Rip Off Britain
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I had problems with mice eating my car during
2023 and decided to join a motoring organization in case I needed
assistance so looked on the Net to see what the options might
be. I last belonged to such an organization when I drove unreliable
cars. Times have really changed because in the 1950s and 60s
even cars under ten years old could let you down. My Vauxhall
Wyvern was made in 1952 and I bought it for £90 in 1961.
Engines were poor and could totally wear out in under 50,000
miles and mine was no exception, demanding several pints of oil
each time I put in petrol. I recall even new car user handbooks
stressed that oil consumption was "quite normal" and
recommended regular dipstick checks. Anyway, in 1961 I joined
the RAC and I had occasion to call on their service vans quite
regularly. As I recall the fee was 50/- per year.. that's £2.50
in todays money. I ducked out once I bought a brand new Land
Rover in 1970 or it might have been two or three years earlier
after I'd invested in a reliable 1958 Rover 90?
Since then I've not needed to call upon the services
of a roadside help organization so it was really surprising to
discover rates had increased over a hundredfold. I hunted around
and, having been told the AA was the best, I looked up their
fees and signed up in January 2023. In mid December 2023 I received
an email telling me my subscription would be taken from my bank
in January 2024 and having recently been shocked to discover
my Mercedes car insurance had leapt from under £300 to
over £900 I decided to check on the AA subscription renewal.
The results are copied below and I defy anyone to
make sense of the figures.
The e-mail was headed "keep your great benefits
with your renewal". Naturally my key benefit was the
cost, otherwise why had the AA given me a whopping discount of
£257.08? |
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COVER |
2023-2024 |
2024-2025 |
CHANGE |
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Roadside assist |
£136.88 |
£86.37 |
-58.5% |
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At home |
£88.19 |
£55.64 |
-58.5% |
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National recovery |
£86.14 |
£54.35 |
-58.5% |
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Onward travel |
£65.37 |
£41.25 |
-58.5% |
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Total cost |
£376.58 |
£237.61 |
-58.5% |
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Discount |
£257.08 |
nil |
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Annual cost |
£119.50 |
£237.61 |
+98.8% |
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What you see appears to be a very inflated subscription
for 2023 coupled with a huge discount and, for 2024 a much reduced
set of figures adding up to double the annual subscription (bar
£1). I rang the AA and was confounded by the amount of
detail I needed to type into my phone keypad (if I recall correctly
some 28 key presses!) but relieved to wait only a short time
to listen to an English speaker (my previous phone call to a
lift company was impossible because the phone line was VOIP on
a severely overloaded network resulting in 50% information loss
coupled with a really thick foreign accent.. I was unable even
to decipher phonetics).
The AA lady answering my call, not happy with my 28
keyed digits, needed even more information which I duly supplied,
but seemed to just ignore my complaint, saying that I now qualified
for "Silver Service". I suggested that this was apparently
costing me £118.11 but this fell on deaf ears.
After 20 minutes, having been offered a reduction
of £64.61 (ie. £173) I asked if I could re-join as
a new member for £119 but was told this would be £180
and therefore not as good as the £173. I said, "cancel
my renewal and I'd look elsewhere".
The results of looking elsewhere (supplying the same
information as I did to the AA) are below. Of course until I
visit the webpage of these, or ring their phone number for a
quote, I cannot validate the figures below but they are miles
different from the AA quote and much the same ballpark as the
initial AA fee. Does this suggest the AA was trying to rip me
off? I believe so (evidence=the fresh quote of £173). |
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It turns out I'll need to apply nearer the date
of the expiry of the AA sub at the end of January so I'll add
to this note later. |
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