Red Pennant - a word of caution !
I'm not out to knock Red Pennant but it didn't work out for me at all.
My Volvo had transmission problems. I telephoned Red Pennant first. They could take the car to the nearest garage ( a Renault dealer)and the caravan onto the site I had booked. My car is under warranty and the nearest Volvo dealer is 81 kms away - 10 kms
from the site we are heading to. I insist that the car has to go to the Volvo agent - no can do !!. Volvo Assist take my caravan to the site I wanted and the car to the dealer. Thanks for nothing Red Pennant ! The car has a serious auto gearbox problem and
has to go back to the UK to be repaired. I call Red Pennant and ask for a towcar so with the caravan we can continue our holiday. No problem - they offer a Toyota Avensis or a Renault Megane. Hang on !! what happened to the 85 % rule - I've got a Bailey Vigo
@ 1500 kg - are you trying to kill us. No problem sir it can tow 1600 kg. No way ! I need a vehicle with 1800 -1900 kerbweight. Many hours later a phone call - we have a Mercedes with the right kerbweight. Great ! only problem our dog (a Dalmation on the insurance)
has to travel back in a cage. Do they supply a cage ? No you have to supply it - I have no idea where to get one but do you refund the cost - no ! in that case NO ! Next day good( ?) news - they found us a Volkswagen Transporter Van - You are joking ?? Thanks
but NO thanks we will talk to Volvo - they repatriated our car and caravan and provided us with a Opel Insignia( that our Dalmation was allowed into) with all hotel costs back to our door in the UK. Nice one Red Pennant - it didn't cost you a penny but you
will never ever get a penny out of me again !!!! This rant is only aimed at people with a car thats still under manufacturers warranty and travel with a larger dog - I'm sure others will receive a good service providing they are willing to risk their lives
with a totally underweight tow car and are lucky enough to return to the UK with their caravan.
Comments
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Jag 12 Thank you for your time today to discuss your feedback with our Emergency Services Manager. We appreciate the opportunity to talk about the issues you raised and we hope you feel the matter has been addressed to your satisfaction. Have a lovely
weekend.0 -
Does the Volvo scheme cover you if the problem is the caravan. I suspect not and if I am right could leave you with a big and expensive hole in your cover.
It does seem Mayday got it wrong on this occassion and hopefully we will hear more. It is simply not acceptable for a car to be sent to the wrong manufacturers dealer and I am not sure how high up the chain of command this got but I hope someone was hauled
over the coals.As for cost it is very cheap compared with AAand RAC offerings and has no size restrictions.
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Whereabouts was this? In Europe, obviously, as you're using Red Pennant, but it would be interesting to know anyway. It would be interesting to know others' experiences with other 'brand' breakdown services - we have Ford Assist, and I'm sure there must be many others, but if you're in Europe how do these work in practice? Anyone want to share any other experiences.
From experience, (not with Red Pennant but other breakdown operators) it seems to me that the service you get depends on whether the person sent out to rescue you is a Mr Jobsworth or a Mr I'll Go OutOfMyWay-ToHelpYou.
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Yes the Red Pennant Emergency Services Manager was good enough to telephone me to discuss my comment and has agreed to look into two of the shortcomings - 1). The fact that the Volvo should have been taken to a Volvo dealer 2) The kerbweight of the first
tow cars offered.It was very amicable and I am satisfied with his response (No there was no compensation and no I did not ask or expect any.)
I must admit with my original post Volvo Assist looked as though they have done a brilliant job but this is the true version that I posted on the Volvo Forum and have had no response from them at all -
I purchased a new Volvo XC60 3 months ago. Whilst towing our caravan in the South of France, 80 kms from Perpignan, the auto transmission failed and as we were on a motorway we had to call the French Police and get towed off. We contacted Volvo assist and
spent over an hour on hold before we managed to speak to someone. They arranged for the car to be towed to the agent at Perpignan and the caravan to the Perpignan caravan site we were heading for. (we arrived 6 hours after the breakdown) They then arranged
a hire car for us. Four days later we called into to dealer to collect some items from the car and were shown an e-mail from Volvo Assist telling them not to touch the car as it was being sent to Spain for the work to be done. Obviously we were not happy with
this and after spending 2 hours at the dealership Volvo Assist gave the French garage the go ahead. Two days later we were told the car had to go back to the UK and our local dealer would do the work. They could not supply us with a towcar and we ended up
having to accept that they would repatriate both the car and caravan back to the UK. Two days later and 400 kms toward the ferry port Volvo Assist rang us to say the French garage were now doing the work. If they had only told us this before we left we would
have waited ! We carried onto the port. We have now had both car and caravan delivered to our home address – 3 weeks after the breakdown. The jockey wheel on the caravan has lumps of rubber torn out of it and the electric cable between car and caravan has
been rubbing and worn through to show the wires. Totally ruined our holiday and have no faith in Volvo or Volvo assist.The ridiculous amount of money they wasted on this indecision of where the work was to be carried out is as follows -
3 weeks of hire car charges and then costs to repatriate the hire car back to France.
Transport costs for both my car and caravan back to the UK when we would have happily waited for the repair (a new auto box) to be carried out and driven back with our caravan
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Two lots of breakdown cover and both were rubbish.......not good news.
But I'm a little confused.
Jean says that the matter has been addressed to your satisfaction......but you say that Red Pennant have only agreed to look into the matter?
And have Volvo Assist agreed to do anything about their own apparently appalling performance?
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I did look at the wording on the Volvo Assist web page and it is ambiguous as to the caravan cover. It does cover the caravan if the car breaks down but it is not clear if it covers you if the caravan develops a fault and it would need the full wording to
be sure.0 -
Incidentally forgot to say -Volvo Assist is actually run by International Motor (Allianz Global Assistance UK). This company probably cover a dozen other makes.
Red Pennant agreed that the system does need changing and Volvo Assist have made no comment as of today
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The auto box on our BMW X5 failed in Germany. Dead lucky because we never normally go through Germany - lucky because, of course, there was a BMW dealer nearby. On the other hand it wasn't a big enough dealer to hold a gearbox and, of course, could only offer a new one and not a recon and with about five days delay.
We opted for recovery back to UK because we were on the way home. Saga (which used AA) do not offer a replacement tow vehicle whereas RP apparently do, although how they provide it I do not know (AA just said it was impossible).
The International recovery service were great. When they dropped our van off at home they agreed to take the BMW to our garage about 15 miles away because of course it couldnt be driven.
So, whichever service you use its a minefield getting the right garage with the parts and having the time to fix it. Where do you put the van, what happens in the UK etc.
One point to add, the BMW garage in Germany were brilliant even though they weren't doing the work. They provided a desk and phone for us, stored the van in their compound, booked us a hotel and gave us a lift.
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