I started my car and it sounded dreadful - it loved, but only just. I called the RAC and had to pay £175 to join in a ‘pay as you go’ membership. The call centre said it would be three hours before a mechanic attended. While we were still on the phone dealing with the membership, someone else tried to call from a mobile number I didn’t recognise. The RAC call handler told me to answer the call in case it was the mechanic. It was and he said he’d be there in 15 minutes (not the three hours I’d been warned about). He arrived, diagnosed the problem and told me the car was just about ok to drive and he’d go ahead of me to accompany me to the local garage half a mile away. We did that and he left and I realised I could have saved myself £175 and called the garage the next day. A week later, my battery went flat and I called the RAC. I was told it would be a four hour wait for a mechanic and I would be charged £80 (or was it £85?) for the call out! I remonstrated and said I’d paid £175 just a few weeks ago. I was told that’s how ‘pay as you go’ works. There is a call out charge every time. I cancelled the call out and found a friend who made the drive to me with jump leads (something I’d been loathe to do due to the time of day). Hugely expensive!!!