You often hear the RAC spokesperson spouting off on the telly about this and that involving road safety matters. He criticises the government and local councils alike. Well, after today's performance maybe best keep quiet until your own house is in order first. Greenhouses and stones come to mind.
A customer, young lad, drives regularly between Wakefield and Lancaster in his C2, 2004, 1.1 engine. So he drives over and the engine light is flashing and the car is juddering. He gets to Lancaster and calls the RAC. Patrol attends and diagnoses a misfire. He tells the lad the coil has failed and needs replacing. It so happens he can fit one and charges the lad £100. Fixed!
Next day he does the same trip and the light comes on and the car becomes undriveable. Calls the RAC who attend and tell him it could be the ECU, or a cracked manifold plus other things but fit another coil under warranty. Job sorted? Well no actually. You've guessed, the car breaks down again, on the motorway. Patrol follows him for no more than 10 seconds on the motorway and the car stops. A tow truck is organised and he is brought back to Wakefield around 8pm.
So now the lad's dad asks me to look at the car because the RAC, in their infinite wisdom, have told the lad he has used up his 3 breakdown requests and wont attend now. Checking the fault codes there are tow. Both indicate the coil has failed. So the brand new £100 unit the lad was charged for is removed and a genuine Citroen one is fitted. Car is now fixed. Properly and finally.
This was the most basic of breakdown faults. The reason why the RAC messed up so badly is very, very simple. Customers come second to profits so the RAC use Euro Car Parts for their repairs. The reason Euro Car Parts are cheaper than others is for a reason but this seems to have bypassed the minds of the management who make these decisions. The coil costs £33 and a labour charge of £67 for less than 5 minutes work should be ample evidence of how badly the RAC now operates.
So next time the RAC spokesperson is mouthing off on the telly, complaining about someone or other, just remember to put your own house in order first. The lad could well have had a total cut out in the fast lane which would almost certainly have resulted in a serious or fatal accident. The fact that both coil circuits failed within 10 seconds speaks volumes as to the quality of the cheap Chinese parts now supplied by the RAC and fitted to your car at extortionate prices. The lad's dad is less than amused and will be ensuring he gets a full refund of the £100 plus the reinstatement of the the 3 call out requests. Even if this means the legal route.
The RAC does not have customers. It sees the people who have paid them £100s as just an inconvenience to be fobbed off with the worst quality parts so that the accountants and investors are pleased with themselves.
A customer, young lad, drives regularly between Wakefield and Lancaster in his C2, 2004, 1.1 engine. So he drives over and the engine light is flashing and the car is juddering. He gets to Lancaster and calls the RAC. Patrol attends and diagnoses a misfire. He tells the lad the coil has failed and needs replacing. It so happens he can fit one and charges the lad £100. Fixed!
Next day he does the same trip and the light comes on and the car becomes undriveable. Calls the RAC who attend and tell him it could be the ECU, or a cracked manifold plus other things but fit another coil under warranty. Job sorted? Well no actually. You've guessed, the car breaks down again, on the motorway. Patrol follows him for no more than 10 seconds on the motorway and the car stops. A tow truck is organised and he is brought back to Wakefield around 8pm.
So now the lad's dad asks me to look at the car because the RAC, in their infinite wisdom, have told the lad he has used up his 3 breakdown requests and wont attend now. Checking the fault codes there are tow. Both indicate the coil has failed. So the brand new £100 unit the lad was charged for is removed and a genuine Citroen one is fitted. Car is now fixed. Properly and finally.
This was the most basic of breakdown faults. The reason why the RAC messed up so badly is very, very simple. Customers come second to profits so the RAC use Euro Car Parts for their repairs. The reason Euro Car Parts are cheaper than others is for a reason but this seems to have bypassed the minds of the management who make these decisions. The coil costs £33 and a labour charge of £67 for less than 5 minutes work should be ample evidence of how badly the RAC now operates.
So next time the RAC spokesperson is mouthing off on the telly, complaining about someone or other, just remember to put your own house in order first. The lad could well have had a total cut out in the fast lane which would almost certainly have resulted in a serious or fatal accident. The fact that both coil circuits failed within 10 seconds speaks volumes as to the quality of the cheap Chinese parts now supplied by the RAC and fitted to your car at extortionate prices. The lad's dad is less than amused and will be ensuring he gets a full refund of the £100 plus the reinstatement of the the 3 call out requests. Even if this means the legal route.
The RAC does not have customers. It sees the people who have paid them £100s as just an inconvenience to be fobbed off with the worst quality parts so that the accountants and investors are pleased with themselves.