Name: The AA
Rating: 2.82

“Unable to get through to talk to a member of the AA re membership renewal costing double of a new member and have been waiting in a queues on several days of attempt with no luck. Tried the on line chat and no help. The call back facility on line does not work either treid twice and no call back. After 29 years membership and being asked to pay double the new customer rate. Have cancelled my direct debit and will be joining else where at a much better cost. Not interested in AA on facebook trying to justify that Gold membership gives you more not when you are paying addition costs anyway. NEED TO FOCUS MORE ON TREATING YOUR LONG TERM MEMBERS FAIRLY NOT USE THEM TO SUBSIDISE NEW MEMBERS!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“I would give a negative rating if possible. We have been paying a breakdown and repairs service. Our car needed a turbo replacement and though we did not have a full service on it for over a year, we had bits and pieces done in the past 12 months. The likes of oil replacement or top ups, we either did ourselves or had an experienced family member do it. The AA are now saying they will not pay any of the repair costs as we cannot provide a receipt from a registered garage for oil top-ups!!! I realise from the terms and conditions, they may ask for evidence but seriously expecting the motorist to run to a garage every time for oil top-ups - very unhelpful service!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Permitted to drive a dangerous car and no customer care! After much incorrect information the team at the AA I have now received some form of contact from the company regarding the complaint. I am frankly astounded that The AA find it acceptable to permit and give the green light for a customer to drive a dangerous and life threatening vehicle on the road. I found the complaint reply letter patronising and ill informed and it instills no faith in the AA that the have a clue what they are doing and are not more than running an amateur operation. The initial complaint that was relayed to the telephone customer support team regarding a breakdown was logged and noise/banging was reported from what I “thought” at time was the rear of the vehicle. The breakdown colleague gave it a 1 minutes spin around in a flat carpark, a quick check underneath of not a lot else. I was left with the words the car is fine, I have checked under the car and nothing seems out of place and I cannot hear anything. I was also told that if the noise was not there anymore or it was coming and going then you could get it checked at garage but he said in his experience it was nothing to worry about and it was ok to drive. At no point did he advise mandatory or necessary investigation directly and the this not noted on the breakdown report and to be honest I got the impression from his manner that he thought I was some stupid woman calling the AA over nothing and I was treated like I was being foolish or overacting. The AA was asked to assist on Monday 20th March 2017 and the vehicle given the green light for it being safe to drive, based on what I was told was I continued to be drive long distance and at high speeds as the car is used for business on a daily basis. Going from what the AA colleague had told me above I felt reassured and happy that my car and myself were still safe and that nothing dangerous was going to occur. Finally on the Saturday I was starting to question what the AA colleague had told me so I took the vehicle into a local garage and I was told I should not be driving it as the vehicle was dangerous to both myself and the members of the public. They were also astounded that the AA at the time of the break down call out permitted me to continue to drive the vehicle and that on examining the cars undercarriage the AA could not see the huge coil spring that had snapped clean in half, they also stated that if the fault had been picked up further damage to the car would have been prevented. I no the very basics about cars and the fact that The AA colleague took my word as gospel that the banging was coming from the rear and not elsewhere under the car is a huge joke. When did the AA start taking diagnostic advice from car owners where 9/10 times people know nothing about cars which is why they have breakdown cover. I would also like to know if their colleagues are partially sighted as the fact that the coil spring is huge in this car and it was snapped clean off at the bottom end near the tyre and brake pipe, yet from a full and examination under the car he could not see it???? The fact that the AA colleague then drove the vehicle a short distance on a flat surface at crawling pace in a car park is not consistent of any road test I know of and that just really sums up this whole break down. The AA breakdown colleague was more concerned that he had to come from Sheffield or somewhere in that region and seemed nonchalant in his attitude towards the breakdown. The copy of the breakdown report the AA had from their patrol manager differed somewhat from what was emailed to me on the day of the breakdown, please see below; The AA said their breakdown report states this: “Diagnostic testing may be limited in a breakdown type situation. Please ensure symptoms/suggested faults are confirmed by your chosen repairer before any suggested work is started.” However the actual report I had emailed direct from The AA team is this: "NO FAULT ON ARRIVAL NOISES FROM REAR PATROL CARRY OUT ROAD TEST OK INSPECT UNDER VEHICLE NOTHING OUT OFF PLACE . PATROL UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE ADVICE GIVEN .” Either The AA were trying to fob me off which by no means will wash or they had not bothered to take the week and half to investigate the matter properly according to operational procedure. With both those completely different break down reports in mind it still does not hide the fact that I was not taken seriously as a female motorist, I was treated in such away that reflected I was imagining everything wrong with the car, The AA colleague did not check the undercarriage of the car properly and selected only to check one small area, if the car had been looked over fully underneath even for a few minuted the snapped coil would have been spotted and the vehicle should have been towed to a safe location or to a garage and not permitted to be driven. All this information has now been confirmed by a second garage which looks very damning on the AA considering safety should be at the core of all breakdowns you attend. As soon as I explained to the garage as I did to the AA what was going on, they said it could be a coil, they took a two second look underneath and they said they could see it straight away. I was told any experienced person who knows a decent amount about vehicles and not necessarily a mechanic will know a noise from the rear with the associated symptoms we explained could indicated a snapped coil spring at the front of the car. I as told by this second garage that if The AA colleague had done his job this car should have been taken off the road and the basic diagnose should have been found initially be The AA colleague as a bare minimum. The letter from Shirely Eastwood made no sense at all and shows no investigation. In the same letter she stated I could get the case reopened and then further on it states the AA will not be changing their minds!????? Idiotic, confusing and extremely unprofessional and a down right disgrace. I do not think it is a huge ask for a large company like yourself to do the tight thing, The AA have endangered myself, family, caused further damage to my vehicle and you have put other road users and pedestrians at risk whilst I was given the ok to drive a dangerous car. Even on the AA website it point out the dangers of driving a car with a snapped coil spring yet your team cannot detect one that has snapped in a a easily viewed location. The AA cannot offer any customer care, they cannot investigate a basic complaint, they know nothing about vehicles, and they permit people to drive dangerous cars. Irrelevant of the the made up report or the actual report I have on email the fact of the matter is that the AA did not do their job at all. I am both angry and frustrated with the lack of support in this investigation and there is nothing to indicate they give a damn about safety or your customers. This very same review/letter was then sent to the CEO and several other managers and so far I have heard nothing from any of their team. So if you value your life do not chose this disgraceful company! COMPLAINT UPDATE **** Well we got anot her time wasting letter arguing the toss about who said what and that I was told in a nutshell what is entered on the report means nothing. Also the AA still think it is acceptable to allow a customer to driver at high speed on long journeys or even to drive the car period with a broken coil spring near the brake pipe. The point being the idiots at AA do it it seems to grasps is that the vehicle should have been towed and we should never been allowed to drive the car. The roadside reps one could not determine this because he failed to open his eyes and take a 2 second look under the car properly. 2 garages have now confirmed the danger and the lack of knowledge and assistance from the AA. It is also good to know if you write to either Mr Bob Mackenzie AA Chairman or Mr Edmund Kind AA president neither can be bothered to get off their backside and address the matter themselves. Instead the complaint is sent t9 some muppet in an office who knows nothing about motoring or vehicles. I would rather go without break down cover than use the AA ever again. They might have many positive reviews but for each of those there will be hundreds of people dissatisfied and left in dangerous situations. REPLY FROM THE AA: No reply from the CEO or senior members of staff, after battling with their idiotic management team over the issue they take NO RESPONSIBILITY and say it is acceptable to allow a customer to drive a dangerous vehicle at high speed on a motorway. No real checks done on the initial call out, senior staff tried to cover up the negligence and the people at the top do not give a dame. The several garages I attended said it was an easy basic find, that should have been picked up and I should have not been allowed to drive the car as the coil could have blown out my tyre and severed my brake pipe! They said the AA should have picked up on this! When in doubt do not choose the AA they are cheap for a reason and reflects the lack of service and the danger they will put you and your family in should your break down. They are safe to use, and they are not worth the money your pay for the service!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Dreadful. Unprofessional and totally unsatisfactory complaints handling. Poorly trained staff providing conflicting claims advice - which they see no issues with. Said my complaint was resolved when they hadn't addressed any of the issues I raised and now won't respond to my emails. An absolute farce of a complany. Avoid, avoid, avoid!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“We use the AA for our fleet cover. The service is poor - on average we have to wait over 4 hours for recovery vehicles to pick up our vans. Customer service is unable to do anything to improve the situation. Will be switching to another service as quickly as possible.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“APPALLING - ABANDONED AT OXFORD SERVICES at 3 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Pressing for the truth at 03:45 hrs with no sign of any relay driver, the control room admitted they thought I had been taken home! They had no idea where I was or who I had been driven by to get there (which was a subcontractor) from Warwick Services! I made my initial call to the AA at 21:45 from Telford Services and got home to Uxbridge at 05:30 the following morning. Needless to say, I was unable to work on Monday as I had been up all night! Interestingly, when at last the AA relay arrived at Oxford at 04:15 (having driven up from Swindon) the driver informed me he had been originally been scheduled to do the pickup between 08:30 and 09:00 that morning from Oxford! This is shocking, especially for women travelling by themselves at night which should be investigated thoroughly and broadcast to all. I have been a member of the AA since 1987 and thought I was in safe hands. Far from it - the AA are especially putting women at risk, do not communicate, are rude and do not follow up anything even when you do complain. I am still awaiting a call from the customer services team and have not received even at very best an apology. I strongly advise DO SIGN UP FOR THE AA RELAY SERVICE - GO ELSEWHERE. Or at the very least insist on having a proper AA driver and vehicle NOT A SUBCONTRACTOR.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Been a member for many years,rude and appalling customer service, aa couldn't care less attitude in weather you stay or leave.Went to RAC where service was good and got a better deal.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“The AA Driving School “Don't choose The AA till you have read this I am very disappointed with the service of The AA Driving School. We ordered an initial series of 5 lessons for our daughter. Whggen we booked the first lesson we were informed that the first appointment had to be a two hour session. After that she could book the rest of her lessons on single hour basis. The driver -after the first lesson - told her that he would only book double lessons because he needed to drive to a suitable area. Our own village is used by several other driving schools (including The AA) and there should be no need for going to a neighbouring village. Even when he arranged to pick her up from a location in centre of town would he only accept double hour bookings, probably to get more money from teenagers whom struggles with negotiating terms with specialists. After several phone call to the service desk I am left with my daughter forced to accept their terms or loosing her hours that she has paid for. There is no mentioning of double lessons neither on their web page nor in the small print. They explained that it was up to their drivers to choose their structures and not a "company" policy. But he was chosen for us by The AA without them explaining the policies of their own drivers, despite them knowing that we wanted 5 single lessons to start her off with. Once you have had your initial double lesson you are stuck with that driver. If you want to change driver they force you to book another double lesson and start all over again. No information follows the client when transferred. And The AA can't guarantee that the next driver will accept our requests. To place the trust of our daughter in the car of an adult man is done on the reputation of the company. When she then feels intimidated to accept terms she had not been informed about and felt she had to take decisions on the spot in the presence of her instructor we feel let down by The AA. When she politely texted the instructor to change her booking he refused and by that The AA feel they have given her enough warning. They on the other hand says it's all down to the driver who is his own boss and on zero contract with The AA. They have no further responsibilities once you have booked your lesson directly with the driver. NEVER had I expected The AA to be this greedy, rigid and in complete lack of understanding of the trust we place on them when they take the responsibility of our adolescents in their care. I advise anyone in the same situation to check out other companies before placing any order. Hopefully The AA hasn't outsourced the rest of their services on zero hour contracts as you normally need them when you are at your most vulnerable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Called out the AA for a problem with my car I had wrong cover for recovery (not a problem my bad) the problem was with the guy in the AA van very rude and obnoxious simply told me problem with car said he can't tow me and his only priority was to take me to the next safest place he then looked around and said this is safe. I said no problem and walked off I then rang customer complaints about his attitude yet hey said they would investigate but got an email this morning saying that they will not take my complaint forward. So obviously the AA like to have rude people working for them and don't give a dam about customer service if I knew how rubbish they were I would not have joined MESSAGE TO ALL READING THIS DONT USE THE AA !!!!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“With their boiler service they go through a separate company for our local area. For the second time this company has tried to do work that wasn't required. Without going into a long story, be careful when you have someone come out to repair or service your boiler (don't agree to have them switch it off unless you are sure as they may disable it when there is nothing wrong). We were told at the service that our boiler wouldn't start and needed new parts, despite that fact it had worked fine right up until the man arrived. Given the history we kicked him out and declined. We switched the boiler straight back on and it started first time and has been fine since yesterday.We had far more trouble the first time around where we finally got a more senior engineer out after a lot of time on the phone to the AA trying to speak to a person who could get things done. The senior engineer fixed the issues (in about half an hour) and confirmed the incompetence of the first engineer. He again had tried to do work that was not required right upto telling us we needed a new boiler and flue + scaffolding etc, when it turned out that the flue pipe had been fitted the wrong way around. We have phoned the AA twice meanwhile each time they have said someone would get back to us and they haven't (by 6 yesterday.....nothing). Don't touch them....”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Our camper van broke down on the M1 between Junction 37 and 38, on the 31st of September 2015 at 16.20pm. The following shows the waiting times and the service we received on the day: 16.24 pm-called AA. Wait 40 minutes 17.06 pm (around)- Roy?s Auto arrives (not the AA) to tow us back to the nearest service station. Wait 1 hour 20 minutes 18.30 pm-AA mechanic arrived, and stated that the camper van could not be repaired. He offered us the option to upgrade our membership to relay and pay for the towing service, which came to a massive ?429.47. We were reassured we would be picked up and towed back within the hour and home within four hours thereafter (175 miles to get home). All was arranged and the mechanic left around 19.15pm. 20.00 pm-received text message from AA that the AA relay truck would be with us by 20.25pm. We called the AA at 20.57pm to find out why no one had arrived, to be told that they were very busy and someone would be with us asap. Wait 2 hours 15 minutes 21.30 pm- relay truck arrived, the driver then informed us that he could only take us half of the way as he wasn't allowed to drive any further. He reassured us though that someone would be ready to tow us from the service station where he would drop us off. He called the AA office immediately as we were leaving, informing them that someone else needed to be ready to take us from designated service station at 23.30 pm. 23.30 pm-arrived at drop off station, driver called AA office to let them know we had arrived on time and that he couldn’t see the second relay truck. He then told us that the second relay truck would arrive shortly and went on his way. 0.30 am-no one had arrived yet, so we called the AA office to be told that they were very busy and someone would be with us asap. 1.16 am- 2nd relay truck arrived, Wait 1 hour and 45 minutes Driver then informed us that he could?'t go immediately as he had to take a 45 minute break first. Wait 45 minutes 2 am-finally we were towed back to Harrow and arrived there at 4 am. Total waiting time 6 hours 45 minutes Whilst we appreciate that the AA mechanic and drivers were extremely helpful, the organisational service received from the AA was completely incompetent and the miss-selling of the service is frankly unacceptable. Had we been informed at the start of this ordeal that there would be major delays, and that it might take nine hours to get us back home, we would have stayed the night in our camper van and requested to be towed back on the following day at a more convenient time for both the AA and ourselves. Instead we were misinformed by the AA about the waiting time and led to believe that we would return home between 11- 12am! Further, the general communication throughout the whole process from the AA office was extremely poor, as we were not updated about any waiting times, and when we were, the information proved to be totally inaccurate, resulting in us having to call through many times to find out what was going on. The poor service received combined with the ludicrous "expectation management" put us under tremendous stress. After being with the AA for some 20 years, I will not be renewing my membership.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“Don't know how to manage expectations. I broke down 180 miles from home and it took them 16 hrs to get us home. After being with the AA for some 20 years, I will never use them again,”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

“''BE AWARE OF AA COMBI BOILER INSTALLATION ADVERTISEMENT'' Online promoting advertisement by AA ''WE ONLY INSTALL THE BEST COMBI AND GAS BOILERS''. Fabricators ''they don't install they will pass your information to their third party without asking the customers''. If anything goes wrong you will be left to deal or battle with two companies complaints departments , where AA will wash their hands and their forwarded third party won't respond to the complaint. AA COMPLAINTS HANDLING VERY VERY POOR AND DISAPPOINTING , THEIR EXECUTIVE OFFICE TEAM IS INCAPABLE TO HANDLE THE COMPLAINT. I made online enquiry to AA for new combi boiler installation which I thought of AA is reputed company and fascinated by their installation promotion . AA send my information to their third party for installation which was Swale heating (not my choice ) and they completely messed my house ,damage all over the place , various missed appointments, no show up and no reply for the complaints. Both companies promote they provide 24 hours emergency services, but when the emergency comes to weekends or bank holidays, their promises are false . After asking the independent adjudicator escalation procedure , AA complaints departments sent me the final email today and closed the complaints (after 37 days ) saying my complaint comes under the Automobile Association Developments Limited (AADL), which is not regulated company and my complaint does not fall within the jurisdiction of The Financial Ombudsman Service. I have wasted my time making complaints to AA regarding their 3rd party company's poor workmanship . I wish I can give less than 1 star to this company because not worthy to be called for a star also.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“''BE AWARE OF AA COMBI BOILER INSTALLATION ADVERTISEMENT'' Online promoting advertisement by AA ''WE ONLY INSTALL THE BEST COMBI AND GAS BOILERS''. Fabricators ''they don't install they will pass your information to their third party without asking the customers''. If anything goes wrong you will be left to deal or battle with two companies complaints departments , where AA will wash their hands and their forwarded third party won't respond to the complaint. AA COMPLAINTS HANDLING VERY VERY POOR AND DISAPPOINTING , THEIR EXECUTIVE OFFICE TEAM IS INCAPABLE TO HANDLE THE COMPLAINT. I made online enquiry to AA for new combi boiler installation which I thought of AA is reputed company and fascinated by their installation promotion . AA send my information to their third party for installation which was Swale heating (not my choice ) and they completely messed my house ,damage all over the place , various missed appointments, no show up and no reply for the complaints. Both companies promote they provide 24 hours emergency services, but when the emergency comes to weekends or bank holidays, their promises are false . After asking the independent adjudicator escalation procedure , AA complaints departments sent me the final email today and closed the complaints (after 37 days ) saying my complaint comes under the Automobile Association Developments Limited (AADL), which is not regulated company and my complaint does not fall within the jurisdiction of The Financial Ombudsman Service. I have wasted my time making complaints to AA regarding their 3rd party company's poor workmanship . I wish I can give less than 1 star to this company because not worthy to be called for a star also.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“if you give a bad review they don't print it”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“I have been with the AA for 5 years and called them out twice within that time, no probs. Last night I had my wife and 4 young children in the car when one of my tyres deflated completely, my car is an LPG conversion which means I cant carry a spare. I called the AA and they informed me that as I didn't have the spare they would not come out and help me. They told me that they would contact a local garage and i would have to pay to be recovered, I informed them that this was an utter disgrace as a loyal member they were leaving me high and dry. My kids weren't dressed for cold weather as I had just popped out of the house. I called a number of friends and sorted the situation out myself. Contacted their complaint dept this morning and all they did was defend their decision, they would not refund my membership. I am absolutely apalled and can't wait to be rid of them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 years ago

“I would stay well away from AA Car Insurance. I tried to get through to them for two days to change over my car details because I purchased a new car. I couldn't get through after spending a total of around 2 hours on the phone (made up of around 7 calls on hold). You can't change your details online (like my last insurer) so I had no option but to take out temporary insurance with another insurer so my new car was covered. I finally got through today after being on hold for 28 minutes, no apology for my long wait was given by Emma from the Newcastle team 21 so I decided on the spot to cancel my policy to which I'm told I have to pay extra so she can cancel it, I told her I was not going to pay it and she started threatening me with debt collectors and ccjs!!!! I have now manage to find a much better insurance which gives me online control of my policy and was cheaper than the premium with the AA. The AA are only brokers anyway and I think it is better to get insurance direct from the insurance company.”

Helpful Report

Posted 10 years ago

“Shambles! Poor call centre and rude patrol man. glad l won't be renewing in a month.”

Helpful Report

Posted 10 years ago

“28 years with the AA and they nearly triple my renewal - i cancell assured they will investigate and get back to me and what did they do? They took £192 from my account without my permission - Complaints department - lady beginning with D ( early morning) awful.. Non helpful non apologetic ... No help in fact threatened me with bailiffs! Nice! Renewal team were all really kind and apologetic - maybe a job swap in order.. This company is going to the dogs.. Avoid it .. Go to Green flag or RAC - the AA do not care about business retention ...28 years of money and I have a new car so did not cost them a penny! DISGUSTING... Avoid”

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
Documents Delivered On-time	Greater than 37%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	1.7 out of 5
Avg Email Response Time	-1 hours
Cancellations & Refunds
Cancellation Process	Difficult

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