I am surprised to be writing this, having been at the sharp end of so much bad customer service from so many companies over the years but The AA excelled themselves for me today.
At 6.30pm this evening my husband and I jumped in the car, which had been on the driveway all day, to go to our vets to get our puppy who is ill and needed to be transfered to an animal hospital 30 minutes away.
Car wouldn't start - well it did, but there was something very wrong - we couldn't get off the drive.
We were going nowhere.
My husband got out and one tyre was flat as a pancake.
Big panic. I started wondering if I could call my Mum, in-laws etc but they live at least 45mins away, probably more in the 6.30pm traffic.
We looked but none of our neighbours were back from work yet.
My husband, not being into how cars work in any way, called The AA. Meanwhile I called a friend who lives locally but she was still at work, at least 30 minutes away. I called the vets to alert them of the problem, they said they would keep her on the drip a little longer but we really needed to make sure we did the transfer as soon as possible.
My husband explained the situation to The AA and they said they would mark us as urgent. The call handler he spoke to with really nice and understanding.
However, I started now feeling quite stressed because there was no one I could call on or anything we could do. I thought The AA won't care about a 7 week old puppy in a critical state. We were at home, not a single woman in the middle of nowhere on a stormy night. We'd be waiting at least an hour.
And then AA man phoned - he was coming - he was only 20 minutes away and gave my husband instructions to lay the tools out ready so the tyre could be changed pronto.
I washed the kitchen floor (as you do) and tried to think what else we could do. I still didn't trust The AA. Call a taxi which would cost hundreds of pounds maybe? The AA man said 20 minutes, they all say that, probably means he might be here in 40.
He arrived in 15 minutes and within 5 minutes the tyre was changed and we sped off. He posted the paperwork through our letterbox so we didn't even have to wait around for that.
I am soooooooo glad we have been members of The AA. They actually did what they said in the adverts and saved us in our hour of need. Thank you, AA, our tiny puppy is now safely in the animal hospital.
At 6.30pm this evening my husband and I jumped in the car, which had been on the driveway all day, to go to our vets to get our puppy who is ill and needed to be transfered to an animal hospital 30 minutes away.
Car wouldn't start - well it did, but there was something very wrong - we couldn't get off the drive.
We were going nowhere.
My husband got out and one tyre was flat as a pancake.
Big panic. I started wondering if I could call my Mum, in-laws etc but they live at least 45mins away, probably more in the 6.30pm traffic.
We looked but none of our neighbours were back from work yet.
My husband, not being into how cars work in any way, called The AA. Meanwhile I called a friend who lives locally but she was still at work, at least 30 minutes away. I called the vets to alert them of the problem, they said they would keep her on the drip a little longer but we really needed to make sure we did the transfer as soon as possible.
My husband explained the situation to The AA and they said they would mark us as urgent. The call handler he spoke to with really nice and understanding.
However, I started now feeling quite stressed because there was no one I could call on or anything we could do. I thought The AA won't care about a 7 week old puppy in a critical state. We were at home, not a single woman in the middle of nowhere on a stormy night. We'd be waiting at least an hour.
And then AA man phoned - he was coming - he was only 20 minutes away and gave my husband instructions to lay the tools out ready so the tyre could be changed pronto.
I washed the kitchen floor (as you do) and tried to think what else we could do. I still didn't trust The AA. Call a taxi which would cost hundreds of pounds maybe? The AA man said 20 minutes, they all say that, probably means he might be here in 40.
He arrived in 15 minutes and within 5 minutes the tyre was changed and we sped off. He posted the paperwork through our letterbox so we didn't even have to wait around for that.
I am soooooooo glad we have been members of The AA. They actually did what they said in the adverts and saved us in our hour of need. Thank you, AA, our tiny puppy is now safely in the animal hospital. 
