If you are a motor customer of Axa, Hibernian, or drive a Peugeot or Citroen in Ireland, you might be surprised to know that there are some 4,000 people in this country ready to look out for you if your car lets you down on the road.
 
And it might be equally surprising that the nerve centre which connects all these people to your potential problem is located in Galway City.
 
Both 'surprises' are true. Galway is the headquarters of Ireland Assist, which, as part of the global Mapfre Asistencia company, operates the programmes underpinning roadside assistance to almost 800,000 Irish motorists, whether they are driving at home or abroad.
 
The 4,000 'problem fixers' is an estimate of the people involved in the nationwide network of rescue agents, approved garages, hotels and hire car companies regularly tapped by Ireland Assist to get its customers out of a breakdown pickle.
 
And the reason why most of those customers won't ever know that they're being looked after by Ireland Assist is because the Galway company is a 'business to business' operation, providing literally the 'nuts and bolts' service for assistance programmes that are branded by the main clients themselves.
 
And in reality it doesn't matter to you or me, stranded on a wet night on the M50 or on a Donegal boreen, as long as somebody gets to us quickly, and deals with the problem efficiently.
 
Doing that can involve the provision of a number of different services, depending on the nature of the problem, on the level of cover in the contract, and on the needs and location of the stranded motorist.
 
A simple repair might be the answer when the Ireland Assist tow truck arrives. If this isn't possible, removal of the car to the nearest approved garage and transportation of the customer to home or hotel is often necessary. Perhaps a hire car needs to be provided so the client can continue with his or her journey.
 
"We coordinate all that from our call centre here, even if the client is travelling abroad," says Noel Quirke, General Manager at Ireland Assist HQ. "We also handle all breakdown calls for Mapfre in the UK from this centre."
 
The company has a unique system of helping stranded motorists who call in. Rather than just giving out the number of the local rescue agent working for Ireland Assist, they get the agent directly on the line in a conference call with the client, so that details of the situation and location can be transmitted directly.
 
"That also means we know exactly what is happening, and we can monitor the progress of the incident resolution," says Noel Quirke.  "And the customer is also reassured at being able to talk both to us and to the recovery agent at the same time, especially lady drivers."
 
In these days of increasingly sophisticated and apparently more reliable cars, it might be yet another surprise to find that the frequency of callouts is still growing.
 
The sophistication in itself is partly responsible, as up to a third of breakdowns are electrical or electronic-related. Another third are mechanical, and the balance includes the inevitable surge of flat batteries at the first onset of winter, people locked out of their cars, punctures and the other daily difficulties associated with motoring. About the only thing Ireland Assist can't solve is the commuting gridlock ...
 
"More motorists are covered by some form of breakdown programme these days, and they're also reading the fine print and are aware of their full benefits," Noel Quirke notes.
 
The actual increase in the number of cars on the roads of Ireland also contributes to the increase in callouts, and this too has an effect on the ability of any rescue service provider to get to the incident. That said, Ireland Assist manages to reach virtually every client within 45 minutes, and more than three-quarters of them in half an hour or less.
 
This level of service can only be monitored by a comprehensive quality control, and every customer call to Ireland Assist is followed up afterwards to find out how successful was the service to the incident.
 
It also has to be backed up by a level of expertise that constantly must keep up with the latest technological changes. To this end there's an annual workshop session held in a central venue, which also includes refreshers and updates on customer service systems.
 
This years conference is in the Tullamore Court Hotel on the 7th and 8th of October. The theme is Health and Safety. Training will be provided by the Institute of Vehicle Recovery (IVR) and Ireland Assist's own company trainer. The Trade show will run until Wednesday afternoon with all the latest equipment on display.
 
Because the service is supplied in the name of the corporate client,it is mission-critical that there is a high satisfaction rate. This is currently running at well over 90 per cent saying 'Very Good' and most of the balance reporting service as 'Good'.
 
Ireland Assist currently watches out for more than half of the Irish car parc, and because few of those motorists actually realise it, this means that the satisfaction response is not coloured by a high-profile marketed image.
 
Just by the welcome rotating flasher on the rescue vehicle looming out of a wet and dark night, throwing a comforting light on annoyance and anxiety.