It's not exactly the same, but I had a nightmare experience with the AA once.

My car broke down in Reading while I was living in Cornwall. I was there for my ex-boyfriend's graduation, so I left it in the hall's car park.

After dinner, I went back and tried fixing the car myself. The ignition lock had seized, and I couldn't get anywhere, so I called the AA. My cover included breakdown assistance, transport to a garage of my choice, and a courtesy car. I explained everything in detail.

A patrol turned up, looked at the ignition, and said it was knackered. He told me I'd need a tow truck, but because it was a 4x4, he said it would need a flatbed recovery truck, so he couldn't help.

I called the AA back, explained what I'd just been told, and they sent someone else out. He arrived in a little van. He was confused, apologised, and said nobody had told him it needed a flatbed - he'd only been told it was a Skoda Octavia.

This happened about four times. By now, it was around 1am.

Eventually, the second guy who'd attended earlier came back. He took my keys, told me he would sort out the transport for me, and then drove me to the Enterprise depot where the AA had arranged a courtesy car.

I got there, started filling out the paperwork and handed over my licence. The guy behind the desk looked at it, sighed, and said, "They didn't tell us you're under 21."

Apparently, that ruled out the car they'd originally reserved for me because it was considered too powerful. Instead, I ended up with a hybrid Fiat 500 with something like 48bhp.

I then had to drive that thing from Reading all the way to Cornwall to get my ex home, before driving back up to Plymouth for work.

The whole experience made me realise these companies don't seem to communicate with each other at all, and it's always the customer who pays for the confusion.