...to be so, so cross.......

[BlackStoneCherie]

.....at the RAC?

My partner broke down in the car hours ago on his way to a special event. He called the RAC just after 5pm and was told someone would be there between 6pm - 10pm, so a maximum wait of 5 hours.

Got to 10.20pm he called again , only to be told they were now sending out a local breakdown service , which would be there imminently.

It wasn't. But no communication from the RAC to my DP to say why.

I then called them from home and got them to call him back, only for them to say it would be another 70 mins before help arrives.

He's out in the middle of the countryside, his phone charge is now low, and has been stranded for over 7 hours. He's over 120 miles from home, so even if they arrive now, it's going to be at least 3.30 - 4.00am before he get's back here.

Our renewal is due next week!

Sounds typical of rac

Greenflag all the way- never waited more than an hour

I would be fuming too. Hope your dh is home by now

Took RAC 11 and a half hours to get us home to the south coast from A3 in London in early Dec. We got absolutely freezing and after the one call back to say someone would be with us within the hour, we walked a mile or so down the road to a fuel station. The lovely guy there said we were welcome to wait there. The excuse was that 2 trucks broke down on their way to us . We ended up with a rickety old truck that shook is so hard all the way home that the back of my head was very sore. The driver had removed his tacho card because he'd been working 18 hours before getting to us at 1am. When we complained about the level of service we didn't complain about the driver because it wasn't his fault but we did receive £50 compensation simply because they acknowledged that we were let down badly with their lack of communication, that said they never agree to timely rescue.

This is shocking, imagine if he was on the hard shoulder? It's not exactly safe to be on the side of a road for hours and hours.

I'm with the RAC and I'm really tempted to change after hearing this. Don't think I could cope, I always had emergency supplies in the boot of my car in case I broke down and always thought my dad was being ridiculous, I now see he wasn't Hope your DH gets home safe

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie really? You can't think of a single reason why women might be more vulnerable on the side of the road after a breakdown? Look up the murder of Marie Wilks.

Hope your DH is home safely OP.

I've just changed insurance and no longer have breakdown cover so was deciding whether to go for RAC or AA, guess that's decided now.
Hope you're doing is home.

I don't believe there is any breakdown service that doesn't prioritise children first; then disabled people and lone women, then everyone else. They also assess location (hard shoulder will be responded to faster than random country lane; usually).

I hope he's home and okay do complain. It wasn't necessarily the prioritisation that made this awful; but the constant lies/changes about when to expect help and what the plan was, and the huge call times.

I doesnt sound as if RAC is very good any more. A friend broke down late last night and had about a five our wait. Not what you expect.

Blimey that’s a really long wait. How annoying for you all.

We are leaving the RAC.
They seem to be unable to communicate.

First instance we broke down just outside Edinburgh around 1 am. Phoned RAC. Said 4 people in car.
Tow truck sent, not breakdown ( they dont do breakdown at night)
No room for us all.
Tow truck driver says taxi will come.
I refused to leave until taxi came for passengers.
4 am before the taxi came.

But what really pissed me off was my daughter borrowed my van, it broke down in a town through the west. Around 4 in the afternoon.
She was on her own
RAC were called. Patrol would come.
Several hours later a local breakdown service comes.
Gets van started.
She heads back, looses power on a busy bypass.
Around 11pm
Police attended, breakdown guy returns.
Cant get van going, so the police push it down slip road and onto farm track.
Breakdown guy says tow truck needed.
Police called away.
Breakdown guy leaves.

My daughter was left on her own overnight with no word what was happening.
Tow truck came around 8 am

If we knew she'd be left we'd have arranged b and b or Id have driven through . It was the not knowing
Shocking

Morning everyone. He's home!

I fell asleep around 3ish, then woke at 5am when the taxi brought him home. It seems that both the taxi AND the recovery truck had been given the wrong location of my DP, otherwise he would have been home an hour earlier.
We sat talking for half an hour with a cuppa, and have to say the whole thing has been a shambolic debacle.
Yes, being lied to so that his time was pushed back and back was disgusting. After the first time I called the RAC to get things sorted from my end, I tried calling again - twice. I was kept on hold for 48 mins the first time before I gave up, the second less so before I realised that they weren't going to answer my phone.

We are going to take this further. Meanwhile today, we have to wait in whilst our car is brought back from who knows where. The recovery didn't have 'paperwork', only electronic signature which DP had to sign. So the only evidence we have of who has the car is photographic - DP had a camera with him - pics of the recovery vehicle with our car loaded onto it, the R V registration and contact details etc.

What a carry on - a farcical carry on.

DPs still asleep, I feel I have grit in my eyes and a lump of wood for a head.

Thank you all so much for your company and support last night, as I was so worried. Thank you.

Hope your DH is home sounds incredibly frustrating.

I think prioritising is appropriate. As a woman with older children I'd be horrified if, for example, someone with infants in the car was not prioritised over us.

Shocking

Thats dreadful. everytime I have rung the RAC they have been there within the hour, and that's been several times in the last 2 years but apparently they do put men on their own at the bottom of the list sadly.

maskingtape I've always had excellent service from the RAC. I've called them out 5 times over about 18 years. They've never been longer than an hour. One even spent 3 hours with me as he insisted once he'd made the repair that he follow me home (2 hours away) to ensure the repair held and was safe after the journey. He was such a lovely guy. They all have been
I've had the same treatment as you in the past too, but that doesn't mean that it's ok for the way they behaved last night. We paid for a service - just as in years gone by - that was sadly lacking in every aspect.

thedish This is shocking, imagine if he was on the hard shoulder? It's not exactly safe to be on the side of a road for hours and hours
He didn't feel safe where he was either. In the middle of the countryside, no streetlights, just the moon, no residential signs either.

RainInSummer I wonder if your friend was in the same area last night as my DP. I hope she's ok?

Ratspeaker that is truly dreadful. I hope your DD is ok and that you complained too?

Blackstone I joined Twitter for the various purposes of berating various organisations in a way that actually, usually, gets an actual response! Asda, iTailor, train and bus companies, local council - they're all on there!

I agree that a lone female/person with children for example should take precedence but when following this means other people are left for hours it highlights one glaring solution. Get more bloody recovery staff RAC!! THAT'S the problem, it's not the policy so much as the resourcing.

However, their policy should include other factors really shouldn't it - you could be a chilled out black belt in five martial arts woman on her own in a well lit safe area not at all concerned about anything and you get priority, but an elderly couple who both need to return home at a certain time in order to take essential medication would not be a priority. In today's world of sophisticated algorithms RAC and anyone else offering these types of services needs to make their screening and prioritisation protocols far more intelligent than they are at the moment.

You should definitely complain but also decide if you want to be with a company will millions of their own, trained, patrols or a company who farms out all of their work to local garages (green flag:RAC). When did you last see an actual RAC van. I'd go with the AA.

And having worked for them they definitely prioritise those with children or women alone.

And elderly people who need medicine would definitely be a priority but only if you tell the company that.

I’ve always had amazing service from the RAC but now am worried this might not continue in the light of OPs husband’s experience and the cutting of staff etc .
I’m 70+ and disabled and often travel alone in rural areas and my wretched iPhone’s battery has never lasted over 5 hours.
Please get back to us with the RACs response, OP

RAC are awful! They left my 19 year old niece broken down on a roundabout for 5 hours at night.

When my sister rang them complaining she was told they don’t prioritise women unless they have young children. Regardless of gender she should have been priority anyway due to the fact she was in a dangerous position - 3 times they told her someone was less than an hour away before sending a local breakdown company.

I agree that a lone female/person with children for example should take precedence

You'd think, but I remember once driving back from the north of Scotland as a kid. My mum and 4 kids, 3 of us under 10. Our Peugeot 505 broke down in the middle of nowhere and the AA took about 8 hours to get to us. We ended up walking to this nearby hotel and being stung £25 for a round of sandwiches. AA membership was cancelled after that!

RAC left me with dead car in the depths of east London with four day old baby. The said the quick response for lone women is not always available.

A passing AA man (new Dad) stopped and helped me, been with them ever since.

DoingIForTheKids I went onto the RAC FB page last night. Surprisingly I couldn't post on there so messaged them. I got an automatic reply back from the RAC 'Social Care Team' -Ha! -giving me a number to call. When I called it, 'the office was closed - until Monday'

I'm not on Twitter, but once DP wakes up, we shall talk and decide what's going to happen next, were definitely not letting this go.