JN

I was issued with a £100 PCN (parking charge notice) after Rescuemycar.com recovered my car and decided to leave it overnight in a location where parking is prohibited.

Rescuemycar.com have rejected my request to reimburse me for the cost of the parking fine, pointing to its general cover exclusions, which state that is not liable for charges incurred by companies other than those it authorises. This is despite the fact the parking fine was issued as a direct consequence of a decision made by its authorised recovery agent – a decision I would not have made myself, and one that could have easily been avoided by a) parking elsewhere, or b) purchasing additional parking time at the location where my vehicle was left.

The company has confirmed to me that it is its official policy that, should it or one of its agents recover your vehicle and knowingly leave it parked illegally, the customer is the one responsible for the resulting parking charge.

I am currently seeking to recover my costs through the Financial Ombudsman service.

So be careful: the breakdown cover might look like a bargain, but it could cost you more in the long run.

Tell you your contract is ending on 5 November, send you a reminder on 25 October, and then tell you have to give them 30 days' notice to leave, despite being out of contract. Now I'm stuck paying £56 (an extra £25) for a month for service for which my contract has ended and I no longer want.

They know exactly what they're doing. Virgin Media added to the ever-growing list of companies never to do business with again.

At renewal time, they take payment at midnight on the day of renewal, meaning if they can't debit the card immediately, the policy expires. This means you are then forced to take out a new policy at a higher price.

I was told by a rude, unhelpful customer rep that is standard practice across all companies, and there is nothing she could do. This is clearly not the case, as my insurance company were similarly unable to take payment – however, because they tried to do so BEFORE the renewal date, rather than waiting till midnight on the day, I was able to call a few days later, update my payment information, and continue the policy.

This apparent inability to extend my existing cover is despite being sent an email at 6am on 31 Oct (the renewal date) saying: "No need to panic! All you need to do is contact us ... [to] simply update your payment details or retake your payment and get you back on cover without a hitch".

I assume most people simply agree to pay the extra £15, but the whole exchange left an extremely bad taste. I now have to look for a new breakdown company, but I can't continue with Auto Aid if that's how they treat their renewing customers. Put your prices up if you need to, but don't resort to underhand practices to gain a little extra cash.

I echo everything everyone else has written about this despicable company, who exist solely to profit off other people's misery.

But have you ever tried to phone them? I've never spoken to a more rude, condescending, arrogant man the few times I've had the misfortune to need to speak to them. I'm sure it's the director, Martin Gardner, as Link Parking is pretty much just him. At least with his previous business, Sextoys Are Us Ltd, he shafted people honestly.

Parasite.