21 Jul 2011
Posted by Miriam O'Neill 
Here at the AA we pride ourselves on our roadside repair rate of 80% and our commitment to ‘Go not Tow’. But on the rare occasion that we can’t fix your car by the roadside, we will tow you to an AA Appointed Garage. When this happens AA Members don’t need to worry about the costs associated with having their car towed as it’s all covered with Roadside Rescue. We make sure our Members are never stranded.
Share your “towing horror stories”
For non AA Members on the other hand towing can be a very costly and downright stressful affair. If you’ve ever had a disastrous towing experiences yourself that has left a nasty dent in your bank balance or left you utterly frustrated we’d like to hear from you. Please post your stories to this blog or send them to publicaffairs@aaireland.ie
The AA all the way…
“Once I broke down on the side of the road and instead of ringing a towing company I rang a friend. They tied a rope onto my front bumper and their back bumper. As they were towing me along I forgot to break at a light and crashed right into them pushing them through the light. Thank god nobody else was there. However further on down the road I did actually break at an orange light but my friend didn’t. and both bumpers came straight off. Next time I think ill ring the AA!!!!!” (L. O’Brien)
Driving in Europe (Italy). A screw become loose so our gas pipe dropped and we were leaking fuel. We contacted an independent garage who mistakenly attached the towing hook to our air-conditioning hose. As a result they pulled the air conditioner down so it was wedged between the car and the road. The Independent garage fixed the screw but we ended up driving with the air conditioner in the back seat of the car for the rest of our journey. The garage didn’t compensate us but waived the fee for the tow! Not exactly satisfactory. If only we’d had AA 5 Star Membership at the time! (K. Werner).
“I have experienced a scenario where a member of ours broke down; they rang us and their insurance company at the same time. The vehicle could not be repaired at the roadside so was towed home via Enterprise for a replacement car, as per her AA Rescue Plus entitlements and her vehicle towed to her garage of choice. I then met her at the garage to help remove the contents of her boot. While I was assisting her unloading her car, her insurance company rang to inform her that they were another 45 minutes from arriving to her aid! (Phil McCabe, Dublin AA Patrol)
