h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A few years ago I joined the AA (Automobile Association, not alcoholics anonymous...) and resigned myself to their horrendous annual renewal costs. I renewed maybe once or twice; they had my bank details so it happened automatically every year unless I objected.

Then I saw the light (praise be!) and discovered that their were a myriad of competing firms who offered the same level of cover for a fraction of the cost (about £30-40 annually instead of around £170..)

So come AA renewal time, rather than face the onslaught of their 'retentions' department and call them up to cancel, I simply cancelled the direct debit and figured that their alarm bells would ring and they would contact me when they couldn't extract a payment.

But, then... nothing happened. I got my new AA card through the post, along with the date they intended to collect payment. I checked my bank account and also my credit card in case I had given them these details, but no. No payment had been collected and no other contact from the AA. I never called them or used their services, as I now had a cheaper alternative.

Then this year, the same thing; the renewal letter with the usual 'if you're happy with you level of cover, do nothing and we'll collect payment' stuff. But this time I was getting paranoid that I was having one of these 'can't see it for looking episodes' and they really had taken the money last year and would this year too (like I wouldn't notice £170 missing from my account )

So anyway, worried that they'd take the money this year I phoned them up to cancel properly. Their 'retentions' department went into overdrive and suddenly I was being offered a slightly lower level of cover for ... £15. Curious to see where this would lead, even though I had cover with another company, I accepted and awaited the arrival of my new card. Sure enough a few days ago it arrived with another year of 'breakdown only' cover. But can I find the £15 missing from my account? Nope

So, what's going on? Their systems must be satisfied that they are getting the money from somewhere. How come the cancellation of the DD didn't alert them?

Mostly because, I suspect, they're utterly useless. Customer service at the AA has been on the slippery slide for about 5 years - I used to find them very good.

I'd keep schtum about it until they find out. In fact I'm quite tempted to try the same approach myself.

B

Well yes; as I don't intend on ever calling them if I break down- I have my £38 alternative company for that, there's no way their going to get any money from me in retrospect. Legally I suspect I would be liable for full payment when and if they ever discover the error *if* I had used their service.

I used to think it was just Alcoholics Anonymous that behaved this way, but their main rivals (Rent A Clown) employ similar price-hiking renewals.

Their £15 is covered many times over by some other fool who forgets to cancel the renewal.

No need to be coy, winnoch, this isn't the BBC any more - what's your alternative company?

This reminds me of a scam the National Geographic magazine used to do on their annual subscriptions. They'd send you a renewal notice after six months, but the price was twice the normal rate. Then after another three months they send another renewal notice with a price about 25% more than the standard rate. At the last minute, they'd have the final notice, with the actual price on it.

They were relying on people renewing without looking at the price.

When I worked for a well-known utility company in the 1990s, we worked in a regulated industry. We were only allowed to make so much profit per customer. To ensure that we made the maximum allowable profit, we charged higher prices and hence made more profit from the early sales. By the end of the sales period we did our sums then realised we had to start giving away cheap energy so we didn't fall foul of the rules and get fined by the regulator. Any customer who signed up for a contract on the final day would get their energy dirt cheap.

The company I use now is called AutoAid. The catch is that they don't use their own vehicles, they use a garage local to where you've broken down. You pay them upfront and reclaim from Autoaid. Unlike insurance companies though, they tend not to quibble and I've never heard of anyone not getting their costs refunded in full, within a few days, but I suppose the hassle-factor puts off some folk.

However there are also a range of break-down services like Green flag, who are just as cheap, and they employ the traditional 'call-out a van for free', methods. I just went with autoaid because they have a very good reputation for customer service.

This page from the MartinLewis money-saving website is very helpful and worth a read, regarding break-down cover options

Oh.. this page http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/roadside-recovery

They are crap. I 'suspended' my membership when I went to India, yet that never happened. So I cancelled it instead in a temper and they renewed it anyway. This year I will be cancelling the DD instead.

Have you had to call them out though? That might make them notice you haven't paid.

Nope. I've been careful to not call them out for that reason. As i say though, I don't need them now; I'm just curious as to how they haven't noticed anything amiss yet. Oh and that's the beauty of DD; you can cancel at any time . My only concern however, was that I had maybe set up a continuous debit card thing rather than a DD (same account), but it appears not.

I always make sure I never give out the Debit card, as even if you cancel the bank account they can still getcha!

The one big difference between the AA/RAC and all the others...

The AA/RAC 'insure' the member... You can be hitching a ride in a complete stranger's car and if it breaks down you can call them out...

The others tend to insure the car & driver... So if you've two cars it costs you twice as much, and with some of them you've got to nominate the drivers as well.

AutoAid covers the driver in any car