David Lock

My boy set off from Cambridge last night to return home to Sussex. M11, M25, M23. He'd just got on the M11 when he lost all water from radiator and had to pull over.

He had no exact idea of where he was so when he phoned me I said to quote the number on the nearest yellow Highways Agency phone located on the hard shoulder when he phoned the AA to ask for help. I thought this would give the AA an exact location for him as they are unique numbers (?)

It then took the AA nearly 4 hours to reach him. They said they didn't link to the Agency phone numbers. Can this really be true?????

Situation was not helped when I phoned the AA to ask where the hell they were because I didn't like the idea of my boy being stranded on a hard shoulder of a busy motorway, only to be told that under Data Protection Act they couldn't tell me anything. My reply would have embarrassed Russell Brand dl

mrtheedge2u2

he should of simply called the police and told them he was in a dangerous location and he had informed the AA but they are unable to locate him.

dpb

4 hours .! maybe he had a puncture/cant read a map/brazillian

David Lock

But he didn't know that at the time as they called now and again saying they were on their way.

I have just spoke to Highways Agency and they said AA should have called them last night to get a location. Apparently they get calls from AA/RAC all the time for just this reason.

I now know that if my boy had just used the Highways phone in the first place then Highways Agency would have got the AA out for him and monitored the call-out. dl

Coffin Dodger

Yep, you should always use the phones on the hard shoulder if you break down on the motorway. That way the highways agency / police know that there is a broken down car in that area so can monitor the situation and move quickly if it looks like things may be getting dangerous. They will also contact whichever breakdown agency you are with on your behalf.

Lesson learned.

StickyMicky

1st time i ever broke down with the scoob due to a blown engine i had to wait approx 4 hours for them to come and take me home, because they were busy.


to be honest i could have probably pushed it home myself in 4 hours.

the second time it took them nearly 2 hours and i was just around the corner from feckin work

cancelled the acount and now just use the free service i get with my bank account (not had to use them yet but i think its RAC)

SteveScooby

iTrader: (2)

A 4 hour wait for the AA is a fairly common occurance from my experience mate

Leslie

Certainly not very impressive as far as the AA were concerned. Must have been a pretty incompetent operator.

Les

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

RAC for me used them on several occasions over the last 20 odd years even in europe never waited more than an hour Used AA one year because they did me a good deal.Mrs broke down late evening took them
3hrs, then the bloke tried to pull her

windyboy

It's been a while since I've had to use either of them but in Norn Iron the AA & RAC used locally based call centres up until 6pm which was fine if you broke down on the A-blah blah as they would know that the road was in Norn Iron.
I heard stories that people had broken down on a blah-blah road in Norn Iron at night and the AA / RAC went looking for them in London or South England !!!!!!!

delcbr

i used the aa once and it was a nightmare i had a map with me and told them which road i was on but it wasnt displayed on their screen!!!!!
they then told me they would send someone out a local agencywho would know where iam.
the old boy comes out with his son think deliverance here lol and says where u going now i had broken down in dumfries and Galloway at the scottish/english border and i said i was going to Glasgow he said "the woman at the aa told him i only stayed 10 mile down the road from the break down if he knew i was going to Glasgow he wouldnt of came for me so he had to call the aa and tell them to stop messing him about apparently on a sun the aa guys dont get paid enough so they contract the work out to other firms how good is that he wasnt going to take me he couldnt take me that far something to do with you can only drive so many hours in a day then the vehicle cuts out and only had a couple of hours use left on it. he was telling me he would take me as far as he could then someone else would have to come and get me its called aa relay u see!!!
at least with the rac they can pinpoint your phone signal as far as i know
and they dont do the relay thing.

HankScorpio

A few years ago, I was out for a sunday blast with a mate and the car broke.
Called them...

"Which road are you on?"
"Don't know, it's near the runway at Gatwick, the planes are right overhead"
"How can you not know where you are?"
"I was having a sunday drive and not going anywhere in particular"
"But how can you not know where you are?"
"I was on the Axxx about 2 miles ago, now on a small road at the end of a runway at Gatwick. I can give you a reading off my GPS"

Now this was an early GPS with only basic maps but did present global coordinates in degrees, minutes and seconds.

"We can't use that sir"
"What? Any boy scout in the world could pinpoint me with these numbers"
"We can't use those"
"Take them anyway"
"No sir, we can't use them"

Several hours later a real grumpy git turned up.

BOB.T

Can you get a plumber out in less than four hours, err no.

Can you get an electrician out in less than four hours, err no.

Would any tradesman come to your house if you told them you don't know where you live, err no.

Would any other tradesman come out to you, diagnose a fault, fix it and not charge you, except for parts, err no. Bear in mind that a lot of dealerships now charge in the region of £80, just to diagnose a fault AND you have to get the car to them!

If you break down and need to be recovered a long way, you'll get 'relayed' whoever you are with and you have the EU to thank for it! Recovery trucks can only operate within a 100km radius of their registered base location, unless they have a tacho. So if you need to go 1 mile or 100 miles past your driver's radius, you'll have to, by law, be swapped onto a different truck. If you get a truck with a tacho, they can only drive for however long it is (I don't know for sure) then have a break, then be back at base within their hours. So if you're going a long way, it's gonna involve a change. It's not the driver's fault, it's not the firm's fault, it's the EU's!

The AA / RAC do not pay their own staff different rates for weekends, nights or any other times.

Independent garages are used as a last resort during busy periods, not to cut costs...they actually cost more, not only in £ but also in the customer not seeing a yellow / orange / green van.

I'm not saying the motor trade is a shining beacon of perfectness but be reasonable! Also, let's not forget, nobody ever posts up about receiving acceptable service, or even good service...we're a nation of moaners!

David Lock

Well I've used Britannia Rescue for 25 years and on the few occasions I have needed them they have taken less than an hour.

We are not talking about a breakdown in the wilds of Dartmoor but on a main motorway close to London.

Has the AA contacted the Highways Agency (open on Sundays) they could have got a location within 10 metres.

And I pay for this service and I expect a quicker than 4 hour response and I don't expect to be lied to about not being able to locate vehicle.

As far as I am concerned the AA are no longer a motoring club although I accept that the breakdown guys themselves are a decent bunch. dl

scunnered

iTrader: (1)

RAC aren't that great either
My fuel pump went kaput on a rarely used country road in the middle of nowhere. I called the RAC, told them what the problem was, and I need a flat bed trailer. 1½ hours later a patrol van turned up. He looked over my car for 20 minutes and came to the conclusion my fuel pump was knackered. I told him I'd already said this when I phoned. He then called for a flat bed. Another 1½ hours went by till a tow hitch trailer turned up. "Can't use that" I said. "You're right" he said. Another 3 hours later the flat bed turned up.
Meantime I was suffering from exposure. It was January, I had no cold weather clothing, and the temp was -9°c. I had to spend the night in hospital. That was partly my fault, I was offered a lift back to civilisation, but I didn't want to leave my car. It was a black car on an unlit single track country road at night. So apart from the obvious danger of getting hit, with nobody around, an opportunist thief would have stripped it by the time the RAC got to it.

little-ginge

I was travelling down the M4 just outside Reading, late one night and hit something in the road which smashed a hole in my sump. We pulled over, and I phoned the AA to come and recover us.

I gave them the number off the motorway marker ( the little white sticks you see every so often), and was told they would be within 1 hour. 2 hours later and I get a phone call.. Sorry, madam we can't seem to find you. CAn you confirm the marker number? ..which I did and was told someone would be with us shortly.

Then the patrolman phones me and says 'where are you, I still can't find you..' so I asked where he was... Newport, Wales!!!! A good 100 or so miles away...as you can imagine I was slightly miffed as standing on the side of a motorway on a freezing January night is not fun I changed to RAC.

Eddie1980

I used to be a member of the RAC, called them twice, the first time was bad the second time was worse.

First time the call centre could not find me on the map.. it went like so.

Where are you?
On the A161
Where is that?
Off Junction 2 of the M180
Where is that?
Errrr off Junction 5 of the M18
Where is that?
ERRRM off Junction 32 of the M1?!
That's not on my map sir?

At this point the person I was with had to remove the phone from me as I'd gone purple. They sent out an local who knew the area anyway.

Second time I had a RTA at 6pm and needed a broken car recovering. Spent about an hour on hold getting through, managed to get them to understand where I was. About 8pm the police recovery people turned up to remove the other party as they were not with a breakdown company, asked who I was waiting for an gave me that knowing look when I said RAC, suggested he'd heard they were a little busy and may be waiting some time.

At 9pm I was still by the road side and cold and annoyed, called them back spent 2hours on hold, to be told they were dealing with it.

At midnight a land rover based about 100miles away turned up, sadly with only a motorbike trailer. He swore some, called them and ranted at them. I give up went home, despite the fact my car was missing glass and the removable roof no longer fitted... Next morning the police were at the door "why is your car at the side of the road in this state sir?" that took some explaining despite the fact they had attended the accident.

At 11am the following day a recovery truck turned up and said "I cannot recover that its too far from the public road" (I had pushed it (despite only having 3 wheels) as far as I could out the way).

I went mental at him, he decided despite company policy he would recover it, good job too for his sake... not his fault but by then and given the RAC were still almost impossible to get through to, he was the only one I could have a go at.

After lengthy complaints to the RAC they apologised and offered to refund the cost of my calls. WTF

Not been near them since, in fact if a guy in an orange vest trys to sign me up in the entrance to the supermarket he gets the biggest ear full. Again not his fault but given my experience its hard not to become emotional. Especially as with hindsight I really should have been in hospital not stood at the roadside.

dh2008

Hello. I work for the AA and I have just read your post in regard to your son’s breakdown. I thought it may be helpful to explain the AA’s process. We have a robust process in place when locating our members who break down on the motorway. The Highways Agency regularly sends us up to date locations of all SOS call boxes and marker posts which are installed on our system.
This is the most accurate way to locate a member broken down on the motorway; however should this fail we also have the facility to search on motorway junctions, direction of travel and service areas. If this information is not known, we can utilise our mobile phone locater which can accurately locate members to within ¼ mile

David Lock

Thanks dh,

That's about what I guessed should be happening. But the fact is when I phoned the breakdown number and said my boy was next to a "yellow phone" on the hard shoulder I was told that this was of no help to them. I have no doubt at all that this was what I was told. In fact James used the motorway phone to contact the AA, via the Highways Agency, as well but still the breakdown truck said he had taken more than 2 hours because he couldn't locate the stranded vehicle. So I don't know what the hell was going on!! dl

MadOli

I've had to call the AA out twice in the last couple of months, and both times been very impressed with their service, no complaints whatsoever.

1st time my car wouldn't start at my mum and dad's house and they were there within an hour.
The 2nd time my car lost power on a roundabout (great fun!) then wouldn't go above 1st gear, so managed to get it to a fairly safe place, called them and they were there within 10 minutes!

Although I guess that's the perks of being female with 2 young kids in the car...

Spec'c'57

iTrader: (1)

Had the wife's classic stuck @ lakeside shopping centre by the dam phone mast, the AA NEVER turned up after the initial waiting of 2 hours, called back after not a single call to be told they had the wrong phone number logged against us, try again. Still 1 hour later nothing so another call. we still cant find you sir. were parked outside debenhams in carpark 10. ok sir be 30 mins. 1 hour later FINALLY see an AA van plodding around the car park nowhere near debenhams. run across the car park and guide him to us. Last time i used them before changing as better deal from RAC.
BUT saying that they were great at recovering our new van when that broke down. was back to the workshop in 2 hours.

c-o-l-e

I had a bad experience with the AA too.

I had a massive vibration that seemed to come from the front right wheel of my Micra near Lincoln at about 4AM.
I pulled in to a petrol station and phoned the AA, they took 50 minutes to answer the phone.
I told them the name of the petrol station, the name of the road and the general area where I was, but they couldn't find the location on their system.
I asked the guy in the petrol station for the post code but the AA operator said they couldn't use a postcode.
Eventually they sent out a local mechanic about an hour later, who changed the wheel, looked at the car twice and looked at his watch 5 times.
The car was still virbrating like mad, but all the mechanic did was give me an "Advice Notice" and left me there (Despite my package covering recovery).

Heres the punchline... I'm a disabled driver and I've had major spinal surgery 3 times, but can still do many things.
I found a bubble on the rear left tyre and changed it myself.

3 weeks later the AA phoned to ask if I wanted to renew my soon to expire cover, after I told them what I thought and explained they offered me £10 off my next renewal, I think anyone can guess my response.

When I bought my scooby I joined the RAC with one of the big packages.
My scoobies engine blew after about 3 weeks on the motorway so I called the RAC.
A real RAC guy came out, organized a recovery truck, took me and the car home, got a car hire company to get me a car ready and gave me a lift to pick up the hire car.
I was given the hire car for 3 days.