I'll go into detail about this, but in a nutshell. If you have a problem when in Europe, the cover isn't worth a damn unfortunately. Simple facts are that on Saturday I had a puncture in the rear tyre that can't be plugged. OK, so it's Bastille day so no-where is open, but it's now Monday afternoon and no-one has any idea about how to get it sorted until tomorrow at the earliest, since they don't have a clue about bikes at all. (Ducati Assist is contracted to the AA.) Now the rub is that I have been able to organise getting the bike recovered to the UK myself for around £300, so all that's needed is a hire car to get me to Calais and then another one on the other side, but they can't sort it as the cost is greater than the cover allows and there seems to be no mechanism for getting authorisation to spend a bit more on something like that. The overall cost of the solution I've proposed is less than simply transporting the bike to the nearest dealer, but that doesn't seem to matter... It's also compounded by the fact that I'm in rural France and so to get to a place that has hire cars available for a one way hire (a major city or airport basically) is also not covered as they have a limit of €52 for a taxi and it'll cost 3 or 4 times that to get to a hire place according to them. They are refusing to recover the bike to the UK as it costs more than the Ducati policy will allow, however they are saying that if you had a direct policy with the AA or RAC, then there would be no issue and I'd probably be home by now. So, do your self a favour if you are going abroad, buy a recovery policy direct and try not to breakdown on a weekend in France. Oh and if anyone can find the small print for the Ducati Assist policy, that'd be great. I can't find it anywhere, but it's very restrictive and simply not worth anything unless you happen to break down within a couple of miles of a Ducati dealer. Which is let's face it, pretty unllikely and not what the pamphlet you get given seems to imply at all... I've been trying to get through to Ducati UK as they need to authorise this, but I can't do it, even with help from Riders. (My normal mob at Ducati Glasgow are closed today.) It all gets packaged in with the bike, but frankly I'll be telling them to not bother next time as it's worthless when you really need it. It's a real shame as we've had an amazing trip up to then, but now thanks to this, it's been fairly well ruined.
You were very unlucky to have trouble on Bastille day of all days. How bad is the tyre, maybe a car tyre place can effect a temporary repair to enable you to ride slowly to the nearest large town. Failing that it would surely be cheaper to get a Tyre sent DHL or fast overnight courier to you.?
Yep, AA it is. I spoke to someone in God knows where (France possibly) to get my bike recovered this morning. From Llantrisant to Cardiff. She had no idea where Cardiff was! I always take out cover when riding abroad anyway but thanks for the heads up and I hope you get it sorted soon.
It is not only Ducati assist, read my tale on "spoilt day out thread" http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f6/spoilt-day-out-2180/?highlight=spoilt I ended up getting a proper tyre plugging kit, so i would not end up in the same situation again
Problem will be, if the supplier doesnt adhere to the set of rules goven by the manufacturer they dont get paid. Alas customer not always king and of the biggest challenges having a centraL European plan, like Ducati, is they set the rules in Italy (where expectations and standards are far less) and apply across the continent Add to that man manufacturers (read most new cars) wont come out to non mechanical failure anyway even in the UK and makes getting your own cover more important But in reality, do you expect a repatriation for a puncture?!
Of course not! I expect to get the tyre replaced in a reasonable time period, that's all. Failing that, then they should get you recovered if they cannot get the thing sorted. Here's another bit of genius planning. They will cover 3 nights accomodation, but if you are stuck and it can't be repaired, they will only repatriate you after 5 days... So guess who they expect to cop for the other 2 nights? Tripletrouble, I'm in St Die Des Vosges. Not a metropolis, but hardly the top of a goat track either!
Sadly most European covers have a fixed cash limit and tbh it is mostly a joke when you look at prices they quote for recovering. 2000 GBP to recover from Poland to London. Well except in their world what other world will it cost 2k? A driver for 4 days is 400gbp max. Diesel 400 max as well. Overnight 60 so with huge margins they will still come just under 1k. They set cost high so they do not need to do the job simples. Also no matter what their cost/your limit is. If the price reaches 50% book value of vehicle it is not economical to repatriate.
Its not Ducatis fault you got a puncture or it was on a day everyone was closed so why should they pay?! And it depends what is a reasonable time, one person would say a day. Others a week. And because you will miss our ferry thats not their problem, thats what holiday insurance is for. Thats how companies think now, as they try to cut costs Not have a dig btw, just reinforcing the need for extra cover as you've said. British thing to expect more than many of our European bretheran, only have to look at that thread re QD exhausts for proof :smile:
Sorry mate but you have no idea whatsoever what you are talking about. Firstly repatriation for bikes is far less than for other vehicles, and I would not expect to be charged more than a grand or so; secondly you have european laws to take into account when it comes to driving hours etc and thirdly Europe cant agree on the shape of a banana, so how do you think cross border suppliers of garage services will ever be able to agree terms and co-ordinate that well?!
to be honest, this is all laid out in the policy. I'm taking my old Range Rover down to Italy - 50-50 it will get back under it's own power (and maybe not at all), but I'm buying the best cover I can get. You get what you pay for. Ultimately, going to a rural location and expecting the shops to be open on a major national holiday is a bit optimistic. You'd find the same problem in many parts of this country. In your position, I'd phone around until I found a shop with the tyre, then either ride the bike at 20mph to the tyre, or get the tyre to you in a taxi if necessary. 20 seconds on google (St Die Des Vosges ducati) shows three Ducati dealers about an hour and a half from you (by googles routes and times). And, not being funny, but two of those dealers are in Germany - not Bastille day there on Saturday, I'd bet. Not wanting to be rude, but expecting a recovery service to pay for the bike to be recovered back to England and pay for a hire car for you is maybe a little too much in the circumstances.
Ah shit that's way too far away. I have a friend who lives in Ruffiac who would have probably helped you out but that's the other side of France.
This is the thing. The bumph you get from Ducati makes it seem as if the coverage is quite comprehensive, when the reality is that it's far worse than the standard products from the AA and RAC. The bloke I've been dealing with said that it's quite simply one of the worst policies they have to deal with. If I'd had a direct policy, I'd be home by now as they'd have recovered me as they couldn't get a tyre in a "reasonable" length of time. These recovery networks should always have a contingency for when things are more difficult. The easy solution was to simply leave the bike where it was, get me a hire car for a couple of hundred euro's and then get the bike back later. I was happy with that and arranged for Chas Mortimer to pick the thing up on Thursday and drop it off in the Uk the next day. For the grand total of £300+VAT. That would have been far cheaper than putting me up in a hotel for 3 days, then paying for recovery to a place that can deal with it. They're taking me to either Germany or Luxembourg in the morning and they won't get much change out of €1500 for that plus my hotel and initial recovery and then storage of the bike for 4 days... I knew this was going to be a disaster from the second it happened, as I know how difficult it is to get anything sorted on a weekend in Europe. However, I was not prepared for the atrocious level of cover offered by this Assist package that they make a song and dance about when you buy the bike. If you can get a recovery via an insurance company from Poland to London for €2000 I'll be stunned. The mileage rates from here (560km's from Dover) would make it almost that, don't forget you've got to pay the return journey too. I'm whinging a bit, but the key bit of learning is to just get your own policy and check it properly before you go. Unfortunately I thought it was a comprehensive policy after reading the Ducati supplied blurb and it's nothing of the sort. Hopefully others will learn from this and not make the mistake I did.
I asked them to take me to Germany or Luxembourg on Saturday, but they refused as they won't do cross border stuff. All of these 3 dealers (who I've been trying to get hold of all day...) are closed today as well. Which is just a compounding factor. They refused to do it as they thought they could get a local garage to sort it out on Monday. I explained that the shops would be shut here today, but they wouldn't accept that (even though they are French and the call centre is in Lyon) and that the only way to sort it quickly was to get up to Lux or Germany ASAP. The only reason they are now going to take me to one of these dealers across the border is that I got the Mechanic to talk to them directly and he said he had no idea how to remove the wheel on a Ducati, didn't have the tools and could only get a 180 tyre. (Not a problem in itself, but all together it's not acceptable.) So they've now dropped it back into the initial recovery phase of getting the bike to a suitable place for repair, rather than recovery. Which does allow cross border stuff... Most of France is what you'd call rural to be completely fair, so it should hardly come as a shock to them that you might need moving more than 10 miles to get a bike sorted...
Jerry check the policy, Lucas is kinda right about the limit in that if the cost of repatriation is higher than the market value you're on your own. Well most polocies anyway, some of the insurance bundled ones are different
Feel your pain mate. Check most inurance linked ones in the UK breakdown; limited to 50 miles recovery or its overnight and you're on your own! And most polies have a 'as determined by us' when it comes to appropriate solution. I.e. doesnt matter what you want, its what is the cheapest solution that counts.
Sorry bradders but that is the quote I got when bike broke down in Poland, by AA I might add. They are private companies so not as bound by eu law as you may think. In 8h day you can get back to uk in two days. They can drive up to 11h or 12h a day including brakes every 2h. So in essence 11h would get you 8h of driving. Also remember AA would recover me to Calais train and have uk driver on the other end. Their costs of recover are overinflated so they do not have to recover you full stop. If they wanted to help you then if your limit is 300gbp they could get you overnight in local place and dhl tyre from another eu country overnight for them to fit next day. It would be under 300 GBP. Recovery is just as much insurance as insurance it self if they can they will try and the least wiggle out of some of the cost. Finally there are overnight buses from PL to UK. They have two drivers and they go nonstop with two drivers
@Iforb, that's fair enough - all the options were examined. Pain in the arse then, compounded by idiotic people. @bradders, don't worry, option B is to leave it! In fact, that is always the option B : ) It's cheap enough to say 'thanks for the miles, laters' from a hire car. At least with a bike, you can always hire a van and stick the bike in the back as a last resort. You might need a big van for a mutley, granted, but you'd need something very big for a Rangie. Mmmm, do you know, good chocolate, a banana and an espresso go very well together.
...and have you seen the euro against the pound today? It's (the euro) had a 'mare. So your accommodation will be cheaper than any time in the last 2 years!
Great. I've already bought Euro's and will be trying to change the unused ones back, so I'll get a whack then too! They're paying for the accomodation though, so I was kind of hoping it'd get more expensive, not less!
