Surfer replied on 16/07/2022 09:28
Posted on 16/07/2022 09:28
Yesterday our vehicle died on us and went completely dead. I managed to sort of pull off the road with no power steering etc. Not even the hazard lights would work. The vehicle was on a slight bend and causing an obstruction. I contacted Mayday informing them of the situation plus that I am a vulnerable person with mobility issues. I also informed them that we had a little dog with us and the operator said he would prioritise the incident.
We were given a time of arrival about an hour after we called. At the allocated time we got another call stating that it will be another half hour. Then another call stating another hour. At that point I contacted Mayday again as neither of us could sit in the car for any length of time due to the heat as no power we could not open windows. Plus our little dog would get uncomfortable panting like a steam engine.
The lady who answered our second call advised us that the call had not been prioritised. Although we were in south Gloucestershire apparently the breakdown was coming from Cardiff as a flatbed was required. I would have thought that there would have been operators with flat beds a lot nearer than Cardiff which was an hour and half drive away as Gloucester, Cheltenham or even Birmingham was a lot closer. The lady then got someone more local to deal with the incident. It took nearly 3 hours for Mayday to arrive from time of first call.
However the driver that did arrive was helpful and took us back to our campsite where we will need to be collected tomorrow, caravan to storage, car home and then to dealership on Monday.
A concern was that the breakdown driver advised us that normally they do not allow dogs in their cabs which is understandable, but if the windows on the vehicle cannot be opened it would be a criminal offence for the dog to travel in the car on a hot day even if there was water in the vehicle.
Surfer
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