RAC breakdown cover - warning

[GMLS]

Probably not unique but worth being aware if not already when making decisions as similar could happen with motorhomes
1 min summary;
Recovery took 28 hours
Involved multiple relay arrangements and long waits in-between.
Care of pets compromised

 

[Steve and Denise]

A 32 minute video would be to long for me

 

[chaser]

Can we just have a bit of a clue what it's about.

 

[GMLS]

A 32 minute video would be to long for me

That's why I included the 1 minute version at the top!

 

[GMLS]

Can we just have a bit of a clue what it's about.

That's why I included the 1 minute version at the top!

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[StillGoing]

Not just RAC. AA Relay is called relay for a reason - they relay you from compound to compound often with long waits while you wait for the next recovery vehicle to arrive. I used Greenflag once and they brought me from the Lake District to Warwick in one go.

 

[dpsuk999]

All I can say is the RAC were spot on when I needed recovery to a garage in Portugal on New Years Day this year

 

[Graham_1964]

RAC are not alone in their abysmal treatment of their customers; but, they rank close to the top of the naughty list. Apologies in advance for the length of this following sorry tale.

Last month I cancelled my RAC subscription after being a member since 1993. I'd always had the most expensive personal cover with home start and relay.

In all those years I've only called them out 3 times. The first time (in the late 90's) they appeared in well under an hour. The second time I was left waiting for 8hrs (as I'd managed to coast to a 'safe' lay by on a busy NSL dual carriageway) for an RAC contractor to show, and then the third time was last year...

I was in my 2022 Hymer last Nov (luckily, the final month of manufacturer's 2yr warranty) when the vehicle suddenly lost all power and went into limp mode on the Derbyshire hills en route to the Lickpenny CAMC site. Mercedes breakdown van swiftly attended and diagnosed that the EGR valve had failed. They could arrange for me to be recovered, but only to the nearest commercial MB garage. They could take me the 45 miles back to home (where I could first unload the vehicle etc and then limp the 4 miles to my MB commercial garage), but that would cost me over £600 with one of their contract recovery firms. They suggested that I should use my personal breakdown cover (after all, that's why I pay for it every year!) to get home.

Then followed a comedy of errors for the next 12hrs. After arranging the recovery using RAC and waiting for them for over 4hrs, when I called them to chase progress, they helpfully informed me that they'd cancelled the call out. Apparently when they'd subsequently checked my vehicle details, they realised it was over 7m and rated at 4.5t (I had told them this from the outset) - meaning that I wasn't covered since I didn't have the additional RAC Arrival cover. However, they never bothered to call me back to tell me that they'd cancelled the job!

Then followed 8hrs of trying to get an alternative recovery sorted. My partner's LV/Britainnia Rescue should have been OK, and we double checked that there were no vehicle size restrictions. However, when we called them, they admitted that they'd made a mistake at her last renewal... they'd accidentally changed the cover from personal (which she'd always had with them since 1998) to specific vehicle only. Meaning that the Hymer wasn't covered. She never spotted the mistake in her renewal documents. No amount of sweet talking and pleading would get them to correct their mistake - they simply suggested that she should raise a complaint.

But then I remembered that I'd taken out EU breakdown cover with my Comfort Insurance. Hurray - they could help recover us home, but they just needed to find a local company who could accommodate an oversized motorhome. After Comfort failing to find any suitable recovery company after 2hrs, I suggested that they try the MB contractor (the one that would have cost me £600+ earlier in the day).

Eventually, said contractor did appear... but not until after they had made a 100-mile round trip to collect a big enough recovery truck from their other depot... that truck had then been diverted to 2 separate motorway priority jobs... and a second relief driver had to be called out (first one now over his hours owing to the extra motorway emergencies) to drive the truck.

To make matters worse, 5 miles into the recovery, the relief driver took a wrong turn and encountered a low bridge. He was adamant my 10'2" Hymer on the back of his truck would make it - even though his flatbed was obviously well over 4' off the ground. He didn't want to reverse back up the winding road, so we had to drop the Hymer and then drive the 2 vehicles under the bridge and then reload on the other side. All in complete darkness, in driving rain, with traffic from both directions. Anyhow, we eventually made it home at 1am, nearly 13hrs after first breaking down.

 

[dpsuk999]

My RAC cover is specifically for 7.5t 9.5m motorhome which costs considerably more than normal (or even free which a lot of people get with different products etc). I’m happy to pay for the assurance of been provided with the correct level of service.

It would appear from your predicament above that it wasn’t the fault of the RAC but your misunderstanding of the cover you had with the RAC, so not really the RAC’s fault

Not 1 but 2 low loaders arrived to recover me, as they knew the policy I had and the vehicle size so I can’t complain but only praise the RAC

 

[GMLS]

My RAC cover is specifically for 7.5t 9.5m motorhome which costs considerably more than normal (or even free which a lot of people get with different products etc). I’m happy to pay for the assurance of been provided with the correct level of service.

It would appear from your predicament above that it wasn’t the fault of the RAC but your misunderstanding of the cover you had with the RAC, so not really the RAC’s fault

Not 1 but 2 low loaders arrived to recover me, as they knew the policy I had and the vehicle size so I can’t complain but only praise the RAC

Not my predicament fortunately but still plenty for the poor unfortunate to be critical of I'd suggest.

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[scotzsue]

both AA and RAC state that more than one vehicle may be used to transport you. took 18 hours to get us from Chester to Hull (RAC) a couple of years ago.

 

[frwjd]

They are all like that.

 

[Bailey58]

I don't see the 1 minute video anywhere?

 

[GMLS]

I don't see the 1 minute video anywhere?

No 1min video as such, bullet points were;

Recovery took 28 hours
Involved multiple relay arrangements and long waits in-between.
Care of pets compromised

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

I use Greenflag i cannot fault them when coming from Glasgow to Nottingham with my sprinter and a trailer with a large car on, when a brand new high pressure pump failed they asked if I was alright in the service's I had made it to that night which was OK with me as they needed 2 drivers to get to Nottingham in one go so on collection my van and trailer set of and near penrith they swopped to a new driver to finish the recovery i couldn't fault them.

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[lindyloot]

Not my experience with them. I my clutch burnt out in 2023 coming home from Shell island in Wales. Motorhome,on back of recovery myself and my dog in the cab with the driver. Taken to a recovery company depot who would take the Motorhome back to my local garage. Taxi ( pd for by RAC) took me to hotel for the night ,due to late evening . Next day taxi to a car hire company and they pd for a hire car so I could get home. My Motorhome arrived at my local garage the next day.
Eight months later in 2024 on my way to a rally engine went . RAC came out only waited an hour , they couldn’t fix it road side , so a recovery truck was called , took us to my local garage and dropped me of at home . I’ve also had two occasions with my car this year , firstly at my daughters , they came out within half an hour , replaced battery ( had to pay for battery but it was cheaper than ones I had been looking at on line) . Then about 8 weeks later car wouldn’t turn over, again didn’t wait long. I’d been a numpty and flooded it , took him 2 seconds to rectify . I was expecting my premiums to go up greatly after the two Motorhome breakdown but they didn’t .

 

[Tonks]

Then followed a comedy of errors for the next 12hrs. After arranging the recovery using RAC and waiting for them for over 4hrs, when I called them to chase progress, they helpfully informed me that they'd cancelled the call out. Apparently when they'd subsequently checked my vehicle details, they realised it was over 7m and rated at 4.5t (I had told them this from the outset) - meaning that I wasn't covered since I didn't have the additional RAC Arrival cover. However, they never bothered to call me back to tell me that they'd cancelled the job!

This cancelling of the job affected me indirectly last year when I was volunteering at an event. A poor lady had a cam belt issue on her car which was unfortunately for me stranded INSIDE the event compound which meant we couldn't lock up. A group of us went to the pub for dinner, expecting that she and her car would be gone by the time we got back but NO, the poor girl was sitting on a chair at the gate, still waiting. I returned to my van - feeling rather guilty - and periodically hopped out to check on her and offer refreshment. At about 11pm or later I noticed a vehicle turn into the site, and I went to intercept it since I was sure it would overshoot the entrance to the museum. Which it duly did.... When it arrived, it turned out that the job had been cancelled two hours earlier by the RAC, until the poor lady had phoned to chase what was happening, whereupon they reinstated it. The recovery lorry driver was then quite literally called out of his bed, having previously been told the job had been cancelled.
However, the car could, for some reason, only be taken to a secure compound, and so when it went off on the back of the truck the driver had to wait even longer for a taxi to arrive to take her home. Which was about another 40 minutes. At which point I was finally able to close up! I think she'd been waiting about eight or nine hours in total by the time she left the site in the taxi. But it would have been two hours shorter if the RAC hadn't randomly cancelled her recovery.

My own experience of the RAC, which led to me cancelling my membership with them, was breaking down on the A34 south of Newbury. Luckily I managed to reach a lay-by as the A34 isn't blessed with many safe breakdown spaces. When the RAC contractor arrived he loaded my car onto his lorry, and then proceeded to REVERSE along the A34 (dual carriageway!) to the slip road, and reverse up it, all because he didn't want to drive down to the next junction and then come back! Apart from being illegal, this was so dangerous that I couldn't believe a 'professional driver' would do such a thing. I was very thankful to arrive at the garage, and then even more thankful that rather than waiting for a bus home, the garage was able to supply me with a courtesy car which I drove for several days until the problem with my own vehicle was fixed.