Bongo Fury

hello all

I thought I would add my 2 pennies worth

every year I get a huge - if not doubled renewal letter

it was just the wife and myself on AA cover for relay and call out worked out at £140 for the year

then the daughter wanted to be added because she was relocated at Coventry and we live in Leicester

so she was added and she needed home start - to which they can only do home start for all 3 of us and not mix

so - after my renewal comes through - £36 1st month and then £34 for following 11 payments £ 410

so after a quick ring

a 35% discount given all personal cover

x3 peeps £24 pounds per month so a result - but still feels expensive

if my daughter wasn't on it - we would only have recovery - relay

hope I havnt jinxed it - but havnt used them in 4 years whilst in membership


rant over lol

andyb36 wrote:hello all

I thought I would add my 2 pennies worth

every year I get a huge - if not doubled renewal letter

it was just the wife and myself on AA cover for relay and call out worked out at £140 for the year

then the daughter wanted to be added because she was relocated at Coventry and we live in Leicester

so she was added and she needed home start - to which they can only do home start for all 3 of us and not mix

so - after my renewal comes through - £36 1st month and then £34 for following 11 payments £ 410

so after a quick ring

a 35% discount given all personal cover

x3 peeps £24 pounds per month so a result - but still feels expensive

if my daughter wasn't on it - we would only have recovery - relay

hope I havnt jinxed it - but havnt used them in 4 years whilst in membership


rant over lol

Yes that's what made me angry. They try to fleece a loyal customer then offer to drop the price when you threaten to leave. Totally upside down to how I was trained to build customer loyalty. I should have left on principle, but inertia and a price reduction won out in the end - life's too short!

hi mike

totally agree

unfortunately its just a computer generated renewal form-letter that's initially sent

I think its the same with house - home insurance

unless you ring they will just carry on and take next years premiums

can you imagine the ones that don't really make a fuss and how much money they will actually make

I do feel cheeky when I ask can you reduce the premiums etc

but hey ho - that's the way of the world now - and if it takes a quick phone call to save money - then pass the phone

I would bet my bottom dollar that they get a % of the price of the phone call - its all the 034 + 0845 numbers now

and now the telephone companies charge for them

its all wrong -

the worst is when you've just bought a tv or something from argos - full price etc etc

then you see it in the news mag at a reduced price

that gets my goat

andyb36 wrote:hi mike

totally agree

unfortunately its just a computer generated renewal form-letter that's initially sent

I think its the same with house - home insurance

unless you ring they will just carry on and take next years premiums

can you imagine the ones that don't really make a fuss and how much money they will actually make

I do feel cheeky when I ask can you reduce the premiums etc

but hey ho - that's the way of the world now - and if it takes a quick phone call to save money - then pass the phone

I would bet my bottom dollar that they get a % of the price of the phone call - its all the 034 + 0845 numbers now

and now the telephone companies charge for them

its all wrong -

the worst is when you've just bought a tv or something from argos - full price etc etc

then you see it in the news mag at a reduced price

that gets my goat

I mean how can they justify the % increase they slap on sometimes, regardless of whether you've had a good track record in not calling them out (in 45 years of driving I've not called them out once!). Lazy/cheeky b*ggers grrrrrrr

mikeonb4c wrote:

andyb36 wrote:hello all

I thought I would add my 2 pennies worth

every year I get a huge - if not doubled renewal letter

it was just the wife and myself on AA cover for relay and call out worked out at £140 for the year

then the daughter wanted to be added because she was relocated at Coventry and we live in Leicester

so she was added and she needed home start - to which they can only do home start for all 3 of us and not mix

so - after my renewal comes through - £36 1st month and then £34 for following 11 payments £ 410

so after a quick ring

a 35% discount given all personal cover

x3 peeps £24 pounds per month so a result - but still feels expensive

if my daughter wasn't on it - we would only have recovery - relay

hope I havnt jinxed it - but havnt used them in 4 years whilst in membership


rant over lol

Yes that's what made me angry. They try to fleece a loyal customer then offer to drop the price when you threaten to leave. Totally upside down to how I was trained to build customer loyalty. I should have left on principle, but inertia and a price reduction won out in the end - life's too short!

That's the insurance racket all over. Rip you off until you kick up a stink. The in disguise. From a business point of view they must work on the basis that people don't want the hassle of phoning/changing/don't have time/forgot renewal date/ not time for checking out competitions pricing.

It is ethically unsound business practice in my opinion. Pure profiteering.

Hi, Why don't you combined breakdown with your insurance?
I use lifesure insurance, it is specialist motorhome/camper/caravan insurance company & as such includes UK & European breakdown cover, home start etc within its premium. The break down side of the insurance cover vehicles up to 15 years old (in fact it may be 20) which is more than some breakdown companies will cover for European travel.
My policy is fully comp, no claims protected with as mentioned breakdown at £280 a year. Bargain if some of the figures for break down cover are to go by, makes the insurance for the vehicle very competative.

lifesure are very good - and were very good for a couple of years

after that the prices went up - and up - and up

you have a bongo that's less than 15 years old

they are the posh ones lol

even if it was 20 years - mine runs out the end of this year lol

aa - personal cover and for any vehicle - just in case

but shhhhhhh - we don't mention the breakdown word too load

I only have it just in case - and not used in 8 years so far

If AA come with the grossly inflated price next year I will just switch to the RAC. I can play their stupid time wasting games as well. Is there anything knowingly stopping you from doing that ?

I signed up with the AA for the wife and me any vehicle we are driving or are passenger in cost £100 for both on a new sign up offer. seemed ok to me.

Tom_B wrote:I signed up with the AA for the wife and me any vehicle we are driving or are passenger in cost £100 for both on a new sign up offer. seemed ok to me.

Yes that is the same deal I had. Next year it is set to go up as per the * on their website, expect £135.00 if you have not claimed.

Every year I have the same conversation with AA "Hello, Gold Member here. I want the same premium as a new member, or I'm leaving, after 35 years".."Oh, ok then".



Derek

Hi
It's all money for old rope. I've been a subscriber to a few of the so-called rescue operatives, and the AA and RAC were a waste of money, and I have tales to tell on both....The best was green flag...if they still exist, and as for insurance companies , I don't favour the cheap ones AT ALL...I usually liked to find those with a reputation of fair play and a history of paying up!....no matter the cost, because it's part of motoring!. Imagine, through no fault of your own- let's say an almighty tyre failure, and somebody is injured....I for one would prefer to rest assured that should they need care and compensation, they would get it in appropriate measure!...."Cheapo Sid's Cover-All" type insurers who offer fully comprehensive cover for the odd few quid are going to wriggle out of any payment possible....that's why they're cheap!. Imagine what you'd feel if a family member was injured and left with hospital bills, or unable to get treatment, and remember that when you renew your insurance...the best bet is to look at "Which" or similar, and go for a good company. I've NEVER had a quibble over glass replacement even on a rear window and a side window...
Cheers
Helen

Just to add I have Halifax account which comes with AA cover for person and not the car. I phoned to check that Bongo covered and they told me it would be no problem and no extra. As you can imagine I was pretty happy.