What A Fiasco!!

[RATTER15]

My good lady Carakeel came to pick me up from work at 10pm last night and picked up a nail in the rear tyre on route and the tyre was now flat.

Ok not a big issue, call RAC and they will sort it, the RAC duly arrived about 2 hours later, they couldnt do anything with the tyre and as the car doesnt carry a spare they had to transport the car back to our farm about 15 miles away.

The problem there was they arrived in a large car transporter to collect the car, there was no way that vehicle was never going to get up the half mile track to the farm and there is no way that Carakeel could walk that that far up a steep uneven track made even worse by the heavy snow that was now falling. So we were unloaded at the bottom of the track. we then had to drive the car up the track on a totally flat tyre, a new totally flat Pirrelli tyre that was only fitted last week!

So today we need to call out a mobile unit to replace the tyre. Thankfully we don't need to pay for this as it is a motability car and they foot the bill but what a fiasco, it was about 1 am by the time we eventually got home, but we did get home safe and sound and very thankful for the fantastic motability scheme.

[RATTER15]

The only casualty is Carakeel is now in a lot of pain and had a dreadful night, poor Carakeel can hardly bend her legs due to pain and swelling and having to climb up into the cab of the transporter and then climb out again was really pushing her to her limits and beyond, she will probably suffer for the next few days but it could have been far worse.

[naomi24]

Oh what a pain! Are you going to get a spare to carry now?

[naomi24]

I wrote 'what a pain' but your post about poor Carakeel's very real pain wasn't there then. No offence intended. x

[RATTER15]

Naomi,the car isnt designed to carry a spare, no where to put one, madness I know! The hounds take up all the room in the back so we cant even throw one in the luggage section. The car did come with an emergency repair kit but due to it being a motability car we aren't allowed to use it for insurance purposes. I suppose if we were stranded out in the wilds I would have no choice, thankfully it didn't come to that.

[RATTER15]

Lol Naomi, it takes more than that to offend me :-)

I took it the way it was intended xx

[naomi24]

:o)

[mrs_overall]

Poor Carakeel. Make sure you give her lots of pampering today

[Dee Sa]

ridiculous to design a car for mobility users and nowhere for the spare, poor Cara I hope she is okay today, you are correct in calling the whole thing a fiasco, hope it doesn't happen again. I have not used the RAC for over three years but last week called them out three times in one week.

[pixie373]

Well, ratter, if you're going to have a palaver, you may as well do it properly :-)
Do the RAC not have other vehicles? My client's husband was saying his car broke down at the top of a multi-storey car park last week. The RAC turned up, but the vehicle was too high to get into the car park. They had to unload all the ewuiment and walk up with it. Bit odd!

[RATTER15]

Pampering! she has had two cups of tea in bed and I am just about to get her breakfast, that will be it, work to do, we gotta get packed up, we got to be gone from here on the 6th of May and still nowhere to go yet :-(

We may have a mobile home we can go to until we find something more suitable, not sure yet. Its more than a little worrying.

[pixie373]

Sorry, your post about carakeel wasn't there when i started, either. I hope she's ok xx

[RATTER15]

Dee Sa, "ridiculous to design a car for mobility users and nowhere for the spare,"

The car was not designed for Mobility users, these days you get to choose your own car from the open market (within reason) we chose the car for all the room in the back for our hounds, we have no complaints in that respect, it was the car of our choice. A Citroen Grande Piccasso, A very nice car it is as well.

[chickensrock]

Not nice for you I hope carakeel is ok, would one of those foam canister thingys, that blow up the tyres and hardens be useful, you may need 2 of them, someone might explain what I mean better, but I dont know what they are called, dughter has one in her car as neither her or me would beble to change a tyre, but they may help in future, glad you got home safe. X

[RATTER15]

chickensrock, yes they would probably have worked but due to it being a motability car we aren't permitted to use them for insurance purposes.

[chickensrock]

That is barbaric considering its for people with mobility problems, I would write to them and stress how important it is in situations that you 2 have just been through, the whole idea of these vehicles are to make life easier, I hope you get your housing situation sorted soon, x

[RATTER15]

lol chickensrock, No not barbaric, we were very pleased with the service. I think that if we pushed we could possible of had a taxi home but it was very late and we just wanted to get home. In general the mobility scheme is just excellent.

[mikey4444]

The moral of this story ratter is to buy a spare wheel and tyre from a scrap dealer and carry it with you. I know it takes up a lot of space in the boot but if you live in the sticks, as you appear to do, then perhaps it would be money well spent. Personally I think that the law should be changed to make it compulsory for cars to carry spares.

[RATTER15]

Mikey, we cant carry a spare in the back of the car because the hounds are in there.

[RATTER15]

Update: Quickfit (who has the Motobility contract) cant get out to us until Tuesday! so not so Quick are they!! Motobility are now sending another recovery truck to take us to the next town 25 miles away to have the new tyre fitted. at least this time we can have a step at hand to help Carakeel in and out of the vehicle.

[mikey4444]

Not sure what car you have ratter but I presume from what you say that there isn't a proper place to put the wheel, like the spare wheel well, or slung underneath the boot ?