RoughCollie Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 For the last year, my friends and I have noticed that AAA's customer service has gone down the tubes. We call, and we are on hold for anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. Then, it takes anywhere from 90 minutes to 5 hours for the service people to arrive. I've contacted AAA about this because twice in the last month, people I know have waited in temps close to zero after a wreck and an engine failure, for 1.5 or 2 hours, just for AAA to answer the phone. After that, the wait time for the service was so long that the people gave up and hired a tow truck on their own, one that came quickly. Today, AAA answered my call immediately. Then they lost the service request and never showed up. I made another one, but I'm getting tired of paying $188 a year for terrible service. How about you? Have you noticed any problems? I don't know if this is a problem with the East Central PA branch, or a problem with the company in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Holy moly! 2 hours ON HOLD?!?!?! Our Progressive Insurance comes with roadside assistance. I've had to use it twice and was never put on hold at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I haven't had any problems with them. I used them a few months ago when my battery died. They picked right up and the guy was there in 15 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I called AAA in November and got an answer right away. They said they'd be there within the hour and arrived 10 minutes later. There is NO way I would tolerate what you describe. There must be better alternatives in your area! That's nuts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We had similar experiences in the SW a few years ago. The wait times....argghhh. Then they sent an obviously drunk locksmith. Yep. Drunk. It was a disaster! We went with an alternative after that. Much better service. I hope you can find something better, too. That kind of wait in extreme cold is not acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Wow, that is insane. My insurance (USAA) comes with roadside assistance. Have you checked into getting insurance with roadside assistance? It might be a better deal for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Never had that problem, must be local. I would contact the national office to complain. They need to hire more contractors etc. We have never waited more than 30mins. What alternatives are there to AAA besides with your car insurance? Any? I miss how my parents had basically unlimited calls (not 3/year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 We may even have insurance that has roadside assistance. I am going to check because DH doesn't remember. He's the insurance guy. I do everything else (she said modestly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We've had to use them twice for long tows this year and have had no problems. One time the car broke down in our church parking lot which is 30 minutes from our home. When I called them for the tow the next morning, they almost beat me there. The other time was a tow from home for our 12 passenger van and they were here within 15 minutes with a large truck because of the size of the vehicle. I wonder if they are having trouble being prompt because of the weather. I know that in our area they said they got thousands of calls on Thursday and Friday this past week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Wow. When the battery died on my old car last fall, AAA was over in less than 30 minutes. One of my friends who lives in the far north was literally blown off the road in a recent blizzard. AAA was understandably backed up that night. Her husband came out with his pickup truck, a good thing because the AAA truck had to pull three other vehicles out before he could get to my friend's car. (There was a wind tunnel on the road. The good news is that no one was hurt and no one hit anybody else.) I think extreme circumstances require more understanding than a normal AAA call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 2 hours on hold! That's awful! I haven't been a AAA member in about ten years, so IDK, but here in PA, we are ERIE customers, and they have been fantastic with roadside assistance. The only drawback is that you have to call someone first for a tow or lockout or whatever, and if you're traveling, that can be tricky to know who to call, but ERIE happily reimbursed us for things. I think it costs us $14 per year per car? Can't remember, and I have an almost-asleep infant in my lap, so I can't look, but it's pretty reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Had AAA for years now. Last year, it has taken less than 20 minutes to come with the tow truck and the phone call was answered almost instantly. I sure hope your experience is not a harbinger of things to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We dropped AAA after they left us on hold for over an hour, with a message about the "next consultant" being available. I had called the emergency number and wasn't amused. This was 15 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I needed AAA in a snow storm and they basically told me it would be hours before they could get to me. Under normal circumstances I have never had any issues with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 No I've never had experience like that. I've had 3 calls in the last 6 months to get a jump start (because my kids keep forgetting to close the van doors all the way and then the battery drains). Every time they have answered with 2-3 rings. They typically tell me a wait time of an hour since I'm not in an emergency situation. The last time my baby was sick and I was trying to take him to the doctor when I discovered my dead battery. They actually bumped me up in the queue so a service guy would get to me in time to get baby to the doctor. Also what are you paying $188 for? Mine is only $55 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My husband had to call them last week (NC) to get his keys out of the car. He says he got through pretty quickly, but it took them 3 hours to get there (middle of the day, during the work week, good weather). :( Unfortunately, he lost the spare key over the holidays, and we haven't had the money to replace it yet (it'll be about $200 to replace the two he lost, one for his and one for mine) so I couldn't just go and open the car up for him although he was only 10 minutes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Also what are you paying $188 for? Mine is only $55 a year. AAA Plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharonM Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The last time I called, they answered on the second ring and the guy was at the car inside of 20 min. I couldn't even get out of the meeting I was going to. Sounds like there is high demand for the phone center and for their trucks too. Sorry that its so long for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We're not too far from you (albeit, a different branch) and have never had problems - it was less than 30 minutes for them to come when youngest had his car accident (fender bender). We also get a bit of our annual $$ back by taking advantages of their discount tickets and things - like for the Baltimore Aquarium we're going to today... If we didn't travel so much (and use them for things like that), we could do USAA for just roadside assistance, but AAA tends to be less expensive for us (due to all we use) even without factoring in actually using it when needed for roadside assistance. I am wondering if you hit them on a bad day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfOneFunOne Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 For the last year, my friends and I have noticed that AAA's customer service has gone down the tubes. We call, and we are on hold for anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. Then, it takes anywhere from 90 minutes to 5 hours for the service people to arrive. I've contacted AAA about this because twice in the last month, people I know have waited in temps close to zero after a wreck and an engine failure, for 1.5 or 2 hours, just for AAA to answer the phone. After that, the wait time for the service was so long that the people gave up and hired a tow truck on their own, one that came quickly. Today, AAA answered my call immediately. Then they lost the service request and never showed up. I made another one, but I'm getting tired of paying $188 a year for terrible service. How about you? Have you noticed any problems? I don't know if this is a problem with the East Central PA branch, or a problem with the company in general. AMDGWe tried AAA one time for one year quite a few years ago. It's kinda dumb but we actually selected them b/c of the perks: ticket discounts, et c. We had to use roadside assistance once. It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r! Now we have Farmers and have their roadside assistance and man, oh man! the service. We've had Farmers for years now and never had to use that service till 2013 and then had to use it twice in 3 months. The girl (both times) was super kind and helpful; she texted and called with the company name and eta of the ppl coming; called after the event to see if they had arrived by the eta. The actual service ppl who assisted us were super friendlyband courteous (both times, different companies). It's probably rather dumb but the first time I was alone with my daughter in a safe place no big deal but when I called, her first question was, "Are you safe?" or something like that. I appreciated that so much. They ask that every time. Before that experience I never really thought much about our insurance but thatkyouverymuchexcellentcustomerservice, I am now a loyal customer. Boo AAA! YAY Farmers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 AAA responded to my email: "Please accept our sincere apologies for the difficulty you had reaching us for service and the confusion surrounding your initial service request. Recently, we’ve been experiencing a higher than usual call volume and at times have been experiencing unusual wait times to speak with an operator." I responded by saying that they need to hire more people to answer the phone, and that my most recent problem with them was not a fluke, it occurs at all times of year, in all types of weather, and every AAA member I know who lives around here has experienced it more than once over the past 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 I am wondering if you hit them on a bad day. For the last 2 years, every time a call has been made to AAA from my residence by friends or family, the wait time to have the call answered has been at least 45 minutes. The only time the phone was answered promptly was last week, when I called to cancel my request for service. Temp was below freezing, our well-maintained SUV had inexplicably died, my disabled husband waited in the unheated vehicle in an unsafe location with my DD for over an hour -- including the 45 minutes I was on hold. I was then told it would take 1 - 2 hours for a tow truck to get there. We cancelled the order and the tow truck DH called arrived within a few minutes. Everyone I know who has AAA (and there are a lot of people) has this problem, and we all dread it. Only once have I gotten someone out here within 30 minutes. Usually the wait for service is 1-2 hours. Twice, the service order has been lost by AAA .... which means the whole process has to be started anew. A few weeks ago, a friend of ours slid off an icy road, at night, into a phone pole. He was fine; his car was totaled. He called AAA and the state police. It took 2 hours for AAA to answer the phone. He was across the street from a service station that took AAA, but they could not help him unless AAA ordered the service. The police officer waited with him for 1.5 hours, then had to leave to go to another car accident. He was several hours away from home. In the end, the tow truck arrived exactly when his father did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I haven't had a problem. The last call was for a tow and they were here in less than 45 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 ... He was across the street from a service station that took AAA, but they could not help him unless AAA ordered the service. That's too bad. I locked my keys in the car one time, and there just happened to be a truck with a AAA logo parked nearby. I asked the guy for help and he was happy to do it. He took down my card info, so I'm certain he was going to charge it to AAA, and wasn't just doing it out of the goodness of his heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 So, RC, have you checked to see if your auto insurance has roadside assistance yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I've never been with AAA but I do have some friends who have made negative comments about them on their fb pages over the past few months. Interesting that it seems to be a national problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 So, RC, have you checked to see if your auto insurance has roadside assistance yet? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 No. So, can I nag you now? Can I? Can I? Can I? :auto: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 So, can I nag you now? Can I? Can I? Can I? :auto: No. That is not your role. You are the nagee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I haven't had any problems either in VA or here in AL. They always answered very quickly and all times, I had a truck there within a half hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 No problems when I lived in RI and I've never had a problem in VT either. They've never taken longer than 1/2 hr to get to my house and the time I was stranded on the side of the highway, it took them about 15 min to get to me. We have Liberty Mutual for car insurance and I'm pretty sure they have a roadside assistance plan too, but we've been happy with AAA so we've never looked into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Last time I needed AAA, they refused to send someone for me because I wouldn't tell them where I was. My van's rear tire had disintegrated (and my spare was flat) in the anonymous wastes of West Texas, on highway 290 about 15 minutes west of Fredericksburg, which was insufficient for AAA's operator. She demanded to know, with increasing levels of exasperation, what town or city I was in (none), what the nearest building was (none), what was the nearest landmark (scrub oaks and distant cell phone tower), what address I was currently at (none). I kept explaining that the nearest town big enough to have a tow service was Fredericksburg, and that they could easily find me by DRIVING FREAKING WEST ON 290. She got angry and said that if I refused to say what city I was in, AAA couldn't help me. About then the pastor of First Baptist from the last small town I'd passed through pulled over and gave us a lift into Fredericksburg to the Wal-Mart auto center. God bless the Southern Baptists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We had great luck with AAA a few weeks ago, and a friend today had them come out today and replace her battery under warranty within a couple hours. So locally it's been ok. And we are still in deep freeze today too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I have had excellent service from AAA. We are rural, so I do always have to wait a while for services, but they have to drive at least 20 miles to get to me. They always ask if we are in a safe place first. I had roadside assistance with another company. I drove into flood waters with two babies in the car. I called as we were sinking and the lady snottily told me she couldn't help me. I couldn't get through to 911. I needed someone to come rescue us. Not the usual story, but not one I will forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I drove into flood waters with two babies in the car. I called as we were sinking and the lady snottily told me she couldn't help me. I couldn't get through to 911. I needed someone to come rescue us. Not the usual story, but not one I will forget. REALLY glad you're here with us - and totally understandable that your experience is not easily forgotten! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts