These clowns left me stranded alone and miles from home (RAC)

Member Name: k4ssie

Product:	RAC
Date:	27/05/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Their salepeople are very plausible

Disadvantages: But their random exclusions mean you may never get any service for your cash

Oh dear, another candidate for a zero star rating...if only there was one.

Back in 2007, I'd been an RAC member for several years - paying the highest level of cover, because i travel far and often for work and needed to know that any problems with my car could be sorted, or at least i'd be got home. During the whole time i was with the RAC, i think i made two callouts -the first time, my car went dead in Birmingham city centre, because one of the battery terminals had become disconnected. On that occasion the RAC guy arrived quite promptly (40 mins or so) and quickly diagnosed and fixed the problem.

However. A year or so later, I came out of a meeting about a hundred miles from home, got in the car (using the central locking) and went to put the ignition key in the lock. To my total horror I realised something was badly wrong - the end of the key had sheared off when i took it out of the ignition a couple of hours previously, so not only did i have two thirds of a key, the end part was stuck in the ignition. Thinking i was just in for a dull evening of being towed home, but not overly concerned, i waved my colleagues on their way, because of course the RAC would sort me out.

Or not. I called the usual number, gave my details, told the lady what had happened. I thought i'd misheard her when she said they wouldn't send anyone out, because they "don't cover keys". Now, i can see how an exclusion for lost keys, or those locked in the car, *might* be reasonable - although even then, only if someone did it persistently. But this was essentially a mechanical failure - if a small piece of metal had broken off any other part of the car, rendering it immobile, that would've been fine, but apparently because it was part of the key, they wouldn't help.

I just couldn't believe it. I was on my own, in an isolated car park out of town, a long way from home, with darkness falling. My partner was also away on business. Panic setting in, I sobbed down the phone to the RAC lady asking what exactly they expected me to do now. Nope, definitely no help forthcoming - but they could give me a telephone number for a locksmith who might help.

To cut a long story short, i spoke to the locksmith they recommended, and he wanted to charge me way over what i found later to be the going rate - about £300. I didn't have that kind of money, so in the end I had a tortuous and expensive journey home by public transport, then contacted a local locksmith the following morning who delivered fabulous service - driving back to the car with me, making a temporary fix so we could get the car home, and then completing the work locally, all for around £130.

When i'd stopped spitting blood over the RAC's lack of service, i checked my policy with them. And guess what?! in the small print, black and white document that they send you - not anywhere in the lovely glossy "welcome to our fabulous service" documents, there that nonsensical exclusion is. That might make it legal, but in my book it doesn't make it OK - firstly it's a stupid exclusion, and secondly I think they should be obliged to make something like that MUCH clearer in the sales process, i was definitely told when taking the policy out over the phone that there were no exclusions because i had the top level policy.

I did try to complain; I even made a "mystery shopping" call where i pretended to be a potential new customer, and asked the call centre person repeatedly whether i would be helped no matter what happened to my car, and was told yes.... and then suggested to the complaints manager that he review the call recording of that and see if they might perhaps want to change their tune. I got the usual consistent corporate fob offs, and in the end I gave up and walked away, as they wanted. What they didn't want, I assume, was for me to go on a one person crusade ensuring that none of my friends or family every paid a penny to these goons ever again.

In summary - read the small print, and DON'T believe anything you're told by the RAC sales centre. When you're stuck in a cold dark car park, 100 miles from home, they'll be long gone and knowing that they lied to you won't do you any good at all.

Summary: Hmm, how many expletives CAN i use here before i get banned?!