American Automobile Association [AAA]
Reviews and Complaints

10/19/2018

I have been a member of AAA for 34 years. The few times I have availed myself of Roadside Assistance services I was glad to have it. Not true yesterday.

I upgraded to "Premier" service this year due to age (69) and having had a massive heart attack several years ago. My wife is 71 and is in poor health. I will forgive the 15 minute wait to speak to someone and the 2 hour wait for the tow truck to arrive - it happens when companies cut back on manpower and resources.

My vehicle broke down at a restaurant just off the main route through Webster, NY. It was 3.0 miles west of the repair shop I wanted it towed to and 3.9 miles southwest of my house. The distance from my house to the repair shop is 2.8 miles northwest - a fairly regular triangle. As my wife does not drive due to illness I asked the driver to either drop us at home and take the vehicle to the repair shop or take the vehicle to the repair shop and drop us at home as I had no way to get home from the repair shop. Last I knew Webster had one part time private cab with sporadic service. The driver called his boss and said he was told they were "too busy" to do that. I opted to have him drop us and the car off at our home in order to avoid being abandoned at the repair shop with no way to get the 2.8 miles home. This has never happened to me before - not here, not in the Syracuse area where the distances were considerably further.

I will have it towed to the repair shop next week - I will pay for that myself as I am not going to waste another Roadside Assistance chit on a hookup and less than a 3 mile tow.

I thought perhaps it was smart getting the Premier service plan, what with the highly touted trip interruption insurance and rental car, etc. But if you are going to allow your operators to abandon an elderly couple to avoid driving three extra miles when they have suffered a breakdown so close to home I guess I was wrong. The extra amount paid apparently only comes in handy if we were closer to 200 miles away from home - something we only do once or twice a year.

Even more concerning is that my sister and I have always given my mom a AAA membership for Christmas. She is 88 and hard of hearing and easily upset. I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if one of your tow truck operators were to abandon her…….

Please let me know your stance on when it is OK for your operators to just abandon people when they have no way to get home - I really want to hear exactly what your guidelines are so that I may make a decision on how best to handle Roadside Assistance in the coming years, and especially what to do with my mother - we would hate to have her just dropped off somewhere.

All this for something that would have taken less than ten minutes .. it is really discouraging that there is absolutely no respect for human decency anymore.

Sincerely

Henry Brooks

On Oct 2nd Antoine from Metro Motor Towing came out at approximately noon to tow my car. He was nice enough to offer to try to jump it to see if it was the battery. Unfortunately he opened up the fuse box (black cover) and attached the positive cable from a battery charger to a nut and bolt in that fuse box and the negative cable to my battery. When I questioned him why he was doing that, before he had me start the car, he said "I do this all the time". "These new cars can be jumped this way". I had never seen or learned of this method to jump a car. The car did in fact start but when I stepped on the gas to take it for a drive, nothing happened. It was as if the car was on but dead. He obviously needed to tow it so he left with my car and dropped it off at Lindsay Lexus Service Center in Alexandria.
On the morning of Oct 3rd, Mike Lunsford from Lindsay Lexus called and shared that the car had been jumped wrong and all the fuses had been blown! It was in fact in need of a new battery but now it was also in need of $488.27 additional work to replace all the blown fuses.
I feel strongly that this is NOT my responsibility but rather AAA or Metro Motor Towing directly. This was an error on Antoine's part and although he was so nice and helpful, he did in fact cause more damage to my car at the cost of $488.27. I am seeking reimbursement for this bill.

I sent the above email with pictures and an today I found out the claim was denied! I am dumstruck that it was so obvious that attaching a cable to the fuse box to jump a car is wrong and Lexus find blown fuses and you do not see the correlation. How can you not see the error on the towing Co part? How do you not agree? I am outraged that this was denied and request an appeal! Clearly Metro motor towing is trying to save their [censored]. I have been a AAA member for 7 years and personally this the first time I used any of your services and this is the result? Please let me know the next step in an appeal! I did not call Metro motor towing, I called AAA. Therefore you are responsible so take responsibility! I look
Forward to hearing from you soon

While parked (9/27/2018)on a steep slope, the power shift stick of my Toyota Corolla came loose;I was unable to shift to brake, except for foot pedal. I held on holding the foot brake for a very long time. It was about 7.10 pm Then I called my daughter & asked her to call AAA with whom I have road side assistance. They said they will send help BY 6.30 PM. At 8.40 the towing company called and said by 9.15 pm they will come;again calling and they will come by 9.30 pm. They came by that time, hoisted my car onto tow truck. He said my daughter called, I was the only whose name on the card, it becomes a cash call & I had to pay $89 ($68 basic plus $4 per mile for 5 miles), although it was supposed to free for the first 3 miles. I had no choice but to pay him.He said it will be at AAA Pleasantburg dr (in Greenville SC).
Next morning (9/28/2018) I called the car repair dept., the man said the repair to cable back may be around $400 and no parts needed. What choice one has if the car cannot be driven elsewhere cheaper to repair & I live 10 mile from there? I asked to do the best he can to charge me less. Then I called North Hills Automotive, where I usually have my car serviced; Jerry, whom I know said it will about $50 and exact cost can be given after checking. I called another garage they said it will be around $100! I called back the AAA garage & told him what other would charge, : he said they are working on it., will call back after it is done. Around 3 pm he called it is ready & the cost is $196! He could bulge a bit, I had to pay.
All in all it was a bad experience. AAA deceives customers both in road assistance charges & in charging repair costs.

I am Mary Jane Foster. Account number 429 014 [protected]
Date of Incident October 16 AT 10:35AM
I notified AAA that I was on the side of the road with an elderly lady in the car with me. My 2002 Cadillac was not operable and needed towing to Christian Brothers automotive. I was told it would be 75 minutes. 1 1/2 hours later I called AAA back and was told Chancey's towing should already be there...I contacted Chancey's to be told they were busy and would be there in 45 more minutes...Again I stated I had an elderly lady with me. I was then notified via recording from AAA that they would be another 20 minutes...We were in the dead of heat again on the road. Called AAA for a third time and spoke with a supervisor. She stated they would try an find another towing service and I should have told them there was an elderly lady with me.. I DID tell them! Three hours total I waited on the side of the road. I could have called my own wrecker and had it towed . I paid $30 to be stranded...I have been with AAA for over 20 years, , , , I will not remain a customer...You do not honor loyalty. I would like my $30 refunded...Chancey's stated they were backed up and AAA should have called another company..

I waited 4 hours last night (10/16) for a tow. I was told the tow would arrive within 2 hours (my car was in a safe location). I finally cancelled the request after 4 hours.

This morning (10/16) at 7 a.m. (EST) I called again for a tow. I was told 2 hours. The tracker showed the tow arrived, but it did not. I call customer service several times. I was told the GPS system in the wrecker was not working. I asked the rep to have the operator of the wrecker to call me - no call. I called back and an another representative said she attempted to reach the operator and the shop, but was unsuccessful and left a message but would keep trying and call me back - no call. I was still sitting in front of my house going on 2 hours, still waiting...

Each time I called, the recorded message said - "we are experiencing heavy call volume..." I wonder how long that message has been on? Hire more wreckers or pay your wreckers more money, do what you need to do to have the resources to service your customers.

I understand I was in a safe location. I understand unusual call volume. But when unusual call volume becomes usual, AAA has to do something. Instead, I suspect AAA's reliance upon technology to reduce costs is at the sacrifice of customer service.

I waited a total of 6 hours between last night and this morning and my car is still sitting in front of my house. That's upsetting. But more upsetting is being told I would be called back and blown off. Getting a recorded message about high call volume when in fact the volume is always high. Most of all - just poor communications. For God sake, if a GPS unit breaks down, use a map.

I am writing this to complain about the incompetent service we experienced with AAA.
We have been AAA members for many years and have Premier Member Services for three persons.
On October 3, 2018, our daughter Joan had an accident in Philadelphia, PA, around 11:30 AM. She called 911, the insurance company & AAA after the accident. She needed the car to be towed to Honda Causeway in Manahawkin, New Jersey. She was told a tow truck will be there in around one hour & there no problem going to Manahawkin, NJ, with our Premier Member Service. The truck got there around 1:30 PM. The driver said, I need a flat bed truck to do this and I will call it in. After around one hour our daughter called AAA again. They said a call in for another truck was never made. They will call it in. She got a call from the driver of the new truck who said it would be around 2 hours before he would arrive. Our daughter called us crying on the phone & was very upset. It was a hot day & she had been sitting in the car for a long time (around 4 hours now) along a busy highway. Thankfully her fiancé showed up to be with her.
The new truck driver showed up around 3:30 PM and got the car on the flatbed. He told them they had to go to Bala Cynwyd, PA, first because his shift was over at 4 PM. So they drove for around 30 minutes to get a new driver. Then it took around 40 Minutes to get going again. They took the Schuykill Expressway to head to New Jersey.
As they were going through Philadelphia & the truck got off the highway and onto a small side street in the city. They were wondering why he did this. It was not a good part of the city & they were very concerned. The Driver told them the brakes failed on the truck & they would have to get another truck and it was on the way. They were in that part of the city for around one hour. They loaded the car on the new truck and got to Cause Way Honda around 8:30 PM, around 9 hours after she first called AAA for service.
Wait the story is not over. When they loaded the car on the new truck the driver left the key in the ignition and on so the battery was dead when they reached Causeway Honda. It took a while to get the car off the truck. If the first driver would have come with a flat bed truck to begin with none of this would have happened.
This is not the type of service I expect from AAA. Doesn't AAA do some kind of quality inspection of the companies and vehicles they hire? It was a complete disaster and put them in harm's way in that part of the city. I don't know if you heard about the drive by shooting that occurred at the Dollar General store in Philadelphia, it was a short distance from where they were.
Our membership number is 438 212 [protected]-1 (-1 to 3).
Ronald Baran
204 4th street
Barnegat, NJ 08005

I signed up for the plus membership. I called to see when it would be active and I was told 3-4 business days. I attempted to cancel the membership and the man stated I would have to call back to do so. It didn't take you all anytime to take my money, but I had to wait to cancel it. I had just gotten in an accident, so the last thing I'm thinking about calling to cancel. I called back the AAA office after having dealt with my accident and the lady I spoke with stated that I can't cancel and I'm stuck with the policy for a year, since I'm calling a week later. That's unacceptable and you cannot take my money if I'm not going to use your services. You all knew I didn't want your membership from the time I got it. Very unprofessional, and unacceptable, especially to someone that previously had your membership and that wanted to get your insurance policy.

I was recently met on the road by two AAA servicemen to change my tire. I noticed one in particular that smelled like marijuana. I think it's a reflection on your company to have workers that drive around in company vehicles smoking marijuana. When I asked the other AAA driver the name of his co-worker he stated he - Marvin Ezzard was in training. Hopefully your workers go through random drug tests; because it's quite irresponsible conduct to misrepresent AAA.

Your customer service rep denied me access to a tow due to my wife's name being on the account and not mine. My phone was dead and was depending on passers by to use their phones. I was unable to contact my family and had to wait over two hours with my 65 yr old father in the Florida heat until luckily a tow truck passed by that I flagged down. She hiding behind policy when I conveyed that I was worried about my safety. I asked if she would be ok and she responded with a very nasty I'm going to be fine and I said that's what I'm trying to say I'm not. Very disappointed our household is paying for a service and a company that makes us feel unvalued.

I called in to update my millage after three months to compare. However, this employee (katherine Calderon) stated there wasn't any millage reported three months ago and that she couldn't compare with the current millage. She blamed that it was my fault that I don't have anything to compare. I called AAA multiple times just to have my old car removed and report my millage and nothing was done until I have to came to one of the local branch. Now, my millage was not reported. Every workers explaining the situation differently and it seem like no one is in the same page. She even mentioned that whether I report the millage or not my auto insurance will go up next year anyway. This is very ridiculous. Since I switched over to AAA, my home/auto keeps increasing. I switched over thinking I will save not paying more and now ending up I pay so much more than what I used to paid. Plus, the customer service it unpleasant and helpless. It doesn't matter how much customers you have with bad services you will soon ending with none. The local branches are more helpful when I'm there.

Member: Kandyce Hopkins

I had my vehicle towed on 9/17/18 to a AAA facility. On 9/27/18, I requested that my vehichle be picked up from the facility that it was dropped off at & taken to another facility, I also paid for the additional mileage. AAA sent out a driver, who for some reason was unable to get my vehicle. AAA called me and informed me that they were not equipped to get my vehicle, the same vehicle that they dropped off. The refused to accommodate me in any way other than tell me I had to find some way to pick up my car & to email me a reimbursement form which may or may not be honored. This is totally unacceptable. To add insult to injury, a relative of mine was able to use his AAA & have my car picked up with no problem. I have been a member for years now & I'm seriously considering cancelling my membership. I also spoke with a woman today 10/1/18 named Margit who was very rude & not at all compassionate of helpful.

I took my Mini Cooper in for overheating problem. They took several days to diagnose my problem and then another several days to repair it. My car was there for a whole week. The service manager did not respond until I call the second time. He told me because I was so patient, he was not going to charge me for some of the heater hoses. When I picked up my car, he was not there and the other people did not honored it. When I request she leave him a message to call me, no calls! After I picked up my car, 2 warning lights were on (they were not before the repairs). I am so sick of this I just ignored the lights and refuse to bring the car back to AAA. I will never take my cars there again!

I submitted a windshield reimbursement via fax. AAA mailed out a check to me sent it to my old address, fortunately my old roommate gave me the check. I deposited it and then AAA decided to put a stop payment on the check with NO warning to me what so ever and my bank charged me a 10.00 charge back fee. AAA did not contact me at all, I had to call them to find out why they did this and I was told that they made a mistake and a new check would be on its way to me. I have been in contact with AAA representative Destiny Hoskins and have sent her the notice from my bank about the fee I was charged and asked that your Company reimburse me the 10.00 for the inconvenience I was caused, she told me that unfortunately she cannot not issue a reimbursement. I am outraged at your Companies lack of professionalism and outright awful customer service. I am a premier AAA card holder and this is totally unacceptable.

Call roadside around early 7. Est time 8:30. Got a call from driver around 7:20-7:30 stating he had to get gas and was on the way. So I called again at 8:24 they stated he was around the corner. Called back req a super at 8:31 the driver still haven't arrived after the being told driver was a few minutes away. 8:48 still no driver so I called req to speak only to a super. who in the end couldn't tell me anything, where the driver was if after waiting 2hr when that was not the time provided in 64°. Yes I was loud because I was cold, lied to and, my issue wasn't resolved. The driver was excellent he got incorrect information from your dispatch and was able to find and assist me in the best way. Your customer service agent and especially the super gave me the worst customer, even worth then the oversea call center. I plan on cancelling service as soon as I get this ticket or calm the super supposedly put in.

I am a member of AAA, and I called AAA claims department about a claim I filed. The claim number is [protected] for McKenna Shier. A woman named Monique answered the call and I told her that I received a bill for damage to the rental car that I rented and put in the claim for through AAA. She said I would need to call my adjuster. I asked if it is her because the adjuster I have listed is named Monique Norris- Clark. She said it is not her. I asked her if her name is Monique and she said her name is Monique Norris-Clark but I need to talk to another Monique. When I asked for further explanation because I was confused she was very rude and said "you just need to talk to another Monique. I am not an adjuster." When I tried to inquire further about the name confusion she kept saying she is not an adjuster.

I was disappointed with her lack of patience and professionalism with how she was not willing to help me understand the situation. Her tone of voice was very rude and short. She also laughed when I continued to ask more about the situation which I found inappropriate since it was not a funny situation.

My family and I have been with AAA for years and we have had superb service with AAA including our Agent Dale TenElshof. To get this service by Monique was out of the usual for AAA.

I called AAA to ask about a change in premiums for a new car I am leasing. They said they were about to close my account because the last payment would not go through. My account was never low enough to reject the payment even if it were I have overdraft protection. I gave them payment by phone and it still has not hit my account. I do not know what is going on since I have autopay set up and it has never been a problem. Sandra Ritter. Account 429 047 [protected]

My first experience with AAA. I gave my location to the staff; including mile marker, county and route that I was on going north bound and they gave me [censored] on how that information is not good enough, mind you I was on a damn highway located near no homes on an interstate. I never heard that a mile marker wasn't good enough, since emergency respondents use mile marker locations all the time, but I'm not shocked because your company was incompetent with pretty much this whole experience. So just to give you the main event, I blew my right front tire 9/17 at 4:30am in the morning on I80 North bound in PA. I contact your company for assistance, give my information and credit card, I'm told that help is on their way (approximately 60 min). One hour passes by no phone call, two hours pass by no phone call? I call back to see what's going on, shockingly they can't find any of my information in the computer? Makes sense right, even though they had no problem collecting payment and all my personal information. On the line I was transferred a good 13-15 times to Ohio then California then Connecticut to service help to the payment center mind you I'm in PA and a young girl stuck on the side of the road for 3 hours now. Then they say you must have not called here, you must have called another company. The icing on the cake they told me you need to figure out who you called and to have a nice day. Mind you I get a phone call that night confirming my payment and address. I'm sorry to burst your bubble AAA, first off why don't you ask me are you ok, since it's been a good 9 hours now with no call back and you want to call me that night to verify my billing address for the membership, you blew my mind, I would never, ever, do business with you again. I made a phone call to another road side assistance after dealing with your ridiculous company for 3 hours and not a single phone call or show up happened. The other respondents obviously not your staff, were their within 10 min and two respondents showed. You ought to be ashamed of your service, talk about scary. But what blew my mind, you couldn't find me in your system, let alone transferring me 13 different times to other states made no sense, but your triple AAA service team contacted me at 4:30PM 12 hours later to ask for my apartment number for my billing. You think in your right mind I'm going to purchase a membership with you, think again. You didn't even show up and I paid extra for first respondent since I didn't have a membership, left me on the side of the road for three hours with no phone call. You can tell Sue who contacted me last night, to not even think about charging me. I'm sorry, I never have a bad thing to say about a business but this was straight up embarrassing and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The family and friends that have Triple AAA were shocked to hear this and couldn't believe it.

I filed an inquiry # 104855 with AAA Website Support and as of date they made constant excuses and have not sent out the promotional item that was promised and got all my private information for a quote. I was planning to join AAA but because of this incident that they can't even honor to send out a promo item after 6 months I want to report them so others can beware. The rep below and her manager said the promo was sent out twice and each time to wait 30 days for it. This did not happen. Then I tried to pick up at a norcal branch and again was denied. Lastly I contacted AAA online and they said they sent out one from a 3rd party vendor and yet there's no tracking number or no way to reach "this vendor". How can you contract with a vendor and have no forms of contact and count them liable? So how can anyone trust their claims process or CS support when one simple thing their excuse is cannot contact or track? Kristie C. said they would find an alternative yet up to this day there was just another excuse of crediting 10 dollars for all this hassle, yet you have to join them! Who would even join them at this point? Yet another scam to get you to join without giving you anything. Do not provide them with all your private information!

Jamie Miranda
Member Experience Branch Team Lead- Sun City West
19802 N R. H. Johnson Blvd Ste. 141
Sun City West, AZ 85375

barbara.[protected]@arizona.aaa.com (Jamie manager)

Incident #104855
Kristie C. (assigned)

Please look at this video..! It's not right to suck monies out of people.

https://youtu.be/ALgw6jc3dbg

This scam is going on in Detroit. There's probably a kickback between the tow truck company and a McDonald's manager. Please look into this potential scam and forward to the appropriate agency. There was not an email for the chief and mayor

Sent from my iPhone

My wife dealt with the travel agent at the AAA in our local office in coral springs Florida, and was recommended three night stay in hotels with transfers in Europe and on comparing the prices available online, of the same product, products sold were approximately twice the cost. When requesting a cancellation and refund from the AAA travel agent, they claims this is not possible. There is no cancellation policy in this Agency nor in the documents that I have signed or received, for this portion of my trip ( Hotels and transfers.)
My only request is a cancellation of this portion of my trip and refund of the money that I had paid.