Any suggestions (besides learning German very fast)???
Also how much does this cover cost? and does the cover offered from Insurance companies work as well as TCS and ACS?
Thanks in advance everyone!
Ed
Although i hope to at some point command the German Language I currently don't! I would like to get road side assistance for a car I am going to buy but am slightly concerned that I will buy it then something will happen and I will phone the company up and they wont understand a word I am saying thus leaving me stranded!
I have Zurich. Like m ost companies, hold on and they get someone to speak English.
Service is through the same network for them all in the end.
There have been previous discussions regarding the effectiveness of roadside recovery included with insurance policies.
If I recall, it does come eventually, but a breakdown recovery through auto insurance may not receive the same priority as one where direct payment to one of the above dedicated company has been made.
I have roadside recovery through auto insurance but have still taken out separate cover with ACS (which is cheaper than TCS)
TCS is obviously the Swiss standard, but ACS may not end up being the poor relation, despite lower membership and breakdown recovery costs.
Regarding how good either of them are, or if English is a language option, I can't categorically say, as, fortunately, I've never had to call on their services (yet).
I would imagine, though, that phone operators probably do speak English, as they could well be part of a multi-national assistance network.
I have TCS and am very happy with them. Before I finally put it out of it's misery, my old Smart was a loyal customer of their breakdown service.
I speak passable German, but tend to get rattled when panicking - which was my usual state of mind when calling TCS. The answering service and mechanics, while staying in German, never seemed to have a problem with my babbling Denglish.
(Even if my German were perfect, I doubt I'd ever be able to discuss the finer points of automechanics... One really only needs a few basic German phrases ( Mein Auto startet nicht. Meine Batterie ist tot. ) to give the mechanic a clue where to start - he/she will take over from there.)
The TCS desk will definately speak English, the 'oily rag' who turns up may or may not! In ZH quite likely, in a little villiage somewhere probably not.
This asssessment is correct I have had some calls where with an earlier car I called the insurance roadside assistance and actually conversed in german although they had english. The test comes when the roadside mechanic calls you then you had better be able to understand german or they may not find you and then have your car dismantled and reassembled in german is likely. Best to asssume the mechanic will not speak english regardless of what langauge the call center speaks when you call.