[X]
Write ReviewJump to 
3
Helpful
Votes
Votes
AAA Michigan - AAA Is a Joke
Road Side Assistance - Complaint
Review by rsan734256 on 2013-02-09
Rating: 
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN -- 2-9-13 Same problem as many other posters. My husband was driving my truck home from work when it suddenly broke down and he had to pull to the side of the road. He called me because my name is on the card. I called AAA and they told me I had to be within 15-20 minutes of the vehicle for them to send help. So I throw on some clothes and drive approximately 50 miles to where my husband is stranded.
I called AAA back about ten minutes before I got there. There was no record of my first call. So I am driving and trying to give the agent my info at the same time. Even she cautioned that I take care not to cause an accident. So she tells me she was making me a priority call because I was on the freeway and the tow truck would arrive within an hour. I called back 30 minutes later and she told me the estimated time of arrival had not changed (meaning she lied in the first place.
There is a difference between saying the truck will be there within the hour and in an hour. So I wait the whole hour. No truck and no call (she took my callback number at the outset). When I call them back to ask where is my truck she tells me the ETA has been pushed back another hour. By now my husband has been on the side of the road (it's winter and about 25 degrees) nearly three hours and I've been out there about an hour and a half with big semis whizzing inches past my door. Very scary. She told me the tow company gave some excuse about their long-distance driver not being able to go until 12.
While I am talking to her, I look across the freeway and see one of the companies trucks empty and headed in the other direction. I kid you not. She said she did not know anything about their scheduling or who was ahead of me. So I ask her why didn't they say that up front. When I called back after the first half and hour the agent I talked to told me the truck was en route and expected to arrive on time. So how do we go from that to another 1:20 minute wait? She had no answer so I asked to speak to her manager. She put me on hold about 10 minutes -probably hoping I would hang up. Manager comes on line finally with the same excuses and I went ballistic.
Not only have I been a AAA member 30 years, I pay on time and only file one claim that I recall in 30 years. And this is the best service I can expect - to be left on the side of the freeway in freezing weather for four hours while watching empty tow trucks drive past me. To add insult to injury, she said if she called the police to come and assist me, they might call their own tow company and I would have to pay to get it out of the tow yard. Unbelievable. So then she offers to call another tow company but said it might be a longer wait. I told her I did not care who she called as long as somebody came pronto to help.
The new tow driver also could not get there for 45 minutes but at least he arrived on time and we finally got off the side of the freeway after 4 hours. And don't believe the other post about the insurance being with the car and not the driver in Michigan. I live in Michigan I also was under the impression that my vehicles are covered wherever they need help, whether I am in them or not. I have paid up insurance. If I can provide the card number and give my consent over the phone they ought to be able to do better than say I have to be in the car or else. What the heck am I paying for.
I am seriously looking around for a new carrier. After 30 years! The manager did say she would be filing a complaint on my behalf but what good would that do me if something had happened to us out there on the freeway because they are too negligent to send a tow truck in a timely manner. I could go on about other lapses in service but I think everyone gets the message that AAA will take your money but don't'really care if you get good service or not.
I called AAA back about ten minutes before I got there. There was no record of my first call. So I am driving and trying to give the agent my info at the same time. Even she cautioned that I take care not to cause an accident. So she tells me she was making me a priority call because I was on the freeway and the tow truck would arrive within an hour. I called back 30 minutes later and she told me the estimated time of arrival had not changed (meaning she lied in the first place.
There is a difference between saying the truck will be there within the hour and in an hour. So I wait the whole hour. No truck and no call (she took my callback number at the outset). When I call them back to ask where is my truck she tells me the ETA has been pushed back another hour. By now my husband has been on the side of the road (it's winter and about 25 degrees) nearly three hours and I've been out there about an hour and a half with big semis whizzing inches past my door. Very scary. She told me the tow company gave some excuse about their long-distance driver not being able to go until 12.
While I am talking to her, I look across the freeway and see one of the companies trucks empty and headed in the other direction. I kid you not. She said she did not know anything about their scheduling or who was ahead of me. So I ask her why didn't they say that up front. When I called back after the first half and hour the agent I talked to told me the truck was en route and expected to arrive on time. So how do we go from that to another 1:20 minute wait? She had no answer so I asked to speak to her manager. She put me on hold about 10 minutes -probably hoping I would hang up. Manager comes on line finally with the same excuses and I went ballistic.
Not only have I been a AAA member 30 years, I pay on time and only file one claim that I recall in 30 years. And this is the best service I can expect - to be left on the side of the freeway in freezing weather for four hours while watching empty tow trucks drive past me. To add insult to injury, she said if she called the police to come and assist me, they might call their own tow company and I would have to pay to get it out of the tow yard. Unbelievable. So then she offers to call another tow company but said it might be a longer wait. I told her I did not care who she called as long as somebody came pronto to help.
The new tow driver also could not get there for 45 minutes but at least he arrived on time and we finally got off the side of the freeway after 4 hours. And don't believe the other post about the insurance being with the car and not the driver in Michigan. I live in Michigan I also was under the impression that my vehicles are covered wherever they need help, whether I am in them or not. I have paid up insurance. If I can provide the card number and give my consent over the phone they ought to be able to do better than say I have to be in the car or else. What the heck am I paying for.
I am seriously looking around for a new carrier. After 30 years! The manager did say she would be filing a complaint on my behalf but what good would that do me if something had happened to us out there on the freeway because they are too negligent to send a tow truck in a timely manner. I could go on about other lapses in service but I think everyone gets the message that AAA will take your money but don't'really care if you get good service or not.
Comments:
Posted by trmn8r on 2013-02-10:
If you file a complaint with AAA, they should take it seriously and investigate it. If they decide there is a pattern of poor service, they may switch companies in that area.
The beginning of your complaint makes perfect sense - the person making the call should be the member and with the vehicle. As a 30-year member of AAA, I'm surprised you were not aware of this. AAA is not "paid up insurance," it is roadside assistance. They are nice enough to cover the call if you are in someone else's car, but the key is you have to be there.
The beginning of your complaint makes perfect sense - the person making the call should be the member and with the vehicle. As a 30-year member of AAA, I'm surprised you were not aware of this. AAA is not "paid up insurance," it is roadside assistance. They are nice enough to cover the call if you are in someone else's car, but the key is you have to be there.
Posted by Anonymous on 2013-02-10:
You need to realize that you were speaking with someone in a call center. AAA does not own and operate tow trucks, they contract that out with private companies. The private company gives AAA the ETA. I fail to see how you were lied to about the ETA. You told within the hour. In the towing industry, at least when I was in it, that meant the tow truck would be there within the next hour. You called after 30 minutes. I also don't think her telling you that if she called the police, they might send their own tow at your expense. How is that an insult? Its the truth. If you are in a dangerous spot and AAA is more than 10-15 minutes out, the police will call a company on their rotation list, who has a mandatory short response time and it will be at your expense unless that provider is contracted with AAA. Also she can't tell you anything about the tow truck you saw going in the opposite direction. She's in a call center. That tow truck was likely headed to another call. Those tow trucks you saw were most likely not AAA providers. AAA typically only contracts with 1-2 providers in an area. In my area there is 1 provider that covers multiple cities so its not usual to wait. Typically tows are dispatched in the order received. If your given an hour ETA, that means there are people ahead of you. When call you AAA, they have no idea how many calls their providers have waiting.
Posted by JR in Orlando on 2013-02-11:
The problem starts with the failure to have the husband be a member of AAA. That would have saved an hour and a half for the husband, while the wife drove the 50 miles. (Note op says the husband had been at roadside "3 hours" while she had been there "1 and 1/2 hours." - The difference would have been the time waiting for the op to arrive.)
The other times are estimates, but it appears as if the OP was told the tow truck would be there within an hour - which could mean 59 minutes. when she called back after an hour and a half, the information AAA had on its scene was that it was still on time. It seems like AAA did what it could, and in fact contacted another two company. So the total time the Member waited was two and a half hours, since the 4 hours apparently includeds the 1 and a half hour delay caused by the husband not being a member.
The other times are estimates, but it appears as if the OP was told the tow truck would be there within an hour - which could mean 59 minutes. when she called back after an hour and a half, the information AAA had on its scene was that it was still on time. It seems like AAA did what it could, and in fact contacted another two company. So the total time the Member waited was two and a half hours, since the 4 hours apparently includeds the 1 and a half hour delay caused by the husband not being a member.
Note: All comments are reviewed by a moderator before being published. Please be sure to read our guidelines before commenting.
Company Reps: Post your company response!
Recently Discussed:
More Reviews on AAA Michigan:
- AAA Charged $480 On Towing - Roadside Services
- Declination of Promised Raodside Coverage for Mechanical Failure - Roadside Assistance
- Bad Travel Website - Tried to Lookup a Cruise to South America and Could Not Find One - Travel - Cruise
- AAA Painfully Slow Service - Stranded for 4 Hours at Night - Road Side Assistance
- No Roadside Service for 30 Year Member in an Accident - Towing