Breakdown Cover: Why you should ‘read between the lines’ when choosing your breakdown cover!
When searching for vehicle breakdown cover, try to remember the old saying ‘read between the lines’.
If you do this, it could mean the difference between receiving an excellent service and a nasty, expensive one!
When you read an advert, company literature or some promotional material, what you need to bear in mind just as much as what it tells you (what IS said), is ‘what is NOT said’! It can be just as important.
Let’s look at an example; response time.
Most breakdown cover companies will state in the company literature that help will arrive in around 40 to 45 minutes. This is based on average response times and of course allowances will need to be made at busy times.
Now the reason this is printed in any advertising material is that a fast response time, to a call for help, is a benefit and customers like benefits! Most people are familiar with these claims and this time frame is more or less standard.
The question is “why don’t all companies claim this time frame?”
Well, it’s not because they forgot to include it, nor a printing error. What is more likely is that they may be a smaller network of businesses, or maybe a business which is concentrated in a particular area of the country.
Whatever the reason, they probably can’t respond to every situation within this time frame, and so can’t legally claim to do so.
Now if you are the type of person who’s punctual, and likes things to run like clockwork, then the fact that this is not said in promotional material might be important to you!
This is just one example of what goes ‘unwritten’ in adverts and company literature. It pays to stay alert and compare ‘like with like’. A big company like RAC has its’ own vehicles and mechanics, and can respond within the 40 minute time frame.
Les Shaw
21/03/07
