My breakdown cover was extortionate – and that taught me an important lesson | Adrian Chiles

2026-02-18 - 17:03

Consumers beware: you have to keep a forensic eye on the deals for all the services you pay for. Otherwise, like me, you’ll get shafted Idiot. More fool you. Serves you right. What did you expect? These were some of the things people said to me when I told them about something I had done, or rather not done, or rather – as I saw it – had done to me. I thought I was the victim. Others just thought me a bit of a pillock. For years I had breakdown cover with the same well-known name. Let’s call it SMBOBU Recovery. Skilled Mechanics But Otherwise a Bit Unscrupulous. I can’t tell you how long I’d been with SMBOBU Recovery because I can’t bear to look. I never had any problem with the service, not least because I never broke down. To be fair, the one time I remember calling on them, when my motorbike’s battery went flat, the bloke turned up promptly and played a blinder. He couldn’t get at the battery terminals to clip on his charger cables, so he executed a devilishly clever manoeuvre he called chopsticks. This involved poking a couple of long screwdrivers on to the terminals and clipping his clips on to them. Nice work, credit where it’s due, etc. Adrian Chiles is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...