28/07/2026
In the interests of transparency I'm sharing Mandy's complaint along with my reply.
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Good afternoon.
Iâm writing to lodge a complaint about a recent roadside assistance experience with your company.
My family and I were celebrating our 30th anniversary and had hired four cars from your rental company. We had also purchased roadside assistance and full coverage insurance.
Unfortunately, we experienced a flat tyre and contacted your company for assistance. ###### responded with a dismissive attitude, saying, âWhat do you want me to do about it? No one will come out.â When the phone call ended, ###### didnât make any attempt to call back. This lack of prioritisation for our safety was unacceptable.
We were left stranded on the side of the road, relying on one of the other rental cars to drive over 80 kilometres to come and collect us. Even when a replacement vehicle was eventually delivered, it arrived mid-morning, preventing us from attending a morning family event.
To make matters worse, we were charged a fuel cost for the journey and the additional fuel we had to purchase to get back home. This added to the stress and inconvenience of the situation.
Iâm writing to express my disappointment and seek a resolution to this matter. I expect your company to provide prompt and reliable roadside assistance, especially for customers celebrating special occasions like anniversaries.
Regarding your companyâs services, Iâd like to point out that Tasmanian Roadside Assistance offers 24/7 roadside assistance across Tasmania. RACT Roadside service also provides interstate roadside assistance through an agreement with other Australian auto clubs. Members can call 13 11 11 to receive service in other states, and theyâll be entitled to the standard level of service provided by the host club. For those requiring RACT Roadside Ultimate benefits, they can call 1800 088 865.
Regarding 24-hour roadside assistance, your company offers minor adjustments and repairs to make vehicles mobile. They cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for incidents such as flat batteries, flat tyres, lockouts, running out of fuel, electrical and mechanical faults throughout Australia.
I look forward to hearing from you soon and resolving this matter to my satisfaction.
Regards,
Amanda Pratt
And my reply
Hi Amanda
Let me apologise for ###### dismissive attitude, this isnât acceptable and particularly in times of stress you were due some form of comfort and reassurance youâd be looked after.
Iâll take this up with ######.
###### called me to advise of the situation and gave me Justinâs phone number as the reception of the other phone wasnât great. I took over from ###### from there on.
By way of explanation, not excuse the new car you were allocated doesnât have a spare tyre (this was news to me as Iâd only just purchased a batch of these), but do have a tyre repair kit. I understood from Justin that the cause of the flat tyre was hitting a pothole causing a blowout, and that the tyre was probably ruined.
This would make it a long drawn-out process to get a replacement tyre to you at such a late hour and leaving you stranded for an unknown period of time.
I discussed the best option to address the situation was to have one of the other groups you were travelling with to come back and collect you and take you back to your accommodation and Iâd organise a replacement car to be delivered the following day.
Just to clarify your point about purchasing roadside assistance, this comes at no charge with our hires.
The only charge we processed was for the fuel top up in the car with the flat tyre, in hindsight we should have absorbed this cost, give as you have pointed out the other car needed to travel 80klm to rescue you. Because you purchased the maximum protection waiver there was no cost to you for the retrieval and deliver of the replacement car (we cover the $795 cost for this).
Iâll refund the $25.44 which was charged.
Amanda, I know this wasnât a pleasant experience for you and we did the best we could at the time.
Regards,
Ken Upchurch
Managing Director
LeisureRent Pty Ltd
PO Box 70
Legana TAS 7277
Phone 0429 727 277
www.leisurerent.com.au
www.facebook.com/LeisureRent
