A frugal life is an easy life! - Latest Comments on Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

stephen carter [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Thu, 28 May 2015 08:02:52 +0000

I joined the AA in 1959 on buying my first car at age 17. It used to be an organisation formed to further the interests of motorists. It is sad that it has devolved into a money grubbing sales outfit. They now run Speed Awareness Courses for the police charging Â£100 to attend, the same as a speeding fine. How low can they get. Direct debit costs for AA membership ( for breakdown cover and Home Emergency services) almost double on the renewal date each year and they hope you won't notice.

Thomas Barry Rogers [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:56:01 +0000

I fully endorse the sentiments expressed by the numerous folks above and feel that the AA and associated company's (ACROMAS SAGA) are a total waste of time and money. I had need to call them out on the 3rd Jan 2014 to release a ceased handbrake on a Jaguar. The AA man was on site 5 to 10 minutes and took the leads off the battery and replaced them. I was left with all the warning lights displayed on the dash board and an internal bell alarm sounding along with the warning notice on my dash informing of a hand brake failure and told to take it to my dealer. The dealership informed that by removing the battery leads in this way numerous fault codes were recorded on the computer which greatly increased the garage time in resolving the problem. The actuator failed due to the efforts of the AA man and the bill for repair was just under Â£600. The response from Matthew Greyson at AA/Acromas was 'I have been unable to uphold your complaint and am therefore unable to offer ANY contribution to your cost of repair'. Use the Financial ombudsman if your not satisfied. This from experience is also an absolutely and totally a waste of time as they will take 18 months to look at the complaint and then more than likely will hold in favour of big business. Another tool of government that are a total waste of time and effort. I have three car insurances, house and caravan insurance and recovery but will not be renewing ANY of these policies at any time in the future with these parasites. Be advised they are a fine company to deal with whilst they are taking your money, its a far different story when you have a problem. All these folks above who have made these very similar criticisms cant be wrong. My advice for what its worth..... give them a wide berth and look elsewhere and deal with a company with integrity and are willing to shoulder there responsibilities under a contract. I could litigate but its stressful time consuming and can be expensive. So I will bite the bullet and look elsewhere for these services in the future. I rest my case.

valueformoney [Member] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Tue, 24 Dec 2013 01:02:03 +0000

Wow Leo, your case highlights just how companies of all kinds can turn around customer issues. I personally do not think a year's free membership is unacceptable, would cost them a lot more if it went through small claims. Failing to spot the basics and having it verified by another mechanic/dealer would prove your case and possible breach of contract (in my view) Not to mention the bad publicity when others see your case. Please let us know how you get on and what action you take? All the best for Christmas and New Year, thanks for taking the time to post.

Leo Kennedy [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 12:36:22 +0000

We broke down locally, due to an unrepairable puncture, in August this year. We had travelled back from Chichester and must have had a slow puncture, which ended up being terminal. I called the AA and within 1 hr a patrol man arrived. I'm a friendly and open guy and I greeted the patrol man, in the rain, with a smile and a joke; he was the complete opposite, curt, unfriendly and unprofessional. My puncture was on a front wheel, and I had already replaced the wheel with my supplied space-saver wheel but....it would not fit! So, in confusion, I called the AA. The AA receptionist saw my model of car Honda Civic and suggested it might be the bolts at fault. I was genuinely baffled as I had changed countless wheels on cars before. Our curt AA patrol man could make no progress and declared: "You have the wrong wheel. You'll need to be towed to a garage. We can arrange the that, for a fee." I was not in the AA relay, so I declined as I felt there must be a cheaper quicker solution. Next day, I visited the abandoned car, which was on private land. The owners were helpful and allowed me to stay parked there, off road. I called my Honda dealership and they declared the wheel was correct and had been supplied with the car as sold in 2006. I then had a spark of genius and decided to fit the old wheel, pump up the tyre as much as I could and "quickly" drive to nearest garage. I tried this but the tyre would not even temporarily inflate. Decided to call AA again, as I felt a different/helpful patrol man might be able to come up with a membership based solution. Called AA, incredibly they refused to attend...citing the fact that my spare wheel was not correct and that carrying one was mandatory, as per the terms and conditions. I complained bitterly to no avail. I was now stuck, dressed in a suit, late for work and had a car that was going nowhere fast. Decided to take a big risk and re-fitted the punctured tyre/wheel to the front assembly. Then drove at approx 5 mph to the nearest garage, which was an ATS in Carshalton, Surrey. Now, my car is a Honda Civic Type R, 2005. Within minutes of me being received on the ramp, the guy at ATS asked me: "Why are you driving on a flat? ...just get your spare out mate." I replied: "I did, I tried to fit it but it doesn't fit." Cue a hoard of tyre mechanics queuing up to view the spare, as I removed it from the boot/hatchback. "Ah, it's one of those noddy wheels!" said one. The space-saver wheel in question, is very small and bright yellow. Cue a series of head scratching mechanics. "Ahhh!" one exclaimed and called his mate over who was actually an off duty fireman. This guy had a souped up Focus RS and we had been discussing the relative performance merits of our cars, when he suddenly said: "You can't fit those noddy wheels on the front. The brake calipers are too big. You can fit it on the rear wheel assembly though." "Didn't the AA know that?" he asked. "Errrr, no." I replied. Suddenly, the car was jacked up at two points, front wheel removed, rear wheel fitted to front and space saver fitted to the rear. All sorted. And to the modest fee of Â£5.00. Much, much thanks to ATS for fixing this. Cheers guys! Now on to the AA. It had taken approx. 18 hrs to resolve this. And the AA, had been unhelpful, unprofessional and incompetent. They had also cost me a morning' wages as I work for myself. My complaint to the AA began on the phone. This was useless and they quickly fobbed me off by return letter. Battle was then well and truly joined. I waited for them to deduce what they "thought" had happened. As expected thy believed my spare wheel was wrong. I declared it was not and that not only had they breached the contract once, by not fixing my problem, they then did it again by refusing me service the next day. A series of letters were exchanged over months and then when I wrote to Edmund King and Andrew Strong, the infamous Special Case Executive got involved. Now, this section at the AA, sounded promising but, I later discovered it is their job to keep these delicate cases from reaching the CEO. Their last word on the matter was an offer of Â£25.00 compensation. I wanted a free membership renewal for 2014. They refused, so I sent their cheque back and copied Mr Strong again. They then said: "This is our final offer and we are now closing the case, " How kind. Well, I find this excellent site and decided to document this woeful litany of events here. I am now deciding whether to take the AA to court, for "breach of contract". And, my resolve has been solidified as since the break down, I have had a flat battery (my fault) and the splendid patrol man who attended explained that the information about fitting a space-saver wheel on a Honda Civic Type R, is on the AA patrol car's car database. In fact, he showed me. So, to conclude, the 4th Emergency service failed me. They then blamed me and when they realised I was in fact blameless, they prevaricated and made up a series of completely ridiculous excuses that an unscrupulous lawyer would be proud of. Despite me losing 1/2 day's salary which equated to Â£150, they offered me Â£25, despite the fact I asked for a free membership renewal, quite a modest amount compared to Â£150. I will now make my "last" attempt for Andrew Strong to see reason or I'll see the AA in court and maybe I'll do a YouTube video too. NB: My son is studying film production at University, so it shouldn't be that difficult to make a decent and revealing film about the 4th emergency "lack of" service. Season's greetings, Leo.

Mike Stepghensn [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 15:46:33 +0000

Andrew.Strong@theAA.com Re: Telephone call today to complaints department regarding your automated answering system. Their answering system is terrible and today cut me off or left me hanging on for a LONG time (10 minutes on one occasion at 16.05 today) If you ring and press the option â€œThinking of leaving the AAâ€ then you are either told that due to high emergency breakdown calls you are unable to take the call and to ring back another time and then unceremoniously cut off. Quite when they want customers to ring back is not apparent. The second time I rang I was left waiting for over ten minutes and gave up. Then I craftily thought, â€œHang on a minute, what would happen if I pressed the option TO RENEW?â€ So I rang back again and was speaking to someone in seconds (actually I did this a number of times and got through every time) I spoke to customer services (Rachel) who informed me that it is actually true that call volumes can give you the message about calling back but she had no explanation for why this only happens when you call to leave the AA other than it is a different department. Call me cynical but it seems clear to me that if you press the option to leave the AA then you are left to wait or given a fob off message but this message is not given to anyone renewing. Rachel had the attitude that it was not her problem and that even though she NOTED my complaint nothing would be done. The tone in her voice was of boredom. I pointed out to her that she had an appalling customer service attitude and she simply said that she did not have to be spoken to like that and terminated the call. Again UNACCEPTABLE. I have been a customer on and off since 1977 and do not expect to be treated with such flippant and non-caring behaviour. Customers are not stupid and can see through this a mile off. An own goal by the AA in my book.

Stephen Roche [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Wed, 02 Oct 2013 11:38:49 +0000

Re - AA Home Emergency Response Cover - please, please, please be aware that this cover provides emergency assistance only! So if the AA can do a temporary repair by running a power cable from an outside source they will do. If they can stop a leak by turning the water off at the stopcock they will do. If they can board a broken window up with cardboard/plywood to make it "secure" they will do. Obvioulsy they won't tell you this when you purchase the policy and they will insist on comparing themselves to the likes of British Gas and HomeServe who provide a more comprehensive lever of cover.

valueformoney [Member] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:18:29 +0000

Always puzzles me this. The business model of "lose customers - increase premiums for existing customers to make up the shortfall for shareholders" is a complete waste and bad business management. Then there's the other side of it. A company share market dominance with say 4-6 others. Yet all the major players have similar prices/terms etc. Why do they never undercut the monopoly companies? Customer numbers would go through the roof, giving further business opportunities. Profit margins would decrease at the start, but more than recover as word got around that they were the best for price/terms on the market, from other add on sales and exposure. This is apparent in other areas, such as supermarkets, energy companies, telecoms, etc. Cartels the lot of them, which in turn leads to customer's not trusting them, which is what they all keep spouting about trying to win back.

Carer [Visitor] in response to: Andrew Strong, Chief Executive of the AA

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 10:24:07 +0000

Im the carer of an 82 year old disabled person who has been a member of the AA for 55 years he relies on his car for his independence and needed the safe guard of the Home Relay for his peace of mind.he has only used this service 2-3 times over the 55 year period, as he was an old and valued customer this year His premium would be Â£130 but a new unknown customer would be Â£95,He asked me if I could go online and find something cheaper which did not take very long,I found a company [*Edit] which gave the same cover through one of the other rescue services for Â£62,and does the AA care? Wouldn't it be a good idea to start looking after the customers that have supported them so they don't have to look around.