Permitted to drive a dangerous car and no customer care! After much incorrect information the team at the AA I have now received some form of contact from the company regarding the complaint. I am frankly astounded that The AA find it acceptable to permit and give the green light for a customer to drive a dangerous and life threatening vehicle on the road. I found the complaint reply letter patronising and ill informed and it instills no faith in the AA that the have a clue what they are doing and are not more than running an amateur operation. The initial complaint that was relayed to the telephone customer support team regarding a breakdown was logged and noise/banging was reported from what I “thought” at time was the rear of the vehicle. The breakdown colleague gave it a 1 minutes spin around in a flat carpark, a quick check underneath of not a lot else. I was left with the words the car is fine, I have checked under the car and nothing seems out of place and I cannot hear anything. I was also told that if the noise was not there anymore or it was coming and going then you could get it checked at garage but he said in his experience it was nothing to worry about and it was ok to drive. At no point did he advise mandatory or necessary investigation directly and the this not noted on the breakdown report and to be honest I got the impression from his manner that he thought I was some stupid woman calling the AA over nothing and I was treated like I was being foolish or overacting. The AA was asked to assist on Monday 20th March 2017 and the vehicle given the green light for it being safe to drive, based on what I was told was I continued to be drive long distance and at high speeds as the car is used for business on a daily basis. Going from what the AA colleague had told me above I felt reassured and happy that my car and myself were still safe and that nothing dangerous was going to occur. Finally on the Saturday I was starting to question what the AA colleague had told me so I took the vehicle into a local garage and I was told I should not be driving it as the vehicle was dangerous to both myself and the members of the public. They were also astounded that the AA at the time of the break down call out permitted me to continue to drive the vehicle and that on examining the cars undercarriage the AA could not see the huge coil spring that had snapped clean in half, they also stated that if the fault had been picked up further damage to the car would have been prevented. I no the very basics about cars and the fact that The AA colleague took my word as gospel that the banging was coming from the rear and not elsewhere under the car is a huge joke. When did the AA start taking diagnostic advice from car owners where 9/10 times people know nothing about cars which is why they have breakdown cover. I would also like to know if their colleagues are partially sighted as the fact that the coil spring is huge in this car and it was snapped clean off at the bottom end near the tyre and brake pipe, yet from a full and examination under the car he could not see it???? The fact that the AA colleague then drove the vehicle a short distance on a flat surface at crawling pace in a car park is not consistent of any road test I know of and that just really sums up this whole break down. The AA breakdown colleague was more concerned that he had to come from Sheffield or somewhere in that region and seemed nonchalant in his attitude towards the breakdown. The copy of the breakdown report the AA had from their patrol manager differed somewhat from what was emailed to me on the day of the breakdown, please see below; The AA said their breakdown report states this: “Diagnostic testing may be limited in a breakdown type situation. Please ensure symptoms/suggested faults are confirmed by your chosen repairer before any suggested work is started.” However the actual report I had emailed direct from The AA team is this: "NO FAULT ON ARRIVAL NOISES FROM REAR PATROL CARRY OUT ROAD TEST OK INSPECT UNDER VEHICLE NOTHING OUT OFF PLACE . PATROL UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE ADVICE GIVEN .” Either The AA were trying to fob me off which by no means will wash or they had not bothered to take the week and half to investigate the matter properly according to operational procedure. With both those completely different break down reports in mind it still does not hide the fact that I was not taken seriously as a female motorist, I was treated in such away that reflected I was imagining everything wrong with the car, The AA colleague did not check the undercarriage of the car properly and selected only to check one small area, if the car had been looked over fully underneath even for a few minuted the snapped coil would have been spotted and the vehicle should have been towed to a safe location or to a garage and not permitted to be driven. All this information has now been confirmed by a second garage which looks very damning on the AA considering safety should be at the core of all breakdowns you attend. As soon as I explained to the garage as I did to the AA what was going on, they said it could be a coil, they took a two second look underneath and they said they could see it straight away. I was told any experienced person who knows a decent amount about vehicles and not necessarily a mechanic will know a noise from the rear with the associated symptoms we explained could indicated a snapped coil spring at the front of the car. I as told by this second garage that if The AA colleague had done his job this car should have been taken off the road and the basic diagnose should have been found initially be The AA colleague as a bare minimum. The letter from Shirely Eastwood made no sense at all and shows no investigation. In the same letter she stated I could get the case reopened and then further on it states the AA will not be changing their minds!????? Idiotic, confusing and extremely unprofessional and a down right disgrace. I do not think it is a huge ask for a large company like yourself to do the tight thing, The AA have endangered myself, family, caused further damage to my vehicle and you have put other road users and pedestrians at risk whilst I was given the ok to drive a dangerous car. Even on the AA website it point out the dangers of driving a car with a snapped coil spring yet your team cannot detect one that has snapped in a a easily viewed location. The AA cannot offer any customer care, they cannot investigate a basic complaint, they know nothing about vehicles, and they permit people to drive dangerous cars. Irrelevant of the the made up report or the actual report I have on email the fact of the matter is that the AA did not do their job at all. I am both angry and frustrated with the lack of support in this investigation and there is nothing to indicate they give a damn about safety or your customers. This very same review/letter was then sent to the CEO and several other managers and so far I have heard nothing from any of their team. So if you value your life do not chose this disgraceful company! COMPLAINT UPDATE **** Well we got anot her time wasting letter arguing the toss about who said what and that I was told in a nutshell what is entered on the report means nothing. Also the AA still think it is acceptable to allow a customer to driver at high speed on long journeys or even to drive the car period with a broken coil spring near the brake pipe. The point being the idiots at AA do it it seems to grasps is that the vehicle should have been towed and we should never been allowed to drive the car. The roadside reps one could not determine this because he failed to open his eyes and take a 2 second look under the car properly. 2 garages have now confirmed the danger and the lack of knowledge and assistance from the AA. It is also good to know if you write to either Mr Bob Mackenzie AA Chairman or Mr Edmund Kind AA president neither can be bothered to get off their backside and address the matter themselves. Instead the complaint is sent t9 some muppet in an office who knows nothing about motoring or vehicles. I would rather go without break down cover than use the AA ever again. They might have many positive reviews but for each of those there will be hundreds of people dissatisfied and left in dangerous situations. REPLY FROM THE AA: No reply from the CEO or senior members of staff, after battling with their idiotic management team over the issue they take NO RESPONSIBILITY and say it is acceptable to allow a customer to drive a dangerous vehicle at high speed on a motorway. No real checks done on the initial call out, senior staff tried to cover up the negligence and the people at the top do not give a dame. The several garages I attended said it was an easy basic find, that should have been picked up and I should have not been allowed to drive the car as the coil could have blown out my tyre and severed my brake pipe! They said the AA should have picked up on this! When in doubt do not choose the AA they are cheap for a reason and reflects the lack of service and the danger they will put you and your family in should your break down. They are safe to use, and they are not worth the money your pay for the service!