put the phone down, then rang them back and did'nt say it was an emergency, joined up and then called them back a few minuites later to get assistance, but she was'nt really getting the jist of my loophole and it was getting later and later so I hung up. Luckily, a phone call to my brother Benzboy who does have AA cover and I had a membership number to work with. Called the AA back up as Benzboy: - "Do you have the membership card to show the driver when he comes out to you sir?" - "Oh yes, its right here in my hands." - "we'll be right with you sir." Of course I did'nt, but my reasoning was that when the AA guy got all the way out to me, he isnt going to turn around and go home just because i'd forgotten my membership card. Besides, I was going to tell him the woman on the phone said it was fine to not have it Turned out that I did need a membership card, but a few Benzboy themed questions later and I had him pulling bits off my car like a safari park monkey ;D So, the moral of the story is DO get cover BEFORE you break down, because they WILL kick you when you are down!
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May 29, 2006 16:33:02 GMT
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Scumbags. Helpful scumbags, but still scumbags.
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May 29, 2006 16:37:01 GMT
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Ah, you can see thier point though, imagine if you only had to take out car insurance when you'd actually had a crash...
'parently the RAC are much better than the AA so check them out if you've not already sortedout some cover.
Out of curiosity how long did they take to come out to you? I've noticed the AA response times aren't as good as they once were. Ive had to wait more than an hour a few times now.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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May 29, 2006 16:41:39 GMT
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What was wrong with the car?
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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May 29, 2006 16:42:31 GMT
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It took them almost 2 hours, which was far too long for me, especially if i'd payed 90 freaking sheets Will check out the RAC, i've heard good things about greenflag too. I don't think they need to take the attitude that people are only using them when they need them. After all i was willing to sign up for a years worth of cover. I cant see any other reason for them jacking up the price like that other than because they knew I had to pay it Turned out to be nothing more than a rotor arm bieng knackered. Naturally he wasnt carrying one so had to tow my sorry ass the 8 miles home
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Last Edit: May 29, 2006 16:44:07 GMT by street
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May 29, 2006 16:43:17 GMT
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RAC do the same thing though - I remember my girlfriend's dad driving the Saab 9-3 he'd just bought back from the auction when the timing chain went. He was with Green Flag who cover the car rather than the driver, and as he'd only had the car an hour they basically told him 'tough'. He ended up joining the RAC for twice the normal rate. I'm with the RAC and I've had to wait more than an hour all three times I've used them, although to be fair I think I've managed to call them at 5:30pm every single time.
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May 29, 2006 16:59:31 GMT
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I know it seems harsh but if you look at it from there point of view, they are trying to make money, and they are trying to discourage people from joining when they have broken down as the money it costs for a mechanic to come out and have a look at your car is more than they would recoup from their yearly payment. I know the RAC do exactly the same and I would have thought most breakdown companies will be pretty similar. I think its 24 hrs you have to wait after joining before you can call them out.
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May 29, 2006 17:00:23 GMT
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Green Flag don't cover cars over 15 years old! Or they didn't when my ex was with them. Check the small print....
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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May 29, 2006 18:11:12 GMT
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Sneakiest trick I've experienced from the AA:
I blew my gearbox coming into the Reading services. I rang them up, told them that it wouldn't select any gears, appeared to be stuck in one gear and was leaking gearbox oil. And I needed to be in Cheltenham. So they sent out a man with a van, inside 45 minutes. He then told me that all their flatbeds were tied up and he'd radio me one up as I'd obviously blown my gearbox. Of course, as I was sitting there for a further hour and a half, I figured out that they'd managed to keep inside they're 1 hour response time while still making me wait for the best part of 2 hours to get recovered...
Sneaky!
Graham
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May 29, 2006 18:53:33 GMT
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To be honest i called out the RAC recently, they took 1hour 20 minutes which I didn't think was to bad seen as I am a man (I think), I was in a car park, in town, during the day so I definately wasn't a priority,
If they took less time they would need more patrols to do it and the price would go up.
When you brake down you usualy have to expect just a little bit of inconvinience.
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May 29, 2006 19:08:18 GMT
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Yeah I (personally) broke down in a little village in wales a few weeks ago with Ms_Bo11ox, the RAC turned up pretty sharpish, 45 mins or so. But still long enough for me to have a couple in the local pub anyway which made the whole experience quite enjoyable really.
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT!
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Shortcut
Posted a lot
I won't be there when you cross the road, so always use the Green Cross Code.
Posts: 3,037
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May 29, 2006 20:42:42 GMT
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Waited nearly THREE HOURS for the RAC to turn up last time. (this is with the Golf 4 GTi btw not the Peugeot) turned out to be a broken gear selector linkage, great I thought, a tow to the nearest VW garage but no, the man whipped out some plastic tie things and bingo, lashed it together and home we went.
Still three hours was a bit slack.
Before that our XM estate conked out when Mrs ZS was in labour!!!! Started fine. Turned the car round, switched it off, ran back indoors, suitacase, wife, turn key, zip! NOT a comedy moment.
Phones the RAC and was told 45 minutes. I explained about the whole baby on the way thing and they said they'd make it a priority call. Great I said, how long.... 45 minutes gah!!!!
Borrowed neigbours car, drove to hospital, got a new daughter. Sold car soon after!
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This space available to rent. Reach literally dozens of people. Cheap rates!
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May 29, 2006 20:44:40 GMT
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I called the AA to the Nymph a few weeks back when the electrics died. They were with me in 15 minutes!
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BS Nymph Singer Chamois Coupe Series 3 Landy
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impmann
Posted a lot
Overcoming stupidity is the greatest challenge left to mankind
Posts: 1,089
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May 29, 2006 20:58:58 GMT
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Three freaking hours for the AA twonks to pick us up the other day when the Fiat's cam belt tensioner seized. The excuse? No drivers available in the whole South East. WTF? AND they sent a bloke out in a van to diagnose and fix the problem after I told the muppet on the phone I was a mechanic and I knew what the problem was - and we needed recovery. Useless. Then again, the RAC was worse - cost more - and had the cheek to demand an apology when I reported as much in the magazine. My reply was simple and polite - "you cannot apologise for something that 1) is the truth and 2) you aren't sorry about."
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1964 Hillman Imp 1976 Hillman Imp 1967 Hillman Imp (And a few projects dotted around the country)
Just cos something is good for you doesn't mean its good for everyone - for example Marmite does not make good Dog Food.
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May 29, 2006 20:58:59 GMT
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I think there is going to be a certain amount of "luck of the draw" with this kind of thing with any firm.
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Rob
Posted a lot
You know, for kids!
Posts: 2,515
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May 29, 2006 21:50:28 GMT
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some of you may remember that i blew the diff up on the coupe on the way tpo RCS last year - then had to drive a mile or two away from the pod cos thye won't pick you up there (some companies)... i waited an hour or so - then "we're gonne be 2 hours cos there's loads of cars overheated and broked near you" go figure - classic car show, hot day ! i wasnt worried - i sat there drinking ALL the stella... then they ring again "we can't bring your car til the morning, but we can give you a courtesy car"... that put an end to the stella. That was through RAC - they've always been ace - and cos it's the driver they cover it means ANY car !!
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I have been with the AA since the late 1980s and the service has noticably declined since then.
They used to come out in like 20 minutes almost every time.
Last 4 years or so they've been much worse.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Personally, I don't trust the AA after standing next to two patrolmen a few years ago who were having a conversation about how many batteries they'd managed to sell on commission that day. One had sold 3, the other 4. It wasn't quite midday.
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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If you drive around in something 'retro' orientated you should expect to be inconvenienced by a breakdown or two, and when you do, a recovery service is invaluable no matter how long they take.
Last time I checked £90 would get you off a motorway, to the next junction that is... So for a years assistance I think that is a frickin bargain. I've broken down many, many times and the AA/Green Flag/RAC have taken random amounts of time to turn up, the worst being three and a half hours to the middle of Salisbury Plain, it was the middle of February and I was in my beach buggy, I had mild exposure and ended up in bed for two days afterwards. Happy? Yep, 'cos my buggy was outside my house a 100 miles away and it was my third recovery in a year by them.
It really grips me when people have a pop at a service, then promptly abuse it and wonder why the problem they're moaning about existed in the first place??? Come on now, just be glad you got moving/home etc and pay the money. The only time I've ever felt compelled to write to the AA was when they left my girlfriend stranded on the M5 at 2am for two hours, but I was half way across Spain so at least they turned up, eh?
The sort of money they charge doesn't go very far these days, but if I can get a broken retro back from the other side of the country for less than the price of a train ticket for me, I'm sold. Without them I'd think seriously about changing to a newer vehicle for my 30-40K a year, but as it is I can rattle around in a modified 19yr old car. Sweet...
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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So we should expect any service because its better than no service at all? WHere do you draw the line, when they take a week to turn up? Or should we still be so very grateful that they are prepared to take our money?
I used to pay £30 a year and they came in about 20 minutes every time. Now I pay £90 a year and they come in over an hour at best.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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