semantics - roadside assist.

[coolum]

My wife called a well known roadside assist and said that she had slightly clipped a gutter and the car had a developed a slight clicking noise.


The tyre was not flat but she was concerned that there may be something wrong so she called for Roadside assist.


She was told that this would be an accident issue and that she should call her insurer.


W T F


I called to complain to the famous service provider and found that HAD she said that she suspected she had a flat tyre or some such semantic and actually avoided the 'cause' of the call, then they would have been happy to send someone out. She is blond - but it appears she should have acted more like 'it'.


After complaining about the policy they said they would listen to the tapes and 'chastise' the operator if they thought they were in error (turning on your own, is a 'trick' they got from America) - however I stated that I felt the error was that they should have provided a service to review the vehicle and determine if it was drivable or not, at the very least.


I am not blaming the operator as its a policy issue - bad policy, unsafe policy, dangerous policy, potentially fatal - flaw in policy.


Not all of us are familiar with mechanical eventualities - some people in society have 'other contributions' to make and therefore pay for someone / experts to oversee things they are not sure of.


SO
Warn your wives - if they hit a pothole (its QLD - it happens) make sure they say they have a flat tyre ONLY. No one knows how it happened - it was round and now it not really as round as it was any more.


I swear on this here roadside assist policy booklet (all 10 sections) that I didn't hit any potholes I have not been near any gutters or culverts, I have not run over any debris during a storm nor driven near any building sites .. in fact it went flat for no reason.


Otherwise you will have to drive to rescue the fair maiden and change the tyre yourself or they carry on and he the victim of failure on the road - heaven forbid.


In my wifes case there was no damage to the tyre or wheel or any other part of the car and possibly picked up a stone when in the gutter as the clicking went away and I cannot se anything wrong with the car .


In another situation the outcome may have been different.


Sorry for the rant - made in the interests of the community -- Mods could move to another section if necessary.


Steve.

[TeamFA]

SO
Warn your wives - if they hit a pothole (its QLD - it happens) make sure they say they have a flat tyre ONLY. No one knows how it happened - it was round and now it not really as round as it was any more.




Don't forget to tell them to mention that it's only flat on the bottom.

[coolum]

But be really clear about accentuating the 'L' in 'f L at', otherwise you may have some other form of litigation or defamation launched against you - remember they tape all calls. Ha Ha.

[JamesH]

A similar (non LR) Roadside assist non assist story:

Woman has a minor breakdown in the country but only has the basic cover. She learns her lesson and upgrades to country coverage becaseu she does visit rells from time to time and does not want to be caught again.

Another minor breakdown happens in the country. Car is locked and will not unlock (more on this later). She calls the XXX but gives her husbands membership number, her hand bag might have been in the locked car, or she just called out to him standing there for a number, whatever. She gets told that the membersheip does not cover where she is. Oh that's rght she says, my own membership is a country. Her card is locked in the car but her names isxxxx and her dob is xxxx. They find it and acknowledge her membership.

But No says the person from the XXX, the call has been logged on your husband's number and therefore you will be liable for the full cost of towing which they will organise. They would NOT listen to reason. They would not cancel the callout and let her phone back. No. They were going to pay the full fee to flatbed the car back to Perth.

Epilogue: But the story has a happy ending! JamesH their friend with a vast knowledge thanks to the folks on AULRO recalls some threads he has read on this site. He looks around. The car is parked next to a Chemist and a Rediteller in a rural town. Could it be that interference from those devices was messing with his key fob??? JamesH the technical hero of the hour raised this with the flat bed dude and he agreed and said he would take it to his yard and try it. He did and my mate got the call that it started and drove straight off the truck. It was Volvo XC90.

AULRO saved the day.

[FeatherWeightDriver]

^^^ What they said.

Tell them what it is doing / not doing, not how it happened.

If asked about the how, act blonde... ;):wasntme:

[Fatso]

I got sick of the cop outs with the main provider in WA , reduced my membership to the lowest rating and use the card to get 10/20% discounts at the shops. Soon pays for itself , and pay for any towing over 100ks myself . The last fiasco they wanted to tow me in the opposite direction 50 ks further out in the bush because that's where there contractor was based and not where I wanted to go to where I could get repares done .

[crawal]

A European Das car manufacture will give you a loan car if you break down or need road side assistance. The dealer couldn’t give friends a car when they drove their new car into the dealer with a transmission fault. Service advisor told them to park the car 2 km away ring the 1800 number and get flat topped into the dealer and then they were given a “free” drive car … no difference :)

[Homestar]

I've found just the opposite. It seems like all roadside assistance mechanics crap their dacks when faced with a modern Range Rover. So much in fact, that they say straight away they can't fix it in 3 days and put it on a truck back to my place - even for the simple stuff. I got it towed 300KM home once for a loose bolt in the front tail shaft that was clicking. They didn't even look, they just wanted rid of it.:)

[Celtoid]

Sometimes it's all about people....individuals and the customer service they see as correct.


My wife tore the sidewall out one of my new Scorpion ATRs. LR assist, no issue, carefully moved car off steep hill, changed wheel .... lovely!


I had a fuel filter incorrectly fitted by LR (same car), which then started hosing diesel everywhere. LR assist again ... dickhead starts the car (knowing full well the issue), hoses fuel all over my driveway, the road outside my house and his truck. Apparently he repeated the process in reverse at LR in Brisbane.


My wife blew a water pump in her Merc ... very close from home. I picked her up and arranged to meet Merc assist, once they called me to say that they were there, or close. No call but on a hunch I drove down to where my wife's car was. I arrived just in time to stop the idiot from skull dragging the car onto the flatbed. He had no key, so it was in Park with the handbrake on!