For the 2nd year running I received a renewal from...

For the 2nd year running I received a renewal from Green Flag that was 28% higher than I was quoted online for exactly the same cover. Now, this is a policy that auto-renews unless you take the time to call them to cancel. Imagine how many people allow it to auto-renew and pay a 28% premium for the privilege! Yes, the premium for renewing automatically was 28% both years and I don't believe in coincidences, this appears to be a policy rather than an error.

Last year I had to go through a long-winded charade of is it the same vehicle, same address, same cover etc? Only to be told that the online price was subject to a promotion, which is why it was cheaper. They really must think we are all fools. This process wasted around 30 minus of my time.

To their credit, this time round they immediately stated that the price online was an introductory price (yeah right!) but they wouldn't want to penalise "loyal" customers so they would match the price I gave them. Interestingly, the agent did not check online to ensure the information I was providing her was accurate. A sceptic may think she already knew from what was on screen that the price I was providing was accurate.

It would appear that this is a bit of a game for Green Flag. Charge loyal customers a large premium in the hope that they won't check anything online and/or just allow it to auto-renew. I am sure this is very profitable process...but we should shame them into removing this shameful practice and/or check online for a price before allowing anything to renew.

There are many examples of successful organisations failing after customers got wise to some questionable practices. Let's hope that Green Flag come to their senses before they find customers voting with their feet.

There is nothing illegal in what Green Flag are doing, but you must question their ethics when they routinely charge a premium for loyalty.