Dear Ruth,
I am writing on behalf of my very elderly parents-in-law. My father-in-law is 93 and a retired GP, his wife is 88 and a Blue Badge holder.
A few months ago, they had a wretched experience in which the RAC failed to come to their rescue when their car broke down in Devon. They were left without any assistance from the RAC for more than seven hours in a dangerous location.
The breakdown occurred on the A3072 at about 4.30pm while they were on holiday. It turned out to be a clutch failure. When they rang the RAC, there was an automated voice asking for their location.
However, they were in wooded countryside with no fixed points visible beyond the fact that they were just at the start of the A3072 between Tiverton and Crediton, having just passed Bickleigh. They were then asked for their postcode, which they didn’t know, or any identifying buildings, of which there were none.
They were told to await a phone call, which never came. Darkness descended and having their hazard lights on began to run their battery down. Many kind passers-by stopped to help, some bringing water. Another pushed their car into the bushes as silage lorries and tractors were passing them constantly.
Eventually, they were forced to ring the police who attended quickly and waited with them. The police rang the RAC but this did not result in the RAC coming. Eventually the police called a low loader, staying with them until the low loader arrived and taking them to a local hotel at about midnight.
My father-in-law has been a member of the RAC for about 60 years and feels that, to be fair, he has always been well served by the company during past breakdowns.
My parents-in-law both still drive and lead very busy and interesting lives – and as well as being well-educated and good-natured folk, they are both totally “with it”.
They are of the generation that doesn’t like to complain much but I feel the appalling level of service provided by the RAC amounted to gross negligence, bullying, disability and age discrimination, and needs publicising as it could so easily have ended with their car being involved in an accident.
It’s not about compensation, rather preventing this from happening again and ensuring that the RAC ups its game.
– HL, Kent
Dear Reader,
Your parents-in-law were left shaken by this incident and when I spoke to your father-in-law, he echoed your thoughts about his sincere hope that no one else should suffer like this.
They were driving their eight-year-old Renault Kadjar when it broke down. You sent me the call log from their mobile phone, which included six calls to the RAC between 4.36pm and 9.40pm. Two of the calls “rang out” and were cancelled by the RAC. After being abandoned in the dark for hours, your father-in-law rang the police at 9.50pm.
The police officer who turned up would have known the exact location and relayed this to the RAC, so if there had been any confusion about the whereabouts of the car and its passengers, this would have been quickly resolved.
The RAC should, of course, have attended: they had had multiple phone calls from their customer, plus the police had rung them.
Your parents-in-law are vulnerable and should have been prioritised. The RAC’s website states: “If a vulnerability is disclosed or suspected, our call centre team are trained to ease anxiety and prioritise the patrol attendance.”
I asked the RAC to investigate what had happened on this occasion. The firm rang you the next day to apologise. It said it would refund you the £192 towage charge and also your membership fee.
A spokesman said: “We’re very sorry we fell short of the service they should expect, particularly given the circumstances of their breakdown. We were exceptionally busy as a heatwave coincided with the school holiday but we understand how worrying this experience was and why they’re concerned about other members in similar situations.
“We’re taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Your father-in-law told me his car was now fixed and he was due to travel to Rutland in a few weeks’ time. Despite the apology and refund, he said he would look at obtaining breakdown cover from one of the RAC’s competitors instead.
– Ruth
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