I had an unfortunate incident and ended up with 2 punctured tyres. I phoned the breakdown service that I am with and a patrol was called out, a few minutes later they phoned offering to come out and fit 2 new tyres. Because i\'m a member they would waive the call out charge, 2 new 205/50/16 Goodyear Ventura £176 each, I normally pay £85 each total. How to rip off the stranded motorist, the patrol arrived 1-50hr later, put on the spacesaver, towed me to their local depot. £108 each for 2 Goodyear F1, still not good, but not deleted Rip Off, if you read this deleted you should be ashamed.
{All names removed due to the strict No Naming - Shaming policy of this site. DD}
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Yes, I have heard of this before. These organisations are much more 'commercial' than they used to be and I guess they are trying to generate a profit.
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I didn't realise there was a no-naming-and-shaming policy here, which seems a pity - fair comment on a matter of public interest is full defence against any (unlikely) libel action.
However, I would underline the point that breakdown services can be very disappointing when you need them. I recently had to call out my unnameable breakdown service from the side of the M25 in the middle of the night. I told them the problem, which was that a plastic shield had come loose under the car and I was having trouble freeing it.
After about an hour a huge tow truck turned up, rather than the expected little van full of tools driven by a trained breakdown fixer. As a matter of policy the driver of the tow truck had been instructed not to fix anything by the roadside and carried no tools. All he was supposed to do was winch up my car and cart it to a garage.
Thanks to these clowns I got horribly cold waiting around and ended up filthy dirty scrabbling under the car trying to free the damn thing myself using a 20p coin (my toolbag was in out other car). And my unnameable service won't be getting my renewal money next summer ....
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Like Ian, I really do question the purpose of a rigid No-Name policy. I understand the rationale, but not the purpose. In fact I think reporting these problems and leaving readers to guess the identity may almost do more harm than good. Most of us will have already heard of problems of this kind, but this policy is a bit like fuelling rumours.
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If you wish to discuss moderating policy then e-mail the moderators on mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk or Honest John on mailto:letters@honestjohn.co.uk
It is not appropriate to discuss it here, and the comments will be removed later.
However, as I have said *SO* many times before;
\"Company X is a rip off\" is not fair comment on anything and will not be permitted, ever; nor will similar comments be allowed to stand.
\"Company X wanted to charge me £1m for a grommet\" is a fair comment, presuming it to be true. My problem is how I know whether it is true or not and so depending on what is said, it may stand or not.
\"I do not recommend Company X\" is totally acceptable as far as I\'m concerned..
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Mark
I think i see where you are leading us.
If remarks are made in a logical, accurate, reasonable and diplomatic fashion, and the emotional side is kept down. Then you are likely to be more sympathetic in allowing it to stand.
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xam,
You are correct.
Mark.
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You are complaining that you paid £108 for tyres that would normally be £85?
Perhaps they don't have the same bulk purchasing power that the tyre depots have. Perhaps, in the interests of speed, they felt they had to take the first price they were offered. Perhaps they felt that you would be happier to be rescued sooner rather than waiting for them to phone every tyre depot for the cheapest price regardless of distance from you.
I've been charged £176 for tyres by a fast-fit place when the local competitor was charging £96. I needed the tyres, they had them in stock; I paid.
I think you're being a little unreasonable in your anger at this. If you think it through with a truly open mind, they may just have been balancing speed with price.
V
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Ian
The number of workmen/mechanics etc working on the hardshoulder of a motorway that have been killed it is not surprising the breakdown main interest was to get you to a place of safety.
DVD
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I've almost got an opposite complaint to make. Recently I broke down with a problem I knew wasn't fixable at the roadside. However, when I called the recovery company and explained the problem, they just sent a man in a van with some tools to try and fix the problem. Unfortunately the man with tools came without any automotive mechanical knowledge, so he didn't have a clue what to do. So he called up tow-truck to recover me and went on his way. A hour later another man in van turned up trying to fix the problem again. Equally ignorant of how cars work too, and he called out a tow-truck too. Finally another hour later a tow-truck did turn up. He also try to fix but still was clueless about the fault, but did eventually load my car up a take me home. On the up-side he did have a very fast flat-bed truck!
Why didn't the call centre just listen to me that I wasn't able to be repaired at the roadside, and just send out the flat-bed in the first place? If its fixable at the roadside, then I fix it myself!
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Had the same last year when gear box was shedding it's oil everywhere. they still insisted on sending man in small van. he told me it was because too many people think that they know what the fault is, only to be wrong.
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Maybe more knowledgable people on the phones might be of use, so some analysis can be carried out before they send someone out. It will also give the repair/recovery man more upfront information to work out what tools, equipment or spares he might need to bring with him.
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Aren't they supposed to be Recovery Services, not mobile mechanics, which I suspect would increase the subscription.
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