The AA Reviews

Name: The AA
Rating: 2.85

2.9 Rating 1,914 Reviews

46 %

of reviewers recommend The AA

Company Reviews

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Metrics

2.9

Based on 1,914 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
Average Delivery Time	Over A Month
Documents Delivered On-time	Greater than 37%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	1.7 out of 5
Avg Email Response Time	-1 hours
Cancellations & Refunds
Cancellation Process	Difficult

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03300 531 100

Email:

customer.solutions@theaa.com

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The AA 1 star review on 22nd September 2024

"I ordered an AA inspection for a potential new car, and the experience was dreadful from start to finish. I used their inspection service for an Audi, paying \u00a3235. Despite this high fee, the inspection was outsourced to third-party inspectors. They checked the car and assured me that there were no issues with the bodywork or any other problems, providing a report that everything was in perfect condition. The inspection took place in a car park, and they failed to notice oil in the shock absorber, essentially just taking some useless pictures.\r\n\r\nWhen I traveled 2.5 hours each way to see and purchase the car, I immediately discovered that it had been poorly sprayed and painted all over. This was obvious to the naked eye, both in sunlight and shade. Opening the car door revealed rough edges of paint. The windscreen had been replaced with a cheap one, poorly attached, and none of this was mentioned in the report.\r\n\r\nUpon noticing these issues, I used a Thickness Gauge to further inspect the car and recorded a video, from which I will attach screenshots. Additionally, the non-Audi windscreen replacement was easy to spot. The inspector did not send any pictures of the car\u2019s oily suspension, and the inspection was conducted outdoors, not in a garage. I suspect there were more issues with the car, but I stopped my inspection and drove back due to these significant problems.\r\n\r\nOtherwise, I cannot understand how such obvious flaws were missed. I am convinced this was intentional.\r\n\r\nAfter writing to their customer service, I received this response:\r\n\r\n\u201cWe can only inspect the vehicle as presented on the day of inspection, regardless of weather conditions. It is also a possibility, whilst we are not suggesting this, the windscreen may have been replaced after our inspection. Whilst we accept you may remain dissatisfied, the decision has been made not to uphold your complaint and no further action will be taken on this occasion.\u201d\r\n\r\nHowever, I could easily see the paint issues and verified them with a thickness gauge. The windscreen was the same as in the report pictures, and I don\u2019t think the seller could have changed it overnight. And they didn\u2019t want to be responsible and just do a refund.\r\n\r\nOverall, it\u2019s absolutely unacceptable for a company that charges a premium price for their inspections. AVOID this company. It\u2019s a scam. Don\u2019t buy anything from them. They just want to take your money and not provide a proper service.\r\n\r\nI have already started the Mastercard Chargeback and am now preparing to sue them with my lawyer."

Nasimi Mamedov

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Terrible terrible service. Beware the AA! Broke down on 19th June 5.30pm - female and 3 Under 18's in car. Waited 2 h for AA mechanic - who said car needs recovery. Waited 2 hours for recovery truck (4 hours elapsed). We were taken HALF WAY HOME, the car UNLOADED off the truck and ABANDONED at an M1 service station in the dark. Were told by recovery driver (an independent) that AA would meet us at services to relay us on to our Final destination. Waited 1 and a half hours (7 and a half hours elapsed). Tried to call AA. Ha! Tried for over an hour (I have my mobile phone log). Finally got through and was told - you are at your final destination... No I am not I replied, I am at a service station on the M1.... Anyway - the AA had "lost my job". Told was priority - "recovery truck will be with you in 1h". When time came through on their app - truck was to arrive at 4.30 am! 11 hours after calling in recovery - I had 3 U18s with me, now sleeping on floor in services. Called my husband to recover me and kids - we were only 45 mins from home, called AA - who said "It is really busy" and seemed a bit cross that I was questioning why they were sending their truck out 11 hours after initial call. Car finally taken to destination 16 hours after call out. Appallingly stressful and terrible service. But thank you to staff at Northampton South services for letting us camp out...”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Unable to get through to talk to a member of the AA re membership renewal costing double of a new member and have been waiting in a queues on several days of attempt with no luck. Tried the on line chat and no help. The call back facility on line does not work either treid twice and no call back. After 29 years membership and being asked to pay double the new customer rate. Have cancelled my direct debit and will be joining else where at a much better cost. Not interested in AA on facebook trying to justify that Gold membership gives you more not when you are paying addition costs anyway. NEED TO FOCUS MORE ON TREATING YOUR LONG TERM MEMBERS FAIRLY NOT USE THEM TO SUBSIDISE NEW MEMBERS!!!!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“The defence by Edmund King of drivers using mobile phones "it takes time to change habits". THE LAW IS THE LAW : it seems that the AA condones breaking the,law and killing people in the provess”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Thursday 25th May 2017 we called the AA breakdown service as we had an accident at a service station. Steve from AA came within 30 mins after we called and he was very professional and helpful. He really helped us figure out our options in the situation and took his time which made us feel like he genuinely cared about helping us. The insurance company we called were being difficult and Steve stayed to support us as we were not confident in what the insurance company was telling us and what our options at the time were. Thank you Steve and the AA for helping us in a stressful situation. 5*****”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I would give a negative rating if possible. We have been paying a breakdown and repairs service. Our car needed a turbo replacement and though we did not have a full service on it for over a year, we had bits and pieces done in the past 12 months. The likes of oil replacement or top ups, we either did ourselves or had an experienced family member do it. The AA are now saying they will not pay any of the repair costs as we cannot provide a receipt from a registered garage for oil top-ups!!! I realise from the terms and conditions, they may ask for evidence but seriously expecting the motorist to run to a garage every time for oil top-ups - very unhelpful service!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“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!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Dreadful. Unprofessional and totally unsatisfactory complaints handling. Poorly trained staff providing conflicting claims advice - which they see no issues with. Said my complaint was resolved when they hadn't addressed any of the issues I raised and now won't respond to my emails. An absolute farce of a complany. Avoid, avoid, avoid!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“We use the AA for our fleet cover. The service is poor - on average we have to wait over 4 hours for recovery vehicles to pick up our vans. Customer service is unable to do anything to improve the situation. Will be switching to another service as quickly as possible.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“1st callout to gallisheils took 41/2 hrs mechanic 1st he couldn't help then. 3 hrs later the AA man arrived Bob by name he was good managed to fix car to drive home apart having to wait all that time Bob made up for it2nd time 4 weeks later broke down again after 10 years a member AA man Brian arrived 1 hr later good service ☺ towed to Aberdeen both men were friendly and very helpful top marks to both”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Value for money”

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(Home Insurance) - Posted 7 years ago

“APPALLING - ABANDONED AT OXFORD SERVICES at 3 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. Pressing for the truth at 03:45 hrs with no sign of any relay driver, the control room admitted they thought I had been taken home! They had no idea where I was or who I had been driven by to get there (which was a subcontractor) from Warwick Services! I made my initial call to the AA at 21:45 from Telford Services and got home to Uxbridge at 05:30 the following morning. Needless to say, I was unable to work on Monday as I had been up all night! Interestingly, when at last the AA relay arrived at Oxford at 04:15 (having driven up from Swindon) the driver informed me he had been originally been scheduled to do the pickup between 08:30 and 09:00 that morning from Oxford! This is shocking, especially for women travelling by themselves at night which should be investigated thoroughly and broadcast to all. I have been a member of the AA since 1987 and thought I was in safe hands. Far from it - the AA are especially putting women at risk, do not communicate, are rude and do not follow up anything even when you do complain. I am still awaiting a call from the customer services team and have not received even at very best an apology. I strongly advise DO SIGN UP FOR THE AA RELAY SERVICE - GO ELSEWHERE. Or at the very least insist on having a proper AA driver and vehicle NOT A SUBCONTRACTOR.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Been a member for many years,rude and appalling customer service, aa couldn't care less attitude in weather you stay or leave.Went to RAC where service was good and got a better deal.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“When I first signed up for my driving lessons, I had an non speaking tutor, she was a lovely women but, I was having some serious difficulties with trying to understanding her accent which made my lessons all the more changelling. My intensions was to sign up with another driving school but when I conversed my issues about my instuctor the lady on the end of the line was very understanding, and rather than just letting me go, she recommened I try another instucture. So, having had my confidence restored, the lady recommend I try instructor Deborah Stevens (english speaking). On meeting Debbie, she warm and welcoming and made me feel totally at ease. Her step with me, was to show me the overall layout of the cotpit, lights, air conditioner, windows screen wipers etc. (something my previous tutor didn't show me, I was left to figure most of it out myself). Debbie's instructions were clear and to the point. She was very good at picking up were my faults laid, i.e directions, which she soon sorted out for me. Her level of patience was amazing, never once loosing her smile and beleive me we had some bumpy rides and serval mistakes hahaha! I found Debbie to be an excellent tutor. She was consitance with theory and techniques. Gave great advise on manuvers, i.e turning in the road, parrell parking and emergency stop. My level of improvement and confidence bounced, tripled within the first two lessons. I felt I could move moutains, believe me she gives you such a boost of confidence. At the end of each lesson Debbie would give me a copy of the driving assessment (coz I was always leaving my student book at home). She would go over my errors and explain where I would need to impove which she would encourage we'd go over in our next lesson. This helped me, to review my errors before my next lesson. I could go on and on about Debbie Stevens. Anyway, I took a total of ten lessons with Debbie, and passed my test first time thanks to my amazing tutor Debbie. I highly recommend Debbie Stevens, and if your having problems passing, its simple, ask for Debbie Stevens, she'll tell you when your ready to go for your test.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“AA very good to deal with. I recommend them.”

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(Car Insurance) - Posted 7 years ago

“It is a while since I took out this insurance but seem to remember that everything went smoothly.”

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(Car Insurance) - Posted 7 years ago

“I don't like idea that you wouldn't email me copies of my insurance , insisting I need to go on line when it is extremely difficult at certain times all other insurance companies I deal with don't have a problem forwarding PDF copies”

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(Car Insurance) - Posted 8 years ago

“The AA Driving School “Don't choose The AA till you have read this I am very disappointed with the service of The AA Driving School. We ordered an initial series of 5 lessons for our daughter. Whggen we booked the first lesson we were informed that the first appointment had to be a two hour session. After that she could book the rest of her lessons on single hour basis. The driver -after the first lesson - told her that he would only book double lessons because he needed to drive to a suitable area. Our own village is used by several other driving schools (including The AA) and there should be no need for going to a neighbouring village. Even when he arranged to pick her up from a location in centre of town would he only accept double hour bookings, probably to get more money from teenagers whom struggles with negotiating terms with specialists. After several phone call to the service desk I am left with my daughter forced to accept their terms or loosing her hours that she has paid for. There is no mentioning of double lessons neither on their web page nor in the small print. They explained that it was up to their drivers to choose their structures and not a "company" policy. But he was chosen for us by The AA without them explaining the policies of their own drivers, despite them knowing that we wanted 5 single lessons to start her off with. Once you have had your initial double lesson you are stuck with that driver. If you want to change driver they force you to book another double lesson and start all over again. No information follows the client when transferred. And The AA can't guarantee that the next driver will accept our requests. To place the trust of our daughter in the car of an adult man is done on the reputation of the company. When she then feels intimidated to accept terms she had not been informed about and felt she had to take decisions on the spot in the presence of her instructor we feel let down by The AA. When she politely texted the instructor to change her booking he refused and by that The AA feel they have given her enough warning. They on the other hand says it's all down to the driver who is his own boss and on zero contract with The AA. They have no further responsibilities once you have booked your lesson directly with the driver. NEVER had I expected The AA to be this greedy, rigid and in complete lack of understanding of the trust we place on them when they take the responsibility of our adolescents in their care. I advise anyone in the same situation to check out other companies before placing any order. Hopefully The AA hasn't outsourced the rest of their services on zero hour contracts as you normally need them when you are at your most vulnerable.”

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Posted 8 years ago

“AA very good very easy to work with thank you”

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(Home Insurance) - Posted 8 years ago

“Good service overall.”

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(Car Insurance) - Posted 8 years ago

“Not at this point”

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(Home Insurance) - Posted 8 years ago

The AA is rated 2.9 based on 1,914 reviews