On Tuesday I had my car serviced - along with a coolant change. Wednesday morning everything was fine on the way over to Aylesbury but on my trip home things started to go wrong. Sitting in some traffic I noticed the air conditioning hunting to find some temperature. A moment later, as I started to pull away, one of the belts started squealing. A couple of hundred yards down the road and the temperature starts climbing from Normal.
I get to the first safe place to pull over and switch everything off. Switching the ignition back on (without starting the car) and there is the Low Coolant warning light. Lift the bonnet and squeeze the top radiator hose and it feels empty - but no obvious palls of steam anywhere. So, at just before 4pm I called the RAC:
"I've broken down"
"What's the problem?"
"It looks like I've lost all the coolant so will need a flatbed to get my car to the local dealer because of the low front spoiler preventing you from towing the car"
"We'll be with you in 2.5 hours"
Now, I'm not in the middle of nowhere - 2 miles SW of Aylesbury to be exact - and there isn't bad weather or any major traffic incidents on the radio so I am a little surprised by the timings. At 5pm I get an update - still on target for 6.30pm - so I point out I am not near anywhere where I can stay warm and I am into my third fleece, beanie hat and thinsulate gloves with a blanket wrapped round my legs:
"We'll mark you down as a priority, Sir"
Well, true to their original word, at 6.30pm the RAC chap arrives - in a sodding Transit
5 minutes later the conversation goes something like this:"Looks like you've lost the coolant"
"Yes"
"Looks like this split in the expansion tank is the cause"
"OK"
"We' need to recover you on a flatbed because of your low front spoiler"
"Yes"
"They'll be here within 90 minutes"
"...
... actually I cannot repeat exactly what I said at the time in case there are children present, but I did preface it by telling him that it wasn't aimed personally at him. I must admit he handled it well but did seem slightly taken aback by some of my coarser Anglo-Saxon utterings.
When I had finished - which, by the way dear reader, meant that I had actually warmed up a little bit - he suggested that he took me to the local pub (about a mile away) whilst I waited for the flatbed driver to pick me up and recover my car. However, I was somewhat torn between leaving my car on the side of the road and having a warm meal. My stomach won over my heart and 5 minutes later I am in the pub and the clock is ticking towards 8pm.
8pm comes and goes so I call the RAC again - only to be told it will now be 9pm - so back into the pub:
"What's happening?" asked my new bunch of friends - a lovely group from Manchester who had been at a funeral earlier in the day and were the remnants of the wake which had actually finished at 2 that afternoon!
"Going to be 9pm now" I replied
"Better have another drink then" they responded slurrily
So I did - and another for good measure too
9pm arrives and the phone goes - great I am thinking, the driver is on his way and about to pick me up. But no, it was the RAC again:
"Going to be 10pm" they replied without any apology
"10pm!" I exclaimed fruitily and then another Anglo-Saxon discussion (well, one-sided tirade) started up.
Back to the bar and I find my friends have decided to open a sweepstake on when I will actually get home
Eventually the driver arrives at spot-on 10pm (I'm sure he had been waiting round the corner watching the time tick by) and we head off to recover the car, drop it at NOG and then he kindly drives me home.
At 11.30pm - 7.5 hours after breaking down - I get home in the sure and certain knowledge that I could have been home quicker if I had walked the 25 miles.
The good news is that NOG took a look, fixed the car and then called me to say that they had returned it to my house and weren't going to charge me because it could have been a result of the coolant change the day before. Now that's what I call customer service
As for the RAC - well, I am almost ready to give them a call and discuss whether they are happy with the way I was treated (particularly as I had diagnosed the problem and defined the required solution when I first spoke to them) and then we'll see whether they are as good at negotiating as they are at estimating recovery times for a longstanding customer.
6+ hrs Thats shocking service Charles, 
