As some of you may have read, the clutch gave up on my zed on the way back from LeMans. Luckily i had some Euro Breakdown cover with the RAC....................
It wasnt lucky, it was probably one of the worst experiences ive had in a LONG LONG TIME!!!!
Basically i broke down on the A28 motorway outside Rouen just after the toll booths. I called the RAC, they said that they would not recover me from a motorway and a police authorised recovery service would have to do it. So i spoke to the people at the toll booth who arranged this for me.......
4 HOURS later a recovery truck turns up. Knowing the car could not be fixed at the roadside, i asked to be taken to Rouen to i could find a hotel and the car could be put in the car park for the RAC to pick it up. Err No. We were taken in the opposite direction to where i wanted to go, to Brionne.
I was then charged 250 euros for the privilege of being taken in the wrong direction.
I then contected the RAC who said that they could not come out that day and would be there tomorrow. Once again, not impressed!:mad: So we managed to find a hotel in this sleepy little town, which to be honest was lovely, but was at my own cost.
So down to the garage to get my car. An appointed subcontracter turned up at 930am, and i tell him in my poor french that i need to go to our ferry before 4pm so i dont have pay a admin charge. He seems to acknowledge.
Err No:headvswal:
So off we go to somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the 2nd flat bed truck. No both of our phones have died so we had to use the garages phone. I spoke to the RAC and told them what the problem was. The first person i spoke to was about usefull as a chocolate tea pot. She didnt seem to understand that even tho the mechanic said he would fix it with a week, she didnt seem to understand that i would take about 2 weeks to get a clutch through Nissan directly, and i could do it much quicker if they just took me home.
Now this is the point I want to make very clear to be wary of when it comes to Euro Breakdown policys (and my policy was fully comp)
I turns out, they could can get you (the person) home with a loan car..... BUT if you read the small print of your terms and conditions it basically states that, They will transport your car home at THEIR conveneyance in a container with a load of other broken down vehicles, which will take 3 WEEKS. BUT, and this is a HUUUUUGE but for us zed owners, THEY WILL ONLY TRANSPORT YOUR CAR HOME IF THE COST OF TRANSPORTATION IS LESS THAT THE MARKET VALUE OF YOUR CAR.
If the cost of transporting is MORE than the value of your car, the IT STAYS WHERE IT IS and YOU have to put up the cost of repair and recovery home!:shock:
Some how, im not sure how, but i managed to pursuade them to take my car back to the ferry port. So onto the 3rd flat bed.
3 hours later, we get to our ferry, only to be told by the ferry company that if the car is not put onto the ferry by the flat bed, the car does not go on, and stays in france. At this point im not a happy bunny, to find that both jodies and my credit cards have both gone missing :mad::headvswal::hurl:. If i had a big red button that when pressed, nuked france, i would have pressed it until my fingers were worn to stumps.
Yet again somehow, i managed to pursuade the recovery bloke to put the car on the ferry for me. I told the RAC what time i would land at Dover and the RAC needed to be there to take me off the ferry.
Get to Dover............ No RAC:mad::mad:
Rung them up on a phone i borrowed off one of the ferry staff and went absolutally raging mental at them. Only to be told that if i didnt get my car off the ferry in 15 min then it would be going back to france, and id have to pay double price for the there and back journey!:hurl:
No ive really lost it, all of a sudden a recovery truck turns up. ACE i thought....
err NO.
Turns out the driver only has 45 min left on his tacho and can only take me as far as Maidstone..... where another truck will take me the rest of the way... So onto truck number 4.
Get to maidstone and truck number 5 turns up, with the Biggest throbber i have ever met in my life driving it. Oh, and he turns up with NO diesel in his truck. TWAT!:mad: Does he have a fuel card that works at any station.....
Err NO!
So back to Ramsgate (35 miles in the wrong direction) to refuel and then back home to arrive at 0200 this morning, 40 hours and about £400 lighter.
So to all those who take out cover. READ THE SMALL PRINT BEFORE SIGNING, you could end up in a similar, or worse situation.
Nick
