You may remember the saga of our breakdown in France over the summer, made worse by the lack of communication we had from ADAC, our breakdown recovery service.

When we got a chance, we wrote a letter to ADAC outlining the problems we’d had. The letter contained times & summaries of all conversations, with copies (not originals, in case the postal system did its worst) of the receipts. Because of the confusion over what their “nightly allowance” covered, we’d put in for meals and accomodation. The taxis were a bit over their allowance, and we’d claimed for the cost of the mobile calls to chase them. All in all, though, it came within the hotel allowance alone. The letter went into the French post in mid August, with a request for them to reply by phone or email. Just over a month later, we’d heard nothing, so chased by email with PDF copies of the letter and invoices attached.

The following day – a reply arrived! Of course, it was just a form response saying that they didn’t pay for meals or phone calls, and needed original receipts… Still, at least there were signs of life.

Another email went straight off to them, requesting they actually bother reading the letter.

Finally – another three weeks later (now two months from the original being sent) – we get a reply from a real live person within the customer service department. Yes, our treatment had fallen below their standards, and they’re very sorry – and they’re happy to reimburse our expenses in full. Result! Case, I do believe, closed. Phew. Let’s hope that we don’t need them again – and that if we do, it’s all much smoother next time.

In the meantime, if anybody’s got any suggestions for another pan-Euro breakdown service that doesn’t run screaming at the first mention of an over 20 year old campervan, we’re all ears.