THE RAC has disputed a Scottish rockstar's story after he claimed the firm had left him stranded on a motorway for 15 hours.
Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, who won the Mercury Prize in 2004, first posted on social media about his issue at around 2am on Monday morning, saying he had already been waiting seven hours.
He then continued to post until around 10am, some eight hours later, when he finally confirmed an RAC truck had arrived to help.
However, RAC has disputed the story, claiming it is “factually incorrect”. The firm said the singer was only waiting for one hour and 45 minutes before being put up overnight at a service station.
Hi @TheRAC_UK @RAC_Care. I've been waiting to be picked up from a motorway breakdown for 7 hours. Your operators don't seem to know what is going on. Or say trucks have been dispatched when they haven't. Is this normal? Is this my life now? Waiting for the truck that never comes?
— Alex Kapranos (@alkapranos) September 2, 2024
In his first post, the Scottish rocker wrote: “Hi @TheRAC_UK @RAC_Care. I've been waiting to be picked up from a motorway breakdown for seven hours.
“Your operators don't seem to know what is going on. Or say trucks have been dispatched when they haven't.
“Is this normal? Is this my life now? Waiting for the truck that never comes?”
Kapranos responded to various other users on Twitter/X as the wait time ticked up, writing in one instance: “Still waiting. 12 hours.”
He added: “Insane isn’t it? Last spoke to them at 4am and they said a truck would be there at 7. Called back. No truck dispatched. Astonishing.”
One user wrote at around 9am: “This was six hours ago. I presume you're sorted now, right?”
Kapranos said: “No I’m not. It’s now been 15 hours since I broke down. Still no truck. I was just talked over by an operator who told me why I was ‘a priority’ and a truck would be dispatched when it ‘became available’.
“Oh and @RAC_Care ignore every one of these messages. Mind blowing.”
At just before 10am on Monday, the @RAC_Care wrote in response to the singer: “Hi Alex, I am sorry to read of the delay you have experienced last night and into this morning.
“Could you please kindly DM us your vehicle reg and contact number, so we can get this looked into further for you and what happened during this event. Thanks, Conor.”
Thanks for the reply, Conor. A driver has arrived. 15 hours after I first broke down.
— Alex Kapranos (@alkapranos) September 2, 2024
Obviously I shall be cancelling my 20 year+ RAC membership as soon as I get home and giving @TheAA_UK a ring. https://t.co/Hj7jgpJL55
Kapranos responded: “Thanks for the reply, Conor. A driver has arrived. 15 hours after I first broke down.
“Obviously I shall be cancelling my 20 year+ RAC membership as soon as I get home and giving @TheAA_UK a ring.”
An RAC spokesperson told The National that to claim Kapranos had been stuck on the motorway for 15 hours was “factually incorrect”.
They went on: “He wasn’t stuck on the motorway for 15 hours.
“We rescued him 1hr 45mins after he called us and towed him to a motorway services and put him up overnight as per his policy. We sent someone to him again this morning.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel