Now I know they have emergencies
Seems like perhaps you don't quite understand the scale of their problems...
If your earning £300 a day why not buy a reliable car that can cope with cold.......?? Hehehe..... I'll get my coat 
Because your vehicle is obviously not in a particularly reliable condition, and the AA man should probably advise you not to risk taking it out on the winter roads and risking getting stuck somewhere. If it needs a new battery go and get one. If it just needs a jump start ask a neighbour.the-muffin-man - MemberGiven the conditions I think its perfectly reasonable that AA home start becomes a low priority.
Why?
TBH it is the none essentials who go out and get stuck, then call the AA et al in their FWD Transits who need to be left to their own devices.
If I worked for the AA I'd prefer a day of Homestarts, with tea & coffee on tap, than pushing/pulling knobs out of ditches.
I have some sympathy for the OP in his circumstances.
i went out this morning to defrost the car to take oh to work. battery done. was going to jumpstart with the van but two weeks sitting doing nothing rendered it equally useless.
phoned the rac. they phoned back an hour later to say they were delayed. they phoned again to say they couldn't say when they'd get here. and then texted to make sure oh was okay. and phoned again. then appeared after three hours. similar experiences last year. attentive and the guy in the van was super decent.
Because your vehicle is obviously not in a particularly reliable condition, and the AA man should probably advise you not to risk taking it out on the winter roads and risking getting stuck somewhere. If it needs a new battery go and get one. If it just needs a jump start ask a neighbour.
My otherwise reliable, 3 year old fully MOT'd, fully serviced (ironically) 4x4 won't jump start - until it's finally given up the ghost today, didn't need a new battery and, according to the mechanic who's just been out from a local garage, is suffering from frozen fuel.
I checked the battery voltage yesterday and it was fine, although it's now taken exception to too much heavy load and died - that wasn't the initial problem though.
[i]is suffering from frozen fuel[/i]
good job the AA didn't come out then and concentrated on those that were already out and about, they'd not have been able to help...
Last year my prop went, they were great. I had several countdown texts to keep me informed. They loaded my Landy, and dropped me off at my cross race then took it to the garage of my choice.
Best few quid I spent was on a battery starter.
I need my car for work, so I have to be ready for any situations.
Frozen fuel? Was it a tank from earlier in the year?
molgrips - Member
Frozen fuel? Was it a tank from earlier in the year?
Eh?
It hasn't got cold enough by a long way for either petrol or diesel to freeze in the UK yet. If your fuel is freezing there must be some contaminant like water in your tank.
If the diesel in there hasn't got any additives in it then the diesel could be "waxing" that starts below about -10degC. This kills the filter.
I didn't mean froze solid - as LHS says, 'waxing' -17.5 was reported overnight here, so yes the temps are cold enough.
molgrips - Member
Frozen fuel? Was it a tank from earlier in the year?Eh?
As above, plain diesel starts to wax at -10 or so, so in the winter months they put anti-waxing additives in it. If you fill up in early Autumn then don't use it all up before early severe cold then you can have problems. The amount of additives varies depending on where they sell it, so you can also have trouble if you fill up in the sunny south and drive up to Scotland (if you can manage it on one tank).
The additives affect the energy content of the fuel too, which is mainly why you get worse MPG in the winter months - it's cos you are using winter fuel.
No, I do around 700 miles per week - it's a half full tank of BP Ultimate
I didn't mean froze solid - as LHS says, 'waxing' -17.5 was reported overnight here, so yes the temps are cold enough.
Ahhh waxing why didn't you say that
Still BP ultimate which is definately treated this time of year should be fine with current temperatures. Maybe just got a cr*p tank last time you filled up, hope its sorted soon. 😉
inclemental weather
Weather that's slightly worse than the day before?
I am with the Royal Automobile Club, which I find most satisfactory.
I figured out that if it's good enough for Queen Elizabeth, and after all, she can hardly afford to lose a day's wages, then it's good enough for me.
last couple of days aa have recieved three times normal workload.patrols drive vans so are getting stuck in traffic ect same as everybody else and are therefore able to attend less jobs than normal.contractors also streched to limit as they all work for green flag and rac aswell!!..prioroty must be given to motorways,lone females ect..some people are just useless and are holding everyone up by calling in for things like washers frozen,snow on driveway,brakes failing!!(when abs works)...ive just finished a twelve hour shift and done four jobs normally would do eight to ten!! 🙁
My wife's car lost power and she was advised by the garage that the car needed to be towed asdriving would damage the engine. The RAC came out and refused to tow the car. They were not interested in helping her at all.
They left her stranded and in tears. A total waste of money. There is no point having cover as you have to sort it out yourself anyway.
And so it continues.
Been told all day at numerous times that they would be out at 19.40.
Had a missed call at 15.30, so rang back and was told that it was an updated ETA, but still 19.40.
Got to 20.40 and gave them a call, just to see if they knew an ETA. After much umming and ahhing and being put on hold I was told that my job had been logged as completed!!!!!!! WTF
Got a 20 something team leader on the phone masquerading as a manager rolling out the company line and eventually established that the call at 15.30 had been to tell me that my job had been cancelled, yet no-one saw fit to leave a voicemail, or call me back. The muppet I spoke to half an hour later still had my job logged in at 19.40, yet for some reason marked the job as resolved when he put the phone down.
Needless to say, he got both barrels. Shocking customer service and busy or not my treatment has been totally unacceptable.
I thought you had had the local guy out? Why are the AA still coming?
Oh, and agreed, the service you have got is pretty shoddy, but don't forget the reasons they are so busy, harsh weather and hundreds of poorly maintained cars with owners relying on the fact that the AA will sort out their maintenance failings.
Local guy came out, had a sniff round, thought it was fuel - not a lot he could do without it warming up/stripping down and he didn't have time.
As I've paid for Home Start, I want the ****ers to come to my home and start my vehicle, or at least determine exactly what's wrong with it.
Local guy since called back and said he'd been to a few similar today and it turned out to be water in the fuel filter, which he may be able to sort for me tomorrow - if that's the problem.
3.5/10 Poor rant. Suck it up, people have been stranded for 24 hours in their cars, and your greeting about frozen fuel, FFS.
*DISCLAIMER* I do actually care for your situation and have empathy with your plight but I have posted a cynical, unhelpful reply in a sarcastic tone which is the current form on here. Hope you are up and running soon.
It could be worse, like me having to commute on my bike in temperatures of minus 11 on icy roads. I cant wait till tomorrow morning!
I'm in Derbyshire, not Lanarkshire - I very much doubt anyone has been stranded around here for 24hrs in their cars.
Not sure who I'm greeting, but I'm moaning about a bloody poor service from someone who's supposed to provide one of the best.
If I'd chosen not to take out breakdown cover, with an extra premium for 'Home Start', then I wouldn't have anything to moan about, would I?
greetin' is Scottish vernacular for crying.
Jesus man get over it, its not exactly an emergency is it. They've not handled it well but you really are making a mountain out of molehill.
As I've paid for Home Start, I want the ****ers to come to my home and start my vehicle, or at least determine exactly what's wrong with it.
I'm sure they will. It might take several days though. On account of the weather. Were you in a hurry ?
i would want some money back but also realise i am not a priority - surely a garage will come and have look /fix it if you are in such a ruch as the AA may not get it started - imagine you wait 2 weeks and they just says take it to the garage mate
NZCol - Member
Jesus man get over it, its not exactly an emergency is it. They've not handled it well but you really are making a mountain out of molehill.
It's pretty important to me not to have my vehicle off the road for 3 days - which is why I bought breakdown cover.
Can you not read, or do you just notice the words you want to for the sake of an argument - I've repeatedly stated I can handle them being busy considering the conditions, but to fail to provide a service (or arrange a contracted mechanic) for 3 bloody days is a bit rich even in the circumstances.
Even that aside, it's the level of incompetance with regards to simple communication that is boiling my blood most. To expect a repair and to find out at 11pm and 9pm that I've been cancelled without notice isn't conducive to being able to resolve the problem through other avenues is it. I've already incurred callout costs and will be incurring further costs and time lost sorting it out myself tomorrow.
Strike me down if this isn't why I use someone such as the AA, otherwise why bother?
it's the level of incompetance with regards to simple communication that is boiling my blood most.
Maybe the weather conditions has resulted in less staff turning up for work, which when combined with a much greater workload than normal, has resulted in fewer people doing a larger amount of work, and less dedicated time for each case.
Personally I can't see much of a problem. If you can't wait for the AA to turn up, then just get your local guy to sort your car out. You now know that Home Start is not as reliable as you would like it to be when there is fairly severe weather conditions and high demand, so don't bother with Home Start when it comes up for renewal, if you think that isn't good enough. I wouldn't get too worked up about it.
I've been with the AA for about 20 years. I think between the two of us (and this includes for 3 hire car callouts where we'd been given a fiat (they should all have an AA van following them) and a renault and then a vauxhall), we've called them out about ten times.
I think the only time I've not been 100% happy with the performance is the very first time where the guy was particularly sarcastic about my adherence (or lack thereof) to service intervals (which was a fair point), he fixed it quickly though.
Since then, they've been absolutely brilliant. One guy towed me 30 miles home (timing chain snapped) when my cover clearly states they'll only tow me to the nearest garage. When the hire car I had broke down in Newcastle, the chap turned up in about 10 minutes, found the problem in a couple of minutes, (water in one of the relays), sorted the problem and then followed me back to my hotel to make sure the car would start again after the battery had been charged for a little bit.
I think they're freaking great!
edit: Oh, and for the last few times, the call centre person has asked if there's anyone who needs to know that I'm stuck and did I want them to give 'em a ring and let them know I'll be a bit late. Now that's service.
Maybe you should have bought an LDV Pilot instead of that cheap shite you have, your words, eat, enjoy.
They had me off the M6 in 15 minutes and after the mechanic found I only had roadside recovery not full relay, he spent the next 2 hours running and clearing fault codes, following me around til it broke again, calling his mates for advice on the model, and- woo hoo- fixed it. My local garage had offered to charge me £70 I think it was just to read the fault codes off once never mind look at the fault. Can't speak too highly of them meself, the guy was an absolute legend.
OTOH the RAC once refused to come and recover me from a barren hillside in the middle of nowhere with no houses or people in view, because I couldn't tell them the postcode. "Just ask someone" .And another time refused to send out a relay til they'd "assessed" my bike to see if it could be ridden in, after it went on fire. First van turns up, less than a minute later says "That's been on fire. You need a relay, I can't tow a bike" and left. 2 hours wait for the first, 4 hours for the second.
Classic stw this thread.
Everyone having a go at the op and twisting his words presumably for a bit of fun.
STR FWIW (not much I'd expect) I think you've got a perfectly reasonable point, but no doubt you'll be prepared and get the bus next time 😀
<whispers> So did i but i was on a very tedious tele conference and he seemed to be getting a bit wound up so i thought i would egg him on a bit.
Sorry mate, agree, that is a bit harsh to not turn up - twice. If they are busy then they need to sort out their business model.
Classic stw this thread.
Indeed.
Mind boggles what some people must put up with for level of service!! You pay for something, you expect to recieve it! 🙄
Everyone having a go at the op .....
I think it's more a case of trying to put the OP's indignation into some sort of common-sense perspective considering the exceptional circumstances. Specially as he freely admits that he is perfectly capable of organising an alternative solution. A solution which in case he might have to rely on even if the AA does turn up, as although I don't have Home Start myself, I'm fairly sure it isn't a repair service.
[b][i]"Mind boggles what some people must put up with for level of service!! You pay for something, you expect to recieve it!"[/i][/b]
I'm sure he will ....... maybe when the weather has thawed out a little ? I agree with the comment that many people are probably quite happy to accept a lower level of service and do not expect miracles though.
[i]"The AA dealt with 24,000 breakdowns yesterday, compared with the normal UK weekday figure of 10,500, and handled as many as 2,500 calls an hour. Calls to the RAC peaked at 3,000 an hour, with dead batteries the most common problem."[/i]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/07/cold-weather-snow-forecast-uk
So that's well over twice the normal amount of call outs then. I guess that would be bad enough to deal with, if road conditions were normal and with the normal level of staff. And try to imagine what 3000 calls an hour must be like if the organisation isn't geared up for it.
cynic-al - Member
Classic stw this thread.Everyone having a go at the op and twisting his words presumably for a bit of fun.
[b]STR FWIW (not much I'd expect)[/b] I think you've got a perfectly reasonable point, but no doubt you'll be prepared and get the bus next time
Not much??? You're joking aren't you - agreement from al is almost akin to receiving a compliment from stumo.....
NZCol - no worries mate
Truck now up and running - local garage. Fitting a new fuel filter later just in case.
Truck died again, fortunately a new fuel filter sorted it.
vim fuego - I'd rather be broken down all week than drive an LDV still.
Oh, and I'm sure your cheap crap LDV's still suffer from water in the fuel system occassionally.
At least I've learned something and seen how the fuel filter fits and the new one has a bleed system to remove excess water.
