AA

[Mandi177]

Fellow members

Please be careful if you use the AA see below message I received from Norfolk police, my car was on way back to Hethel


I attended your vehicle when we received a call about a suspicious vehicle parked at the Lidl in Thetford. On attending I found your vehicle parked away from all other vehicle with the rear number plate obscured with black tape. Upon conducting checks on the vehicle it came back as being registered to yourself.

I stayed with the vehicle for around 2 hours before a recovery agent turned up and stated he was to take the vehicle to the Lotus factory. I checked all of his paperwork and he phoned Lotus to confirm also.

I was concerned as the keys were left in the suspension of the vehicle. The vehicle had been left in a carpark with no CCTV also and was out of public site.

This is totally unacceptable and they will take 8 weeks to complete there complaint process

I have had confirmation from the AA this is normal practice and they sent me cheap flowers as a sorry

[Blaster72]

Why was your car parked with the numberplate taped up and the keys on top of the wheel? Had it been stolen?

[GregK2]

Readers cars?

[eltax91]

Blaster72 said:

Why was your car parked with the numberplate taped up and the keys on top of the wheel? Had it been stolen?

I'm guessing the AA were repatriating it for him? I know they now work on a certain radius from base. So, one guy get 59 miles from base, leaves it in corner of a supermarket car park and because the next patrol is delayed, he leaves it with the keys.

The point of the tape being in case the car is not taxed or perhaps insured and the OP doesn't need a fine when the car is being recovered.

I've had something similar happen to me. Rental sprinter van wouldn't start one morning. Called Mercedes assist out and a guy came to visit. He couldn't fix it so he drove me and the remaining load on to our office where the rental was to end. He left the van where it was and slotted the keys between the screen/ bonnet on the scuttle vents

Edited by eltax91 on Friday 20th January 22:30

[Blaster72]

Makes a little sense, a Police officer staying with a car for 2 hours doesn't. This story needs a bit more explanation to make it understandable.

[anonymous-user]

why would the recovery take it back to lotus?

Edited by The Spruce goose on Friday 20th January 23:07

[minky monkey]

Probably find that the car park had ANPR cameras (especially Lidl). By taping the number plate, it would make it unreadable and therefore it wouldn't have a ticket issued to it.