Customer

Good price, quick delivery.

Decent value, quick delivery. Son really likes them. Would buy again and would recommend.

Good price and quick delivery. One of our go-to sites for football and sports kit. Would use again and would recommend.

If I could give 0 stars I would. 17+ hours for a callout in central west London on a run-of-the-mill Tuesday.

I requested a breakdown call-out in west London (SW6), on behalf of my wife and young son, on a regular run-of-the-mill weekday. One would expect multiple RAC breakdown vehicles in the wider area and a reasonable timeframe to attend. I would surmise later that there was probably, at best, one recovery vehicle for all of London given what occurred.

I registered the breakdown at 16.45hrs. The first indicated time to attend was 18.25hrs. However, roughly every hour this time was pushed out by one hour into the future and a two hour window. By 21.15hrs the automated time indication to attend was 23.09hrs-01.09hrs.

Clearly the automated RAC callout time indications are just a basic algorithm and have nothing actually to do with GPS based calculations on the nearest patrol to your vehicle. So the automated updates are really useless as a guide to the true callout time. If your “job" hasn’t been picked up by an actual patrol these indications are manufactured estimates with no basis in reality.

Mercifully, the breakdown occurred a few KMs away from home, so given that the temperature was near freezing my wife and son had left, I had attended and then long since walked back home.

At midnight I made one last call to the dispatcher. They stated “your job has just been picked up and they will be with you in 20mins”. I dutifully walked back to the vehicle, but by the time I arrived the callout time had moved to 0300hrs-04.30hrs confirmed by a seventh call to the dispatcher.

I again walked back home and went to sleep. I woke up at 7am and called RAC again. The indicated time to attend was given as 09.30hrs-11.30hrs. I went to a meeting and my wife waited to eventually meet the callout. It ultimately took until c.10.30hrs (i.e. the NEXT DAY) to get the callout.

Notably, even though I received an initial text indicating “your breakdown is likely related to a battery issue”, the recovery vehicle had no replacement batteries. The patrol offered to return in a further two hours with a new battery. My wife declined and received a jump instead.

This is the second time I have used RAC breakdown in the same wider London area (many years apart). The first time was more than 4hrs+ to attend. I assumed at the time that bad experience was a one-off. Clearly that was a prompt call-out by RAC standards. It ultimately took 17+ hours and 8+ calls to the RAC dispatcher to get the callout. And this is central west London on a run-of-the-mill Tuesday.

Words can't express how bad of a service and the whole time the dispatchers are complicit, in what is to me fraudulent behaviour, by just leading you on to believe that a recovery vehicle is less than hour or so away. I would have immediately called any one of RAC’s competitors if I had known upfront that the “service” that I have been a paying member of for almost 20yrs would not arrive within less than a couple hours - let alone 17+ hours and the NEXT DAY.

Avoid the RAC breakdown service if you actually expect, or require, a prompt or even remotely reasonable callout time. The customer service team may wish to paint this occurrence as an extreme event, but in the two times I have actually required their breakdown service in central London (many years apart) it has been abysmally poor.

Notably, no dispatcher in the 8 calls I made was willing to tell me how many patrols were in my area (or London), nor how many callouts they had. Clearly, because they didn’t want me to know that they were woefully under-resourced for even a minor level of customer demand.

I surmise that RAC are willing to accept as many customer memberships as possible, but are clearly very unwilling to put in place even a remotely sufficient amount of patrol resources to support what is probably, at most, a very modest level of demand.

If this is the experience for a major metropolis, I shudder to think what would happen in the countryside. Be warned.

Yes RAC, I have already filled out a complaints form.

Update:

Following my complaint, RAC “completed an investigation”. Their conclusion (I am paraphrasing): it was an “at home callout” and therefore not prioritised. Very sorry. Will try better next time.

When it was pointed out the callout was in fact c.2KM from “home”, took 17+ hrs, 8+ calls to the dispatcher and was never told the truth about the callout availability. Their response was: sorry, we can offer you a £50 goodwill gesture.

When it was queried whether £50 was actually commensurate with level of inconvenience experienced, their final response was: sorry, I’m sure we will do better next time.

So, staggeringly bad breakdown service, only topped by even worse customer service. That is some achievement.

Good value and service, pleased with eye glasses, would use again and would recommend.

Quoted £152 plus "£10 voucher" for a truthfully excellent condition iPhone X. (In case from new, no scratches or marks). But once received, offer was reduced to £70. They claimed phone was "average" so only worth 43% of original "offer' value. Moreover, if I didn't respond within 7 days they would automatically buy the phone at this new reduced offer - as per their T&Cs. I called, sent chat, website email and email. No response for more than 24hrs. When they did respond they claimed to have reviewed the phone again and raised offer to £110. I still requested that phone be returned. Dishonest and untrustworthy chancers. Avoid.

Unique gift, easy to purchase, quick delivery, would use again.

Item as advertised. Good price. Quick delivery. Would use again.

Good price on product, satisfactory delivery speed, would use again.

Good prices. Quick delivery. Would use again.

Would use again. Good price and quick delivery.

Extensive and very tasty Christmas menu. A good alternative to cooking for yourself or going out. Ready in only 20 minutes.

Would use agan. Good price and quick delivery.

Would use again. Good price, product as advertised and quick delivery.

Good. Would use again.

Arrived early. Completed tire change quickly and professionally. Would use again.

Excellent – no reservations, I would recommend this company to anyone.