Breakdown Services: AA = Arrogance and Alienation

[21st. Centuryblues]

AA does not mean AUTOMOBILE or ASSOCIATION it means ARROGANCE and ALIENATION…. what has happened to the human factor with companies that grow and grow and grow away from all traces of being a service or an association? Last month we had the most absurd experience with this company - true!

 

We have been members, on and off - but mostly on, for probably 40 years

with varying levels of 'cover', as for most people, max or min cover dependant on the state of the domestic economy.

 

As the pensions will only stretch so far, at the moment it is 'Roadside' which we thought entitled us to one breakdown

with transit to a 'local' garage if the vehicle could not be repaired roadside……

 

2 o'clock on Sunday, on the A11 Newmarket bypass, the fan-belt disintegrates and the warning lights for temperature and battery come up on the dash of our Merc A-Class.

 

We pull in to an emergency station lay-by no. A3232, exit the vehicle and move away from the roadside,

report our position to the AA and wait (they say about 40mins).

 

An hour later we call to ask whats happening.

 

They say they don't have a patrolman anywhere near us so they'll contract a garage.

We suggest the Garage is informed that we need an A-class fan-belt.

 

Eventually a burly guy arrives, doesn't even know how to open the car bonnet,

grunts a couple of times and says he hasn't a fan-belt and can't raise the car by the roadside

- puts his boss on the phone to tell us there's no flat truck available and no one at the garage to repair the fan-belt.

 

Burly man leaves….. where's the AA patrolman - the courteous, helpful AA man we are assured is always there to 'help' us??

 

So I phone the AA back and ask to be taken off the motorway, preferably with our vehicle

- they say they'll get back to me with another option….it's 3-30pm - 36 degrees in the sun with little shade

and no water and the constant howl of traffic travelling at 70+ mph.

 

an hour later they phone to apologise - they can't get us off unless we pay an upgrade from 'Roadside' to 'Relay' + £80 odd for a truck + £50 fuel costs - total £260-ish in advance.

 

I argued that this was blackmail - 'Roadside' gives us the promise of taking us and our vehicle off the motorway to an 'appropriate' garage to effect repairs.

They've already told us there is no way that can be done!

 

We understood this 'Roadside' service would give us one trip a year, with our vehicle to an 'appropriate', 'local' garage in Norfolk

so it could be left there overnight for repairs the next day - we could walk home.

 

I told them this had happened a few years ago - They checked their system and denied the event had taken place!

 

The AA refused any intermediate assistance - only insisted we pay them first.

I rang off.

 

Another half-hour passed by so I rang to speak to a supervisor who sounded helpful

- said he would ensure we were taken off the motorway within 30 minutes - further apologies…

..we waited but nothing

 

- then we had a call to say it would be another 90minutes.

 

Later it changed again to 40 minutes but they said we would be taken to a closed garage in Newmarket

(this is was what they termed as 'appropriate' and the term 'local in their contract means 'local' to the breakdown, not local the customer)

but they couldn't get us there anyway.

 

I continued to argue about the imposition of being stranded for hours etc. etc.,

 

- the operator said

"the longer you argue with me, the longer it'll be for you to be picked up." I rang off

- That was the straw that …

 

. I contacted the garage the AA had been in touch with,

they charged £120 to pick us up and take us home with the car…

.we left the motorway at 5-40 and arrived home in Norfolk an hour later.

 

They did not require payment until we had been dropped off with our vehicle.

 

When we reported all this to the AA complaints department we encountered more arrogance

- they rejected our complaint and dismissed all the matters we raised.

 

They in fact told us that under the provision of Roadside Assistance, they had arranged a recovery to a safe location and that their service was 'in line with our entitlements'.

 

I'm gonna cancel my AA membership for good

- I'm selling my vintage AA badges on ebay and arranging road-cover with our insurance company,

 

if that doesn't work out, I'll stay independent and in the event of a breakdown,

talk to the garage direct and avoid all that Arrogance and Alienation with the AA.

 

21st Century Blues.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi welcome to CAG, Make a complaint to the CEo personally.

[rebel11]

Thread has been moved to the correct forum.

 

[s12345a]

Just out of curiosity, I also have an A class and think my fan belt is playing up. What model of A class and year do you own ?

[D.H AA Rep]

AA does not mean AUTOMOBILE or ASSOCIATION it means ARROGANCE and ALIENATION…. what has happened to the human factor with companies that grow and grow and grow away from all traces of being a service or an association? Last month we had the most absurd experience with this company - true!

 

We have been members, on and off - but mostly on, for probably 40 years

with varying levels of 'cover', as for most people, max or min cover dependant on the state of the domestic economy.

 

As the pensions will only stretch so far, at the moment it is 'Roadside' which we thought entitled us to one breakdown

with transit to a 'local' garage if the vehicle could not be repaired roadside……

 

2 o'clock on Sunday, on the A11 Newmarket bypass, the fan-belt disintegrates and the warning lights for temperature and battery come up on the dash of our Merc A-Class.

 

We pull in to an emergency station lay-by no. A3232, exit the vehicle and move away from the roadside,

report our position to the AA and wait (they say about 40mins).

 

An hour later we call to ask whats happening.

 

They say they don't have a patrolman anywhere near us so they'll contract a garage.

We suggest the Garage is informed that we need an A-class fan-belt.

 

Eventually a burly guy arrives, doesn't even know how to open the car bonnet,

grunts a couple of times and says he hasn't a fan-belt and can't raise the car by the roadside

- puts his boss on the phone to tell us there's no flat truck available and no one at the garage to repair the fan-belt.

 

Burly man leaves….. where's the AA patrolman - the courteous, helpful AA man we are assured is always there to 'help' us??

 

So I phone the AA back and ask to be taken off the motorway, preferably with our vehicle

- they say they'll get back to me with another option….it's 3-30pm - 36 degrees in the sun with little shade

and no water and the constant howl of traffic travelling at 70+ mph.

 

an hour later they phone to apologise - they can't get us off unless we pay an upgrade from 'Roadside' to 'Relay' + £80 odd for a truck + £50 fuel costs - total £260-ish in advance.

 

I argued that this was blackmail - 'Roadside' gives us the promise of taking us and our vehicle off the motorway to an 'appropriate' garage to effect repairs.

They've already told us there is no way that can be done!

 

We understood this 'Roadside' service would give us one trip a year, with our vehicle to an 'appropriate', 'local' garage in Norfolk

so it could be left there overnight for repairs the next day - we could walk home.

 

I told them this had happened a few years ago - They checked their system and denied the event had taken place!

 

The AA refused any intermediate assistance - only insisted we pay them first.

I rang off.

 

Another half-hour passed by so I rang to speak to a supervisor who sounded helpful

- said he would ensure we were taken off the motorway within 30 minutes - further apologies…

..we waited but nothing

 

- then we had a call to say it would be another 90minutes.

 

Later it changed again to 40 minutes but they said we would be taken to a closed garage in Newmarket

(this is was what they termed as 'appropriate' and the term 'local in their contract means 'local' to the breakdown, not local the customer)

but they couldn't get us there anyway.

 

I continued to argue about the imposition of being stranded for hours etc. etc.,

 

- the operator said

"the longer you argue with me, the longer it'll be for you to be picked up." I rang off

- That was the straw that …

 

. I contacted the garage the AA had been in touch with,

they charged £120 to pick us up and take us home with the car…

.we left the motorway at 5-40 and arrived home in Norfolk an hour later.

 

They did not require payment until we had been dropped off with our vehicle.

 

When we reported all this to the AA complaints department we encountered more arrogance

- they rejected our complaint and dismissed all the matters we raised.

 

They in fact told us that under the provision of Roadside Assistance, they had arranged a recovery to a safe location and that their service was 'in line with our entitlements'.

 

I'm gonna cancel my AA membership for good

- I'm selling my vintage AA badges on ebay and arranging road-cover with our insurance company,

 

if that doesn't work out, I'll stay independent and in the event of a breakdown,

talk to the garage direct and avoid all that Arrogance and Alienation with the AA.

 

21st Century Blues.

 

Hello 21st. Centuryblues. The experience detailed in this post certainly does not sound typical of our usual high standards. We'd like the opportunity to discuss this with you further. Please email into us, our address is chat@theaa.com and title Reference 14247. Regards The AA

[Sillywizard]

Burly guys appear to be the new way forward for the AA - my wife and I recently had a fairly sinister visit from a patrolman who, undeterred by the presence of my 5 year old son and the time of the morning (about 7am), turned up at our home following a call from my wife for a home start request to deliver a loud and fairly aggressive 'strong message' that service would no longer be provided for our car.

 

While not really concerned by the lack of service (I'd warned my wife that if they came at all that they might charge since the car failed to start recently, AA provided battery notwithstanding and we'd reconciled ourselves to the £100 or so callout), I'm disturbed by the actions of a company which thought it was attending to a lone woman at home; neither the belligerent operator or the patrolman thought that there was anyone else present. I'm also a bit puzzled since the jump start would have taken less time than the weird shouting did.

 

We've traded the car in now and the warranty came with RAC recovery, thankfully.

[Old Cogger]

Trouble is the old clubs and association went out of the window when greed crept in and were bought out both services.

[CHRIS44G]

.....We've traded the car in now and the warranty came with RAC recovery, thankfully.

 

Sadly, the RAC are no better!

[Sillywizard]

No, I don't suppose the RAC are better. I'm not going to lose anything by trying them out since the garage have given the membership free (or, more accurately, have incorporated it into the price) but I've jumped several levels in my new choice of car having explored as far was I was able the best and most reliable car to get so with luck I need never have to find out again.

 

I've moved from being puzzled to being vaguely disgusted; this wasn't a 'rogue' employee on a frolic of his own, it was a patrolman acting on the instruction of an operator and both of them believed that they were acting in accordance with AA policy and both of them believed that they were planning a visit to a lone female or were at best indifferent as to whether they were doing so.

 

In point of fact, I'd taken my son out since he was getting bored and when the patrolman called my wife's mobile to learn that I was outside he told my wife that I couldn't go and see him and that it would have to be her since she was the account holder (a mistake of fact since I have/had full membership while my wife's membership is through her bank account) but by that time I'd toddled down to where he'd parked. While he was all shouty and finger pointy, he didn't swear or actually come out with any threats (although the phrase 'strong message' is still one I'm puzzling over) so it was more bemusing than anything else at the time. The AA had no way of knowing, of course, that my wife is pregnant but an onslaught like that would have been extremely upsetting to her and there's no other conclusion I can come to other than that this was the intended result.

 

Anyway, that's my rant over and, apart from a pretend apology from the AA with buzz phrases including 'review our processes' and 'below normal high standards' doubtless to be included within the template document which we might receive if they can be bothered, it's all history now.

 

Feedback appreciated and it's been an illuminating experience - I have been very lucky in terms of work, family and friends and haven't been addressed with such venomous contempt for decades. It's served to remind me that others aren't quite so lucky and that I'm doing less than I could be doing to help people who are more disadvantaged - that's going to change in the very near future.

[CHRIS44G]

I have experience of the AA and RAC in my line of work. I sell car batteries. Every time some calls them out with a flat battery they always say to our customer "It`s FAULTY , you`ll have to buy a new (VERY expensive) battery from us. So I get a disgruntled customer with a "FAULTY" battery at my counter demanding a refund because the RAC /AA are EXPERTS and if they say it`s faulty, its faulty! 99% of the time its just flat of course - for any number of reasons, so I get stuck with an old battery, the customer gets his £40 back from me, after he`s usually paid £100 to the RAC / AA for the same type and sometimes an inferior battery, when all he needed was a quick jump start!

 

They are no longer in existence to help stranded motorists, they are just out for a fat profit.

[Old Cogger]

Use to work for the old RAC, and I use to have some popular batteries on board for use day/night (I was on night call as well = £1.00 per call out less tax, out 4-5 hours that was it) the batteries on sale & return basis with a garage, profit at garage retail I kept but use to reinvest on other spares and built up a hell of a land rover full before I left the RAC in the early 70s, that was the old RAC, had occassion to ring Bristol RAC and spoke to personm there on a renewal subject as the increaser was ridiculous, and mention bring back the old RAC system, they agreed on the quiet, did not renew with them.

[Craig Dunain]

Just fired off an email to the CEO of this dismal service. Called today to get assistance - I have every type of cover except European as I don't need it. Problem was diagnosed blind by a call centre operative, who refused to send out a Patrol on the supposition I didn't have a spare wheel to go on. I did have a spare wheel but was worried about it's possible condition. Never the less by their actions and refusal, not only has a disabled man been left stranded and unable to get out and about to work and socially, I now have to engage a private tyre firm to come out with their truck and sort the problem of pumping the tyre up as this call centre employee has deemed - without being on site - or physically seeing the tyre - that he is qualified to do so, checked with his boss and gave his version, then came back to tell me they couldn't give service as it was 'obviously' a puncture and had happened before. It did happen before - but to a totally different wheel and tyre which was swapped for the spare. They wouldn't listen, I'm stranded, lost work, stressed, left to very painfully negotiate movement without transport and I can guarantee I won't ever be giving the AA the equivalent of £40 a month in the future. They will never ever get another membership out of me. They obviously care more about saving the cost of a passing Patrol than customer service, and must be totally aware of both social media, and local press because I can guarantee I've engaged with both, and it'll be a cold day in Hell before anyone in this area rushes to join their membership by the time I've publicised their lack of service. This incident isn't a small print concern - just that of a call centre operative diagnosing a fault and refusing to accept any other information or explanation from me. £480 down the drain for me, and £480 I can guarantee the AA won't be seeing off me again.

[Old Cogger]

did we not have an AA office chap on this site?

[Craig Dunain]

Seen one mentioned in a couple of threads Mike. I just didn't see the sense in negotiating with them time after time and generally believe a firm but polite email to the CEO works wonders. A) Because they don't like customers getting so close to the hive and having complaints on their desk, and B) They don't tend to get to CEO unless they have a firm understanding of customer service, and it's good for them to know every now and then what's happening in the real world and several layers below them as they're usually pretty busy and don't get much chance to see how the people who are supposed to resolve things are performing - or not as the case was/is. So in the spirit of both of the above, then I contacted them direct and highlighted the ridiculous situation. I work in IT and it's not unknown for me to be still up at 2 or 3am if necessary going not only the extra mile, but the extra tens of miles, because my customers are important to me, and I'm important to them in ensuring they and their businesses are trading. Basic customer service.

[Old Cogger]

tell me about it, decades ago I worked for the RAC and on night call out aswell as daytime, many a time I would be out and end up 60-70 miles away from home or over exmoor as no garages etc available ( all for a £1.00 - dedutions per call out, and that was some time ago) so working all hours has been my jobs over the years albeit different ones. could go the CEO and if you are not going to renew with them try and get your money back and then some./// cost of incident.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Old Cogger