THE RAC is hitting back against a survey which marked down the standard of service from its operators and dispatchers with its own survey which shows customers, including fleets, give it top marks. A JD Power & Associates survey, called '1999 UK Roadside Assistance Study' rated the RAC second to the AA .

But according to the RAC Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures everything from the initial call through to the work of the patrol, and based on surveys of more than 380,000 member comments over the past year, drivers have given the RAC's service top marks. The survey showed 84.7% of drivers attended by patrols rated the whole experience 'outstanding' and 'better than expected', including the attitude of dispatchers and operators. Fleets gave the same rating in 83.9% of cases and Motability customers in 90.3% of call-outs.

A spokesman for the RAC said: 'I am not criticising the JD Power survey in any way, but it did have a limited sample of P-registration car drivers. Our survey is across all our customers and if there had been a problem with dispatch or operator service, then we would not have received such a high score.'