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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think road side assistance organisations should NOT do this!

124 replies

MargoLovebutter · 28/08/2018 11:04

Levy an extra and significant sum of money if you join their organisation when you are already broken down?!

Someone please explain to me why I am unreasonable for thinking that this is just shafting the vulnerable.

OP posts:
MissConductUS · 28/08/2018 13:35

Just as a point of comparison we pay $75 (about 58 quid) per year to cover two drivers in New York with AAA. They also negotiate discounts for members for train travel, hotel chains, car rentals etc. so quite worth while in my opinion. The few times we've used them they've been great.

I've checked their website. You can join and use it immediately with no surcharge, but only at the lowest level of benefits. For more complete coverage there's a seven day waiting period.

Mehaveit · 28/08/2018 13:37

You can get great assistence from £25/year. YABU.

MissConductUS · 28/08/2018 13:40

They're a business not a fecking charity.

Interesting. In the US AAA is a non-profit member organization.

PinkHeart5914 · 28/08/2018 13:41

Everyone should have breakdown cover really anyway, a lot of things you pay for you don’t always need (I.e car or home insurance) but they give you piece of mind.

Some bloody cheap breakdown deals are available and if you can afford to run a car then should be able to find a few £ a month for breakdown cover.

Of course they charge more if you’ve already broke down. Why wouldn’t they? They are a business after all

notdaddycool · 28/08/2018 13:42

I used to get the cheap intro deal with a cashback site from the AA one year and alternate with the RAC the next. Now it’s ‘free’ with my bank account. There’s usually a cheap offer around if you have 30 mins once a year.

Branleuse · 28/08/2018 13:43

That is literally the way insurance works. You get it in advance. If you wait till you need it, you end up paying a premium. That was the risk you took

ChristmasPlanner · 28/08/2018 13:46

I got RAC cover through my insurance provider with 20% off for having a second policy, costs me 28 for the year for rescue cover.

Original poster
MargoLovebutter · 28/08/2018 13:47

I think it was the fact that it is insurance that was lost on her and me to be fair.

She was coming at it that it was a membership organisation and that as a fully paid up member, she should have the same cover regardless of when the breakdown occurred.

I'm a member of another organisation and as soon as I join I have full membership benefits - they don't say to me that I have to be a member for x amount of time to enjoy those benefits.

OP posts:
Frusso · 28/08/2018 13:48

She used one of the big very well known companies and from the sounds of things did not get the kind of deals being mentioned on here.
You wouldn't if you were already broken down. I know, I've been there. Granted it was a few years ago now. But the cost of joining was still significantly cheaper than hiring a tow company, or getting the dealership to come and tow it.
But even I'm aware that breakdown cover is a safety net, and not having it was a risk that I took. I'm fully covered now btw

Also to note, if you find you dont have enough cover, eg tow home, tow to garage of choice, or home start, and have to upgrade. You can't then make a call out for those on the same day, you have to wait 48hours. (This also prevents you from cancelling as soon as youve used it).

megletthesecond · 28/08/2018 13:49

Slarti 😂.

lottiegarbanzo · 28/08/2018 13:49

But even following the 'membership' rationale, you can't claim retrospectively for something that occurred before you became a member.

lottiegarbanzo · 28/08/2018 13:51

Or, the membership fee for the 'broken down car owners' club' would be quite a bit higher than that for the AA etc...

MidniteScribbler · 28/08/2018 13:58

Levy an extra and significant sum of money if you join their organisation when you are already broken down?!

Good lord, you can't be this fucking stupid can you?

"Dear Roadside Assistance, I've chosen not to be a member of your organisation before today, but now I'm broken down and need help, so you'll immediately help me out, right?"

Glumglowworm · 28/08/2018 13:59

YABU

They’re not “vulnerable” they’re in a situation entirely of their own making because they chose to save a few quid by not paying for a breakdown policy until they needed one. Of course they should be charged more!

whoaskedyou · 28/08/2018 14:03

Tesco rewards used to do a good deal for RAC membership.

EdisonLightBulb · 28/08/2018 14:09

I'm shocked that anyone could be this dim.

Original poster
MargoLovebutter · 28/08/2018 14:10

Good lord, you can't be this fucking stupid can you? Well clearly I am, but thank you for spelling it out for me.

OP posts:
Holidayshopping · 28/08/2018 14:11

Like me, she is a single mum and broke down with her 3 DC in the car yesterday. No garages open, no OH to help her.

In that situation, you make doubly sure you have breakdown cover before travelling!

I’m amazed at some of these posts how some people actually function on a daily basis.

GabsAlot · 28/08/2018 14:11

i pay 25 a year that covers everything except european driving and u can add that on aswell

its nothing tell her to look round for some-having kids she snhould have done it

Original poster
MargoLovebutter · 28/08/2018 14:11

I'm shocked that anyone could be this dim. - Wow, ok. My friend and I will go and sit in the corner with our dunces hat on.

OP posts:
DadDadDad · 28/08/2018 14:13

I agree with everyone saying it's a form of insurance so this is how you'd expect it to work, but whether or not you think of it in those terms, the recovery organisation is a commercial operation and can do what it likes to acquire and retain profitable business (within the law) - fair doesn't enter into it.

Suppose you decided to launch a rival business where there was only one joining fee even if you joined when you had already broken down. Who would join? (Answer: no-one until they broke down). Can you foresee any problem between the fees you would collect and the running costs of your fleet of recovery vehicles (which you would locate where?).

Ihavethepower · 28/08/2018 14:16

If you weren't a member of a Union would you expect them to step in and help out if you were in trouble at work?

Greydog · 28/08/2018 14:21

ihave - yes! People did expect that - wouldn't join the union, then rang when they needed us! In the end we told them that you had to be a member for at least two months before consulting us - otherwise they're getting a free ride on other people's money

Holidayshopping · 28/08/2018 14:55

Someone please explain to me why I am unreasonable for thinking that this is just shafting the vulnerable.

Why don’t you explain to us how you think it should work instead?

Original poster
MargoLovebutter · 28/08/2018 15:06

Holidayshopping I have acknowledged all the good points and said I can see where I was wrong in my thinking.

As I've been told I am "fucking stupid", I'm clearly too "dim to function day to day" (as someone else said), let alone come up with an alternative solution to insurance membership organisations!

OP posts:
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