MarkMas
Chief pedant
- Messages
- 8,948
In brief - ALWAYS dispute all renewal quotes for EVERYTHING
I just received my RAC renewal quote: £293 PLUS an 'arrangement and administration fee' of £73 - total £366. An increase of £40 on last year.
I phoned to give them ****, and they re-quoted £146 - less than half price.
They claimed that this was because they valued my membership and were now choosing to ignore the computer's weighting of previous call-outs. I reminded them that what was really going on was that their business model relied on 80% of customers unconsciously paying wildly inflated prices. I also asked for a 50% refund on the previous year's premium, which surely they must now admit was wildly inflated, too - without success.
Given the very attractive new quotation, we had a long debate about whether it was right for a consumer to stay with a business that offered good service at good prices (eventually), even when it's automatic renewal pricing model was clearly deceptive and unfair, and bordering on the dishonest. And also whether it would help to expiate the shame I felt at having foolishly overpaid by about £160 last year by accepting an automatic renewal, by moving to Green Flag this year. I didn't make much progress, and in the end succumbed, even though I think the words 'criminal conspiracy' did escape my lips at one point.
ALWAYS dispute all renewal quotes for EVERYTHING
I just received my RAC renewal quote: £293 PLUS an 'arrangement and administration fee' of £73 - total £366. An increase of £40 on last year.
I phoned to give them ****, and they re-quoted £146 - less than half price.
They claimed that this was because they valued my membership and were now choosing to ignore the computer's weighting of previous call-outs. I reminded them that what was really going on was that their business model relied on 80% of customers unconsciously paying wildly inflated prices. I also asked for a 50% refund on the previous year's premium, which surely they must now admit was wildly inflated, too - without success.
Given the very attractive new quotation, we had a long debate about whether it was right for a consumer to stay with a business that offered good service at good prices (eventually), even when it's automatic renewal pricing model was clearly deceptive and unfair, and bordering on the dishonest. And also whether it would help to expiate the shame I felt at having foolishly overpaid by about £160 last year by accepting an automatic renewal, by moving to Green Flag this year. I didn't make much progress, and in the end succumbed, even though I think the words 'criminal conspiracy' did escape my lips at one point.
ALWAYS dispute all renewal quotes for EVERYTHING