It can be difficult finding a good rescuebreakdown service. You’ve only got 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 fact, and one I’m not going to argue with), your package and where and when you break down. So which company fairs out on the better side of the fence? I don’t know, I have only tried RAC, and below are my findings!
Ok, so I’m going to go against all traditions, I’m gonna forget about my male status and my male pride, I’m going to ridicule the younger men out there who like their cars…..yes, I’m going to tell you that I have so far broken down twice in 2 years of driving. Not bad I suppose, but still, breaking down is just not the done thing when your trying to look supercool!
Breakdown Number 1………….
Ok, so there I was, quite happily driving away from the McDonalds drive thru. Plenty of supercool (or should I say twats) driving around and generally causing trouble with their stereos blasting etc and I felt something go a bit wrong and I made a hugely embarrassing loud crunching
noise engaging reverse gear. Quick exit then! Anyway, about a mile further up the road I couldn’t change gear and had to coast into a side road hoping no one was around to make me stop in mid flow and park up. So, stopped the engine, tried again, could not get into first gear, however hard I tried, the knob (gear one) just didn’t wanna play. Oh 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 man, then gets back in again, gets his yellow jacket, turns his lights on (oh Christ no, that’s just what I didn’t want, I don’t want EVERYONE to know I’ve broken down) and came and introduced himself. He asked what the problem was and then gave it a go himself making my car jump forwards and backwards and then after abusing my baby, told me my clutch had gone. Oh joy, yer just what I wanted, but at least it wasn’t too bad, clutches go all the time, wasn’t too embarrassing and wasn’t too expensive (considering things like engine failure and head gaskets!)
So, it was now time to be towed through the centre of town up to a recommended garage. My heart stopped a beat….you mean I had to sit in my car while it was being pulled by a rope!! Jesus Christ, I hope no one sees me…
…it was rush hour wasn’t it! There I was, sat in my car for 15 minutes while being towed around. Got stuck on a roundabout, held up all the traffic….I was blocking an exit, not my fault though, although I still got beeped! Finally I was dropped off at the garage and the RAC man went into the offices and spoke to the mechanic. Came out and asked me for my keys then sent me packing.
Overall I wasn’t too impressed. The garage was great. The time the call had taken was fine, but the attitude of the patrol man stinked! He smelt too, which made things worse. He could have reassured me, helped me, but no, he just said ‘follow me with your car inside my lights, DO NOT go outside the lights because if I break, the tow bar won’t stop you from hitting my rear end’…oh yer, just shit me up some more!
4/5, the patrol let me down.
Breakdown Number 2……
This one wasn’t as embarrassing, although it did make me stall….theres an unwritten law about stalling too….it’s just not to be done! I won’t drag on about this breakdown, it was simple really….my fuel filter had given up, it was on its last legs, dirt had got into my carburettor over time and had caused the fuel to not reach the parts it supposed to reach with ease, so basically, my engine was getting starved of fuel. Pretty good for the old fuel saving, but not good when idle as the engine would just die. I put up with it for a bit, holding me foot on the accelerator while at the lights just trying to get home so dad could have a look, but it was no good, I couldn’t come to a stop, put down the clutch and have the accelerator held down a little all at the same time!
I had to find a secluded place to pull over and call the RAC. I was this time told it would be about half an hour, in reality it was 15 minutes and the RAC control people rang me this time to tell me someone was on their way.
This man was much better, he was polite, friendly, told me exactly what my problem was and showed me what he was doing. He then tested it himself and then told me again what he had done and to get another fuel filter fitted as the dirt was getting in.
He then watched me as a left, well, filled in his forms anyway and gave me a friendly flash of his lights as I drove past and as I waved and smiled as a thank you, he did the same.
5/5 this time
The control people….
The control people are the people at the end of the phone, they are easy to talk too and just ask you for minimum requirements and get someone sent on the way to you. If you run out of credit on your mobile, or cash in the phonebox, they will ring you back as they log your number. They are very helpful and one of the blokes even called me a pillock for breaking down! Very much appreciated by me as I love anyone who can see the funny sides of things and make you that bit more comfortable by taking the piss of the situation, it’s what I always do, it just lightens things up a bit.
Membership Renewal…..
When I signed up, I signed up under a joint account with my dad. The man who sold us the policy assured us the cover would always be the same amount for the year (£39) and wouldn’t go up apart from with inflation. Our year has just ended, and with that, you get the bonus of a renewal fee. £65, excuse me!?
So I rang them explaining to them politely where they could shove their policy, to get politely interrupted saying that she could lower the renewal to £50 as they didn’t think it was fair that we should get it one year for £39 and then the next for £65, it’s doubled nearly! So, the price of renewal was £50 in the end, which me and my dad were happy with. My dad has had one callout, and I have had 2, making 3 callouts in the year, for £39, we thought that was good value.
So why do they send you out a renewal, but if you ring them up, they will reduce it as they don’t think the price is fair….why not just put a fair price on the renewal in the first place? Silly people that’s why, some people will just pay it, no knowing that they can bribe the RAC and say ‘right, I’m off to the AA’, so watch out for that renewal price.
Options……
There are plenty of options to choose from, starting from about £39 for joint cover, up to about £200. It all depends on what you want, from roadside cover, to fully blown European cover with insurance etc etc. I’m not going to go into that here, you can find it all laid out quite clearly on the web site. One thing I will say is don’t settle for the first price you see. Pop along to one of those little men with a little truck on wheels, or a patio table with an umbrella, they can sell you cheaper price plans.
Overall…….
I’m happy with the service, the callouts and I suppose it’s just luck as to which patrol man (or women, don’t want to be sexist, have never seen on though!) you happen to get. You see a hell of a lot more RAC vans on the road where I am than AA van’s, which I can only think must be a good thing.
Their timescales with me have been good, in both rush hour and quieter evening periods. It’s a good service and I will give it 4 stars. It would have had 5 if they hadn’t had tried to con me over the renewal fee!
Silly people! Recommended!
Web Site:
www.rac.co.uk
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Sep 3rd, 2002
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (96%):
helpful by (2%):
