Right Now Part III
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 88,444
Likes: 21
From: Pt. A to Pt. B via VTEC!!
Originally Posted by BBY2KS2K,Jan 4 2005, 07:07 AM
Right now I hope I never need to use it, but if I do, I hope the service is good. Care to share your AAA horror story?
Debs car broke down over the summer on the Conshohocken curve in I-76 (literally THE most dangerous road/spot in Philadelphia!) Barely no shoulder on a blind curve!
It was a Friday afternoon rush hour
SHe called, they told her one someone would be there in one hour. Not one to complain she DOES NOT mention to them she is 5-6 months pregnant .....45 minutes go by..its HOT 
...now mind you she has NO power/no AC/ NO HAZARD Lights working! AND a violent thunderstorm has now started 
So I leave work to go and at least put my car behind hers so we have some hazard lights on. I am a good 30 minutes away (without a rain storm, and rush hour traffic!) The hour is up Debs is frantic and very upset
so I decide to call AAA and bitch a bit.....I got a nice lady (for what its worth) and she basically admits to me they cant get someone to respond? 
I'm like WHAT? And she reiterates ...all the local 
ing toe operators told her they WONT respond on that road at rush hour! 
ISNT THAT THEIR JOB? 
I nicely tell her that my wife is pregnant and you already committed to being there in an hour which is long gone by now!!! Already long story short.. finally a police officer comes by (2 hours in!) and sets up road flares...he says whats the deal we need to get this car off the road? He is agitated at us?
I told him the AAA info and he calls a private hauler...who literally shows up in 15 minutes! 
I had a lengthy conversation with the gypsy hauler about AAA and how they pay there drivers so little money per call, so basically AAA drivers are unmotivated and very independent! He said if this was his AA call on this day on this road he probably would have been "busy" (he used to be a AAA driver..he got out of it)
Bottom line is...the service is worthless if they DONT respond! You can always find a local hauler who will arrive in shorter time, of course if you have an unreliable car that breaks down a lot this will cost more in the long run
After this whole debacle I called AAA complaint department to issue a complaint and tear a new one to a nice lady on the phone. I used the pregnant card...she was very nice and understanding (maternal)
She agreed to pay for all the charges of the independent hauler we had to use (normally they only pay a limit if you get your own hauler and submit) ...I told her that is all well and good but please cancel my membership since it is USELESS! She said she would send us a voucher for a free year of service to see if they could re-instill confidence! After the free year is up I cant see keeping it anymore! (FYI, I have been an AAA member since I was 16!) :whew: