When the electric warning light flickered
ominously a couple of miles from home, my first thought
was panic! Second thought was sheer relief that the AYCEN
number was tucked in my diary! One phone call and I was
reassured that the problem would be sorted, a courtesy car
delivered and mine picked up – no hassle.
Belinda Johnson. Manchester
Back in January 2005, I wrote my car off on a leafy country lane, in a notorious accident black spot. Losing control on a bend, time stood still as I fishtailed across the carriageway – the normally heavy goods traffic miraculously non-existent for a split second – careering across a rough grass verge, through a barbed wire fence (tastefully customised paintwork!) and some pretty tough hedgerow, wing mirrors neatly shaved off each side by a pair of unforgiving trees, coming to rest upright in a shallow ditch behind a five bar gate. Car a mess, but me, thankfully in one piece.
My first call? Not the insurance company but the one outfit I trusted to get me out of there – the garage which had serviced and repaired my car for the previous three years – AutoCenter, part of the AYCEN group.
In a very short time, a recovery vehicle arrived but, because of the
awkwardness of my position, was unable to extract the vehicle. It would
be next morning, with the help of a crane, before the car could be
removed and transported to AutoCenter, where it sat for some weeks
while the insurance company haggled over who paid for what. Meanwhile,
the first recovery chap, despite not having recovered my vehicle, gave
me a lift the twenty five miles home, to find a courtesy car already
sitting on my drive, the keys pushed through my front door. So no interruption
to my working or personal life. Basically, they made everything easy
for me and even took the pressure off my dealings with the insurance
company.
Judy Whiteside. Worsley