Name: RAC
Rating: 1.43

“Short version of long story - I broke down on M11, called RAC at 9.30pm, they failed to keep me informed as to likely recovery time, every time I called them I was given revised ETA which was not met, recovery vehicle eventually arrived at 2am. Lone female, waiting four and a half hours in pitch dark and pouring rain. Had to sit in car after three hours (contrary to safety advice) as I was so cold and wet that shivering had set in - had to choose between hypothermia and the risk of being hit by fast-moving vehicle. RAC subsequently responded to my complaint by sending me what’s clearly their standard apology and a cheque for £60. I shan’t be renewing.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Still waiting after four and a half hours. I was told the ETA was 20.30 at 22.00 I called again only to be told it would now be 02.30. I explained that I am 100 miles from home in the middle of London. Terrible service. Total lack of honesty and they just keep putting you off.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Brilliant service. Vauxhall corsa had a couple misfires on motorway but I carried on until St Mawes. I strongly suspected the coil system (again). Called out RAC at 4.15 and they promptly arrived at 5.20. Fitted a new coil and checked all levels on oil and water. Gone and sorted by 6pm”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“An absolute shambles of a company. If you are vulnerable at all or have regular vulnerable passengers do not waste your time with this company. They leave you at the roadside for hours on end - I’ve had two experiences of this and they fail to communicate with you. Staff forget about you, give incorrect information and you end up walking an hour home 6 hours later for you to call them (waiting at least 20 - 30 minutes a time for them to answer at all) and they tell you someone will be with you shortly. I’d been told that 6 hours ago!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“On Tuesday 22nd I had a car problem and had to call the RAC I called at 17:30 and eventually got through at 17:45 and gave details etc and was told that it could take up to 5 hours. It probably won’t but we have to advise the worse case scenario. I wasn’t too happy about the thought of sitting in my car till possibly 10:45, but was hopeful that I would see someone sooner. I then called back around 20:30 to get an update and was then told that it could now be up to another 3 hours, so now an hour longer than the original worse case scenario of 10:45. But what could I do, so I got ready for a late night in the rain. Now at 23:00 I again called for an update, to now be told it could be 2AM, now making it possibly 3 hours over the original 5 hours advised. At 1:55 I again called this time to be advised at long last someone was on the way. He arrived around 2.15. When talking to him I found out not only did he work for Green Flag, he was given the job just after 2AM. Which makes me very curious about all the other expected times I was given throughout the evening. If during the first call I was advised it could take the length of time it did I would have called a taxi and got home, instead I was left sitting in a car and eventually got home around 3:30. Due to this, I would like to cancel my membership and be refunded as It only started a couple of months ago. I feel totally let down by the service, and that being given 4 different times, and an 8 hours wait is ridiculous. Below is their reply Thank you for contacting us about the service you received on 23 July 2019. We always plan ahead and knew the weather would be hot, meaning more people would be travelling and the number of breakdowns would increase. We planned for this and ensured extra Patrols were on the road and more colleagues were available in our contact centres. Unfortunately, the extreme temperatures meant demand for our services was even higher than anticipated. Whilst we worked very hard to meet the demand, like many other service providers, some of our customers had to wait longer than we would have liked. We appreciate you will be disappointed with your breakdown experience, however, I hope you understand that the exceptional weather conditions are outside our control and so we're unable to provide any compensation. I assure you we will continue to use our experience and expertise to provide you with excellent service, should you need assistance in the future.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My niece and her partner who are both profoundly deaf were travelling north on M5,with their baby daughter,, when they noticed the temperature gauge had risen above normal. they pulled in to a service station and text called the RAC. They were told it would be 3 hours before anyone could get to them and they were busy as it was the hottest day of the year. when the patrol man arrived he checked the car and told them it was a sensor fault nothing to worry about. He went on to tell two deaf people to listen for any unusual noise from the engine. That shows his level of understanding. They carried on up the M5 and the car broke down with smoke coming from under the bonnet. The outside temperature was 35 degrees and they had their child in the car on the hard shoulder. The RAC told them it would be 5 hours to get to them. As there was a service area about 400 meters up the road they decided to take the chance and walk to it. A kind lorry driver pulled over to help. The RAC eventually arrived at 1:30 am and told them the car would be recovered at lunch time the next day at a cost of nearly £300, which had to be paid up front. Their cover only included recovery within 10 miles. They had to book in to the motel at the service station and loose a days pay as they could not get to work the next day. The following day the recovery truck arrived and took the car and them to the M5 junction with M42 where they had to wait for another recovery vehicle. They eventually arrived home over 30 hours after their first text to the RAC. Neither my niece nor her partner could be described as vulnerable but communication is more difficult for them and given that they had their baby with them this level of service provision is not just disappointing it is downright disgustingly unacceptable. The RAC should be ashamed to call themselves a recovery service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Hopeless waste of money using RAC. Been stuck since 4.20 am phoned them only to be told will get help at 8am. Rubbish service as if I am not paying for it. Will never use it and would not recommend. Cancelling it today.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Completely hopeless, phoned the rac at 13.16 pm today, now 17.51 & still no sign of them.Worse than useless.You have just lost another customer to Green flag.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“So bad they even managed to lose my car!! I had a bad car accident at 7pm last night- all 3 airbags in my car went off and the fire engines were called to the scene to help move the car to the side of the road. I rang the RAC to get my inoperable car towed to a repairer. After a 3 hour wait, they sent a truck from a local garage who, after trying to move it for 20 minutes or so, gave up stating that he was unable to deal with the tow as they needed a larger truck. Spent a further 5 hours on the phone being passed from pillar to post whilst the RAC tried to find a 'larger' truck (for my Audi TT) each time I called I had to explain the whole situation all over again to a call centre as though this was my first call. Each time I was promised a call back and never received one. Eventually I took a cab home in disgust having to abandon my vehicle. Finally had a call at 3.30am from a further RAC contractor stating that he would pick it up and text me where he had taken it to or call me if there was any problem. When I woke up at 8am there was no text and no call so I rang the driver but it went straight through to voicemail. I called the RAC and asked them where my car was - they said it still hadn't been picked up and they would put it through as a new job and would take another 2/3 hours or so. FINALLY at 1pm today a tow truck driver called to say he was there but he couldn't find the car!! -it has mysteriously vanished (apparently) - so they suggested I called the police to see if it had been towed away by them. So I spend the rest of the day on the phone to the police, my insurers explaining the situation, and the RAC (again- who have no record of it being moved nor even a record of the driver that called me at 3.30am). Another day wasted and worrying about my car until out of the blue at 7pm I got a short text from the 3.30am driver with the name and postcode of the depot where he had taken my car - Why did the RAC not know this? Unbelievable! The whole experience has been like a bad dream - awful beyond words. A bunch of 5 year olds could run the RAC better than this. These guys are supposed to know what they are doing and are supposed to provide a service and yet very little information I gave them was logged and each department didn't know what the other was doing. Every person I spoke to assured me that I would get a call back and yet I never did. I can understand that at certain times they are busy but the whole internal customer service system is appalling beyond belief.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“So bad they even managed to lose my car!! I had a bad car accident at 7pm last night- all 3 airbags in my car went off and the fire engines were called to the scene to help move the car to the side of the road. I rang the RAC to get my inoperable car towed to a repairer. After a 3 hour wait, they sent a truck from a local garage who, after trying to move it for 20 minutes or so, gave up stating that he was unable to deal with the tow as they needed a larger truck. Spent a further 5 hours on the phone being passed from pillar to post whilst the RAC tried to find a 'larger' truck (for my Audi TT) each time I called I had to explain the whole situation all over again to a call centre as though this was my first call. Each time I was promised a call back and never received one. Eventually I took a cab home in disgust having to abandon my vehicle. Finally had a call at 3.30am from a further RAC contractor stating that he would pick it up and text me where he had taken it to or call me if there was any problem. When I woke up at 8am there was no text and no call so I rang the driver but it went straight through to voicemail. I called the RAC and asked them where my car was - they said it still hadn't been picked up and they would put it through as a new job and would take another 2/3 hours or so. FINALLY at 1pm today a tow truck driver called to say he was there but he couldn't find the car!! -it has mysteriously vanished (apparently) - so they suggested I called the police to see if it had been towed away by them. So I spend the rest of the day on the phone to the police, my insurers explaining the situation, and the RAC (again- who have no record of it being moved nor even a record of the driver that called me at 3.30am). Another day wasted and worrying about my car until out of the blue at 7pm I got a short text from the 3.30am driver with the name and postcode of the depot where he had taken my car - Why did the RAC not know this? Unbelievable! The whole experience has been like a bad dream - awful beyond words. A bunch of 5 year olds could run the RAC better than this. These guys are supposed to know what they are doing and are supposed to provide a service and yet very little information I gave them was logged and each department didn't know what the other was doing. Every person I spoke to assured me that I would get a call back and yet I never did. I can understand that at certain times they are busy but the whole internal customer service system is appalling beyond belief.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The worst road side recovery ever there has never been a time which they are able to complete been sat here with a 2yr old on the road side for over 2 hours when I call to question how much longer am told that the car has not even been dispatched even though I was given an arrival time. There has never been a time when they have delivered what they say I advise any one who is considering to use this organisation NOT to unless you don't mind waiting nearly a whole day before u are seen. I will be sure to cancel my membership and start with green flag”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“In the 18 hours it took the RAC to get to our car in Central London after a car accident, it had been stolen. There is no sign of our high value car. The RAC are so slow at getting out to customer, their cars are being stolen in the meantime. Great Job RAC!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Had a breakdown and had to wait over 13 hours in a motorway services, constantly fobbed off, got very little information on the delays, spoke to numerous people to no avail! Disgusted with the service, would not get home untill 5 am the next day, had to miss a day's work!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Been with the RAC for 11 years and never had to use them. Every year at renewal I have the same haggling process because they always try and over charge and will always come down in price. So, got my renewal yesterday which has gone up by £14.00 despite no claims and they have reduced my cover from 15 months (which I negotiated last year) to 12 months. Phoned them up to explain I was not happy, customer loyalty etc. and, after a lengthy conversation whereby I was told "he would have a word with his manager" and I was left holding on several times I was told the price would be the same but I could have the additional 3 months and some loyalty concession for life (free battery if required or something). He was trying to persuade me to renew because of the excellent service they offer. I am so glad I have taken my business elsewhere after reading all these horrendous reviews. They rely on people just automatically renewing but there is always a better deal to be had for the cost of a phone call although I chose to go elsewhere on this occasion. Glad I did.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I broke down on the m11. the tv advert states 30 minutes rescue as been a women on her own. had to wait 3 hours before i got rescue . this is disgusting customers service which is provided . please go else where for your breakdown cover”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely terrible service! I was involved in a car accident and my car was damaged and indriveable. I was told by RAC that recovery would be in under 60 minutes - 4 hours later, he turned up after around 5 calls with estimated time of arrival changing every time. RAC took my car and told me it would go to the repairs garage around the corner from where I was as arranged by my insurance company. Two days later, RAC have still not delivered my car to the repairs garage despite numerous calls from myself, ensure and Gemini garage. RAC is an absolute terrible service. I would not recommend. Due to their terrible service, I am still without a courtesy car as the garage need to see the car before issuing a courtesy car and I was at fault in the collision.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“As I write this review I am a single woman sitting in a broken down vehicle. I was advised the wait would be no more than 90 minutes. After waiting over 2 hours I called them back only to find no one has as yet been assigned to come to my vehicle. They said they would try to get to me but cannot say when. What is the point of this breakdown cover? I am sitting here feeling very unsafe and they cannot even advise if they will be here at all? I called in at 4.15pm I am in the city of Dundee not out in the country what part of I have been a member since 2004 have paid a fortune to them over the years and the first time I need help they are not even sure if they can come the same day - will just have to sit here and hope for the best. I will Definitely never never use this company again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Absolutely no point in paying for a membership with these cowboys. Waited 9 hours for recovery only to be told when the recovery firm (3rd party) arrived that I needed to cover the cost of recovery £240!!!! Waste of time even having a membership, I could have just contacted a recovery firm directly and saved myself 9 hours.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Only seem concerned about getting the money , I have had few car problems in the last 5 years , but on two occasions phoned breakdown and was told they could not be there for 4-5 hours , so fixed car myself ! This is what they do , put you off in the hope , you go away !”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Today my va6 broke down, I phoned RAC at 14.18,I was told engineer will be between 14.50 and 15.15,no sign at 15.30 I phoned again I was told it was very busy and couldn't give me ETA, breakdown engineer arrived at 5pm ,diagnosed diesel injector is short circuit, not road side repair,he suggested recovery ,its now 8pm no call from RAC,so I phoned again I was told it will 9pm for recovery truck, I'm not hopeful, let's wait and see, staff are very unhelpful and tells nothing but lies, never never never to use RAC Zor recommend to anyone else.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver, Courier
Average Delivery Time	Next Day
On-time Delivery	Greater than 21%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 75%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.4 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

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