to have fallen a little bit in love with the AA man today

[mumblechum2]

So I'm tootling along the M4, doing about 70 in the middle lane when the engine decides to stop just like that. Manage to swerve onto the hard shoulder, bastard car won't restart.

Today I have decided

a) to forget my mobile

b) to wear the most horribly tight agonising shoes ever invented.

So off I trot to the emergency phone box thingy, give the nice lady my AA details. I slightly mishear her asking if I'm towing anything and think she's asking if I'm carrying anything, I say just my handbag, she says, you're towing a handbag madam

Anyway I digress. A very nice man, a lot like Monty Don shows up, doesn't do the usual 30 second prod and then tow me to an overpriced garage, he actually spends an hour doing computer analysis printout stuff, tells me it needs a cam shaft sensor which will cost £35, fair enough. Then says he has a spare and will let me have it for free, fixes my car and follows me 20 miles home to make sure I get there safely.

AIBU to think that is bloody good service and I should somehow provide feedback (not mentioning free part as don't want him to get into trouble)

:) have you thought about sending an email to say thank-you

Tried that but it's all very formal, no space to say what a jolly good egg he was.

at "you're towing a handbag madam?"

YANBU I broke down last week along the A1 and the shitty RAC took 3 yes 3 hours to come. And it was cold I was on my own and at 5.30pm and both kids were at nursery. Was finally rescued at 8.30pm for them to not even fix it and just tow me home. To say I was unimpressed was an understatement.

Tilly.

Join the AA!

I'm just getting a quote!!!

I could have cried that day and to top it off I lost a WHOLE tank of petrol

Must admit my first thought was, bastard, now I'll have to buy a new car but I've just put £65 of diesel into this one. (I know my car is on it's last legs as I do 25,000 miles per year)

My car's nothing special! It does me well but we seriously can't afford a new one right now! And the RAC man just couldn't be bothered, He huffed and puffed when he got there telling me how busy he'd been!! I wouldn't mind but all it needed was a new fuel pipe and he ''couldn't fix it!!! And I pay a bloody fortune for cover!!! Is the AA much cheaper?

Mumble what make is your car, that happened to me once in my vectra cut out with ds2 in the car, scariest moment of my life by far, well done you handling it very well

It's a Ford Focus 1.8 diesel. They guy said it's a not uncommon fault.

Not sure how much membership costs tbh, comes out of dh's account.

I think u can tip AA staff if u want (I am sure I have)

Aw that's excellent :) I've had a terrible experience with AA, but similar fantastic experiences with RAC so I guess it depends who you get

My AA experience: going up a steep hill on a country lane, van coming the other way comes down really fast right in the middle of the road so we swerve and manage to get right into the hedge and avoid hitting the other car.

Try to pull off, a bit shaken only to find our passenger side wheels are stuck in the ditch. After a lot of trying, we realise we're going to need someone to tow us out of the rut then we can carry on. So we phone the AA. "I'm sorry, but we can't help you as you're off road". WTF, less than 10% of the car is off road, the rest of it is on, can't you come out for the other 90%?! Nope.

Bastards. In the end got towed out by a frozen meat salesman (that cost us dear in lamb cutlets!). Signed up for RAC the moment we got home.

We used to have the AA when we lived in England. We had several dreadful old cars that broke down. A lot.
Without fail, the AA got us out of trouble. Well worth the money IMO.

Have to go - must sabotage car.

It is really a version of a man on a white charger - now in a white van.

Always had great service from the AA (yep, including being followed home once they'd repaired something). Pity they won't cover me now really! Mind you, the RAC have been grand too.

Sounds great, yes definately provide feedback if you want to. Did you get his name? :)

Peter.

I have now done the feedback form, hopefully they'll pass my comments onto him.

Have had good and bad service from the AA. Funniest one was when my aunt and uncle took me, DSis and cousin to Legoland during high season. Horrid traffic, car dying, three lively children... we got there and there was an AA van fixing someone else's car the other side of the car park, so my uncle called and said he could see this van, could they please send it over when it was done.

Apparently that's impossible so he ended up waiting for nearly three hours in the baking car for another van to turn up. Luckily he's not allowed on rides for medical reasons, so he didn't miss anything, but he was fuming!

I usually tip the AA men too as they are fab on the whole. Admittedly I don't call them out very often but they do try and fix problems if they can. Once my battery died completely, as in not charging any more and rather than tow me home and leave me, he took me to Halfords so I could buy a battery and then he fitted it.

I used to work in the AA payroll department in college holidays and the patrolman used to have a tax code which reflected an estimate of the tips they received. I haven't forgotten that and so, knowing they are going to be taxed whether I tip or not, I usually give them a few quid if I have any cash on me.

"He's a very nice man..a very nice man..a very very nice man"

worraliberty I remember that ad

And he is (very nice). Our car wouldn't start when we returned to it at the airport after a week's holiday recently. It was gone 11pm and we were knackered. DS hadn't slept. It was looking like a right PITA. The AA man was there in 15 mins and got the car started within another 10 mins.

DS has been repeating 'Thank you AA man' like a mantra for the past month. Except he pronounces it Yeah Yeah Man

Green flag men can be very lovely too! And it's cheaper...