When I purchased my first car upon turning 17 I received 3 years free RAC cover with the deal. Fantastic. Fast forward 5 years and I have only ever used their service once, something I would consider to be a good thing.
However, my one single experience was a very positive one and I am now ... Read review
Advantages: Great Service Disadvantages: None for me
...I received 3 years free RAC cover with the deal. Fantastic. Fast forward 5 years and I have only ever used their service once, something I would consider to be a good thing.
However, my one single experience was a very positive one and I am now with them as a loyal member in my new car also. I thought I would share my experience to show the level of service that I received.
My Experience
-------------------- ...remembered I had cover with RAC and reached for my glove box and the car manual with all the details on my cover stated inside.
First Contact
------------------
I called the free phone number that was clearly printed on the membership card I had been given and explained to a very friendly lady, that I was under the impression I had cover needed assistance. She took my license plate number and informed me that ... more
When I purchased my first car upon turning 17 I received 3 years free RAC cover with the deal. Fantastic. Fast forward 5 years and I have only ever used their service once, something I would consider to be a good thing.
However, my one single experience was a very positive one and I am now with them as a loyal member in my new car also. I thought I would share my experience to show the level of service that I received.
My Experience --------------------
As I said, my level of cover came as part of the deal I got when purchasing Rex, (Rex being a now 5 year old black Hyundai Getz and my first true love) unfortunately though; Rex wasn’t the best of cars. He was cheap and cheerful and a perfect first car for a 17 year old girl. He however, started to show his cheaper quality after he turned 3 and a half.
I’d been having a few problems with unusually high fuel consumption and on a return trip from my local shopping centre one Saturday, with a quarter of a tank of fuel when I left home, I pulled up to some traffic lights to join a roundabout and there it happened. Rex shuddered to a halt and refused to re-start to my horror as the lights turned green and those ever so patient English drivers started beeping me.
The roundabout I had broken down on is a large 3 lane roundabout with duel carriage way junctions leading to the M25, M1 and A41. Joy! A busy road at 7 in the evening when it getting dark, Rex was so far gone I couldn’t even get him to the side of the road, and with the traffic and darkness, I wasn’t prepared to let my other half start pushing.
At this point I remembered I had cover with RAC and reached for my glove box and the car manual with all the details on my cover stated inside.
First Contact ------------------
I called the free phone number that was clearly printed on the membership card I had been given and explained to a very friendly lady, that I was under the impression I had cover needed assistance. She took my license plate number and informed me that I did indeed have 3 years cover from when I brought my car...which was 3 years and a few months ago. My heart sank, but to my complete delight she continued to explain that RAC have an “honour” system where they will honour any previous membership within 3 months of expiration. I was gobsmacked, what a lovely gesture, especially to someone who didn’t actually pay for the cover themselves.
The lady on the phone took my name, mobile number and a brief description of the problem. She informed me that the longest I would be waiting was 45 minutes and she would call me with any more developments or if anything changed.
The Call Out / Repair ---------------------------
After 10 minutes I received a call back from the call centre advising me that someone would be with me in 20 minutes. After hanging up, I had a voicemail, the voicemail was from the road side assistance engineer stating that he was very close but had a more urgent motorway breakdown to deal with first, but estimated he would be with me in ten minutes. This was great. I had gone from a reasonable 45 minute expected wait to 20 minutes from placing the first call.
Ten minutes later as promised, the RAC man and his van we’re in sight, as he whizzed straight past me my phone rang. The engineer explained that from the obvious nature of the problems my car had been having recently, putting petrol in and trying that first before anything else would be logical. He had rung to say he would buy £10 worth of petrol and this would be up to me to pay for, I agreed luckily having money on me and he came back a short while later, petrol can in tow.
The gentleman was polite and friendly and happily chatted to me about my car and also my day while filling my car up for me. He advised I stay in the car with my other half due to the traffic etc.
I tried the engine and Rex was alive and appeared well. The engineer had a quick look under the bonnet and advised me to go fill up my tank fully. He also said he would follow me to the nearest petrol station which luckily is only a few miles down the road encase Rex conked out again. After making it safely to the garage, I was surprised when the engineer also pulled in. He waited until I had paid and asked if everything felt ok and normal driving Rex. He then asked me to fill out a short 5 or 6 question survey about how I would rate the service I received. This brings me on to:
Service -----------
I was honestly taken back by the whole experience. I had heard such horror stories about breakdown companies and their services that I couldn’t believe I had such a nice simple and easy service. They kept me informed at all times what was happening and when I would be seen to, as well as being extremely polite and sympathetic towards my situation. I can imagine having to take calls from silly little girls not putting enough fuel in their tank all day would be frustrating, but the call centre staff down to the engineer really sounded like they cared. The little details like the engineer making a point of telling me not to get out of the car due to the traffic and such, really made me feel valued as a customer and as a person it was nice to think that someone is thinking about your safety.
I of course gave the engineer glowing ratings on his little questionnaire and I hope he got some sort of praise for it. He was polite and knew what he was talking about with regards to the ongoing problems with my car. He even asked me about them and told me a few key things he would suggest I mention to the garage when booking Rex in for a thorough look.
I was very relieved and happy with the whole ordeal and RAC really did make it a lot simpler and more of a pleasure than a pain. Being the first time I have ever broken down and it being late and dark, I would have imagined the whole thing to be horrible, but it really wasn’t so bad. I knew I had someone on the phone I could talk to and a friendly engineer who didn’t make me feel intimidated or silly for running out of fuel in the first place. Of course having my fiancé in the car with me made it a lot better, but even without him I think RAC did a wonderful job of making the situation a lot better.
Prices and cover ----------------------
All of RAC’s different levels of cover are priced differently, obviously depending on what level of cover you need. My experience cost me £10 in petrol and about half hour of my time. Obviously unless cover is free from a car deal or something similar, you will have to pay either a monthly or yearly fee.
I am now on an annual cover just encase and have recommended RAC to my family and friends.
All options of their services and a lot more detail on their different aspects are available at their website: www.rac.co.uk
Advantages: Quick, efficient and very professional Disadvantages: can be a few delays during holiday times
...have had to use the RAC a few times… mainly when I had to drive a Vauxhall Vectra for a short time… Every one knows what the RAC are about so I simply wanted to give you a members experience of why I rate them as a recovery company…
I joined using the Roadside assistance together with the 'At home' service, which means that wherever a break down they will come to my rescue…
My first experience was when I had just passed my test and was driving ... ...when I have needed the RAC they have been there and have helped me on my way…. But I suppose everyones story is probably different indeed… I would recommend them to any one and I do personally believe that all drivers should be members of one of the breakdown services… but the RAC are the best IMO. ...
blissman70 17.11.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RAC
Advantages: Swift response, excellent staff attitude Disadvantages: Inconsistent level of proficiency among staff
The RAC - a motoring institution, and one I have had a good deal of experience with, despite my tender age, and the fact I've only been driving for five years. Of necessity, this is a lengthy review.
This is largely a review of the RAC's breakdown service, including:
Introduction
Calling the RAC - the mechanics of it
Experiences: The M1: running out of petrol
Experiences: The A14: Failing electrics
Experiences: Services on the M4: Corroded ... ...- Calling the RAC - the mechanics of it - Contacting the RAC is easy: they supply you with a membership card which has all their emergency numbers on it, as well as your membership number. Every time I have rung, the RAC have answered within five or six rings. They will take your membership number, your location, your contact number, your car registration number, and then confirm the make and model of your stricken vehicle. Let me add here that I ...
Ki_caelum 12.03.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RAC
Advantages: Excellent Service, Fairly Priced, Fast Response Disadvantages: None I Think!
I originally took out RAC cover back in September in 1999; the reason for this was that my car was getting fairly old and not as reliable as it once was. I had stopped in a motorway service station and was approached by one of the salesman. You know the ones, the annoying ones that approach you on the way in and on the way out with the same question. All I had to pay was £30 then and the rest by direct debit over 3 months, easy enough so I took out ... ...had to call on the RAC about 7 or 8 times I suppose, every time they could not have been more helpful. The first time was with a dead battery which died just after I had bought a take away to take home, so that got eaten in the car. They were there within half an hour and got the car started straight away. The second time was where I realised how helpful they could be. One morning my car would not start, so I called the RAC and within 45 minutes ...
Andy0304 28.10.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RAC
Advantages: Were quick for me and cheap Disadvantages: They like other companies will try to con you
...3 major ones really, AA, RAC and Greenflag, and as green flag don’t seem to like young drivers, from what I’ve figured out, it narrows the choice down even further for us younger drivers.
I’ve heard good and bad stories for both AA and RAC, so it really is pot luck as to which will give you the better service. It depends on your location, your car, your sex (females get served better with breakdown services, it’s a well known ... ...well, might aswell give the RAC a call, and this was the first time I had done it.
They asked me a few questions, my location, what car I was driving and the problem then told me that someone would be out in under an hour. 20 minutes later I got a call from the patrol man himself saying he would be five minutes. About 4 minutes later, I saw a big orange van pulling up behind me! Oh yay, I was saved….or so I thought.
Out gets an untidy looking ...
GR-Design 03.09.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RAC
Advantages: Home Jeeves! Disadvantages: To the Orange Van!
...break down, a woman rings RAC on her Mobile, and they’re rescued in about an hour and home for supper. No-one got wet.
Becoming a member of the RAC is joyously easy. Go over to www.rac.co.uk, or simply stop at any motorway service station, day or night, and speak to the man outside. Not the one smoking. The one with the clipboard in orange.
The most challenging thing about the membership is deciding what sort of member you want to be. There are ... ...the commotion. The RAC has been around forever. They’ve been around for longer than cars have, starting as they did in the late 19th century, and with uniformed patrols since 1912.
By my own unfounded but potentially accurate calculations, there were probably 6 people with cars in 1912, so they mustn’t have been too busy back then but even in today’s car blanched society, the longest I’ve had to wait was 3 hours.
3 hours sounds terrible but at ...
Muffin_the_Mule 28.08.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of RAC
Advantages: very cheap, free breakdown cover Disadvantages: dont always get the best quote off the website
RAC is by far the cheapest insurace ive found. im18 and am in the second year with them as a named driver on my mums car. this year we paid a total of £520, thats for 2 adults with clean licences, one 18yr old male and one 19yr old girl both on provisional licences in a 1.8l petrol car which is 8yrs old. Norwich Union quoted various figures around £1700 and the lowest quotes were from tesco at around £1100. it wouldve cost my parents around £200 to insure the car for just them. the first year cost about the same. we paid annually but it is still a direct debit, so when they send the renewal you have to cancel if you wish to go else where. my dad has now insured his car with them aswell and got a second car discount and some cashback. we got a quote from confused.com but it was lower than the rac site quoted. my dad phoned them up ...
Advantages: GF very quick Disadvantages: none really
Having used the RAC and Green Flag over recent years, I have no hesitation in recommending Green Flag. Also as an ex employee of Green Flag, I know the company quite well.
Both companies offer various rates of cover from about £40 up to about £130 from basic breakdown cover to services such as European / caravan cover. Also they offer other services but I am going to talk about the car breakdown service I have recieved from the 2 companies.
My old Peugout(sp) was on its last legs and so breakdown cover was a necessity. Whilst with the RAC, I needed 3 breakdown calls, which meant my no claims bonus which they offer ( to deter flat tyre / flat battery / other waste of time calls) went out of the window. The guy came after about an hour (which would have netted me a tenner with Green Flag) and had a look, decided my battery was flat ...
sjl02 28.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Green Flag
Advantages: Cheaper, Subcontracts work so often quicker Disadvantages: None
I have noticed that, to date, there has been only one opinion written about Autonational Rescue.......but I can't understand why! This vehicle recovery organisation certainly knocks spots off both the AA and RAC!
I have been with A.R. for 2 years and have no complaints in the time that I have been with them...in fact nothing but praise! I was a member of the AA for about 4 years previous, I paid £122 for the top service they offered (which I needed as I was travelling around the country quite a bit at the time). During this time I was left for 3 hours at the side of a road with 2 burst tyres.....so when my renewal was up.....errrr...the AA wasn't an option (to put it in nice terms!).
I saw a small ad in the press for A.R. - never had heard of them before, and sent off for details. They were offering me the same cover as the AA ...
Tel: 0800 82 82 82; Website: http://www.rac.co.uk/; Details: The RAC was founded in 1897 as the Royal Automobile Club and has been consistently at the forefront in developing motoring services
