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Nicholas Farina

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Review of the AA, Breakdown Cover:

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Driver took advantage of vulerable woman and kids to upsell

AA driver attended a breakdown of my wife's electric car on a cold January day. The Wife, two kids aged 7 and 4 and elderly mother-in-law were in the car. The AA engineer turned up (late) then said he didn't know how to fix or move a broken-down electric car. He went on to tell my wife that she HAD to buy an overpriced Relay upgrade otherwise she would be stuck by the roadside indefinitely. He then gave her the office number and a reference to quote when ordering the upgrade (presumably so he got his commission) and left her there. My wife did not like being bullied like this, but the children were cold and hungry so she relented. I re-assured her that we would likely be able to reclaim the costs via a complaint. The relay call was attended by a different engineer who got the car moving within 60 seconds of arriving (the problem was just a discharged 12V battery) and was baffled at why the earlier engineer did not know how to fix it. According to him, ALL AA engineers are trained on starting electric vehicles. It seems that some of them are also trained on taking advantage of the vulnerable to earn commission on membership upgrades. When I raised a complaint to the head office, the driver's conduct was justified on account of "small print" in the membership contract, doubling down on his reprehensible behaviour. The message this sent to me is that this engineer was not a one off, but rather mistreatment of Customers for financial gain is systemic at the AA - to the point where they actually write in special contract terms to enable and protect it. I urge anyone considering breakdown cover to avoid the AA like the plague and go with one of the many, many other options out there. Their well-known brand is not an assurance of quality but a screen they hide behind to exploit their Customers. AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! Reviewed on: 21st March 2020

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