Humiliation for AA as RAC has to rescue its broken-down van

The private equity owners of the AA suffered the "ultimate humiliation'' when one of their patrol vans was rescued by the RAC.

Amid signs of an increasingly acrimonious relationship between senior directors at the two motoring organisations, the AA last week found itself unable to fix one of its own vehicles and so sent for a breakdown truck operated by its rival. The AA Volkswagen van was under warranty and had developed a problem with the clutch.

The 15-million member AA, owned by the private equity companies Permira and CVC, last year lost the contract to maintain Volkswagen fleet vehicles to the RAC. Paul Maloney, a senior official at the GMB general union, which is fighting for recognition at the AA, claimed the move was sparked by deteriorating response times following cutbacks to AA staffing.

Referring to the AA calling out the rival motoring organisation, he said: "This ultimate humiliation is an insult to our hard-working GMB members who strive to maintain the once-deserved high reputation of the AA. It is a testament to the bad management of private equity companies which are trying to get a quart out of a pint pot.''

He said Damon Buffini, managing partner at Permira, should have listened to the union's warning that there had been too many cuts to the workforce.

A spokesman for the AA confirmed that one of its vans had been rescued by an RAC lorry. "Had it been two or three weeks ago, it would have been an AA truck.'' The AA contract with Volkswagen came to an end on 31 March.

''The van was recovered to a garage for repairs. It was a simple breakdown. Vans break down like cars do. These things happen. It was because it was under warranty.''

News of the episode emerged after a row between the AA's chief executive, Tim Parker, and the RAC's managing director, Debbie Hewitt, over a newspaper advertisement which the AA regarded as "a contemptible piece of opportunism". The RAC advertisement contained a cutting from The Independent revealing that the AA had dropped night-time patrols. Instead AA members would have to rely on staff called out voluntarily on a "pay per job'' basis or local garages working on behalf of the organisation. A furious Mr Parker rang his opposite number at the RAC to complain that the excerpt chosen did not contain the AA's side of the story, which was that the service would improve because of the decision.

Ms Hewitt told her rival that he would have to take the "rough with the smooth'' and that in the past the AA had published "knocking copy'' about the RAC.

The AA complained "in the strongest possible terms'' to the Advertising Standards Authority. The RAC was accused by the AA of a "deeply unscrupulous piece of marketing'' and a "contemptible piece of opportunism.''

The AA refused to comment on the telephone conversation between the two senior directors. A source at the RAC said the two had been at university together and spoke regularly.

Since the private equity companies bought the AA for £1.75bn from the utility giant Centrica in September 2004, the workforce has been capped by around 3,000.