Sometimes I wonder why people get into customer service. I also wonder, sometimes, why one pays for a service that doesn’t deliver.
Let me tell you a tale of AAA, the American Automobile Association. The company that offers benefits when you join — such as roadside assistance. The company that comes and fixes flats or tows you, if needed.
The backbone of a company like that are those who handle the phone calls. I’ve been a member of AAA for several years (my card says 2011, but I was a member before and had a break somewhere in there) and really haven’t had any issues. In fact, a couple of years ago, when in Watertown, I had a flat. They told me it could take upward of 1:30 for somebody to come. By the time I cleaned my trunk a bit and got the spare out, the guy was there.
The service was so good, I tipped the guy happily.
That brings us to this past Saturday. Three of us were heading to the Binghamton area for a wrestling show. We picked up our third member in one spot off Interstate 88. As we hit the Interstate, something seemed off. Turns out, I ran over something and got a flat.
Working on the tire … what we should have done in the first place.
So there we were, on the side of I-88 with temperatures in the mid 20s. One of the guys with us can fix tires without issue (his father used to own a tire shop), but that wasn’t the point. It was cold — and the service I have is paid for. So, I wanted to use it.
That was my first mistake.
I quickly call AAA and get their roadside assistance people. The first person I talked to was female (shame on me for not remembering names) and I explained what was going on. The basics — side of an interstate, need help etc.
Over and over, I was asked where I was.
“Bainbridge.”
“What city is that near?”
“Bainbridge.”
“But what city?”
“I’m in Bainbridge. It’s the town I am in.”
“Can you spell that?”
“B-A-I-N-B-R-I-D-G-E.”
“I can’t find it. Can you please hold?”
I didn’t even have time to answer, I don’t think. I was then on hold for a good 3-5 minutes.
Seriously.
Next thing I know, a male picks up — “AAA, can I help you?”
Turns out I must have been put back in the queue.
But, before I tell you how this conversation went, allow me to go to the AAA website and quote what it says about roadside assistance:
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, emergency road service is designed to assist you when the vehicle you are either driving or riding in becomes disabled. Whether it’s a flat tire, a dead battery, an empty gas tank, or practically any other reason – as a driver or a passenger, in your own car or someone else’s – as a member, you are always covered. Even in a rental!
And this is what it shows for the flat-tire service:
A wheel with a flat tire will be replaced with the member’s inflated spare tire, at no charge. Special lug wrenches or keys needed to remove the wheel cover or wheel must be supplied by the member. If the spare is not available or in need of repair, the service station will tow the vehicle. Dual-wheel vehicles are not eligible for tire service.
OK, with that out of the way, allow me to continue. So the second person I talk to at least tries to get more info. I explain it more times than I think is needed, but if it gets somebody here, then so be it.
One bright side? A cool view.
I had to explain what an onramp to an interstate was.
Even then, I got: “I’m sorry, sir, I am not familiar with your area.”
I gave him the exit number. I told him where we were. He finally seemed to get it and found a place. It was in a town about, oh, 10 miles away or so. I was told it would take up to an hours. So it was 3:26, they should be there no later than 4:26.
After I questioned that and asked about it, he repeated — in a stern voice — “Sir, it’s now 3:27. They will be there no later than 4:26.”
I didn’t want to explode. I accepted it. We waited.
And waited.
And waiter.
Mind you, there was somebody in the car more than capable of quickly changing this tire. But this was more about principles. A situation where you want to get what you pay for.
Something tells me, if you are reading this, you know where this is going.
Yep, 4:26 came and went. At about 4:30, I called back and got somebody else. This person seemed genuinely apologetic and concerned and said he was going to find out what was up. He put me on hold and came back a minute or so later.
Seems he called the service in question who then noted they didn’t have anybody who could go change a flat. My response?
“So, basically, nobody was coming and nobody was going to tell me?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Solid work, AAA. The company can’t blame the service company, either. There is no reason AAA shouldn’t monitor every situation. We pay for a service. Deliver.
The person then told me he could try and find somebody else. At that point, said friend was starting to jack up the car. I said fine (the guy was going to call me back), but noted if we had this changed and all, I was not going to be a happy customer.
He called back about 10 minutes later, noting he had somebody who said they could be there in about 45 minutes. At this point, the lugnuts were being tightened.
I noted that. And also noted I was extremely displeased with the service — well, lack of — that I received. I told him I’d like to know who to contact and he said he could put in the complaint for me and asked if I would like a call back, to which I said “Absolutely.”
He told me I’d hear back within 48 hours.
That was Saturday, at about 4:45 p.m. So, 48 hours would be Monday at 4:45 p.m., right?
It’s now (as I am writing this) about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday. So, like 96 hours later. I haven’t received a call or any sort of communication.
Solid, right? Customer service is right up there.
I’m seriously re-considering any membership with this company. This has nothing to do with me or this situation. But what if it had been my mother? Or one of my aunts? Or my sister-in-law when she had been pregnant? Put yourself in my shoes here. What it if it had been your mother? Your grandfather? Somebody else?
Changing the tire. (Note: not somebody sent from AAA. He should get paid for the service AAA was supposed to give.)
Seriously.
This goes way beyond three guys going to an event and just wanting to stay warm and use a service that was paid for. This comes down to looking at the big picture and wondering what happens if this is somebody who couldn’t do what we ended up doing. It was cold. I was on the side of an Interstate. What if somebody’s phone was dying and they got enough of a call to set up the initial service call? And nobody comes?
There’s a lot that can go wrong here.
I firmly believe I deserve more than a small apology here. I need an explanation. I need to know why this happened and how AAA will make sure it doesn’t happen. People pay for this service. Some people may have panicked in this situation. Some may have continued to wait.
This isn’t a joke. It’s serious. And something drastically bad could have happened, if the situation had been changed.
Being it’s been so long, I’m not holding my breath AAA is going to call me back. If it gets past this weekend, I may end up calling. And if that’s the fact, I’m going to be extremely annoyed and peeved.
I’m beyond disappointed. And that’s a shame. Until here, I’ve been pretty satisfied with AAA. Now? Not so much — in more ways than just a failed service call. This was a fail on a much larger stage.
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!
On the second call I would have asked for a manager and told him what was going on. Instead of relying on folks at customer service. Did a police go wizzing by while you were waiting? You could have hailed them over after being told that no one was coming. Place your complaint on their FB page and see if anyone else had the same problem. Post it on their website through Contact Us (email it) you may get a response faster. Or it could be that no one in customer service put your complaint in.
I wasn’t too worried because I knew we could get through it. I wanted this process to play out once I saw it going kind of nuts. If not just because I wanted to know what happened. No cops, either, which shocked me.
I cannot stand when a customer service call turns into work for you. Hit up the main website and write a complaint e-mail.
Jessica @ Living La Vida Holoka recently posted..Darby Smart January TO DIY FOR Box Giveaway
It’s truly amazing how people are when they are in customer service… and tend to forget it’s about the customers!
what a pain! i quit AAA when the rates when up and the services became so limited. the fact that my insurance company offers road side service for $5 a month is helpful.
i had AAA insurance at one time and they really really screwed me over when i had a wreck.
AAA is not what they use to be.
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It does seem like things have changed a bit, but this was the first time I’d ever had a bad experience with them.
Wow, I’m sorry you went through that. I’ve used AAA multiple times and was always so impressed with the great service that I figured they must have some wonderful customer service training. It’s always been so good.
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Until this call, my experience with AAA has always been good. The thing about services like this is it only takes one bad incident to change somebody’s view.
I’m in Canada and have CAA Plus. Member for 10+ years. Seems winter, when you need it most, is when the service is a bust.
I was stuck on a country road in a small town (between 2 large cities). The operator did not know where I was despite giving her the nearest county road names and the nearest fire sign number at the nearby farm, and GPS coordinates. I ended up flagging down a couple of cars and a pickup that pulled me out of a snow filled ditch.
On the weekend I called to get a battery boost. Couldn’t even get through to an operator. Tried 3 times over half an hour – got the canned message about how they were experiencing unusually high number of calls. Yet there was no good reason for it. The weather was fine, the roads plowed. Ended up calling family.
Seriously considering cancelling the service. Only used it once on a summer day when I locked my keys in the car.
Yeah, it seems like there are more calls in the winter, which is understandable. It’s a shame what happened in your situation. One would think in this day and age, giving GPS coordinates would be helpful.
Get a manager on the phone. That’s a disgrace.
AAA is not what they used to be.
SMD @ Life According to Steph recently posted..Ain’t no shame, ladies do your thing. Just make sure you ahead of thegame.
I’ll be updating this in a post next week… I did speak with a higher up. 🙂
So….where IS Bainbridge??? Lol.
I’ve never used them for anything, which is stupid, because I pay for the service as well. I always forget that I have that option.
I am so frustrated with the customer service we get from nearly everywhere nowadays though. Large corporations are just a hassle to try to deal with, and at the end of the day, they don’t care if we’re not satisfied. “What are you gonna do about it?” is what they may as well say to us. Grrrr!
Bainbridge is about a mile from where we broke down. 🙂
I don’t usually use them, rather it’s nice to have that safety blanket. Though this was obviously disappointing.
And the customer service deal … without a doubt, I agree. Part of the problem is most people won’t call out companies on the BS, so they allow it to happen.
Yeah thats completely ridiculous. I mean what if you had been in real danger, or NOT had a spare and genuinely needed a tow? OR had someone injured or in labor or whatever in the car. Not cool AAA. We cancelled ours a few years ago after never using it once. Our insurance has roadside assistance anyways! This reminds me of what I was little, went to see fireworks with my grandparents and their car wouldn’t start after. We waited for about 3 hours for AAA to come help us! (2 elderly people and 2 small children.) I remember trying to sleep in the backseat but being scared we would never get to leave!
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My whole thought and point of this was just that — what if it has been worse? What if it was somebody who couldn’t change their own tire? What if it was 20-below out? Sometimes, I wonder if people realize they are dealing with more than a phone call in many situations.
Hmmm. I’ve always had top notch service with AAA. Sorry to hear about your experience. That really sucks.
Once, I ended up locking myself out of my car while geocaching. I was in a brand new subdivision and was told after I gave them the street I was on and the cross streets that they didn’t have those streets on their maps. So I gave them my geographic coordinates from my GPS. I went to find the geocache, was back at my car 20 minutes later and 10 minutes after that, a truck drove up. As the guy hopped out, the first thing he said was, “That’s the first time I’ve used a GPS to get to a person before.”
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Until this time, Paul, I always did as well. And usually, things happen faster than their timeline. The end of this story will be a post next week. It will be well worth reading…
Ugh, that is awful. I had a very similar experience with AT&T’s roadside assistance. It was 2AM, I was in straight ghetto, and my car had overheated (so badly that the engine lining cracked) and I was stuck underneath an interstate in an abandoned construction zone for HOURS while they told me there was no one to help me (in a major metro area). Eventually I got someone to come get me, left the car, and they had a tow service from 50 miles away come take care of it– who billed me an additional $120. It was great.
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I think if I was in that situation, I would have tried to get a cop there. It’s amazing how people don’t realize when there are situations beyond something simple.
That really sucks. I read your follow up post on this matter and it’s good to know they acknowledged their mistake and offered to pay a year’s memebership for you. Still, that does not make this right.
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Yes, I will agree that they did a good job with the follow up and, hopefully, nobody else has to deal with it!
P.J. that really sucks! I’ve felt the same disappointment when I ran into speed bumps. Had my bumper overhauled. After the 1 week repair I drove mine to home and while driving, I felt like overheating. I thought it was just a minor detail. I checked only to find out the timing belt was reversed! And my radiator’s clogged. I could have died if I didn’t check. I was angry driving back to the repair shop telling them they did not inspect the car (knowing they’ve assured that the car is now in perfect condition) I was really furious!