We have had RAC breakdown cover for many years (on and off) and have always opted for a higher level of cover with onward travel etc because
my wife sometimes has to travel up and down the country as a single female driver.
In all those years we never had to call out the RAC once.That was until about a week ago when the car broke down on the motorway.There was
no hard shoulder and my wife struggled to get the car to a layby where she phoned the RAC.
The RAC mechanic told my wife (and me over the phone) that an injector needed replacing.He showed the item to my wife on his phone from a
very well known car parts supplier and said it cost £700 just to buy the part but he could do all it for the bargain price of £450.This sounded like
quite a saving on the cost of the part.What the mechanic didn't know was that i have often used the same website in the past and knew that they
ALWAYS have a voucher code running on their site.Sure enough the part was there at £700 but after i entered the code the price was £460!!!.Not
quite the bargain he was making it out ot be!
I have absolutely no doubt that the mechanic would have known about the voucher codes since he uses the website all the time as part of his job
but he 'forgot' to tell us about that fact.However,because my wife was a single vulnerable female driver stuck on the motorway, she had no choice
but to have the work done there and then.I told her (over the phone) to keep the original injector for independent inspection when she eventually
arrived home.
I later got a phone call form my wife to say that the car had been repaired and she had arrived at her destination.I was not happy to hear that she
did not have the original injector part! When i asked her why she said the mechanic refused to give it to her.He said it was RAC policy and there
was a surcharge on the item so she could not have her own part back!(note: NO 'surcharge' on the car parts website for the part!)
I am not happy about this at all.The old part belongs to us and we paid for a new part so what gives the RAC the right to refuse to give it to back
to us! The mechanic already tried to deceive us as regards the cost of the replacement part ,so how can i take anything he said for granted?
How do i know the injector didn't just need flushing? The only way to be sure would have been to take the part for independent testing,but i can't
do that because the RAC have kept the 'evidence'.Somebody from the RAC please explain why you refuse to give original parts back to their
owners,parts whch belong to them and not to you!!! Thank you.