RAC mechanic who was meant to be coming out to me rang me back to tell me i wasn’t covered, which was a blatant lie!

[JulietteHasAGun]

So recently I was going on a caravan holiday, towing my caravan solo and had an electrical fault en route to my holiday. My fancy car told me that the right indicator on my “trailer” wasn’t working.

i pulled into a lay-by and tried changing the bulb and still didn’t work. Fiddled about with various connections and nothing so thought no problem. I pay for a fancy RAC caravan cover which includes taking me to my holiday destination and returning me home at the end of my holiday if the problem can’t be fixed. Never used them before so I’ll ring them.

Call centre weren’t sure at first if electrical faults were covered as technically the “unit” was still drivable. I said it wasn’t safely drivable if I can’t indicate. They agreed and said they’d send someone. The actual mechanic they dispatched then rang me to witter he wouldn’t be able to do anything about electrical fault. I said no but surely you either take me to a garage that can sort it (bearing in mind it’s 6pm on a Friday evening) or take me to my holiday destination 55 miles away. He agreed but didn’t sound happy. Rang me back five mins later to say he’d double checked and i didn’t have caravan cover included so he couldn’t come.

i had to drive back to my storage yard which thankfully I was only a few miles from. Had to miss the entire holiday. This was a few weeks ago.

Rang the rac up today to say I need to upgrade my cover (though wondering what on earth I was paying £140 for) and turns out I do have full caravan cover and should have been taken to my caravan site. He obviously just couldn’t be arsed to come!

I am so annoyed. So never believe anything the actual mechanic tells you. The call centre woman today was gob smacked and said mechanics Don’t ring to double check cover after being told to go out.

Did you only ring RAC again today? I would have called again that night or at most the next morning.

Yes, only rang back today as I’m going away in the caravan again. Had given the last caravan holiday up as a bad job after been told I wasn’t covered.

That does sound terrible, perhaps complain higher up.
I notiiced the RAC just subcontract to local mechanics now and service can be patchy.
I broke down 2 years ago and the recovery driver called me and asked if I had this app on my phone which shows exact location as it was hard for me to describe which part of the motorway I was on. I said no and waited 2 hours, I called the call centre and he’d cancelled the job without letting me know. I was waiting 6 hours by the end of it.

put in a complaint.

whats the point in paying for something that may let you down again, i’d consider going elsewhere.

That’s horrendous, did you complain?

I certainly won’t renew with them.

Eh? The call centre said you were covered and were sending a mechanic. The mechanic said you weren’t. And you just accepted that? And missed your entire holiday?! You didn’t think to perhaps, give them another quick ring?

Sounds very odd.

How did you pay for the insurance originally?If you paid by credit/ debit card you could try a section 75/chargeback against the RAC....your bank will be able to advise ( as you didnt get the service you'd paid for)

Yes. I assumed he was telling the truth and I’d fucked up.

But the call centre had said you were covered. What the fuck would a mechanic know about your policy!?

when you do consider your next policy check the small print. all these policies say they will tow you to a garage. some say within one mile (so potentially someone youve never heard of in the town youre driving past) some say to a main dealer (no thanks too dear) some specify it’s of your choice (so that’s good as it’s anywhere).

my bf’s car broke down on saturday evening in kendal which is two hours drive away. they wanted to tow it to a garage there meaning we’d have to stay saturday and sunday night (ss garage was closed) and hope it could be fixed monday but if not i’d need to stay that night too….Or post the keys through the garage door and hope thwy can fit the repair in while we get a train home and go back down next week. trains are dear.

So i always get a policy that says they will tow it to a garage of my choice and i clarify that it’s anywhere.

People dont realise this until it’s too late. what seems like a good buy really isn’t a bargain if it lands you in another county for days on end in expensive accommodation missing your work.

so woth a caravan i imagine it’s the same. Be sure you get the cover you require. Green Flag and Brittania both used to do the “of your choice” thing so i’d get a quote from them.

The dearer policies basically cover from AA and RAC did the one mile thing so i avoid. Their policies that provide the cover i need are double the price.

Disclaimer ive got free cover just now so i haven’t examined the cover but when it expires i will check martins money tips and each policy carefully before i part woth my cash. top cash back used to be worth a look too.

I had an RAC mechanic cancel on me, telling me that the job wasn't possible to fix roadside as it needed a long stay in a garage (despite the fact that the RAC office I called had said it was). I called an independent mechanic and it was fixed within an hour and I was back on the road. I think the RAC now use independent mechanics rather than employees and they just pick and choose what jobs they want to attend and leave the others high and dry!