RAC mechanic tasked with helping motorist 754 miles away and on remote island

29 August 2023 , 18:27

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The Orkney Islands in Scotland (Image: UIG via Getty Images)

A council worker was forced to wait 14-and-a-half hours for help after her car broke down and the repairman assigned was 754 miles away.

Hayley Green had been driving in Stromness, on the remote Scottish island of Orkney, when a warning message flashed up on her electric car. The council worker contacted the RAC online and filled in her details, including the postcode and expected she might have to wait a while due to her location.

But she was gobsmacked when the mechanic assigned to help her phoned to check he had the right postcode as he was in Devon. She told the BBC the mechanic laughed when she told him where she was, adding: "He said he thought it makes take him a little bit longer than an hour to get to me. But he was ever so friendly, ever so nice – and we agreed he wasn't going to be my guy."

Ms Green arranged fro a local garage to collect her Nissan. "My car hasn't been able to be repaired, so it's got to go off to be fixed but that's a different problem," she said.

"The fact is that I was left in Stromness, waiting for a guy from Devon. I haven't checked if there's a [similar] postcode in Devon, but I'd be highly surprised if there is.'

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The RAC has apologised to Ms Green and said it is investigating a possible problem with its online system. A spokesman said: "The service [Ms Green] received was unfortunately not up to our usual high standard. We're looking at online breakdown reports from Orkney to see what may have happened."

Earlier this month a couple, their teenage son and their three dogs were left stranded for more than 26 hours after their vehicle broke down on the way to the Peak District.

Wendy and Lee Embleton, from Backworth, North Tyneside, say they were abandoned by RAC and Richford Motor Services, the third-party company that RAC uses, for more than an entire day.

RAC apologised and offered the family a suitable gesture of goodwill while Richford Motor Services said delays are common within the breakdown industry at this time of year.

Lorraine King