This one sort of makes you smile. AOL is carrying a story concerning an AA driving instructor who got a puncture in Edinburgh. For reasons which haven’t 
been fully explained, the recovery vehicle sent out was an RAC one. The RAC is The AA’s main competitor.
To be honest, it’s no big deal. But it does raise a few questions if you’re going to be nosey.
As I understand it, AA instructors are provided with a list of phone numbers to call, and there is no way that any of these will be linked to the RAC. So you have to perhaps ask what number the instructor dialled, and why he or she didn’t call the proper one. For “systems issue” (the term used in the article), you could read “cock-up by someone, somewhere”.
The next issue is the one about not carrying a spare. It is absolute, cost-cutting madness not to provide full-sized spare wheels in any car, let alone one used by a driving instructor. I’d also take issue with the AA spokesperson’s comments on that in the article about cars being supplied without spares these days – they can be demanded as an optional extra. The only reason not to make such a demand is to keep costs down. Jeez, over the last 5 years, DAB radio, Bluetooth, electric mirrors and windows, parking sensors, and all kinds of other gizmos have become standard on most cars (and these add hundreds or even thousands to the price if you request them when you buy a new vehicle). So it makes you wonder what utter prat at any of these car companies decided that a proper spare wheel costing a few tens of pounds shouldn’t be standard in all their new models.
All in all, the whole thing is a storm in a tea cup. The AA will be smarting, and the RAC smiling, and the world will carry on as it ever has.