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AA Renewal: £230 or £159, if you can be bothered to ring up.

Another "AutoAid" satisfied customer..........lost a MB key and as had key cover with them, they covered the replacement cost.

And yes, had previously been with AA, Green Flag, etc but AutoAid wins on every account.
 
The AA are real scumbags for not giving existing customer the right deal. I know one 79 year old driver that was paying £320 for their gold "European wide" cover when said person only ever drove 3 or 4 miles a week to the local shops.

Agreed, it is nuts to pay more than £80 per year for standard UK cover. Maybe a bit more for home start cover.
 
I get breakdown cover ‘free’ from a packaged bank account. The provider is Britannia. Never yet had to test it (touch wood!).

A far cry from the old days when I had to call them out at least annually for some kind of mechanical trouble...
 
I just swop year to year between the RAC and AA and use the quidco offers. I can usually get a very good deal and the lapsing company will never match the package price, I've tried once or twice so I don't bother now. I also make sure my car insurance policies don't have auto renew on them for much the same reason.
 
I recently had the same. Had a proper shouting match with the cancellation department with them trying to do cheaper and me not having any of it.

I like AA because they have always got to me quickly and I have the breakdown repair cover which is cheap as chips and usually find some way to claim every year (alternator this year - 500 quid)

Although a rigmarole, I refuse to play the game so cancel every year and get the new customer price the very next day online.
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
As a "Gold Member" of the AA, I've just received my renewal for 2020: £230 for two users, including Recovery.

Checking online, the new membership fee is £159

So I rang them to cancel, saying I would go to Green Flag and RAC.

They offered me £179, which I refused.

So they offered me £159, which I accepted. A saving of £71.

"Just saying."

Happy Christmas, all.
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I got a 2 year deal at a greatly reduced price
 
poormansporsche said:
I recently had the same. Had a proper shouting match with the cancellation department with them trying to do cheaper and me not having any of it.

I like AA because they have always got to me quickly and I have the breakdown repair cover which is cheap as chips and usually find some way to claim every year (alternator this year - 500 quid)

Although a rigmarole, I refuse to play the game so cancel every year and get the new customer price the very next day online.
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Maybe a no claims discount would make it cheaper for the majority.
 
The RAC is the same, I’ve been a member since 1978, and I’m ashamed to admit I’ve done the "inertia buying" mainly because my firm paid it until I retired.

But just after I’d renewed this year I visited the RAC stand at a show, and overheard a new customer joining, at a rate much lower than I’d just paid. After the customer had gone, I challenged this, and was told quite openly to phone and negotiate a better price. Standard practice he said, most people just renew.......
 
Excellent: thanks for all the comments.

Everyone can view it their own way: lots of options out there: cheaper deals, "scumbag" claims etc.....

But hopefully, we've pointed out the process, and people can work out their own path forward.

Which reminds me: maybe I ought to just revisit my £14 / month Iphone contract.....(Free roaming in the USA is something I'm missing...)

.
 
The energy sector is virtually the same - these “new customer” deals are actually loss-leaders, the companies gamble that once the rate has changed you’ll be too lazy to move anywhere else and they’ll start to recoup their money.

Having said that, the energy price cap has punished those savvy enough to shop around and that “float” is now evening off to the point that, if it follows the current trajectory, everyone will be paying the same all of the time.
 
gave up with AA a while ago, and rarely go 2yrs on the trot with any0ne, However got RAC recovery last year, any car whether driver or passenger ,max 5 callouts a year about £80 ish , This year gave me at same price ! Having said that had recovery for about 35 yrs and only used it once about 30 yrs ago ! think its probably a better idea to not have recovery and just join on the spot if I break down, as it has cost me about (35yrs x lets say £50) £1750 ish !
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
Excellent: thanks for all the comments.

Everyone can view it their own way: lots of options out there: cheaper deals, "scumbag" claims etc.....

But hopefully, we've pointed out the process, and people can work out their own path forward.
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2023, and here we are again. £222 to renew, Sir.

Thanks, but this time I won't even phone them. I'll just let it expire.

And probably join again. It's £144 for new members (One third "off")

Sigh

Screenshot 2023-05-30 at 19.20.46.png
 
MikeInWimbledon said:
2023, and here we are again. £222 to renew, Sir.

Thanks, but this time I won't even phone them. I'll just let it expire.

And probably join again. It's £144 for new members (One third "off")

Sigh

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AA did this to me for 20 years, every time I got a "discount". Now they seem not to budge on the phone so I cancelled. Way back when they were the only company which had no limit on the age of the vehicle but now others offer this. I can get very cheap recovery so don't bother with the hassle.
 
fabes said:
Such a waste of both their and my time :rolleyes:
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It's not a waste of their time.

I posted a back of the envelope calculation regarding insurance renewals a few years back. It makes cynical sense to do this.

Basically the inflated renewal ends up in the outcomes:

- the inflated renewal is accepted
- the customer makes contact and gets a discount
- the customer leaves

Meanwhile they also attract more customers on introductory deals to churn them through that three group filtration system hoping they become the first group but settling for them if they end up in the second.

The kicker is the yield on the first group which is derived from margins that can be several times that of the second group and more than offset the lost custom from the third group.
 
BTW: does anyone pay newspaper digital subscriptions that keep going up?

Same sales technique.

I pay a quid a month for the Times and £4.99 for the Torygraph

All you have to do is say you’re cancelling

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