A BMW owner is fuming after the AA left it for two nights at a service station — with the keys placed on the tyre.
Wade Hassan, 33, called the recovery company to take away his £20,000 motor for a faulty turbo.
SuppliedA BMW owner is fuming after the AA left his high performance motor for two nights at a service station[/caption]
SuppliedWade Hassan was furious after learning the AA had also left the keys under the vehicle’s wheel arch[/caption]
But he learned they had left it at risk of theft by leaving it with the fob under the wheel arch at a service area on the way.
Wade, of Bristol, complained but was told it was “correct procedure”.
Wade, who runs his own performance parts car company, said: “This is an expensive vehicle and is an in-your-face show car which has had extensive work done on it.
“It attracts attention.
“I can’t believe it was left overnight with the key fob unprotected like this.
“I know everything that happened as it is fitted with a tracker and I even contacted people who worked at the service stations and they confirmed it was unloaded and left standing.
“I wouldn’t expect this from the AA and I understand they sub-contracted the delivery to other companies.
“But when I complained about the risk of doing this to my car I was shocked to find out that this was the procedure they followed.”
The AA said it had apologised to him and offered compensation.
An AA spokeswoman said: “We have spoken to Mr Hassan to offer our apologies for some communication issues during the recovery of his vehicle and have reinforced our apology with an offer of compensation.
“It is standard practice across the recovery industry for drivers to be given the choice of whether they would like to travel with their vehicle in the recovery truck or have it recovered unaccompanied and have the keys left in an agreed location.
“In this instance, the member chose to leave their vehicle and it was recovered unaccompanied within the timeframe given in our terms and conditions.”
The story comes 18 months after the President of the AA, Edmund King, revealed that his wife Deidre’s £50,000 car had been stolen by key hackers.
Mr King encouraged motorists to keep their keyless car fobs inside a secure pouch, locked in a box and then placed inside a microwave after hackers stole his wife’s keyless Lexus.