THE AA has come out as the top breakdown recovery service in a Consumers' Association poll out today - while its big rival the RAC "seems to be struggling to keep up standards."

The AA is quicker to arrive than competitor services and more likely to repair a car on the spot, said the CA's Which? magazine.

The RAC's estimated arrival times were "way out" and customers had trouble getting through to its call centres.

The findings were based on 744 responses from Which? members who belonged to a roadside rescue organisation.

"The AA is now our undisputed best buy for breakdown services. From arrival time to repair rates, it trounced the opposition," said Which?

It went on: "On the other hand, the RAC seems to be struggling to keep up standards in the wake of its demutualisation. Some of its customers had problems getting through to call centres and the staff weren't always polite." Which? said the remaining breakdown companies "fell somewhere between the AA and the RAC". Green Flag had the best rating for the time taken to make a repair, but the AA got there more quickly and was more likely to repair the car there and then. Britannia Rescue rivalled the AA for quick call answering and the courtesy of phone staff, but it "couldn't compete for roadside repair".

"The AA is the clear winner. It left the rest standing when it came to service levels and response times," said Which? editor Helen Parker.

Findlay Caldwell, the RAC's consumer services managing director, said: "The Which? report is based on a very small sample and does not reflect RAC statistics on performance levels and customer feedback."

He said that 83 per cent of RAC customers described RAC's service as "outstanding" and "better than expected".

"We pride ourselves on customer care and have made a massive investment in implementing a new breakdown system. This has caused some teething problems for a small number of customers, for which RAC apologises.

"However, the new system is now working well. We aim to be the best in our industry and now have the systems to achieve this."

What Which? found out

Six years ago, the AA was the slowest of the major companies, but it is now more likely to arrive within half an hour.

The survey showed the AA reached 53 per cent of breakdowns within 30 minutes, but the RAC only got to 36 per cent within half an hour.

More than one in five RAC members had to wait more than an hour.

Green Flag promises £10 to stranded motorists if it does not reach them within an hour, and only nine per cent of its patrol teams failed to reach the 60-minute target.

Seventy eight per cent of AA patrols arrived within 15 minutes of the forecast time, while fewer than two-thirds of RAC estimated times were accurate to within a quarter of an hour.

The number of cars fixed by the roadside by the RAC has slipped from 71 per cent in 1999 to 62 per cent now, while the figure for Britannia Rescue is down 9 per cent.

In contrast, the AA repaired 74 per cent of breakdowns on the spot.

Updated: 13:01 Thursday, November 07, 2002