Dirty RAC!

[VNA - BMW Wank]

Transporter not fit for purpose then.

Shocking.

[BennyBoy]

Something like that, yes.

OK, so one chat with my lawyer and then speaking to the RAC.. the RAC are picking up my bike tomorrow AM and taking it and me to a shop of my choice.  I am then getting a lift back to my place of work while the bike is estimated.

Fingers crossed by the time the bike has been estimated for all the damage I think it has.. I'm hoping they will have green-lighted my repairs.

So far, i have racked up phone bills of £35, £50 expenses and 17 hours dealing with the RAC to get this sorted.  For that i am wanting:

• Damage repaired - replacement bars, control set, clutch lever - all caused by their contractors.

AND EITHER

• Full Service and Replacement Tyre

OR

• £35 + £50 + some form of compensation to the tune of 2 days wages for my time

Is this an unreasonable request?  I feel that if the RAC hadn't done what they did - these costs and times wouldnt have been incurred and it is their job to put right what has been wronged

[snapper]

its not going to hurt to ask ! if they say NO then see them in court
 
all of the things you have done and costs you have incured (responable costs that is ), I beleive should be at there expense
 
but be carefull what you claim for ! respoble costs is down to interpritation !
 
 

[BennyBoy]

Well tat was a bloody joke!


My bike was meant to be collected at 8AM.  at 8.30, I'm  STILL WAITING at the end of my street with my bike. because its narrow and i wanted to make things easier for them.

The phine rings... "be there in 10 minutes".  1 hour and 15 minutes later he turns up... WITH THE WRONG TYPE OF TRUCK!

I let him load the bike anyway.. lets face it... it already FOC'd.  We get it to the bike shop nearly an hour later.  He unloads (scratching my bike in the process) and then has the balls to ask me to sign a form with a picture of a car on it to say there was no damage.  I very politely told him I wasnt going to sign for a damaged bike to say it was delivered unharmed.

I get the quote (just shy of £800) for all damages and a new tyre.  I then go out to get back in his truck for the ride home I was promised.. and HE'S DISAPPEARED!

I call the RAC - fuming... their suggestion - get a train... to my town... which doesnt have a feckin train station!  NO!
they say - get a bus... more like 3, taking half a day... NO!

..they evetually cough for a taxi which on arrival asks where in Nottingham I want dropping...???!!??  I don't!  so he has to get authorisation to take me to the right destination - fair enough.

All straightened out - I get home, call the RAC with the estimate... they now want it in writing with a complete explanation for the damages... including pics, faxing TODAY... using that fax machine I've never owned.

I was meant to be taking a late start at work.. 8am pickup would get me to work at 10.30(ish).. no harm done.  I now have a day off - UNPAID because i wouldnt get there til 2.30 if i left now.. and will the RAC cover my lost earning as a result of their negligence...??? NO!


Bollocks!

[snapper]

 think negligence might be better swapped for incompentance ! ignorance apathy and stupidity !
 
 I cannot believe that an organization such as the RAC can think your going to just roll over and give up but thats what it seems to me there hoping
 

[BennyBoy]

Yeah... never was too great at words...

Have had the quote faxed to RAC by the garage now and its in their "admin queue" waiting to be scanned in and saved.. fun times.

[snapper]

benny it was sarcasm  no worries
 
posted a link to this thread on my face book ! hope tyou dont mind one reply read
 
"wasnt it watchdog that had to get involved with a claim with one of the recovery companies after they towed an automatic car by wrong axle and messed transmision up. They all try and get away with "any damage caused is not our fault" crap but its all smoke and mirrors they are responsible for damage they cause!"
 

[BennyBoy]

No worries Snappy-old-boy

Interesting to see I'm not the only one and this has been reported before.  I intend to fight this as far as I need to in order to ger the bike repaired of replaced by these idiots.

[slappy]

I think you really need to get a decent solicitor on this as it could drag on and as well as being out of pocket you are already finding yourself inconvenienced. No one at the rac will admit fault if they can avoid it and you will probably find yourself dealing with different people all the time.

[BennyBoy]

Surprisingly, the one thing the rac have been half decent at is that there is an assigned person on my case who i have spoken to everytime I call in.

Hes not particularly helpful, but hes consistently availabl when needed

[snapper]

I think now is the time for a recorded delivery letter
 give then seven days to reply list ALL your expensise  cost of repair  and lost of earnings  !  as much as you can reasonably expect!
Faillure to reply and this will significatly increase as it will be handed to the solicitors  (give name if you can) and there cost will then be included in any settlement
They know all of this and they know they dont (i think ) have a leg to stand on ! the're just wasting your time and theres in the hope youll either go away or cliam of your own insurance  !

[BennyBoy]

Want to kill them all!

Latest is that I faxed them a copy of the damage repair quote on wednesday and got a receipt.

The garage did the same.

...somehow, they never arrived.

I emailed it yesterday... I have a auto-reply from the RAC saying "thanks for your email....balh blah"... somehow, my email also didn't arrive.

Nearly time to release the bloodhounds... eerr, i mean legal professionals.

[BennyBoy]

Further to this.. no new news... so here's a rough draft of the letter the RAC will be getting.. thoughts??:

Ref: Motorbike, vehicle registration T655 XBV.

On Tuesday 22nd September, my motorcycle suffered a flat tyre.

As an RAC member, I phoned for a pickup to take me to an address where I could store my bike overnight until I could get the tyre changed.

After calling the breakdown assistance line, I was told someone would be with me in half an hour.  A breakdown truck finally arrived after an hour - 30 minutes later than I was told it would be.

On arrival at the street my bike was on, the breakdown driver called me to say that he could not get his truck down to my end of the road.  He was asked to wait where he was and I would wheel the bike to him.  He agreed.

I wheeled my bike up the hill to him, only to find he wasn't there.  I called him back and he said he had found another road to use to gain access and had done so, despite being told to wait and without bothering to let us know.

He then refused to go back to where he originally said he would be, leaving me to push a motorbike up a steep hill, past over 50 houses with traffic on both sides of the road posing danger to myself.

When I arrived at the top of the hill, I was met by a man smoking and messing around with his phone.  He had a flatbed truck - the wrong type of vehicle for recovering a motorbike.  By this point, I was so relieved to have someone finally pick my bike up that I allowed him to load my bike and take it home.

On arrival home, I was asked to sign some paperwork and was told it was simply to acknowledge that the bike was collected and delivered as requested.

I signed the paperwork and then got out of the truck to get my bike taken off.  On removing the bike from the truck, I noticed that part of my indicator stalk was missing.  I brought it up with the recovery agent who informed me that it was not his problem.  He then unloaded my bike and on starting the engine, I noticed that there was the following damage:

Broken indicator stalk
Broken lighting switches
Broken horn
Broken clutch
Broken pass trigger
Bent handlebars
Damaged switchgear casing

The driver again reaffirmed that this was not his problem and simply got on his truck and left me stranded at the end of the road (the truck being too wide to get down the road to the house where I wanted the bike leaving).

I called RAC to complain and was informed that not only was the complaints department closed, but the RAC were unable to provide assistance in getting the bike to the address where I wanted it keeping.

After nearly half an hour of wrestling with it, I finally got the bike uphill and up the road to the address where I wanted it stored and locked the bike up.

The following morning (Weds 24th Sept) I called the RAC customer care team, who were less than helpful.  I was informed that I would not be given a courtesy car, I would not be given transport to get the bike reviewed and the RAC would not provide a mobile mechanic to look over the bike.

This was completely unacceptable as there is no mobile mechanic I could instruct to look at it, I was left without transport and had no means to pay for a recovery truck to move my bike to a place where I could have it looked at.

It took 3 full working days and several hours of phone calls before I was offered transport for my vehicle and me to the estimators and back again.

A few days later, and a week after I originally reported the damage, another truck was sent out to me to move my bike.

The truck was supposed to turn up at 8AM and finally showed up nearly 2 hours late despite being pre-booked.  Again, the wrong type of truck was sent out, but at least this time the driver knew how to secure the bike.

On arrival, I refused to sign the forms saying the bike was delivered intact as the driver managed to scuff my paintwork while unloading the bike.  The driver then left without providing me with transport back to my office as promised.

It took over an hour of phone calls to get transport home.  During this time I was offered told:
•   Get a train (the town doesn’t have a station)
•   Get busses (would take 6 hours, cost a lot and still only get me to just within a mile of my destination)
•   get a taxi and apply for reimbursement (I don’t have £80 to throw at RAC incompetence)

Eventually, RAC sent a taxi for me which took another 30 minutes to arrive.

On arrival, the taxi had been given the wrong destination and I had to wait for the driver to get authorisation to take me to where I was supposed to be going.

I eventually got back to my starting point 4 hours later than expected - causing me to have to take a day (unpaid) off work.

A mechanics report was sent to me shortly after - detailing the damage, cost of repair and clearly stating that the damage was caused by incorrect securing of my bike resulting in excessive downward pressure on my bars - resulting in broken switch gear, bent bars and the rest of the damage mentioned above.

The garage sent this to the RAC who claimed it never arrived.  They sent it to me, and it arrived immediately.

I then faxed it to the RAC and got a receipt from the fax machine confirming delivery - yet the RAC claim it never arrived.

The following day I had to email the report to the RAC twice before anyone would acknowledge it had arrived - despite me having a pair of auto-generated replies from the RAC informing me that my email was received.

A week and a half after my bike was ruined by the RAC (Friday 2nd October) - the RAC finally agreed to give me a courtesy car, but only for that weekend - and I had to pay the fuel deposit, delivery and collection charges!  I was told I could expect these back IF a case was found in my favour.  This car has since been collected and when I requested an extension of the time which I could keep the car for, I was told that not only was it not possible, but I should be grateful that I was even given this as its not normal practise.

As things stand:
•   I have been without transport for 2 weeks
•   I have lost full days wage
•   I have spent nearly £50 on phone calls
•   My bike is still off the road

On top of this, I have been lied to by RAC, its customer service team and its Breakdown customer care department on several occasions.  I have been told that you have a no names policy, yet when I call back 2 minutes later I will be given the name I requested.  I have been promised repeated call-backs which never happened.  I have been told people, actions and departments do not exist – yet I have spoken to them shortly after.

I have been informed repeatedly that you are waiting for the 3rd party recovery company to put together a statement and present their case and that this will take a reasonable amount of time.  The recovery agent has been on holiday and has been unavailable - which has delayed this case.

However - after seeking legal advice, I have been informed that this is irrelevant.  I have conclusive proof from a mechanic that this damage was caused by a recovery agent and since my contract is with the RAC, it is up to them to get my bike repaired and then recover their costs at a later date… Not to make me wait while the RAC check whether or not its costs can be recovered before it starts the process of making good what it has damaged

Further proof that my bike was in good working order before the RAC handled it comes from its location.  If my bars, switch gear and clutch had been broken before the RAC handled my bike - then the bike would not have been moveable to get it to the location of the recovery from where it is kept - a distance of 40 miles. 

It is also impossible that this damage could have been caused by a crash as a crash would have damaged the bike fairings and would have not damaged the switch gear - the complete opposite of my bikes actual condition.

I have taken legal advice and have been informed that if you do not respond to this letter in a satisfactory way within a period of 7 days that my best option is to take the RAC to a small claims court.

This is advice I intend to take and have already acquired the forms necessary to start this process.

To resolve this matter in an agreeable manner, I expect the RAC to:
•   Issue a formal apology for the way in which my bike, myself and this case has been treated
•   Pay all costs related to getting my bike back on the road in a good working order
•   Cover the expenses of my phone bills and lost earnings due to the RAC's actions.
•   Offer a goodwill gesture in the form of an extended membership free of charge or a financial gesture to cover the stress and time taken to get this issue resolved.
Yours,
Ben Bell

[snapper]

At the begining the way its worded you seem to have pushed the bike up the same hill twice to get to two different locations !1
start at point A ! pushed the bike to point B up a hill
 then pushed the bike back to point A up a hill again ?

[Grahamm]

I'd also chuck in that you consider them to be in breach of the "Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982" which, according to Which Magazine: "Requires the trader to use reasonable care and skill and says that any materials or goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. It also says that, unless a specific date is agreed for a service to be provided, it must be carried out within a reasonable time."

Note that *your* contract is with the RAC, not the recovery agent. *They* may have a contract with him, but that's not your problem.

[BennyBoy]

Snapper... good call.  My bad.

Cheers for the advice graham.  I will find a space for it

[Fatherbiker]

Fuck me!....I am so glad you have got a solicitor involved mate cos that would have been my worst nightmare! The customer relations seem to be totally non-existant. As for the twat who was supposed to pick you up and take you and bike to the bike shop, what fookin planet did he come from?...To not take care in loading and unloading the bike from his 'FLAT BED' truck and now damaging your paintwork in addition to the rest of the damage caused by the other cnut......has he a death wish as well???????....You should have at least have been supplied with another bike while yours is being sorted out and not fobbed off with excuse after excuse about not getting emails/faxes. They will not be getting a renewal from me next year and i always used to think highly of them!....Good luck getting it sorted out my friend!

[BennyBoy]

Yeah, I'm getting sod all from them.

Really glad to hear yo uwill not be renewing with them and won't eventually have to suffer the crap that I am getting from them

I am not planning to renew with the RAC even if they  offer me a free membership.  I would rather pay for someone to recover a bike of mine without turning it into a several thousand pound garden ornament.

I have heard really good things about "2Gether Motor Breakdown".  They have a crap website, but their reviews on reviewcentre.com are incredible with 4/5 compared to the RAC's 2.3/5

..That said, they may be crap and just have a few good reviews, but they are the top ranked recovery agency on most review websites I've seen and they can't possibly do a worse job... well, unless they secretly burn people's vehicles and beat their customers into giving them good reviews.. who knows.

[Grandma]

Blimey this is scary, but hopefully once your solicitor swings into action and makes it clear they will be incurring solicitors fees aswell they will settle immediately.
[/size][/color]Unbelievable that such a huge organisation should treat it's customers so badly, as RAC used to be preferred for bike recovery over AA.[/font]
[/size][/color]Carole Nash seem to use AA now and the couple of times I've had to use them, they have been O.K, but I have been hovering like a Mother Hen[/font]
[/size][/color]Good Luck, with you all the Way[/font]

[DeeDub]

You have given the RAC ample time and many opportunities to right their obvious wrong.
The truth is, they don't give a sh*t, you are one of many millions of customers, your problem is not even a niggling statistic for them because like most major companies and PLC's, you are an irrelevancy. It shouldn't be that way but it is!!
 
Let your bike solicitors loose on these useless arseh*les and claim for absouluteley everything  :
 
* Damage to bike £££
* Cost of a hire vehicle for the duration of your bike being off road £££
* Loss of wages £££
* Cost of Telephone calls & time £
* Time in preparing and sending emails and faxes and cost of sending ££
 
Get your solicitor to charge them for ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, make the bastards at the RAC pay, they are an absolute disgrace......and breathe 

[snapper]

BennyBoy maybe if you can post up the final draft of your letter along with your last responce we can all post it all over the net as many forums as possible ?
 

[BennyBoy]

Will do chief.

Am planning to redraft a few little bits tonight.

Will get it sent off and give you all a copy nice and soon.

[popeye72]

been reading with interest, cant believe they can act like this have you thought of contacting WATCHDOG ? people need to be made aware. Hope it finally get sorted for you

[BennyBoy]

Possible progress.. or this is the end of the road.. one way or another this will get sorted.

Finally today - 13 days and 18 hours after the incident, the contractors have been in touch.  they have provided the RAC with a document signed by me which says the bike was recovered and delivered unharmed.

I have informed the RAC this was signed under duress and before I was allowed to see my bike.  I have also told the RAC that they wouldnt unload my bike unless I did sign it.

They have presented this to the recovery agent.  The recovery agent has put in a statement saying the recovery was from an RTA with flat tyre.  the damage to my bike was supposedly caused by an "RTA" where i got a flat tyre and probably ditched out and they werent paying up.

The RAC presented this to me.

I have provided the RAC with pictures of my bike.  the only fairing damage - something you would certainly have if you ditched out - is a crack on the left side front fairing.  I have provided a report and photos from the guy who fixed the crack.. back in August!!

Further to this, the front forks, wheel, tyre, brake, lights, indicator lights, fairings et al are all perfectly intact.  There is no damage to the pillion bar, footrests, pillion pegs, exhaust, engine case, rear brake lever or gear selector... its all perfectly intact.  Sounds just like the outcome of an crash or ditch out, right?

Bunch of tossers!

More to follow

[Grahamm]

I have informed the RAC this was signed under duress and before I was allowed to see my bike.  I have also told the RAC that they wouldnt unload my bike unless I did sign it.

Next time (or for anyone else faced with this situation) sign it "Unseen, signed under protest"!