The lovely Mr AA man.

Advantages: quick response, good customer service, good communcation, fix a lot of breakdowns
Disadvantages: some of the deals are quite expensive

...The AA pride themselves on being the UK's "number one breakdown provider". They provide a 24 hour recovery service for their members and there are different levels of cover available. Another claim made by the AA is that they "fix more breakdowns by the roadside than anyone else". I have never bothered with breakdown cover until I moved back home from university with the intention of commuting each day. I realised that if I were to break down on the hour drive to brighton there would probably be no one willing to come and rescue me!! On top of this my brothers car had broken down several times in the country lanes locally and I decided that it was a sign for me to start being sensible! Being a poor student with hardly a penny to my name I did look around at all the various breakdown companies to try and find the best deal. The AA...

ilusvm 17.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of AA

THE LONGEST AA RECOVERY IN HISTORY?

Advantages: Extremely efficient. Amazing Cover. Very Good Value
Disadvantages: In my case and circumstances - NONE!

...with hot tea. We had assumed that he would have stayed in a local hotel overnight, prior to collecting our car in the morning, but no. He had been flown into Wroclaw on the western side of Poland; waited four hours at the train station there and then had a first class ticket on an overnight sleeper train depositing him at Debica, approximately thirty miles to the south of Mielec. From there he had to make two bus connections, all without speaking a word of Polish or ever having visited the country before. I was full of admiration for this most resourceful man, I do not think that I would ever have found Mrs R's parents place unaided on my own, especially in these arctic temperatures and during the night. I had absolutely no qualms about Steve finding his way home safely with our car! He had arrived with a computer print out AA map...

RICHADA 29.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of AA

AA ....... Absolutely Awful .

Advantages: you decide
Disadvantages: again , draw your own conclusions ...

...Almost exactly a year ago we had occasion to use , for the first time in our five years of membership , the services of the AA . We had been on our way to Portsmouth Passenger Ferry Terminal for our pre booked trip across the Channel to Caen on one of our regular visits to our house in Western Brittany . We were trundling along the A34 in our Ford van , making good time , and looking forward to our trip , when there was a sudden loud bang . The passenger side of the vehicle dropped and my husband lost all control of the vehicle as it slewed sideways out of the centre lane , then across the inside lane and a joining slip road with upcoming traffic . How the lorry coming up to our left managed to miss us , or we him , I will never know , but eventually we came to rest suddenly and jarringly on the soft verge about two thirds...

Janej47 30.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of AA

The AA

Advantages: The organisation
Disadvantages: Certain policies of the organisation

..., once again confirming the remarkable cloning process that appears to homogenize the character of AA patrolmen. Just before moving on, my conversation with the remote AA representative proved to be of significance later. She asked me as to the nature of the problem, and on replying that it was 'a clutch problem', she also asked if the pedal had 'gone to the floor' to which I replied in the affirmative. After a brief investigation the patrolman announced that the problem was a broken clutch ratchet and that there was no conceivable roadside repair. Mentioning the antecedents, being unconvinced but also aware that that when this was renewed the clutch and plate were similarly replaced, the reply received was that it is a known problem. 'Please can you take me home'; there was no alternative offered at this point. Being towed on a bar is worse...

caveatemptor123 09.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of AA

The AA, The best

Advantages: Value for money, great customer support
Disadvantages: None yet!

...I decided to get myself some roadside cover after my Astra broke down for the third time that month (dodgy battery). I went about the task of comparing The AA and RAC, not easy I'm afraid, I asked work colleagues, looked on ciao and dooyoo and eventually choose The AA as it saved me £1.90 a month in comparison to the RAC, a discount I received due to being with The AA for my car insurance. It seems that both companies have people who rave about them and equal amounts of people who aren't satisfied with either or believe roadside cover is overpriced. Usual format here, I will go through a few basic details and then give you my personal experiences and opinions. Who are they? = The Automobile Association was created in 1905, started by some motoring enthusiast's in London. They put up thousands of roadside safety...

NHilton24 22.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of AA

A package of maps worth having

Advantages: Ease of use and price
Disadvantages: None

...Having used a Tom Tom Go 700 for a number of years, I decided to update the maps of Western Europe. Tom Tom uses software called Tom Tom Home which is used to download the updated maps. Having connected Tom Tom Go 700 to my PC, via a USB cable, it was a simple matter of clicling on the relevant icon on the Home Software, paying for the maps, and downloading them over the internet. Payment was straight forward. It is undertaken electronically either by credit or debit card, and the down load commenced. Because of the size of the map file, it took a little time to download (I do have broadband running at 8mb band width, so I suppose a lesser bandwith will take longer. Use of the system is simplicity itself. You are given a choice of country, and then you select address, or point of interest....

sectorchamp 03.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of TomTom Map of Western Europe Maps

The AA. Less Adverts, Better Service

Advantages: Good breakdown service...
Disadvantages: ... but recently flawed

...I've been a member of the AA for a few years now and up till 2000 I didn’t have to use it much! But from 2000 till the beginning of 2001 was a bad year for me as I broke down about 4 times! Talk about bad luck! Anyway the breakdown cover I have is the Option 200 ROADSIDE + RELAY cover which is jointly used by my brother which means a joint cost of £106 for a year. This covers me for any roadside assistance and in the case of the AA man not being to able to fix my car, it means I can get towed to my final destination or a garage. I think most people have an idea what the AA Breakdown service is all about and what the service offers, so I wont bore you with the details but I would like to share an experience with you which might make you think carefully about joining the AA. I’ve never ever felt dissatisfied...

rayliu 14.11.2001 · Read review
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Review of AA

Lost without the AA

Advantages: Fast efficient service
Disadvantages: None

...I have only been a member of the AA for 3 years, longenough however to benefit from their share deal when they were taken over by Centrica, £245 worth of shares are now worth about £335. So for that alone I have ever reason to be thankful to the AA. The benefits of their service became apparent to me after only a week after joining. I found my clutch non responsive on my way home after a long trip. With 4 children in the car everyone was feeling edgy after breaking down. The AA were with us within 20 minutes and had our car going again, sufficiently well to get the car into our local garage the next day, all within 20 minutes of arrival. I was very impressed. I have their roadside assistance, home start and recovery service and I cannot fault it. When my second car's suspension broke they came out and took the car at a time...

jonwhite 21.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of AA

AA ROAD ATLAS FRANCE 2009

Advantages: GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY
Disadvantages: TO MANY GREAT PLACES TO VISIT

...This is a review for the 'AA Road Atlas 2009' INTRO Well it's that time of year for me where I think of going on my summer holiday This year I'm planning to take my car to France and go camping with friends, so a good map of France is a must. I looked on Ebay for maps on France and came across 1500 results for French maps, after searching page after page I came across two different maps that I've used before one was the Michelin foldout map (very good) and the other was the 'AA Road Atlas France'. As I wanted as much detail as I could get the 108 page 'AA Big Road Atlas France 2009' was at the top of my list. I managed to find the 'AA Road Atlas France 2009' map brand new on Ebay for £6.25p including the postage (retail £9.99). AA ROAD ATLAS FRANCE 2009. The 108 page 'AA Road Atlas France 2009' has everything I...

donovan74 06.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of 2007 AA Road Atlas France (AA Atlases) - AA Publishing

All Maps Welcome

Advantages: McRaes usual thought-provoking lyrics
Disadvantages: Not as easy to get absrobed into as previous albums

...All Maps Welcome is the third album from Tom McRae, after his self-titled album, Tom McRe, and then Just Like Blood. I first heard this album when I was given a free taster to it, which played about 30 seconds of each song; this then led me to buy the full album. I was already a fan, and was looking forward to seeing him when he toured last year. His dark lyrics and melancholy melodies really blew me away, and I wanted to hear more. In this album, he uses assistance from members of Beck?s backing band. It took only three weeks to record, and the album itself deals with the break up of a long term relationship. His lyrics are just as deep as in other albums, but with hints of self-pity never seen before. I never really connected with this album as much as the previous ones, and I am still sceptical with some of the songs on Just...

lc15 08.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of All Maps Welcome - Tom McRae