This was a really dire piece of PR for the Automobile Association.
As comprehensively covered by television and radio news, apparently the AA refused to help move a man’s car (he was a lifelong member of the organisation) when he died at the wheel. According to the BBC:
Mr Barker’s brother-in-law, Leonard Douglas, said when he called the AA he was told he would have to renew Mr Barker’s policy at a higher premium.
“We were in a situation where my brother-in-law had just died,” he said.
“They wanted to up his premium and I said why do you want to up his premium, he’s dead.”
There’s a Pythonesque quality about that exchange but it’s not hard to imagine the AA’s communications department banging their heads in despair at the crass stupidity of their telephone operator.
Another example of how any employee, no matter how lowly, can impact your corporate reputation.
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