Hello All,
I would like to share my story and hopefully get some advice on how to proceed!
My car had to be towed to a garage one tuesday morning because the springs in one of the valves needed replacing. The garage specifically said not to turn on the engine to avoid damaging anything else so I that's what I passed on to the RAC as well and I left my car in the hands of an RAC contractor, we went through all the necessary paperwork etc. & handed over my key and I went to work but my father stayed to watch and the following unfolded.
The contractor hooked the car to a winch and started towing it onto the ramp of his recovery truck however he had left it in first gear so the engine fired up and, with no driver in the vehicle, went up and off the ramp across a lane of rush-hour traffic in central london and into the fence of a petrol station opposite my house where it luckily ground to a halt.
The contractor then jumped in started the engine again and drove the car up the ramp of the recovery truck (starting the engine for the second time after I specifically asked them not to).
Needless to say the car sustained some visible damage on the underside as well as to the bodywork and unknown damage to the suspensions, engine etc. I wasn't worried, I knew that the RAC's service is all about customer care so I was sure that I would be re-imbursed for any damage that needed to be repaired. I was wrong.
I contacted breakdown cusotmer care and they asked me to provide a quote for the damage caused from the garage that my car was at already (which the RAC recommended), I did this the very next day. They then said that they will invesitgate and get back to me "within 5 days but probably earlier than this on Friday". I got the generic acknowledgement letter but no other contact so I called back, numerous times, with various success.
I was told on one call that it wasn't 5 days it was 5 working days, then on the next it was 7, the next was two weeks and now a month later I'm told there is no specific timeframe that they work to. I was told by one advisor that I can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) another told me that they are not subject to the FOS.
After a week or so the garage that my car was at asked me to take it back as they had fixed the valve spring and the car was taking up space in their garage.
I was unhappy at some (but not all) of the service I was receiving so I asked if I could speak to a line manager on numerous occasions but I was turned down. I asked to have my calls reviewed by someone responsible for quality of customer care and I was told that was not possible. The poor service culminated in a lady hanging up on me (and before you say it, no I wasn't abusive or agressive).
All I wanted to find out was how my claim was progressing and all I got on the majority of calls was that the case was being investigated but couldn't get a clear explaination of what this meant and how long it would take to get my damaged car repaired. In drips and drabs from calls I made chasing the RAC I found out that the contractor was not accepting responsibility sighting an "ignition problem" as the cause for the car to start. The car had undergone a full MOT including thorough engine/ignition checks less than a week before and once at the garage to fix the valve spring there was no issues with the ignition. Even though I'm not a mechanic I know enough about how an engine works that it was crystal clear to me that the contractor had left the car in first gear with the clutch engaged so when the tyres started moving the cylinders compressed and ignited the engine (like a running start). However I thought I look online if BMW has a history of ignition faults where the car's engine spontaneously ignites. I didn't find a single report of this and not only with BMW, with any car. Logically I can't think of how such a fault would occur however, a month later, the RAC are still "investigating" while my car sits infront of my house damaged, in the spot where it was handed over to the RAC all those weeks back.
Every time I manage to finally get hold of what sounds like a helpful person and there is some light at the end of the tunnel I wait a few days and get no response, I ring back and it's back to square one. In over a month I have asked to be called back every time I called up and didn't receive a single call back.
Apart from all the above there was the usual waiting on hold for up to 20mins before being but through to the wrong department and then waiting on hold again and some not very pleasent advisors.
I would just like to have the community's advice on how I can get my case resolved? Any input will be helpful.
Thanks for reading.
Vladimir
I would like to share my story and hopefully get some advice on how to proceed!
My car had to be towed to a garage one tuesday morning because the springs in one of the valves needed replacing. The garage specifically said not to turn on the engine to avoid damaging anything else so I that's what I passed on to the RAC as well and I left my car in the hands of an RAC contractor, we went through all the necessary paperwork etc. & handed over my key and I went to work but my father stayed to watch and the following unfolded.
The contractor hooked the car to a winch and started towing it onto the ramp of his recovery truck however he had left it in first gear so the engine fired up and, with no driver in the vehicle, went up and off the ramp across a lane of rush-hour traffic in central london and into the fence of a petrol station opposite my house where it luckily ground to a halt.
The contractor then jumped in started the engine again and drove the car up the ramp of the recovery truck (starting the engine for the second time after I specifically asked them not to).
Needless to say the car sustained some visible damage on the underside as well as to the bodywork and unknown damage to the suspensions, engine etc. I wasn't worried, I knew that the RAC's service is all about customer care so I was sure that I would be re-imbursed for any damage that needed to be repaired. I was wrong.
I contacted breakdown cusotmer care and they asked me to provide a quote for the damage caused from the garage that my car was at already (which the RAC recommended), I did this the very next day. They then said that they will invesitgate and get back to me "within 5 days but probably earlier than this on Friday". I got the generic acknowledgement letter but no other contact so I called back, numerous times, with various success.
I was told on one call that it wasn't 5 days it was 5 working days, then on the next it was 7, the next was two weeks and now a month later I'm told there is no specific timeframe that they work to. I was told by one advisor that I can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) another told me that they are not subject to the FOS.
After a week or so the garage that my car was at asked me to take it back as they had fixed the valve spring and the car was taking up space in their garage.
I was unhappy at some (but not all) of the service I was receiving so I asked if I could speak to a line manager on numerous occasions but I was turned down. I asked to have my calls reviewed by someone responsible for quality of customer care and I was told that was not possible. The poor service culminated in a lady hanging up on me (and before you say it, no I wasn't abusive or agressive).
All I wanted to find out was how my claim was progressing and all I got on the majority of calls was that the case was being investigated but couldn't get a clear explaination of what this meant and how long it would take to get my damaged car repaired. In drips and drabs from calls I made chasing the RAC I found out that the contractor was not accepting responsibility sighting an "ignition problem" as the cause for the car to start. The car had undergone a full MOT including thorough engine/ignition checks less than a week before and once at the garage to fix the valve spring there was no issues with the ignition. Even though I'm not a mechanic I know enough about how an engine works that it was crystal clear to me that the contractor had left the car in first gear with the clutch engaged so when the tyres started moving the cylinders compressed and ignited the engine (like a running start). However I thought I look online if BMW has a history of ignition faults where the car's engine spontaneously ignites. I didn't find a single report of this and not only with BMW, with any car. Logically I can't think of how such a fault would occur however, a month later, the RAC are still "investigating" while my car sits infront of my house damaged, in the spot where it was handed over to the RAC all those weeks back.
Every time I manage to finally get hold of what sounds like a helpful person and there is some light at the end of the tunnel I wait a few days and get no response, I ring back and it's back to square one. In over a month I have asked to be called back every time I called up and didn't receive a single call back.
Apart from all the above there was the usual waiting on hold for up to 20mins before being but through to the wrong department and then waiting on hold again and some not very pleasent advisors.
I would just like to have the community's advice on how I can get my case resolved? Any input will be helpful.
Thanks for reading.
Vladimir