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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect the AA to reimburse me for this?

37 replies

PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 19:40

Car broke down in the middle of a v. Busy A road during rush hour, AA were called (no previous membership so had to pay huge premium for initial call out) they said they would be there in 40 minutes, hopefully before (so, at 6)

I rang again after 20 minutes to inform them that I would be unreachable as I was making my way to the car (DH was driving our car when it stopped, not me!) and I didn't have a working number. I gave them my DFs number and told them he could be contacted in an emergency as he was driving me to the car. They said they would arrive at 6:15 at the latest

I arrive, police have cordoned off the lane, DH gets taken to work by my DF and I sit in the car and wait for the AA. Police had been there since 5:30.
It gets to 6:30 and the police decide AA have taken an U amount of time as the car is in a dangerous position (on a bridge) and a police towing lorry arrives and takes my car to a compound. I have to pay £180 to release my car. On top of the £170 I paid AA for the call out plus annual membership.

AIBU to think AA should refund me the call out premium (£90) and reimburse me for the £180 I will have to pay tomorrow to set my shitheap of a car free?
The Policeman who drove me home thinks IANBU but I called AA to tell them my car was no longer there and the guy seems to think I have to suck up the cost. I've been given a complaints number to ring tomorrow but Im beginning to doubt myself! Police gave me the incident number and said the AA could call them if there's an issue don't see that happening

I have to meet the AA at the compound tomorrow, over 10 miles away and inaccessible by public transport, to see if they can 'roadside' fix the car. I'm fuming!

OP posts:
Original poster
PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 19:42

Forgot to mention (no drip feeding!!) a random call out company who AA had farmed the service out to rang my DF after the police had towed my car to say they would be another 45 mins.

They rang me 45 mins after the police dropped me home to say they couldn't find the car, even though I'd already called the AA and explained the situation. Hmm

OP posts:
SweetValentine · 05/03/2015 19:57

I think you're entitled to £180 back - ie their membership fee. I don't think you are being reasonable to get the money back from towing

Littlef00t · 05/03/2015 20:00

I guess the issue is how binding the response time is. Did you have to listen to any t&cs when you called?

londonrach · 05/03/2015 20:01

Lol. Aa never came out to me lone female in the winter. Had to be rescued by hubby in the end. Yes get refund and go with green flag. Hope you ok and pulled a big glass of wine....

mousmous · 05/03/2015 20:04

yanbu
similar happened to a friend. she only waited for 4 hours by the roadside...
she got all the money back.

chocolatereindeer · 05/03/2015 20:07

I think YANBU ...but maybe ou or the police should have rang to say of you're not here in 10 mins we're getting towed by someone else and you'll have to pay.

Gah I bet you'll end up signing up the cost because they'll say it was your decision to be towed by different company/not their fault etc etc.

Just as an aside the AA have contracts that automatically renew (usually at a higher price than the original discount rate you joined with). DP realised they'd taken £180 from his account last month... We've not knowingly been 'with' the AA since 2012 when we had a £50 policy. They did refund that fee but they took a smaller amount last year that we didn't notice which we won't get back. Grr!

Optimist1 · 05/03/2015 20:08

Sorry, but if you're planning to use the AA tomorrow to look at your car when it's released from the compound you'll be making use of the membership you paid for, won't you? In which case I don't think you'd be in a position to demand any refund.

chocolatereindeer · 05/03/2015 20:10

Oh ffs I'm sleepy ignore my terrible spelling!Blush

SweetValentine · 05/03/2015 20:13

I missed the bit where you want to use them tomorrow - FGS don't!

Speak to a local garage (to that area), get them to sort it out for you, you're paying £100 at best if you get a partial refund for someone to come out and say "it's broken".

You're in a good place to get a full refund, and the towing fee cancels out what that would have cost. A car mechanic is probably the right person anyway?

Original poster
PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 20:42

I don't know how binding their response time is, the only t&cs they mentioned were as its auto-renew it was £30 cheaper and that I had a 14 day cooling off period, if I chose to cancel I would only get £20 back!

So should I tell them not to come tomorrow and to refund the membership fee? And then ask them for the compund release fee? I had no choice in the matter as the police decided they were towing it! The only reason i know have to pay that is because the AA didn't show up.

I'm a massive stresser and this is really worrying me. We just had to pay £600 last month to get the car through its MOT and we can't afford all these unforeseen costs on top of however much the car is not going to cost to fix.

OP posts:
Original poster
PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 20:46

You're in a good place to get a full refund, and the towing fee cancels out what that would have cost

I have paid £170 to the AA for annual membership
Tomorrow I have to pay £180 to release my car. A cost incurred because the AA havnt provided the service I paid for. I need to have some sort of breakdown cover so I don't mind having the annual membership but of that £170 membership cost, £90 was a premium for them needing to send someone out then and there. So I want that premium back, so I only pay the £80 annual membership.
I also expect them to pay the £180 the police are charging because they didn't show up. Is that out of order?

OP posts:
paxtecum · 05/03/2015 21:13

Green Flag are far better than the AA.

My friend broke down, rang the AA, they took 30 mins to answer the phone.

Sorry, that wasn't very helpful for you.

ToBeeOrNot · 05/03/2015 21:19

You can't ask for the membership fee back and expect them to cover the cost of releasing the car from the police compound.

Surely it's either
a) you get the membership costs back and have to pay the release fee yourself
or
b) you stay a member and they cover the release cost as they didn't fulfill contract

Original poster
PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 21:43

I don't want the membership fee back in its entirety, just the extra bit they charged for coming out tonight, as they didn't turn up when I was told to expect them.

Definitely BU to have used AA at all it seems Grin

OP posts:
Tobyjugg · 05/03/2015 21:48

Now you see why we left the AA and joined the RAC.

YiIKEA · 05/03/2015 21:52

Cancel it! You will get a full refund. A decent local garage will collect your car or you can get a tow truck to take it where you want. Think I paid £30 for this recently. Don't stay with them!

MidniteScribbler · 05/03/2015 22:07

If you didn't have roadside cover, you still would have been towed and have to get your car released.

I think the only thing you should get back is the difference between immediate membership and normal membership. The towing of the car is your own problem.

TheSmallerBadger · 05/03/2015 22:15

Whether or not they will reimburse the release fee surely depends on whether they had information to know that the car was in dangerous position? Which depends on exactly what you them?

londonrach · 05/03/2015 22:21

Just goggled aa roadside cover and it suggests you would be towed if they cant fix the car as long as you 1/4 away from road. If with 1/4 mile of home its homestart.

TheSmallerBadger · 05/03/2015 22:26

Erm, what you told them Blush

IcaMorgan · 05/03/2015 23:29

when my car broke down and the police towed it for being in a dangerous position I just had to prove it had broken down and I had called for a repairman and I didn't have to pay to get it released. The car had to be towed from the pound and they followed for quite a while to make sure we weren't conning them though.

RedSoloCup · 05/03/2015 23:33

I think you'd be covered by distance selling regulations for what you've paid them / cooling off period, especially as you've had no actual service from them to date!

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 05/03/2015 23:41

Cancel your membership, claim your money back & join Green Flag. You can do it online now to get immediate cover with no initial outlay. We pay monthly and it costs around £10 per month. Best money I've ever spent.

AliceLidl · 05/03/2015 23:52

The AA dropped my car off the back of a tow truck once.

They couldn't get the car off the back of the truck and onto the road, the front bumper was scraped along the floor, so their driver got in my car and bounced up and down in it to rock it forward until it just kind of fell off the ramp.

They made a total mess of the bumper, then lied about it. Thankfully I had it all filmed on CCTV.

They also charged us almost £200 in renewal fees because DH, who set up the membership, was out of the country when it came to time to renew and they said the data protection act wouldn't allow me to cancel the renewal without his consent. They already had our bank details and because it was a one off payment rather than a monthly direct debit they took the money and refused to refund it.

Original poster
PeachyParisian · 05/03/2015 23:53

If you didn't have roadside cover, you still would have been towed and have to get your car released

Well, if I had known AA were not going to show up, I would have bought membership elsewhere. So it never would have gotten to the point where the police tow would have taken it.

I told them it was in the middle of a busy road, they knew it wasn't safe as I had told them DH wasn't able to wait in the car as it was unsafe.

IcaMorgan where was that? I'm in Hertfordshire so I don't know if they have a different deal with the company that run the compound on their behalf?

Even if I can cancel and get a full refund I will still be out of pocket because the AA failed to provide a service Sad argh!

OP posts: