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Topic: AA relay (Read 1076 times) |
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Andycan
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I have just spent over 4 hours yesterday sitting in my car in a little village close to scotch corner with a 6 month baby waiting for the AA to come out and take the scorpio home after it broke down.
There were no toilets and nowhere to get anything to eat or drink. The aa in thier wisdom gave the job to the relay driver 1 1/2 hours after the patrolman called them out and he was sent from Leeds.
They told him there were 3 adults in the car and kept changing the time he would get to me making it longer and longer. I seem to remember they called themselves the 3rd emergency service what a laugh.
They did offer to take the car to a garage to be repaired estimating the repair would take 2 hours but by the time the relay driver arrived and would have got us there it would have been about a hour before the garage would have closed and we wanted to get home after waiting so long and we wanted to feed the baby. As it turns out it would have taken longer as the cause of the breakdown also caused secondary damage that would have needed to be fixed and the garage might not have have the parts or the time to do it then we would probably have had to wait another 4 or 5 hours in the cold waiting for the aa to come and take us home.
One does have to wonder if the aa person on the phone had any idea of what they were doing and if the aa bosses know how to run the company.
Sorry to anyone working for the AA but to leave a 6 month old baby stuck for so long is wrong and then not to send a breakdown truck for over a hour after the patrolman ordered it is also wrong.
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Highlander
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13 Scorpios, XR4x4, Suzuki SJ413 for off road :)
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #1 on: May 24th, 2011, 11:42am » |
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on May 24th, 2011, 10:38am, Andycan wrote:| I seem to remember they called themselves the 3rd emergency service what a laugh. |
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I think it was the 4th emergency service 
AA service had deteriorated these last few years and they are relying more on subcontractors.
If you write and complain they may refund your subscription.
I've used Autoaid for a good many years now, after the AA renewals became excessive.
http://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/
£38 a year which covers cars/trailers for roadside assistance, relay etc
they only use contractors so you're dealing with the same people right from the start.
I've probably used them 5 times and never had to wait more than an hour, they turn up with a recovery truck just in case (probably more profitable for the contracter to recover than to repair)
Its a reclaim system, you pay for the repairs/recovery to the contracter and reclaim the cost in full from Autoaid.
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on Oct 17th, 2011, 12:35pm, Simmo wrote:I give up !  Too much for an old boy!  |
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Andycan
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #2 on: May 24th, 2011, 3:24pm » |
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I used to be with someone else who used local contractors and they would be with you within the hour using a relay truck so if they couldn't get you going they would take you where you wanted to go.
The AA now say they had a wagon on the way to us that should have got to us by 2pm but they had to call another one in because the 1st one was delayed. Pity the couldn't have told me the truth or tell their computer we had a baby and not 3 adults despite the patrol man telling them and me telling them on several phone calls.
They also can't explain why if it was going to take so long they didn't get one of their local contractors in to transport us as I also kept suggesting to them.
The more I talk to them the more comes out about things they could have done but didn't and they think I should be happy about it.
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Baz
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S Reg. 1998 24v Cosworth S2.9 COS (Deceased)
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #3 on: May 24th, 2011, 6:54pm » |
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Write a d**ning letter to watchdog and send one to the Chief Exec of the AA.... you never know, maybe watchdog have had many more complaints about the AA and it may get some action...
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gozz
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #4 on: May 24th, 2011, 11:31pm » |
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Speaking of breakdown services reminds me of one evening going down the M11 with four business men in the back of a Granada limo,when a large metal pin resembling a spring shackle pin shot out from under a lorry I was about to overtake,it bounced towards me at an alarming rate,or should I say I caught up with it at an alarming rate,first it went up then clattered underneath the car,at the next climb, smoke could be seen coming from under the car.The pin had trapped an oil cooler pipe against the bell housing and produced a small hole therein,letting oil on to the exhaust.
After dropping my charges at their meeting I looked around for a garage to repair the pipe for the return journey,but I was a bit too late,ah well find a convenient quiet street and ring the 'Green Flag' ! They received a detailed explanation as to my requirements,and whilst waiting I noticed a late opening spares shop,out of which came an AA man with an alternator in his hand,he enquired as to my predicament,and when informed, offered to repair the pipe,I told him the repair man was on his way and thanked him for the offer.
About half an hour later a recovery truck trundled up the street driven by a clever youth who looked as if he was going to a party,"take you to Peterborough mate"said he smelling of perfume,"no"said I,"well that's my instructions"he replied.When asked to repair the pipe,he said"we don't do no repairs mate you can't repair that anyway,it's high pressure"I tried to teach him some basic mechanics,but he knew better,just at that moment his radio crackled into life,"have you found the punter?"said his boss,"yeh but he can't make his mind up"said the youth,"well tell him to hurry up"says boss man.With that I informed the youth that I was not a 'punter' as they are people who make bets,but was in fact his customer,and he was not doing as I had asked,so I told him to clear off,and don't even think about any fees.I then went into the spares shop and purchased a small hacksaw,a length of petrol hose and two hoseclips.Now with annoyance driving me on,the car was jacked up with the scissor jack and the wheel shoved under the front subframe so that it might not bring about my demise if it fell off.Removing my jacket and shirt,the repair was speedily executed,and returning to my pick up point cleaned myself up in time for the return.
When I wrote to Green Flag to remonstrate,they told me how stupid I had been to do the repair myself,especially using the wheel changing jack.A month or so later it was subscription renewal time,I suggested they may swivel !!
So you see Andycan,it's not just the AA who suffer gross ineptitude,indeed on the occasion to which I refer,they would have been my saviour,and I wasn't even a member
GOZZ. 
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Andycan
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #5 on: May 25th, 2011, 9:51am » |
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I agree Gozz the staff on the ground are good people that want to help everyone but it is the jobs worth's in the call centre or the computer input people that don't seem to listen or put in the right information on the computers. A little common sense would have helped as well.
It does seem from their customer support services that the office staff did not follow proceedure as they should have contacted a local garage to see if they could repair the fault or transport us home quicker than the AA could but they didn't do this.
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leewar
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #6 on: May 25th, 2011, 11:08am » |
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Hi Andy, Just a matter of interest, what happened to the car/why did it break down?? Lee
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Andycan
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #7 on: May 25th, 2011, 2:01pm » |
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The rear nearside brake pad disintegrated and jammed between the disc and calipers which is odd as they looked almost new when I checked them for the mot a couple of weeks ago. The heat from the brakes caused the tyre to bulge on the tread at the top where I stopped to call the AA but the patrolman and I did not notice the tyre. I was in a small village in North yorkshire near Scotch corner without my tools. No toilets or shops and couldn't move.
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leewar
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #8 on: May 25th, 2011, 3:05pm » |
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Wasn't it the rear calipers you were after a few weeks ago!!
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Andycan
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #9 on: May 25th, 2011, 5:07pm » |
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That was the offside rear because the handbrake spring was very weak but I managed to sort that problem out. I was looking at replacing all the mechanics on the brakes and replacing the brake fluid but got held up with the gearbox fluid leak and other commitments.
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leewar
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #10 on: May 25th, 2011, 6:58pm » |
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That's sod's law for you. Hope you get it fixed soon and back on the road. Lee
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Andycan
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #11 on: May 25th, 2011, 8:02pm » |
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Already done just got to get a tyre now. Just seems a shame that everytime I get the chance to replace things and do maintenance on the car something different goes wrong on it so I get sidetracked lol.
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leewar
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #12 on: May 25th, 2011, 11:41pm » |
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Remember these cars keep you on your toes all the time 
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gozz
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Re: AA relay
« Reply #13 on: May 25th, 2011, 11:49pm » |
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That's right Lee,I think it's known as 'Scorpioism' !!!
GOZZ.
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