Just wanted to share for others benefit, a very recent experience with our RAC breakdown cover. I have copied letter written to their complaints department, it should be self explanatory .
Customers for decades with full, family membership.
Every recovery truck driver independently and without influence, said Green Flag is the best.
Cheers.
Customer Care, RAC Motoring Services, Great Park Road, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4QN
25th September 2026
Dear Sirs,
I want to tell you about a very recent experience myself, my wife and our three dogs, endured when we called on the services of the RAC last Sunday, 20th September.
For background, we have been family members for many, many years, always maintaining the belief that The Royal Automobile Club stood for reliability and dependability. How far from the truth could we have been.
My car developed a minor fault soon after leaving a camping site near Bakewell in Derbyshire on a sunny Sunday morning. We pulled over into a layby on a busy main road and after a short while, called on the services of The RAC at around 11:30. The patrol arrived with us approximately two hours later. He spent half an hour diagnosing the fault and a decision was made to call out a transporter to take the car and small caravan, myself and my wife and the three dogs, home. The three dogs would stay in the boot of the car for the duration of the journey home, coming out for a short break at each stop.
The patrolman called and arranged for the transport to come to us and left us at approximately 14:15. When the transport arrived at approximately 17:30, the driver confirmed he received the call from the RAC at approximately 16:00. That’s a full 6 hours after the initial call. We left the layby at around 18:15 and were informed we were only being taken as far as Trowell Services (southbound), that’s a mere 60 minutes drive from the layby.
It’s worth mentioning that we were very fortunate in that the farmer who owned the land adjacent to the layby, checked that we were all okay and offered us the use of his facilities at the farmhouse and an area to let the dogs exercise.
We arrived at Trowell Services at around 19:15, unloaded the vehicle and caravan and then spoke to the RAC help desk to enquire on the next relay.
The relay company called and picked us up at around 20:30 and took us to Watford Gap Services, arriving at approximately 22:00. We again unloaded the car and caravan from the transporter. We called the RAC at 23:50 to ask when the next relay would arrive. We were told a relay truck would be with us by around 03:00 however, the truck arrived at around 01:30 and we loaded the car and caravan. This relay took us 40 miles to Toddington Services. The driver would have taken us all the way home but had received instructions to drop us at Toddington and go to another breakdown. Once again, we unloaded the car and caravan. The time now was around 03:00.
At 04:26, I called the RAC to ask when we should expect the next relay. We were told that due to driver shift patterns, it would be unlikely a truck would be allocated until after 06:00. I called the RAC at 07:00 as I had heard nothing.
In the meantime, I was contacted by a specialist team at the RAC and offered a hotel for the remainder of the night ! This was obviously (to us anyway) not practical as we have three dogs with us and also, our insurance would not cover leaving the car and caravan in a motorway service area.
We suggested a taxi should be arranged to take my wife and the three dogs home. This was agreed and the taxi arrived at around 05:00, expressing some surprise about three dogs, despite me insisting the specialist tell the taxi firm the details. Please bear in mind, my wife is seventy years old and we have the welfare of our dogs to consider, not to be taken lightly when in a busy motorway service area.
It is worth mentioning that my wife found the taxi journey to be a dreadful experience, with the driver maintaining a speed often in excess of the speed limit, in the outside lane, only slowing because he “knew where the speed cameras were”, abruptly and braking hard when approaching traffic.
I stayed at Toddington Services until a relay truck arrived at around 08:30. We loaded the truck and set off, not knowing if this was the final relay. As it turned out, it was.
I eventually got home at around 11:00, just short of 24 hours since the first contact was made with the RAC.
We found the entire episode a harrowing, frustrating and somewhat upsetting experience, with the exception of the professionalism and care the relay drivers and companies showed. We had three, well behaved, mid-sized dogs who endured hours on end in the boot of the car, including whilst in transit (our choice) on the transporters. The number of loadings and unloadings was quite frankly ridiculous, particularly for such a relatively short overall distance of less than 200 miles in total.
I’m not looking for explanations, I’m sure you have many reasons as to why this saga happened, a busy day, lots of breakdowns, lack of staff and so on. Having spoken to numerous people since getting home, I believe it’s not a particularly unusual occurrence, with numerous tales of people being left for hours on end.
If you do think it appropriate to reply, please do so by email or a letter, with suggestions on what you plan to do, in order to address the poor experience described above.
Sadly, my longstanding faith in your services have been shattered.
Yours Sincerely,
Customers for decades with full, family membership.
Every recovery truck driver independently and without influence, said Green Flag is the best.
Cheers.
Customer Care, RAC Motoring Services, Great Park Road, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4QN
25th September 2026
Dear Sirs,
I want to tell you about a very recent experience myself, my wife and our three dogs, endured when we called on the services of the RAC last Sunday, 20th September.
For background, we have been family members for many, many years, always maintaining the belief that The Royal Automobile Club stood for reliability and dependability. How far from the truth could we have been.
My car developed a minor fault soon after leaving a camping site near Bakewell in Derbyshire on a sunny Sunday morning. We pulled over into a layby on a busy main road and after a short while, called on the services of The RAC at around 11:30. The patrol arrived with us approximately two hours later. He spent half an hour diagnosing the fault and a decision was made to call out a transporter to take the car and small caravan, myself and my wife and the three dogs, home. The three dogs would stay in the boot of the car for the duration of the journey home, coming out for a short break at each stop.
The patrolman called and arranged for the transport to come to us and left us at approximately 14:15. When the transport arrived at approximately 17:30, the driver confirmed he received the call from the RAC at approximately 16:00. That’s a full 6 hours after the initial call. We left the layby at around 18:15 and were informed we were only being taken as far as Trowell Services (southbound), that’s a mere 60 minutes drive from the layby.
It’s worth mentioning that we were very fortunate in that the farmer who owned the land adjacent to the layby, checked that we were all okay and offered us the use of his facilities at the farmhouse and an area to let the dogs exercise.
We arrived at Trowell Services at around 19:15, unloaded the vehicle and caravan and then spoke to the RAC help desk to enquire on the next relay.
The relay company called and picked us up at around 20:30 and took us to Watford Gap Services, arriving at approximately 22:00. We again unloaded the car and caravan from the transporter. We called the RAC at 23:50 to ask when the next relay would arrive. We were told a relay truck would be with us by around 03:00 however, the truck arrived at around 01:30 and we loaded the car and caravan. This relay took us 40 miles to Toddington Services. The driver would have taken us all the way home but had received instructions to drop us at Toddington and go to another breakdown. Once again, we unloaded the car and caravan. The time now was around 03:00.
At 04:26, I called the RAC to ask when we should expect the next relay. We were told that due to driver shift patterns, it would be unlikely a truck would be allocated until after 06:00. I called the RAC at 07:00 as I had heard nothing.
In the meantime, I was contacted by a specialist team at the RAC and offered a hotel for the remainder of the night ! This was obviously (to us anyway) not practical as we have three dogs with us and also, our insurance would not cover leaving the car and caravan in a motorway service area.
We suggested a taxi should be arranged to take my wife and the three dogs home. This was agreed and the taxi arrived at around 05:00, expressing some surprise about three dogs, despite me insisting the specialist tell the taxi firm the details. Please bear in mind, my wife is seventy years old and we have the welfare of our dogs to consider, not to be taken lightly when in a busy motorway service area.
It is worth mentioning that my wife found the taxi journey to be a dreadful experience, with the driver maintaining a speed often in excess of the speed limit, in the outside lane, only slowing because he “knew where the speed cameras were”, abruptly and braking hard when approaching traffic.
I stayed at Toddington Services until a relay truck arrived at around 08:30. We loaded the truck and set off, not knowing if this was the final relay. As it turned out, it was.
I eventually got home at around 11:00, just short of 24 hours since the first contact was made with the RAC.
We found the entire episode a harrowing, frustrating and somewhat upsetting experience, with the exception of the professionalism and care the relay drivers and companies showed. We had three, well behaved, mid-sized dogs who endured hours on end in the boot of the car, including whilst in transit (our choice) on the transporters. The number of loadings and unloadings was quite frankly ridiculous, particularly for such a relatively short overall distance of less than 200 miles in total.
I’m not looking for explanations, I’m sure you have many reasons as to why this saga happened, a busy day, lots of breakdowns, lack of staff and so on. Having spoken to numerous people since getting home, I believe it’s not a particularly unusual occurrence, with numerous tales of people being left for hours on end.
If you do think it appropriate to reply, please do so by email or a letter, with suggestions on what you plan to do, in order to address the poor experience described above.
Sadly, my longstanding faith in your services have been shattered.
Yours Sincerely,
Then said I hadn't made the call out excess payment and that was why it was held on the system... Had to make another payment and then start the wait again. 
