AA Rip-Off

[kandr]

At the weekend, took the family to a halloween party in a remote part of the country, I realised I was running low on petrol, but the party was near a town with a petrol station (the only one for miles though).

To my horror the station was closed, and with my beemer reporting that it could only manage another 4-5 miles I was in trouble.

I called the AA which I am not a member and had to join for a year, which I though was OK, might come in useful and I go the most basic which was £69.

By the time the guy got to the end they had added another £80, which applies if you use the AA within the first 3 days!!!

The AA guy was out within the hour, but he also charged me for the 2 gallon of petrol (£14).

Feckers!

[Troll]

At the weekend, took the family to a halloween party in a remote part of the country, I realised I was running low on petrol, but the party was near a town with a petrol station (the only one for miles though).

To my horror the station was closed, and with my beemer reporting that it could only manage another 4-5 miles I was in trouble.

I called the AA which I am not a member and had to join for a year, which I though was OK, might come in useful and I go the most basic which was £69.

By the time the guy got to the end they had added another £80, which applies if you use the AA within the first 3 days!!!

The AA guy was out within the hour, but he also charged me for the 2 gallon of petrol (£14).

Feckers!

and the moral of the story is...?

[Mich the Tester]

and the moral of the story is...?

Join the AA when you buy a car, not when you break down.

[kandr]

and the moral of the story is...?

The AA prey on people in the tulip, and royally screw them, I don't mind having to join, but why the £80 fee?

[Ignis Fatuus]

At the weekend, took the family to a halloween party in a remote part of the country, I realised I was running low on petrol, but the party was near a town with a petrol station (the only one for miles though).

To my horror the station was closed, and with my beemer reporting that it could only manage another 4-5 miles I was in trouble.

I called the AA which I am not a member and had to join for a year, which I though was OK, might come in useful and I go the most basic which was £69.

By the time the guy got to the end they had added another £80, which applies if you use the AA within the first 3 days!!!

The AA guy was out within the hour, but he also charged me for the 2 gallon of petrol (£14).

Feckers!

It seems fair to me. Why would you expect to be able to avail yourself of what is in effect an insurance, paying for the insurance only if you need to claim, at the same price as someone who already had it?

Imagine having no house contents insurance in order to save money, then when you get burgled, you call an insurance company and say you were burgled last night and you want to take out a house contents policy that will cover it. Do you think they would offer it at the same premium as you could have had it for last week?

Edit: why the £80 fee? Because it works by having everybody pay the membership fee (like an insurance premium), and only those who need to making the claims. The fees (premiums) of everybody pay the claims. If nobody paid the fee(premium) until they needed to make a claim the price of the fee (premium) would be the price of the claim and there would be no point in it.

[Mich the Tester]

The AA prey on people in the tulip, and royally screw them, I don't mind having to join, but why the £80 fee?

Erm, other people pay their membership for years while not needing help; it's like an insurance scheme; you phone an insurer after your house has been burgled telling him you want a backdated insurance against burglary and he'll tell you to fornicate off. The AA accept you as a member, but recover the costs of helping a non-member.

[EternalOptimist]

They let me down as well. I took a wrong turning and ended up in a remote village. Lost , I got trapped in a church by ghouls. I fought my way out but the AA refused to help.

As I escaped on foot, i was lucky to flag down a police car.


or was I ?

....................

[TimberWolf]

The first time I joined the AA was when I had broken down and I didn't get extra charged. That was over a decade ago though, and I've been with then ever since and only used them once, for a home start which I don't subscribe to but which they did anyway, so it paid off for them in the end. These days, with less loyalty on both sides, things are likely different commercially.

[BoredBloke]

If they allowed you to join after you broke down then nobody would take out AA membership until they broke down.

[Ignis Fatuus]

The AA prey on people in the tulip, and royally screw them, I don't mind having to join, but why the £80 fee?

You don't mind having to join? Mighty generous of you....