Thanks everyone for the R/R/Cs, still much appreciated.
Well ciao seems to have settled down now......
Thanks everyone for the R/R/Cs, still much appreciated.
Well ciao seems to have settled down now... but how long will it be before they 'fix' the site again..????
(still on dooyoo with same name)
Member since:04.09.2006
Reviews:456
Members who trust:111
I have just read a few negative reviews regarding this breakdown service and I feel I have to defend the boys in the orange vans as I have nothing but praise for them. I 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 a ford Escort…for my sins,… well, here's a brief story of it…
The car was fine for a while, getting me to work and back, and the usual trips round to the shops with the misses… but then one day it started to act like I was out on my very first driving
lesson.. 'Kangarooing' down the road as I put my foot down to get going, (and no..! it was not my clutch control)… anyway, I checked the engine myself, together with my brother who is a time serve mechanic, going through what we thought may be the culprits… the HT lead, the fuel filter/lines, the distributor cap, the rotor arm… etc.etc.. but found nothing untoward. So even when I finally succumbed to my pride, (and my wallet), I took it too a reputable garage…only for them to charge me a fortune for what I already knew… but the car was still jerking down the road… causing people to now point and stare at my amateurish driving… So that was the final straw, my pride had been hurt and my wallet dented, all for nothing… it was then I decided to call out the RAC, although I was not officially broken down…
They came out to my house with in twenty minutes, (which I thought was good) and the middle aged gentleman was polite and very professional, he listened as I told him the symptoms and he swiftly reached into the engine, clicking off the Dizzy cap and extracting the rotor arm, (at this point I thought he was just clutching at straws as the cap and arm had already been checked…but how wrong I was…), he whipped off the rotor arm and replaced it with a similar one from the back of his van, clipping the cap back into place… telling me that everything would be fine now, but I for one was not convinced, until I took the car around the block for a test drive… it drove like a dream, (well, it was back to it's normal non stuttering state in any case). He explained to me that a lot of Fords of that age are prone to the rotor arm damage which happens on the inside of the arm and can't be seen.
But the point is that from calling him out to driving my car away took less than 30 minutes and only cost me a few quid for the arm itself… unlike the bloody garage that charged me for a new set of leads, a fuel filter and a hefty lump for labour, (although I did get my money back from them for the unnecessary items using the old 'Lemon Law' as a threat… but that's another story)
Anyway, back to the RAC.
The reason I used that story is to state how efficient I found them, (or was it just the cleverness of the one man)… but I have had to use them a few times since… Like when I had a breakdown on the M6 whilst heading to a business trip in a borrowed Peugeot 106, (as my car was off the road)…As I was passing the sign for the M55 I heard a slight clanging noise and suddenly the dash board lights and the car came to a shuddering halt… With-in forty five minutes of phoning them I was back on my way with a new fan belt as a pin in the alternator had slipped causing the belt to run at a bad angle, wearing away at the side, (another botch job by a garage a few days earlier which was quickly rectified by the man in the orange van)… although a not so friendly police man did pull up with-in a few minutes asking me what I was doing..? And as it was lashing down with rain and I was stood on the grass verge I was not having a picnic at all… (but I must thank a bloke in a range rover who pulled up a little bit later to see if I wanted a tow off the motorway before the cut off time and the hefty police towing charge…anyway, I'm drifting now…)
I have used them several more times since, like a said, mainly when I had my Vectra, and have nothing but praise for them. They have been prompt and each mechanic seemed to know exactly what they were doing…
Although I do recall one summer time when I was near Newby Bridge I called them out because of some braking trouble… The operator told me that due to a high number of call outs it may take up to two hours for a patrol to reach me but that they would keep me informed via my mobile phone… of which they did… I had a call from them probably every twenty to thirty minutes telling me I was not forgotten and a patrol would be with me as soon as possible… so about ninety minutes later the van arrived and the mechanic/technician found the trouble and quickly rectified it with a smile and an apology…
Anyway… I am happy to say that 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.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
. . . the rise in price for AA membership is probably due to ordinary members subsidising the 'free AA membership' offered by some banks to selected paying customers
. . . . . . . ♥ . jes ♥
jesi 18.11.2008 08:46
we have been with the AA for nearly 30 years and have experienced similar excellent service ~ call-out times have improved since we first joined ~ particularly since the advent of satelite navigational technology (you no longer need to know exactly where you are waving a giant HELP sign and using smoke signals) . . . l'm glad the garage had the sense to refund the fees charged
. . . . . . . ♥ . jes ♥
Nov 17th, 2008
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (92%):
