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I don't believe it.


RamNut

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Tonight for the first time ever my car broke down / wouldn't start 

after attempting to get it going i eventually gave in and i called the RAC.

An hour and a quarter later a recovery vehicle turned up.

he couldn't work out what was wrong either, so after debating the options i agreed to be towed home - a 30 minute journey.

at 11pm, when  about 10 minutes from home the recovery vehicle driver took a call instructing him that he had to unload me and the car at a deserted petrol station  in the freezing cold so that another RAC recovery vehicle could pick us up and take me the last ten minutes of journey. Given that it had taken 2.5 hours to get this far I was not impressed. He wasn't too pleased either as it meant that his firm would not get paid for the recovery.

but after keeping me on hold for a full 5 minutes the man in the RAC call centre  insisted that it had to be.....so there was another half hours delay in the freezing cold whilst the car was unloaded off one recovery vehicle and on to another, whilst two dog walkers stood and watched open mouthed. Then the final 12 minute journey home listening to how the second driver had been redirected from the M18-  whilst en route to northampton - to make that happen.

finally got back 3.5 hours after i called them.

what a bloody shambles.

it was like a real life victor meldrew episode.

 

 

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I've no idea.

 

i think some jobsworth decided that the first recovery vehicle hadn't obtained proper authority to recover me, and authorised somebody else too.

 

but the fact that common sense would not prevail is unbelievable.

 

and since they sent the first recovery vehicle?

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Briefly mentioned this story in the other thread, but this is the whole story. 

Rode my 125 to the other side of Birmingham on an icy February Sunday morning. Had to get there for 8, so I set off at 5:30. Slipped on the ice in Birmingham and crashed the bike, ripping my knee to shreds, but I didn't feel it, as I was numb from the cold. 

Did is my thing in Birmingham and left at about 5pm. In th r middle of Birmingham, my bike suddenly splutters to a halt. I figure maybe I've stupidly ran out of petrol, don't have to push the bike about a mile an a half til I come across a petrol station. 

Fill up and the bike trundles on, for about 500 yards, and splutters to a halt again. 

Now I've got to call the RAC. In not a member, so they take my credit card details and say I can't be recovered til the credit card payment clears, but they can send someone out. 

A a two man team comes in about 30 mins, looks the bike over, twiddled with a few bits, then sends me for a drive round the block. Seems to run fine, so they send me on my way. 

Bybthis point, I'm cold, tired and hungry, so sod the rules, in going on the motorway. I make it about half a junction before the entire engine is spat out my exhaust pipe. 

I'm sat on the hard shoulder and call RAC again. 45 mins later I call to see what's going on, they tell me in next on the list. Half an hour later I call again, to be told that I was next on that drivers list, but then his shift ended, and he must have forgot to pass it on. 40 minutes later another driver appears. Meanwhile, a friendly police car had pulled up and let me sit in the back of their car to warm up while the recovery vehicle came. 

Luckily, this guy didn't know about the 'no recovery' rule. He put my bike on the back of his truck and took me home. Finally home by about 10pm. It was a long, long day  

Turns out, the problem was that my bike was out of oil, some sort of oil leak. Whenever I stopped, a bit of recovery time allowed it to go again for a short period, so the first guys hadn't actually done anything to it, it had just temporarily fixed itself, til the engine seized up altogether, then there was no fixing it. 

I I had to get a whole new engine installed at a cost of £800. It was then stolen and written off 3 weeks later!!!

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I've no idea.

 

i think some jobsworth decided that the first recovery vehicle hadn't obtained proper authority to recover me, and authorised somebody else too.

 

but the fact that common sense would not prevail is unbelievable.

 

and since they sent the first recovery vehicle?

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