The AA Smart Care Reviews 

Arrived on time mechanic excellent did very good job took a bit longer than expected but no problems price for job very good

I am writing this review to document one of the top ten worst experiences of my life. About five or six weeks ago, one morning my wife's Suzuki Swift would not start ,after working quite normally the previous day. I contacted the AA for a home start. The mechanic came out and told me, after checks, that the battery was flat but otherwise OK and the the problem was the alternator. The battery was only about a year old and that's why it was fine. The mechanic told me that he could get a new alternator from the AA store in Basingstoke and install it. This would cost in the area of £550 and informed me that the cost was guaranteed no matter what. I agreed and gave credit card details. He departed and came back a few hours later with the new alternator. After a reasonably long installation, the mechanic told me that the alternator was defective and didn't work. He than told me that he would arrange for the repair mobile mechanic to attend and sort the problem or I could opt to have the car towed to a garage of my choice for repair. However, he did say that a garage would charge a lot more than the AA and suggested a sum in excess of £700. As the chap seemed reasonable, I agreed for the mobile mechanic to attend. The mobile mechanic was arranged and attended about 5 days later. He proceeded to install the new alternator and after a while told me that this alternator was also defective. He told me that he suspected that he had been supplied with the same dud alternator that the previous AA man brought. He thought this. because the box had been opened when he collected it. There were no other Suzuki alternators of this type, anywhere in the AA stockpile. He informed me that the car would now have to be towed by the AA to an approved garage for repair and that AA SmartCare would update me. This person also informed me that the original cost quote would stand unchanged. I was then contacted by AA SmartCare and informed that the repair would be undertaken by Blackwater Auto Centre , which was approved by the AA. I was again assured that the cost would be as per the original AA quote would stand. I was informed that the car would be given a routine diagnostic test, paid for by the AA. The car was removed to the Blackwater Autocentre by the AA. A day later, I was contacted by the garage who requested around £42.50 for the test. I resolved that matter through AA SmartCare, who contacted the garage to proceed with the test. I was contacted by the garage 2 days later. They told me that the battery was only showing a 1% charge and that the battery could be replaced at a cost to me of £134.50. I explained that the battery was under guarantee but was informed that in order to replace it under guarantee, I would have to arrange my own recovery vehicle to transport the car to Halfords at Farnborough, have that battery replaced and return the car to the garage when this was done. All work on the car was then halted until the battery was replaced. The cost of the recovery was more than the battery cost and I reluctantly paid for the new battery through AA SmartCare. I was then contacted by the garage a couple of days later, requested around £750 for a new alternator and labour. I got back to AA SmartCare but was informed that the garage bill as quoted, would have to be paid as per that quoted amount, around £750. I then stated that I had been given the original quote of around £550. To this, I was told that the terms of SmartCare stated that charges can increase and that the larger sum had to be approved for the alternator replacement to be carried out. I reluctantly agreed to this and paid up. When the car was repaired. I was given a collection date on a Friday. I allocated time for this by cancelling other arrangements. When the time came, I was contacted by the garage, who informed me that they were behind in their work and the car would therefore by repaired on the following Monday and I collected it around 1pm. This review is only a potted history of events. It does not reflect the endless phone calls and emails back and forth with AA SmartCare, which was a shambles of time consuming communications, resulting in a bill of over £900. The whole process took about 5 weeks! After I retrieved the car, I contacted my local garage, who service my cars. They told me that the alternator replacement would cost just over £500 including labour. My dealings with AA SmartCare were atrocious and a tiring experience. I am almost 80 years old and rarely seen incompetence like this before. I was given a ride on a massive gravy train and would not relish a repeat of such circumstances. My advice to others would be get your car sorted privately, if the AA can't fix it, using mobile mechanics. This should be a zero star review but you can't make comments unless you allocate at least one star. I have checked other reviews and I am not an isolated case.

Very poor customer service and communication, I had to phone them for updates on my car and contact the garage due to the complete incompetence of the staff I encountered.
Not one staff member communicated with each other about my case and for a week, there were no management available to speak to, even one manager went home at 11.30am one day.
Booking process straight forward, after that AA felt short of a great service.
A mere £30 compensation for the inconvenience and stress caused due to my car failing its MOT, by far not the AA’s fault that it did, but the process of communicating this and ordering parts 3 times the normal price for it and being without a car for nearly 3 weeks is not acceptable.

Ease of use/booking. Also the mechanic was very accommodating in explaining what he was going to do.

The service and mot were completed promptly and painlessly by C.G.Autos. The car picked up and delivered from the drive made it really convenient. No hidden charges. Will definitely use again. The only niggle being the emails initially which were incorrect and confusing.

Easy to book. Quickly done. Polite staff.

Great value

The service provided by the car garage was totally rubbish, they told me i needed 2 front tyres and need ballance, plus 2 whish bones bushes, so how did my car pass it's mot, i was quoted £600 for the bushes and £70 plus for the wheel ballance, after making enquiries at other garages i was quoted £50 for the bushes and £30 for the ballance, i will never use you again. They had the car for 2 day's and i was told it would be returned between 4 and 6 o'clock, a lady who i had no idea who she was, brought the car back just before 8 o'clock, i asked for a breakdown off what was done in the service and still havn't had a reply. Never again.

The engineer arrived on time. New exactly what to do,and explained everything in detail. He was very helpful and polite. Good experience.

I booked an oil filter change for a Saturday. The booking process felt smooth, and claimed that I would be contacted on the morning of my booking with a time slot. That's where it started to go wrong. I was then inundated with confirmation messages saying the same thing, by text and email, for a week. They all promised contact on the morning of the booking. On the day of the appointment, nothing. I waited in all morning, expecting a call. I tried to contact the AA only to find that their call centre isn't open on Saturdays and the bot on their website is completely useless and just asked the same question over and over. Eventually an engineer called me after 3.30 to say he was 10 minutes away. He was polite and did the work, but it wasted a whole day, and made me worry he wasn't coming. I certainly won't use them again.

Broke down AA recommended a garage as just a pressure sensor. Went there friendly guys but after 4 days could not find fault (i had to chase after 2 days for updates which i hate chasing) said come back when happens again. So far service friendly service i thought, so i decided to have my disc breaks done there the following week. Again had to chase end of day as was told day job, but they had issues getting front discs off would be next day. next morning i did get call ready so went to pick up and when did there was a small dent in side door and a scratch on other side (wasn’t bothered as much for scratch as can buff out but small dent i was) said would investigate on cameras and get back to me) .Then i started the van and literally drove it round the corner and the engine management light went out and no rpm’s. i literally limped back to garage I waited an hour then was told 2 error codes and been reset but can’t say which one so drive until comes up again.

Waited 48hrs still no update on dent.

Booked online with understanding that electric faults could be diagnosed and fixed by AA. Was advised this was the case via the AA AI bot. So cost £99 just to be told I needed auto electrician which I already knew.

First class service on time and excellent work

The mechanic was extremely helpful as he knew I had worries about the car he would point out things to me and explain in detail any concerns I could have in the future. Really nice bloke, and did a thorough job.

easy to use and navigate an overall easy transition

Great service. Mick was fantastic, thanks.

I was searching the internet for affordable brake discs and brake pads replacement until I came across the AA website, from getting an appointment to picking getting the job done was a smooth process. The competitive price was the best part of the deal. I am a satisfied customer.

The whole process worked efficiently and professionally