Hi everybody,

Just had a nightmare experience with the AA's European breakdown cover and would strongly advise anybody to steer very clear of them - although the experiences of others may differ.

Very briefly, broke down on the autoroute yesterday (non fixable) and had to be dragged off. Its August so France is shut but they know that and despite insisting they would find a garage to help me, they could only nominate car garages, none of whom would touch it. Also discovered that they didn't mark it as active, so enqs only went out as non urgent. Clearly haven't got the capacity or infrastructure to deliver what they promise, or staff who talk to each other or manage. Stranded for 7 hours yesterday waiting for calls and chasing them - now have huge international mobile bill on way - followed by another 4 hours wait this morning in France for repartiation, followed by another 5 at Dover tonight because the garage they contracted to repartriate took other (more lucrative) police jobs and kept bumping me back. Only responded when they found another job nearby so could get double the money for half the fuel costs. Not impressed - big name, rubbish service. BE WARNED!!!

Sorry about the spelling - tired and still v cross!

So, ahhhhh......what's AA?

The Automobile Association The AA: Breakdown Cover, Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Loans, Motoring Advice, Travel and Maps

Not AA Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) Great Britain although might be needed if you've spent the last day trying to get back from France.

Is this an isolated case ?

What's other people's experience of British supplied European Breakdown Cover ?

Had the same experience with AA in the UK!, IMHO the clue is in the name AUTOMOBILE Association, not a clue about anything that isn't a Ford Fiesta. Their recovery bloke didn't know how to fasten an MZ (no down tube) onto the truck and went all jobsworth when I said I'd do it myself. Had to wait while they sent a "Bike Specialist" who did let me do it myself.

RAC coughed up £100 compensation after they "lost" my bike in Spain. That was an all day job and the different shifts in the UK just didn't communicate. The biggest issue mind was BMW Malaga's manyana attitude (they told RAC UK they didn't have it because the idiot they spoke to couldn't be bothered to look) but as they say; They all do that sir. RAC in France three years later couldn't be more helpful.

There really is room for a better service. I'm looking for one that:

a) Understands you might only need a lift to a tyre shop or the loan of a jump starter box.
b) If you say it needs parts will only take you to a Bike place.
c) Never scraps a bike based on book values vs. claimed recovery costs.

I hear good things about Carole Nash, it's just a pity you have to buy their **** insurance to get it. I'm hopeing that now my bikes are in classic territory there might be something out there.

I'm not going to hold my breath. To be honest the service levels I've seen from ADAC, German bike dealers and French tyre places only encourages me to to stuff AA/RAC and their in-sewer-ants and simply make sure my credit card will take the strain if anything does happen.

Andy

By the very nature of breakdown and recovery services you don't want to use them very often so I suspect everyone's experience of them is going to be based on a fairly small sample size.

I've had to use various ones in Europe, but mainly the AA, over the last 40 yrs and found them OK to good. They've done what they say they would and various vehicles have either been fixed, brought back or spares sent out. But they do it at their rate not at yours. I've no idea of the specifics of Belle's case but back to the UK in 24 hrs doesn't sound too bad on the face of it - it's taken me a lot longer in the past to get everything home.

So, on the swear at them or swear by them spectrum I'm fairly neutral.

As I said BOB, experiences may differ but it wasn't 24 hours - that was just the actual time spent by the side of the road waiting and calling, not looking for a hotel and carting my gear to it and back again (on my own), sleeping, eating or otherwise killing time between phonecalls and building up a huge international phonebill - the actual period of this fiasco was 52 hours. Whilst a more generous soul might disagree, and I accept that nothing is instant, this was all to repatriate me just 90 miles (this happened 20 miles from Calais and I live 70 miles this side) which doesn't suggest a good deal to me. But thats the whole point of fora -a place to share info in order to make decisions that are right for us. And the AA certainly wasn't for me.

But just to round things off nicely, the bike eventually arrived home at 0245 and as I was offloading it from the truck, I was stopped and turned over by the Old Bill who thought I was nicking it. I wasn't - but at least they were doing their job - which I can't complain about!

What is the issue with CN insurance ?
I find them cheap, a bit of a pain to renew each year as I end up playing off their online V office prices, but my XJR1300 costs about £160/year (fully comp) and my XJ900+Pegaso on one policy was £140/year. Everyone O know who has used their Euro breakdown has good things to say. I have only used them in UK.

Ultimately, you were in France, in August, and if it was Assumption Day, your were stuffed. All the breakdown services will use local garages. But I would defo prefer to stick with CN as they at least are aware you are on a motorbike.

Back in '96, Jean and I went to France 2 up on an old GS550, we baulked at paying £80 for 2 weeks cover to Brittania Rescue, but when it broke down in mid-France they gave us a car and shipped the bike home. Bargain.

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

After the most sh!te of sh!te "service" by the AA 15 yrs ago in the UK, I'll never use them again.

Good that you got the bike home, eventually. I could do with your Old Bill up in W Yorkshire. When the thieves were burglaring my garage (and stole 2 bikes) and while they were still in there, my wife called 999. The operators's comment was "what's the point coming out and looking at where the vehicle used to be"....
cheers
Chris

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Terrible service for such a large organisation. I have just returned from a week in France on Monday and thought I was safe with my new AA policy if the worst happened with my classic bike. Glad it didn't after reading this! Hope you missed the bad weather over there...

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Two Brits traveling overland through Canada, USA, Mexico, Central and South America by motorcycle. http://heyivegotanidea.wordpress.com

Ive just got rid of the AA after 24 years membership and gone across to ADAC which is working out at half the price AA was costing us, but with a lot more benefits. (But if I breakdown in the UK ADAC use the AA!!)
I had no problems with UK use but the all year round EU cover was a nightmare. All the smallprint.
I only used EU recovery once in 2006. On a Sunday evening on the Autoroute near Dijon my chain snapped ripping our tent which was lucky as the next stop was my girlfriends arm, got recovered by a car garage within the hour with a proper bike holder on the truck, was put in a hotel for the night but then in the morning the recovery truck came to pick us up to transfer us to a bike shop. But he parked a 100 metres or so down the road which was to give him chance to tell us the bike had been dropped off the recovery truck upside down (because it had been untied the night before but a different driver moved the truck in the morning. Rather than go through a lengthy claim I let them pay 250€ for new chain and sprockets and 6 rolls of Duct tape to hold the bike together plus some cash.

Its a real lottery who recovers you in Europe whichever policy you use!

How do you get onto ADAC ? I looked at this a while back and you needed a German address to join. I haven't got one so couldn't sign up with them.

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You'll half the premium on Go Compare. Then however CN will charge you £30 to cancel and keep any outstanding balance. If your bike has any goodies you need to tell them about like a sidecar or large fuel tank they'll loose the details every year and whenever you try to claim. On renual day if you pay the bill they send you you are daft, their own website will be 5-10% cheaper. Their call centre staff believe Montengro, Morocco and Mablethorpe are all the same place. I could go on but we'd all get bored, but while five years ago they were great, now they are just Bennetts in disguise.

Choices then : Pay peanuts get monkeys; second cheapest quote each year on GC. Deal direct with a big insurer like LV or Direct line. I do the former on my cheap bikes and keep one on the good stuff with protected NCB (Triumph Bonneville fully comp £90 per year).

This is of course so I'll stop.

Andy

After aterrible experience wit The RAC who lost my car for thre months returned it completely wrecked and had documents stolen from iT I gave up, and just take my credit card. So far I have been lucky. three years ago I had an electrical fault on a BMW that stopped me for two nights. My french insurance paid for my hotel stay but not the repair. Not bad for 86 euros a year insurance.

If you ring them they all speak English and can make you a member straight away.