AA recovery of broken down bike? [Archive]

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cleverchap

31st December 2013, 13:03

Hey all,
I've come up against a bit of issue with my AA plus membership and was wondering if anyone else has had the same issues.

I was doing a tour of the North Island and my bike shit itself (reg/rec has died so battery isn't charging).
No dramas, I have full AA plus cover so all will be well. I phoned the AA and the local towie came out and recommend I have the bike relayed back to my home address in Wellington where I can do the work myself.

After MANY hours sat at the side of the road the bike was finally recovered to a local panel beaters. As the bike was dead the AA said that they would sort out recovery to my home address but it would take 3 weeks and I could book a flight back home with my luggage etc.
I was originally told (by the chick from the AA) that I would be able to claim the cost of flights back.

All cool, right? Wrong.....
The AA are now saying they will only cover $800 worth of expenses, and I have to pay the rest.
The quote for the tow back to Wellington is $800 + GST, and I'm $500 out of pocket for the flights.

Has anyone ever heard of this $800 limit before? I have read the terms and conditions on the AA website and can't see any mention of it.

I'm concerned that my bike is stuck up north, I'm back in Wellington and the AA will just walk away from this and say its my issue.
Not the best end to the year.....:facepalm:

nzspokes

31st December 2013, 13:49

You shudda had an Ultrabatt.

tigertim20

31st December 2013, 14:44

the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

ring the cunts every day. do everything you can, short of abusing them or calling them cunts, and sooner or later theyll probably sort it out, if for no other reason than to get you to fuck off!

BMWST?

31st December 2013, 15:11

"Each AA Plus claim is to a maximum of $800 (incl. GST) with an overall maximum annual subscription claim of $1,500 (incl. GST)"

at the bottom of this page

http://www.aa.co.nz/membership/personal/options/aa-plus/

on the actual terms and conditions page its halfway down under "LIMITS"

bit of a bummer tho

jasonu

31st December 2013, 15:24

Oakie

31st December 2013, 15:42

Yep, 8 hundy limit. Just renewed my daughter's membership a couple of days ago and happened to read the conditions.

Still not bad for the $120 odd that your membership would have cost you.

Flip

31st December 2013, 18:05

Yep 800 limit.

They took my landrover back from Wanaka and it cost me $100

gammaguy

31st December 2013, 20:27

the AA hate bikes

Oakie

31st December 2013, 21:49

the AA hate bikes

They've always done right by me ... the three times I've needed them they were more than obliging.

oneofsix

31st December 2013, 21:59

They've always done right by me ... the three times I've needed them they were more than obliging.

yep - same. Had to convince one guy that you could jump start the bike and that they were 12V systems but otherwise fine.

$800 limit; I guess that means they get you home ($500 air fairs) or the bike, plus I assume they have already covered the cost of getting the bike to the local garage where you can pick it up if you choose.

cleverchap

31st December 2013, 23:50

$800 limit; I guess that means they get you home ($500 air fairs) or the bike

Exactly.
Its either you OR the bike, so the whole sales pitch of the AA getting you and the vehicle home and everything being sweet is a crock.
Basically as I live in Wellington I can write off any form of recovery north of Taupo.

Flip

1st January 2014, 10:13

AA have always looked after us very very well.

If you are one of those folk who cant fix a puncher or make basic repairs you are probably not going to be happy with any breakdown service.

A few years ago we ran over a bit of tin that put a 2" slash in the side wall of a rear tubeless tyre. Queens birthday weekend Central Otago black stumpsville. We were stuffed as we did not have the gear to repair tyre damage of this type.

Called the AA, they called back about 30 min later with several options. The problem was the Ranfurly garage would not help, they could pick up the bike and get it to Palmerston where the farm bike shop might have a new tyre that would get us home, they could pick up the bike and take it to Dunedin, but both these options would mean at least one overnight stay. The final option was get the bike to Naseby garage who thought he could patch the tyre and get us home which was Wellington, but he did not have a vehicle that would pick up the bike. We simply pulled off the wheel and took it to Naseby where the mechanic who was a great guy bonded a large reinforced patch inside the tyre and fitted a tube. We were back on the road and caught our ferry.

On another trip we ran a big end on the R71 side car, burkes pass brass monkey friday, the AA picked the bike up and took it back to home, with us in the cab. We got home lateish, got a few hours sleep, picked up the harley and made it to the brass on Saturday just after lunch.

On the Easter Bunny hunt we broke a landrover axle towing half a tonne of rabbits in a army trailer up a very steep dozer track. The AA picked the landy and the trailer up from Wanaka and took it back home with us again in the cab. They did it on the end of the weekend so we still did the bunny hunt. I think it cost me $100, because the trailer took the space of two cars. It was cheaper to take the trailer with us than return after the truck was fixed to pick it up.

IMHO the AA have provided me with outstanding service.

Gremlin

1st January 2014, 12:44

BMWST has posted the fine print, and yes, I was aware of the limits. Better than nothing, and cheap to have at $120 a year (just got my renewal notice for end of Jan). Used it once so far to find a local towie to assist (not a breakdown), and a breakdown where they got a local mechanic to assist and effect a repair. He got there in under 30min, but it was handy breaking down in the middle of Cambridge :lol:

Phreak

1st January 2014, 12:53

Okay, so AA have an $800 limit, but my question is this: How hard would it have been to replace the blown reg/rec...? I've done a couple through work in the last month or so, and they've always been readily available (if you know which supplier to ask) and not exactly a difficult job to swap out the old one for a new one... Throw in a new battery from any bike shop and you'd have been back on the road in less than a few hours!

Unless of course, you were out in the middle of nowhere, then I could understand it being a bit of a mission... still, plenty of people on KB that would've been more than keen to help out, surely?

BMWST?

1st January 2014, 13:11

strumpet

1st January 2014, 13:20

Thanks for pointing the AA limits out. I've never used my AA Plus, but peace of mind is a great thing when out travelling. The $49 extra for AA Plus is well worth it when you're beyond the black stump and have a breakdown. You'd have to be bloody unlucky to go over the $800 limit.

R650R

1st January 2014, 14:39

There was a similar discussion over in the ADV section after one of the guys had coil fail up tolaga bay way. Same big $$$ to get home and over what his insurance covered.
Depending on your employer its not always an option but I'd be looking at staying in a cheap motel/backpackers and getting what you need sent to you, take a break.
I always have an old tyre sitting around, barely road legal but something someone could courier to me if cut beyond repair long way from home.
If you are an AA member then 120 for 800 of what is essentially insurance cover for breakdowns isn't too bad... not a fan of them myself either.
Perhaps its time someone setup something in partnership with that bike courier fella, better to give money to one of our own instead of the AA who seem to be in bed with the govt despite their charade of protecting motorists rights...

Gremlin

1st January 2014, 15:23

Thought I might add some related info. Some bike insurance policies also include breakdown cover. Read the fine print, it also has limits on claims etc. I found them more restrictive than the AA limits.

Oakie

2nd January 2014, 11:08

Exactly.
Its either you OR the bike, so the whole sales pitch of the AA getting you and the vehicle home and everything being sweet is a crock.
Basically as I live in Wellington I can write off any form of recovery north of Taupo.

Buses not go from north of Taupo?

nosebleed

2nd January 2014, 14:03

I'll give you $500.00 for the Fleetline in your Avatar

Murray

4th January 2014, 12:25

Buses not go from north of Taupo?

Exactly - the op is touring the North Island so not like he has to make an urgent flight home!!

russd7

8th January 2014, 08:42

i cant praise them enough after our recent experiences.
On holiday up north for xmas we ovr nighted in wellington then headed up the east coast, got as far as the first round about in hastings and the old wing just died, called the AA and after a short wait the yellow ute arrived, had a quick look and realised he could do nothing so called a towie, truck arrives and delivered us to hastings honda, 4 hrs in there, altenator pulled out and bench tested, couldn't find problem but put new battery in anyway and told that we should make gisborne easily so headed off, got to the top of the ranges before gisborne and she died again, no cell coverage so chucked her in maori overdrive and coasted down the hill until we found a house, called AA again and a towie was sent out, bike stored in workshop over night and he then took us to get a feed then dropped us to a motel then picked us up again in the morning, had battery chrged so we rode bike to an auto sparkie and they didn't want to know us so off to gisborne honda, they had the bike for another three hours and thought they had fixed problem so we headed off to opotiki, 107kms later she died again in the middle of the waioeka gorge, by this time im more than a little frustrated, no cell coverage so i waved down a car and got a ride out to opotiki leaving the wife with the bike, again rung the AA and organised a towie and we shot out to get bike and wife, now this was xmas eve, we got back and they helped me sort out a rental and the bike was left on the trailor in their workshop over xmas, all this for no cost except for the motel which we already had booked and the battery and a little time charged by the bike shops.
the only negative i would say is getting through the AA phone system
as for what was wrong, last guy that picked us up was an auto sparky by trade so he whipped the altenator out and found the issue in about 2 mins.
luckily we have a very good friend in invercargil who happened to have a spare that he couriered up to me in tauranga and i installed it myself.

russd7

8th January 2014, 08:50

The quote for the tow back to Wellington is $800 + GST, and I'm $500 out of pocket for the flights.

where the hell you getting it freighted from, it only cost me $390 to get my wing from tauranga to nelson when i bought it and would have only cost $500 to get it to dunedun if i wanted and that included goatshittax, ok that was 12 months ago but im damned sure things haven't gone up that much

Gremlin

8th January 2014, 10:37

where the hell you getting it freighted from, it only cost me $390 to get my wing from tauranga to nelson when i bought it and would have only cost $500 to get it to dunedun if i wanted and that included goatshittax, ok that was 12 months ago but im damned sure things haven't gone up that much
Likely that freight charges you for one way, but towing it, you get charged both ways of travel, as the tow vehicle then returns to base.

superjackal

8th January 2014, 10:49

They've always done right by me ... the three times I've needed them they were more than obliging.

They were great when I had a flat tyre, towed straight to dealer. AA++

russd7

9th January 2014, 17:50

Likely that freight charges you for one way, but towing it, you get charged both ways of travel, as the tow vehicle then returns to base.

its a bike, it doesn't need to be towed and the three different bike movers i talked to all do trips to the south island on a regular basis which means they go through wellington, i don't understand why he has been quoted so much to get his bike home, time the OP did some homework of his own i would say.

wysper

9th January 2014, 18:48

its a bike, it doesn't need to be towed and the three different bike movers i talked to all do trips to the south island on a regular basis which means they go through wellington, i don't understand why he has been quoted so much to get his bike home, time the OP did some homework of his own i would say.

That's most likely true. But you are paying for someone else to do all the sorting for you, and sorted out now. If you are prepared to do all the running around to find the cheapest price when you break down then fine, you will most likely be able to do it for less. If you want to make one call and have some one sort all of it out for you then you will need to pay to make that happen. There are extra people in the chain that all need to be paid. Hence I would say the higher price than what you might be able to arrange for yourself. They will have business partners that they prefer to use, they may not be the cheapest or the ones you would you use yourself.

Up to you how you want to play it.

russd7

9th January 2014, 19:19

That's most likely true. But you are paying for someone else to do all the sorting for you, and sorted out now. If you are prepared to do all the running around to find the cheapest price when you break down then fine, you will most likely be able to do it for less. If you want to make one call and have some one sort all of it out for you then you will need to pay to make that happen. There are extra people in the chain that all need to be paid. Hence I would say the higher price than what you might be able to arrange for yourself. They will have business partners that they prefer to use, they may not be the cheapest or the ones you would you use yourself.

Up to you how you want to play it.

fair call but took me 5 mins on the internet to send a cple of quote requests and a cple of mins on the phone when quotes received.
thanks for the info re the AA plus tho, was intending on getting it myself before my north island trip but as it turns probably wouldn't have helped us much more than they did anyway. was still very pleased i was an AA member.
pleased you are sorted:niceone:

cleverchap

10th January 2014, 10:38

For those that are interested..........
I pay my AA membership so I don't have to do all the running around, getting quotes etc. I pay for a service.

Yes I diagnosed the reg/rec issue pretty much straight away but trying to find one in Kerikeri at Christmas? Yeah they are just over there behind that pile of rocking horse shit next to the hens teeth.

Turns out I would have probably been better off doing what russd7 did jumping the bike and riding as far as I could, then calling the AA again. I could have done this 6 times and probably got about 250kms before having to wave the white flag.

Re flying home, the AA told me to book a flight back to Wellington because they couldn't get me a hire car (part of the AA plus membership package) and they couldn't fix my bike so there was no point hanging about.

Oh and its not a fleetline, its an original ;)

Ulsterkiwi

10th January 2014, 13:25

cynna

10th January 2014, 14:00

I have had great service with them.

In dec 12 i seized my bike above taupo some where. Took a few hours but they came and got me and the bike and took us to taupo. I was in a rush to get to auckland so tried to get a hire car but they were all "booked out". Rang the AA back and they said dont worry they will get me one - that was lucky one of the hire places i had just been to had one just "turn up."

Got to auckland and my ex had arranged a hire bike for me - she chose a nice village people heritage softail - still havent got her back for that

Anyway aa took me back to taupo, shipped my bike back to chch, gave me a hire car for one night and subsidised my harley hire for 2 days. Didnt want to push my luck and ask them for the airfare home - already had the accomodation booked so didnt worry about that either.

Also im my 3 or so hours on the side of the road on SH1 the only vehicle that stopped was a police car seeing if i was ok....

A few weeks before that my trike broke down and AA put that on a back of a truck and got taken 100km home so im very happy with them

cleverchap

11th January 2014, 10:03

not quite about the OP question but is related. Just been reading about a guy who was up North had a break down and called the AA. Appears they have lost his bike, problems with his case and their system yadayadayada, its just amazing this guy has not completely blown a gasket. Look on the AA New Zealand Facebook page and you will see the details there.

I think the moral of the story is if you ask enough people there will be those who say they had a great experience with a service provider and those who wouldnt cross the street to piss on them if they were on fire. (that and always read the fine print!)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152222044330432&set=o.122684251093457&type=1&theater&notif_t=photo_comment

Same person mate. And I am close to blowing a gasket but if you start ranting and raving people put the phone down on you so you have to remain calm.

Ulsterkiwi

11th January 2014, 10:35

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152222044330432&set=o.122684251093457&type=1&theater&notif_t=photo_comment

Same person mate. And I am close to blowing a gasket but if you start ranting and raving people put the phone down on you so you have to remain calm.

thought is was similar story! I know what you mean about keeping cool but man that is one shitty set of events happening to you! hang in there mate.