Family with 9-year-old stranded for 13 hours overnight after breakdown as RAC issue apology

Leeds dad left stranded overnight in car for 13 hours with 9-year-old son as RAC issue apology
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A dad from Leeds has spoken of his outrage after the RAC left him stranded in a car for 13 hours overnight with his young family after his car broke down.

The 34-year-old dad, who does not want to be named, had enjoyed a day out to Brimham Rocks with his partner and 9-year-old son. But what had been a fun-filled family day out soon turned into a night from hell when his car broke down in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales.

The family were heading back to Leeds on Sunday, September 29 when the car's engine warning light came on. The dad said it very quickly went from "flashing orange to red" and so he pulled over at the side of the road and called the RAC to come and help.

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The dad made the call the the RAC at 3pm in the afternoon and was told the recovery breakdown service would be with them by 9pm at the very latest. However, they were not recovered until just before 5am the following morning, leaving them stranded with no heating and no food overnight.

Due to the location of where the breakdown occurred, the family were miles away from any shops, petrol stations or civilisation with cars around them travelling at speeds of up to 60mph. The dad has expressed his outrage with the RAC and says he wishes he didn't put so much trust in them to help.

The 35-year-old dad, from Beeston, said: "Myself and my partner had planned a trip to went to Brimham Rocks with our 9-year-old son, we are revisiting places we went to with him when he was young that he doesn't remember.

Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire
Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire -Credit:Dave Himelfield

"We had a lovely day and everything was fine, we left about 2.30pm and then on the way back the engine management light came on in the car, it quickly went from orange to flashing orange to red which worried me. We were on the B6451 travelling back home to Leeds, we pulled over to check it out at the side of a 60 road with cars flying past.

"I tried to phone the RAC with whom I have coverage through my insurance and they told us to log it online, which we did. It was 3pm when we logged the complaint online and we received a text to say you will be recovered between 6.50pm and 9.50pm, so we knew we could be waiting up to six hours but nothing could have prepared us for the reality.

"The issue with the fan drained the cars battery, so we ended up sitting in the car all night with no heating. It had been a fair day so we weren't dressed in the warmest of clothes either, we had only hoodies. Thankfully I did have emergency blankets in the boot but it was cold once the temperatures dropped.

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"We got another text at around 7.30pm to say you will be recovered by J.D MacAdam, they arrived at around 11pm. He spent about 30/40 minutes with us, he hooked on a diagnostics machine and said it had something to do with the catalytic converter and offered to tow us home.

"It turned out that it actually wasn't, it was the spark plugs which caused an engine to misfire - that's what they told us at the garage the next day. It was done in less than an hour the next day, the mechanics there said it would have been quite easy to fix on the road side.

"But regardless the guy from J.D MacAdam was really nice, even though he couldn't fix it he offered to tow us but had to confirm with RAC, they basically told him that he can't, there was no reasoning as to why not.

"They said they were going to send a tow truck, we'd been there for nine hours by that point, we just wanted to go home. They promised it would be maximum an hour.

"I called them six or seven times the whole night. There was no update on the app, we got no update, the whole thing was just disheartening and confusing, not to mention frustrating.

"Nine hours into the wait and a lady on the phone said we weren't going to get towed due to the level of cover we had, I was only covered up to 15 miles so I had to pay the difference which I did.

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"Unfortunately for us, this then meant it was logged as a completely new case and the wait started all over again. I then got another text to say it would be between 3.20am and 6.20am in the morning before we were recovered.

"We were in the middle of nowhere, it was cold, it was pitch black, there were no street lights, there was busy oncoming traffic and we had a young child with us. It was a 45 minute walk to the nearest shop. We managed to find a local pub where we grabbed some crisps and nuts but then it shut and there was nothing else around.

"I was feeling really frustrated by this point, my son was ok, he's always liked an adventure so we tried to make it fun for him as though we were camping out in the car. He managed to sleep for a couple of hours in the back.

'The whole thing was just disheartening and confusing, not to mention frustrating'
'The whole thing was just disheartening and confusing, not to mention frustrating'

"I can't describe the relief when we eventually saw the tow truck coming towards us, it was amazing to sit in the nice warm cabin after 11 hours in the cold.

"When we finally arrived back home it was 4.45am. My son missed school the next day because we didn't get home he'd hardly had any sleep and he was exhausted. He went to straight to bed and was flaked out in minutes, we were so relieved to get home, it was 13 and a half hours in total we spent in that car.

"The RAC have admitted that mistakes were made, they offered me £150 compensation and gave me back the £56 back I paid for the towing. I do appreciate the sentiment but it's peanuts for a company like that in reality and the money isn't really the point.

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"I was told I was on the priority list, that broke my heart. If 11 hours is a priority then god knows how long we would have waited if we were not priority. What about if it was elderly people, a disabled person, a family with a baby or young child - it's outrageous.

"I admit I wasn't as prepared as I could have been but you don't expect to have to be when you have cover. Thankfully, I had spare clothes for my son and blankets in my car but I relied on RAC too much and clearly much more than I should have done.

"I want people to be aware so they can be more prepared than I was should the situation arise. Make sure you've got a list of taxi companies, local breakdown recovery services, food, drink, extra clothes, a basic breakdown kit.

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"I know I'm going to make sure I've got a better kit for these type of situations in case this ever happens again - you just never know."

A spokesperson for RAC said: "We’ve apologised to the family for the time it took to get to them as this wasn’t up to our usual high standard of service. Although his policy only covered him for a 15-mile tow, we’ve reimbursed the full recovery fee and given him an additional payment to help with the cost of repairing his car. We’re pleased to say he’s happy with this."

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