Rant! RAC, very serrious stuff!!!!!!!!

[trooper30]

Right this is gonna be a long rant fellas, but its all so unbelievable and shocking!
Havent managed to sort us out our C4 yet, but last week I found out I had to do a trip to Scotland at very short notice. So a friend of mine was selling a 2001 Saab 9-3 Aero, FSH and well looked after, I bought it from him thinking I could do the Scotland trip at speed and in comfort and sell the car on after the journey.

12.15 am Sunday morning traveling south on the very dark unlit northern part of the M6 in roadwork’s which is down to single carriageway, the EML starts flashing and power starts dropping off, nowhere to stop until the end of the roadworks! Managed to nurse it at about 30mph through the roadworks and as soon as I cleared them pulled onto the hard shoulder, hazards on, steering wheel full lock to the left, had a quick look at the engine! Clouds of thick white smoke, no coolant loss, no emulsified oil, and not overheating in the slightest, diagnosis? Blown turbo, so called the RAC. After a few artics got vey close straying over the rumble strip I got out the car and stepped over the barrier to wait. To my horror there was about 12 inces of lose soil the other side of the barrier before a drop into a deep trence, at least 30 feet and the wind force generated by passing artics almost blew me down it a few times, so I got back in the car thinking ‘Iits either get hit by a lorry, or have a lorry blow me down the ravine’ Bollocks im gonna sit in the car in and take me chances.
RAC, s subcontractor firm turned up about half hour later, which I was pleased about, started to get the Saab ready for loading, guys drops his ramp and his recovery vehicle, I pull the Saab up to the ramp and the recy vehicle promptly cuts out an loses all power, everything goes dark! He went to have a look and came back to me looking quite shocked and said ‘My truck is on fire’ As I was behind him I could see the faint flicker of amber coming from the cab end, the guy tries to dowse it with a fire extinguisher the runs back to me ‘I cant put it out, move back, just run before it goes up’ So as I was sitting in the Saab at the time I put as many light on as I could and reversed the car away and as I did so the recovery vehicle went up like a block of thermite! I have never seen a vehicle go up in flames so fast! I got a raging fire in front of me, a ravine to my left, and behind me I can see in the mirror and also now hear artics barrelling down the hill behind us, swerving and fishtailing trailers as they see the flames and situation ahead of them. I thought I had had it when a 7.5 tonner came out of the road works saw what was happening and slewed across the rumble strip swiping the side of my car and just missing the now blazing out of control recovery vehicle in front of me. I really thought I was screwed and was gonna buy it right there on the m6 in the middle of the night. And I thought to myself

Fukin new I should have taken the Xantia! Lol

After a lot of trauma and fear the fire service and road crews were on scene, and put out the fire, M6 closed for a while. A second recovery vehicle turns up, loads me on the tells me he is only dropping me at the nearest services where I will have to wait for a driver coming up from Birmingham, to which I say ‘Your s**t me right?’ and as he pulls of at the next junction, and although I am a bit shaken from what’s just happened he starts making calls on his mobile (no hands free) while swerving round a roundabout, in a bloody recovery vehicle with me in it and my bloody car on the back, the service station was all closed and unmanned, no lights on pitch black(somewhere just north of Sandbach?) I told the guy he just can abandon me here so he waited till the next vehicle arrived. So that’s now 3 recovery vehicles and I aint got 5 miles from where I broke down. The 3rd vehicle pitched up, a 12yr old Leyland Daff recovery vehicle that looked like it came straight off a Pikey site. He gets me loaded on the back and off we go down the m6 at last. As we are pulling onto the motorway the driver decides to take his coat off, vehicle swerving as hes struggling to pull it off his shoulders, I actually grap the collar of it to pull it off him before we bloody crash, he then gets on his phone no hands free again, struggling to grip it whilst controlling the fukin lorry! He tells me how hard it is to stay awake at the wheel, how he goes past 3 or 4 junctions sometimes and not realising it as he’s so tired, then goes on to show me that only half the dash lights worked, and not to touch the cigarettes lighter as it shorts out the fuse box and the lorry will lose all power, I’m pretty shocked by all of this, and the worst bit is yet to come!
The driver asks me if I fancy a brew? I assume he has a flask in his cab or the like, no he only pulls over in a service station, jumps out the cab, tells me he will be back soon and goes and treats himself to large coffee chocky and crisps while im sitting in the cab getting cold. He gets his snaks sorted out and jumps back in the lorry and off we go again. Im saying nowt as all I wanna do is get home! We pull back on the motorway, digs his elbows into the steering wheel and with both hand starts opening up his crisps and eating them steering with his elbows, holding his crisp bag in one hand, picking them out and eating then with the other! After a few miles of elbow steering he asks me if I smoke. I said yes straight away, any chance to have a fag, YEY! He asks if I mind him smoking, no not a bit. So I get a fag out and I expect him to pull out 20 Bensons and pull one out to light. No he only pulls out rolling tobacco and Im thinking to myself, surely not no fukin way! Yea you guessed it he starts steering with his elbows again while rolling a cigarette with his free hands, hunched over the wheel tying to lick the paper. Again all whilst charging down the m6 with me in the cab and a full load on the back I have to say at this stage im s**t it after all that has already happened. All I want to do is get home so I just agreed with anythign he said, turned and looked out the window for the rest of the journey until getting home about 6am.

These people are meant to represent the RAC, as I understand it irrelevant of contractor I am in the hands of the RAC. Got to say fellas I am disgusted by the whole thing, my life was in danger form the exploding recovery vehicle, granted that’s just one of those things, the again with the second driver on his phone, then again all the way down the M6 with the 3rd driver! My car blew up, the recovery vehicle blew up, and two other drivers tried to kill me! Fellas I swear im getting to old for all of this kinda thing.

One thing that niggles me is if that fire had have been 5 mins later It would have been loaded and on the way down the motorway with me in it, and the speed the fire went up I dread to think how quick it would have gone up on the move being fanned by friction wind. The driver did tell me that the vehicle had been off the road and had just had a new turbo the day before and he was adamant it was caused by the shoddy work of their workshop staff.
Have called the RAC to tell then about what happened and the first person I spoke to elevated the call straight away as in her words ‘The system has gone so badly wrong here this must go up high straight away’ and gave me a number to call. I called there customer services and spoke to a monotone call centre bod who took the details, said when would look into it and call me back, it didn’t matter how I tried to illustrate how serious this all was she just didn’t change her tone, told me it is all unacceptable and would call back, which they haven’t as yet. The wife is screaming ‘Solicitors and Watchdog and is ready to get her gun out to take pot-shots at RAC vans, lol.
I have paid these RAC monkey stupid amounts in cover that I have never used over the years, and the first time Im in real trouble they can’t even be arsed to send their own bloody people, not one of the 3 guys who recovered me even bothered to look at the car, and basically put me at risk for the whole event, what if my wife and son had been with me, for gods sake its not worth thinking about. And fella’s im really really pissed off about it and will not let it go.
Well theres my rant fellas…………………….

[addo]

Good to hear you're back. Why not sit down on the couch?

Tell me, how well did you get along with your mother?

[KP]

All i can say is OMFG!!!

I really think you need to speak to a solicitor about this ASAP as this really needs pushing as soon as possible while its still fresh in their minds.

[CitroJim]

Bloody hell Owen

Main thing is, you're OK but FFS, that is a terrible story...

More cowboys than the wild west there. it deserves very wide publicity. The RAC should be hanging their heads in shame

[trooper30]

Just read this back over and it sounds like the plot form a 'B' movie, lol. I aint heard anything form the RAC so for starters I decided to join there site forum and am gonna post my litte rant on their forum see if that gets their attention......

[jgra1]

wow trooper..

somehow I had to smile when I read that, I think it's the way you wrote it

but, man thats some bad luck..
I have had three experiences with roadside help and whilst the RAC and AA were good, in each case the 12 hour nightmare of getting 50 or so miles home was unbearable.!

[DickieG]

Sounds like a few contractors are about to lose their contract, or should.

Good to hear you're back. Why not sit down on the couch?

Tell me, how well did you get along with your mother?

Apologies to you Trooper I don't wish to belittle your experience but Addo's response did me me giggle, dry humour, brilliant

[trooper30]

Yea it made me chortle to

[trooper30]

Well i just had the RAC on the phone and there gonna send me £30 in vouchers for my trouble.
I got hold of there customer service manager and basicaly copied my rant and pasted it into an email then sent it to her. After reading it I hope she understands how serrious all this is and how a £30 voucher just aint gonna cut it, Im sure it will filter back to her that the same rant is posted on there own forum as well!

Will see what they have to say for themselvs

[CitroJim]

Thirty quid? THIRTY QUID? T H I R T Y 'effin Q U I D?

That's a naffin' insult

For nearly getting killed by Artics and nearly roasted alive by a flaming recovery truck.

I know it's not the money but the principal. Their attitude is breathtaking

[addo]

Might as well be 30p.

Let your car insurer shred them, when you are consulting a quack for PTSD.

[trooper30]

Well I had the RAC on the phone this morning, i think sending the url for the thread i put on there forum helped

The customer care manager called me telling me she had new read the thread and saw I was insulted at the £30 offer, and wehn on to say she has spoken to the recover operations manager and asked 'What can the RAC do for you or offer you to ease all of this?'

Mmmmmmm in interesting question! Will have to give that some thought, any ideas fellas?

Oh and in an hour there sending out a real RAC guy to give a full courtisy diagnoses on the Saab. ITS THE BLOODY TURBO!

[Cliohhh]

That is quite a night you had there by the sounds of it. Must have been horrific. Completely off the point but you write in a vey entertaining way!

30quid! That is an absolute joke. Hope you manage to get what you wnat out of them in the end. Really shocking when you pay such companies big money and they are cutting corners with obviously low quality contract affiliates. Nice post though, looking forward to hearing the end result! I'm not a supporter for the suing culture that seems to be so prevalent these days but with such negligence I think you might even have reason to pay your lawyer a visit should you not get reasonable compensation. It's gross that you should have had such an experience.

[Timmo]

I read through your eventful evening yesterday and have to say was absolutely amazed at the turn of events! Could have turned so badly wrong at any moment! Very lucky! Five minutes more and the car could have been strapped on, like you said ten mins and you could have been in the truck, amazing turn of events! Thank god it turned out how it did and you got homein one piece!
Your description of the drivers had me remembering a few trips on the wagons back in my mini days! Think I'd have been tempted to take my chances and walk home haha!

I'd think lifetime membership and £100 m&s vouchers would be a start!

[CitroJim]

I'd think lifetime membership and £100 m&s vouchers would be a start!

I'd say lifetime membership to the AA or Britannia Rescue AND a free repair of the car should just about do it.

After that, I'd not trust the RAC to rescue a pedal car.