Mayday and Caravan Storage

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  • Wanderer19TB
    Wanderer19TB Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited March 2019 #182

    On Friday I contacted mayday and asked again about recovery home via a store. The employee checked and confirmed that they do not do this. I explained that many members had been misinformed, lied to. Surprisingly this was met by silence. Consequently RAC arrival will be getting my custom. When a few more members leave mayday/CAMH may revisit this subject and change their terms

  • GTP
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    edited April 2019 #183

    I have reported your post in the hope that we may get a ‘definitive ‘ answer....

     

  • Surfer
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    edited April 2019 #184

    It would be easier to find hen's teeth in a desert than to get an answer regarding this abnormality which affects numerous members who do not have their caravan stored at home.

    What I have been able to find out is that if the garage is closed i.e. after hours then they will drop the vehicle off at your home. 

    However what I have also found out is that during working hours they are not obliged to take your home as your contract states that they will take you to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if the vehicle cannot be fixed, they will take it home. 

    What do you think your chances are of being able to get the vehicle fixed the same day?  What if there is no dealership for your vehicle within 10 miles as they can then charge extra?  What if the garage does not have the specialised equipment of diagnose the fault on your vehicle and it requires the services of a franchised dealer?  It is in the contract!  We normally have to book 10 days in advance to fit our vehicle in for service.  We are also very particular who looks after our vehicles and we have our preferred garage where we know we are not going to be ripped off!

    This issue with the storage has really highlighted the many shortcomings of Mayday.  RAC Arrival cover all the above and will take our vehicle to a dealership within 75 miles of where you have broken down.  Cost is £192 which covers you in any vehicle and not just the two cars nominated on our Mayday membership!  For an extra £66 we think it is worth switching!

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited April 2019 #185

    However what I have also found out is that during working hours they are not obliged to take your home as your contract states that they will take you to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if the vehicle cannot be fixed, they will take it home. 

    Nationwide recovery
    If we are unable to affect a repair or temporary fix, we will arrange and pay for the recovery of the vehicle(s) and person(s) to your choice of the following, anywhere in the UK:

    Your home
    Your original destination
    A suitable repairer within 10 miles of either: where the incident occurred; your home; or your original destination.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited April 2019 #186

    The "problem" that has come to light about mayday and C/vans in storage i know has been raised at EGH as i was speaking to insurance services last Thursday,and it came up in conversation when i said i was now with Arrival because of this thread

  • Surfer
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    edited April 2019 #187

    Sorry I should have been clearer and stated if returning home.  Different issue if travelling to a site and that is not in question. 

    Nationwide recovery.  Initially it will be taken to a garage within 10 miles of the breakdown and then if it cannot be fixed it will be taken home.  So it seems that vehicle and caravan is off to garage initially for a repair.

    Premium cover certificate states breakdown cover anywhere in the UK including your doorstep along with transport of your vehicle to the repairer of your choice within 10 miles of your recovery destination, if we cannot easily fix the problem on the spot.  Caravan and trailer will have the same level of cover as the insured vehicle when being towed by the insured vehicle. 

    The "anywhere" part refers to location where you have broken down and then  transportation to your home or your original destination or a repairer within 10 miles. Notice the "or" so cannot have home and also repairer.  The wording in the policy is that its gives you a false impression of what is on offer.

  • Wanderer19TB
    Wanderer19TB Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited April 2019 #188

    I don’t think the garage or home is in question unless they are miles apart. If you travel home at weekend the garage is most probably shut, so they will take you home and then take it to a garage another day.This is just like Britannia Rescue will do. The car is not the problem, it is the caravan, and doing a drop off at the store on the way home or to a garage.By the way I got a £24 refund for cancelling the mayday cover. It would be interesting to ascertain how many mayday members have switched to RAC Arrival

  • Surfer
    Surfer Club Member Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #189

    Our policy expires on 18th April at which point we will switch over to RAC Arrival/  The 10 miles restriction is certainly an onerous one if you live in a rural area and the nearest franchised dealer is 65 miles away. 

    We do use a garage about 12 miles away for the minor stuff like brake pads, etc however if it is something really involved they would prefer a Jeep specialist to do the work due to the amount of software and the fact the Jeep made need to be re-program again. 

    This re-programming affects many other brands and can generally only be done by the dealership as it is not viable for an independent to purchase the software and then keep it up to date.

  • GTP
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    edited April 2019 #190

    It would be interesting to ascertain how many mayday members have switched to RAC Arrival

    It would be...but we won't find out.  What is interesting is the 'word of mouth' on club sites....last week, enjoying the unusual warm/sunny weather on a club site... a lengthy discussion took place between several close neighbours regarding Mayday....maybe it was the G&T's talking but all said they would not be renewing...

    Still no word from the club ???

     

  • Surfer
    Surfer Club Member Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #191

    I have just spent about 20 -30 minutes on the phone discussing the various scenarios with a Mayday and there are too many get outs for Mayday which could leave you stranded one being the 10 mile of recovery destination.

    The main one that concerns us that if you breakdown on a week day, they will recover the vehicle and caravan and take the caravan to the storage however that is when it goes pear shape.  You then have the choice of the vehicle to the garage or to your residence.  If you opt for the residence they will not recover the vehicle for another 28 days as per their T&Cs. 

    If you opt for the garage within 10 miles of the storage that means that you will need to find a way home which may be complicated if you have luggage and pets with you.

    I understand that they are not a taxi service however I would have expected them take you and the vehicle home and then to drop the vehicle off at a garage.  The other issue is of course whether the garage has the room to accept the vehicle and store it until it can be repaired!

    Seems that RAC Arrival is the only option!

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #192

    When my car has broken down I got the repair done locally and stayed  in the caravan until the car was fixed. 

    The last three occasions were total brake failure at Prato in Italy, cooling system failure/radiator boiling at Sallanches in France, and keys locked in the car at Bregenz in Austria. Local garages dealt with all three problems very well without me phoning an insurance company. 

    Why are you so keen on being taken here, there and everywhere on a flat bed truck?

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited April 2019 #193

    The P{'s concern is when in UK, having finished holiday and heading back to storage with the caravan on the back.

  • Surfer
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    edited April 2019 #194

    After being with Greenflag/Mayday for nearly 25 years we have now switched to RAC Arrival which starts the day our current Mayday cover finishes.  It did cost us a bit more but at least we have peace of mind and no hassles with the caravan being in storage!

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #195

    That's easy to solve. The breakdown service would take car and caravan to the garage where I am a regular customer. They would put the caravan in their compound while they repaired the car, and would lend me a courtesy car to go home in. 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited April 2019 #196

    Easy in your case ET but not for all. In many cases the car workshop that people use could be closed on a Sunday for example or might not offer courtesy car or have storage space. They might also not have a secure compound. In the post above yours Surfer has also found a solution to his problem.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited April 2019 #197

    we have done the same

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited April 2019 #198

    I suspect that more will follow

  • Eribanaut
    Eribanaut Forum Participant Posts: 26
    edited April 2019 #199

    Our experiences with Mayday,..

    Last July,...( heatwave!)...We experienced an undiagnosable?,..fault on our Jeep,..although my garage had it sussed in 2 mins,....

    We were onsite, so arranged a recovery in 10 days in order to complete our holiday, as the Jeep was in "safe" mode, we could use it, but towing was not advisable.

    The contractor phoned the night before to arrange an exact time.

    We agreed 8 am as our storage closed at 18:00

    I mentioned our dog and was told ( by the owner of the recovery business,..35 years in the trade,man and boy)....that he had to travel in the car, on the truck. I pointed out that the previous days had been approaching 30 degC and did he think that the dog would be OK,...

    He thought for a second or two and replied, "How about if we left the engine running and the air on on?",.....WTF!!....I told him to hang fire.

    On contacting The Club.for the umpteenth time, after being assured that the dog would be OK,..( have a word with the driver when he turns up)...I told them that I wouldn't accept the service and for them to sort it out.

    I was contacted by Green Flag 5 or 6 times while on holiday about the recovery, each time by a different person, and none of them knew my level of cover, a couple even saying that I didn't have double destination cover!.....

    Finally about 21:00 on the night before, someone contacted me and told me that we qualified for a .....HIRE CAR!....which sorted everything,....or so we thought.

    A hire car was arranged at a depot 20m away and we would be picked up because we had to do paperwork at the Enterprise office.

    The Jeep and van had by this time departed for home, leaving us and the  dog on a picnic table onsite in full sun, luckily other banners took pity on us.

    I rand after 2 hours asking where our ride to Dorchester was, only to be informed that the driver had gone to Poole to get the hire vehicle!

    Five hours late they turned up on site, it appears we didn't need to do the paperwork at the office after all.

    That part of the nightmare was down to Enterprise, so no fault of Mayday,...until the next episode,....

    Desperate to find out where our recovered units were, I contacted Green Flag to find out where they were, and they said they'd ring back.

    Doing maximum allowed speeds, I tried to catch up until I got to Frankley Services (M5) to fuel up and check again with GF,...

    As we were getting close to closing time for the storage,.....I was amazed to hear that the driver had run out of hours and had left the units at Strensham Services awaiting another driver!.....we had in fact overtaken them after starting out six hours later.

    I eventually got told that they were on the move and waited at storage .

    It was obvious that they wouldn't make closing time, so I rang GF again, panicking about leaving the van outside the storage and was told straight out of the blue that if they didn't make the storage, they would arrange with local agents to open their compound and store my vehicles until they could be transported by them to the storage site and garage, when open.

    If I'd been told this earlier it would have saved time and worry.

    I still can't make head nor tail of what I am actually entitled to with Mayday.

    I kicked it up to The Club, telling them that Mayday was a Club scheme and that whatever they tried to say, they were ultimately responsible for the actions of their agents.

    I see that there is now a new level of cover since my experience which includes car hire and expenses, I will be seeking assurances before taking it out, if not,....I'm going elsewhere.

    Sorry it's so long, but it may help.

     

     

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited April 2019 #200

    Obviously the left hand didn't even know the right hand existed! sealed

  • Stato
    Stato Forum Participant Posts: 80
    edited November 2019 #201

    Good news! It looks like the Mayday/storage issue has been resolved.

    I understand that from 5 November Mayday have introduced "Double Drop Off". This means if your car needs to be taken to your home or a local garage your caravan will be recovered to a storage site within a 75 mile radius of your home address.

    The new arrangement is mentioned in the Nick Lomas column in the December club magazine. 

    I would like to thank David Smith at the Caravan Club for his efforts in getting this issue resolved. 

     

  • Wanderer19TB
    Wanderer19TB Forum Participant Posts: 36
    edited November 2019 #202

    Likewise I have just read this. Now do I come back to Mayday or stay with RAC arrival who offered this, unlike mayday who initially misinformed members about this storage issue. Well I can wait till April till I decide. It will be interesting if other members who defected to RAC return to mayday. Nice to see member power has some influence. 

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited November 2019 #203

    I have just read it in the latest magazine ,so i may try it again when our RAC arrival expires next year , depending on the new price of bothwink 

  • DSB
    DSB Club Member Posts: 5,666 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2019 #204

    Really pleased to hear this.  I did bring up the subject at the CAMC Council Meeting in April, after reading and contributing to this thread earlier on in the year.  It was referred on, and, not only is it great that it's been resolved, but it means that folk do listen and the system works.

    David

  • Surfer
    Surfer Club Member Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2019 #205

    Really good news as we also joined the C&CC and moved across to RAC Arrival.  They must have lost a significant number of subscribers to Mayday before waking up.  We are with RAC Arrival until April.

    Next the CAMC need to resolve the Caravan Cover issue and the Online booking system.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited November 2019 #206

    But then caravan cover and the booking system are very subjective "problems"for  just a few it seemswink

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
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    edited November 2019 #207

    Double page spread in this months mag about the new MAYDAY;s Double Drop Off so they will take van/trailer etc to storage site and vehicle to garage if within 75 miles of your home. We will see if anybody gets to use this and what there views are in the future.

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2019 #208

    No wonder it's so expensive.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited November 2019 #209

    Is it?

  • Surfer
    Surfer Club Member Posts: 1,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 2019 #210

    We dumped the Caravan Cover preferring to have proper insurance cover even though it costs more.

    As for the booking system I kept getting "Error" messages but it never indicated where the error was on the website.  I then found out that if you have a twin axle you need to phone is so it seems the CMC discriminate against those with twin axles?

    Anyway glad that the Mayday issue has been sorted as we have found them to be excellent in the 13 years that we used them.  Prior to that we were with Green Flag for about 14 years.

  • Unknown
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    edited November 2019 #211
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