Hello there guys, good story for you.

I live in stevenage where a lot of snow fell last thursday, my girlfriend was in the car with me and i crashed it going 5mph into a curb which seem to have shagged the wishbone, anyhow she is a member of the AA so she gave them a call at 4.30pm and said she was 18(which is true and it was getting dark, also true)

The AA promised someone would be there at 6pm, so we waited, at 6.15pm she called them back asking how long it was going to be and another person said it would be half hour, after 10 more calls and 7 hours more in the cold and dark she called them back, they now said someone should have called back 2 hours ago(it is now 1am) and said that noone could come out due to the adverse snow conditions, and that she should WALK HOME, and call in the morning to be put in a queue for the car to be picked up the next day, as we were tired and very angry we walked home, was only about 1/4 of a mile in the blizzard taht was coming down.

In the morning, i decided to go back to the car and check it was ok, as i didnt really want to leave my baby in the open overnight due to theives liking Subarus etc, when i arrived at WHERE my car was yes WHERE IT WAS!!?? yes it had gone, i called the AA straight away and asked(hoped) that they had picked it up, but the person on the end of the phone told me that they hadn't, after 2 calls to the police reporting it stolen the AA called back and said that they had it picked up by a garage at 6am that morning and taken it to a Compound in Hitchin near stevenage, and all i ahd to do was to let them know where and when i wanted the car transported to a garage to be looked at.

I found a garage in Cheshunt 16 miles from where the car is that could look at my car as soon as it got there, as subaru owners know there isnt many places that car fix the lovely beasts, so we called the AA back to tell them it needed to go there and if they could do it soon, we were told they are really busy and would be eaier ringing back on monday where the car could be transported staright to the garage, i agreed it seemed fair as there were alot of cars on the road that needed collecting after the bad weather.
Today i and the mrs have been on the phone adn the compound want to charge us 14 pounds per day it has been inthe compound and the AA want to charge us to take it to the garage which isnt really right is it? has anyone got any advice after reading that??

 

citizens advice!!

 

Please god let them have given it a full-lift and not dragged it to the compound

 

Hi,

Sorry to hear that was it by dixons warehouse? passed one at 11pm (blue) with indicators flashing

 

What sort of cover do you have with the AA ( I used to work for them a guy being stranded for 11 hrs is one of my best stories)

 

Yes it was the one by the dixons warehouse, and i have roadside cover, so should cover the roadside shouldnt it?

 

I Stoped and looked round for anybody, to see if i could help you but nobody was around!

 

thats ok this must have been real late, but nothing anybody could have done as it wasnt movable at all. and yes a flatbed did pick it up, least they got that bit right!! otherwise i will be claiming for more than just being treated badly

 

Suggest you get something like RAC Trackstar fitted - you would have had a call from them within 5 minutes of the car being picked up and moved with the imobilizer still active.

Hope you get it all sorted out in the end.

 

Is you wheel bent in?

 

the right front wheel is bent into the body work of the car, could be serious

 

I'm with the AA, I am sure that they have to take it to a garage of your choice.
As they havent, i suggest they should take it there FREE.

AND it wasnt your choice to leave it in a pound.

 

Got a bill for over a grand for storage on my motor as the insurance co have taken 2 months to decide what they are doing with the car....

 

watchdog and tell the AA what your doing, no publicity like bad publicity on tv to make em take notice, also local press and if your lucky the nationals will pick up story

 

As Burr said, if they dragged it your diffs will be absolutely ****ed. Needs to be on all fours.

Amazing the amount of people who don't know that, in the trade ie AA, garages etc...

MB

 

Afree with the above - I'm a PR man, trust me newspapers scare people, they will quickly try and resolve the issue.

 

Roadside covers you for roadside assistance = if they can fix it they will like you said front wheel is bent into the body so they are unable to fix, so it means they then sub contract a garage or they will tow it at your expense. Sorry mate looks like your gonna have to foot the bill for the tow etc

 

I did the same thing excpet hit my rear wheel on the Friday morning first thing.
Phoned AA who straight away admitted that it would take 8 hours to recover.
Went through my Insurers (L & V) and was home within 1.5 hours.
It will obviously go through on the claim but I wanted to get home.

Given the conditions on Thurs PM and Fri AM I am not surprised that RAC and AA had trouble. Did you try your insurers?

The damage done appears to be the wheel and wishbone, but the driveshaft and diff are being checked out.

Have to say that I am getting grief from L & V over putting on an Impreza rear ARB to my Forester and not declaring it (but did tell them about my Impreza brakes, H & S exhaust, air filter and wheels).
Be warned, if you even fit an air freshner it is a "modification". Don't be shy about declaring non OEM alterations.

Nick

 

Unfortunately they are right, wor lass had a front end crash & phoned the AA and they explained that if it could be fixed on the roadside she could drive home FOC but if not & it needed recovering then she would have to pay them and claim back via the insurance.
Being a skinflint it was out with the sledgehammer sharpish McRae style and I bashed the wings & bumper off the wheels then drove home after the AA made sure it was driveable......
Its a pity they didnt explain this a bit more clearly over the phone but I expect they will point out some small print in your policy if you complain.
fingers crossed you get it fixed ok

 

LOL at DanTheMan nice work the AA are crafty trust me

 

The AA don't cover recovery after an accident. So expect to have to pay for the Cr@p service on top of that.

I had some "heated" discussions over the phone with them 6 months ago after I got them to recover a car I was a passenger in, I then got a bill for 165 quid three days later. My Membership was cancelled immediately and the car owner paid them.

 

didnt realise of the thread that you crashed sorry to say but youll get charged for everthing, just pass on to the insurance company and theyll settle those bills, i had a crash and got rac to pick me up 3 days later i was getting billed for £135 recovery charges. htere is no way out now the charges will only get bigger if you dont get your car out of the impound as well

edited to say the RAC and AA are only breakdown services a crash is not a breakdown

[Edited by stevebt - 2/3/2003 5:12:47 PM]