The other morning, my car broke down. I called an AAA-like service an arranged for a tow truck to come at a particular time in the afternoon. The tow truck came well over an hour late and what is worse, they kept lying to me and giving me the runaround about whether the tow truck was on its way and when it would get there. I finally called a different towing service directly and the tow truck was there in less than 10 minutes.
This is in Manhattan and the towing company is about a 10 or 15 minute drive from where I was. I had called for service like 8 hours before I actually needed the tow.
A few years ago, also in Manhattan, I needed a jump start for my car. I had called AAA and the truck they sent was also very late. I don’t know how long it would have taken since I finally found someone willing to let me hook jumper cables to their car.
I am wondering if there is something in the system which causes this to happen.
My hypothesis is that towing companies get their business through a combination of AAA calls and private calls. The private calls are far more profitable for them since AAA negotiates a low rate. Thus, they give AAA calls the lowest priority. Also, they know that if they are not prompt in responding to a private call, the caller will just call someone else.
Is there anyone with knowledge of the industry who can confirm or allay my suspicions?
I do not know - what you say makes sense, bit AAA would be likely ticked off if they found out - and might go with someone else when the complaints rolled in. Also I have worked in other industries where we had companies that negotiated lower prices - and we treated their customers the same.
I don’t have AAA, but my battery died the other day (left the interior light on). I looked up “jumpstart” or something like that and saw an ad for Allstate Emergeny Road Side assistance. I don’t have Allstate, but thought - hmm - I wonder if I have that through Geico (my insurance). Turned out I did - which was cool as I was all prepared to pay someone.
I think they promised 30 minutes on the phone - and I’m pretty sure they were there in that time frame. I wasn’t in a hurry - so it didn’t matter much and I thought 30 minutes was pretty good (I was at home - I may have thought different elsewhere).
Anyway - i thought they were great on the phone - and was very pleased. I never even really thought of insurance companies providing this service, but now I will never use anything but Geico. I had paid to have my car towed like a month before and didn’t even know I had coverage.
Roadside assistance is an optional extra-cost (but relatively inexpensive) coverage with most insurance companies. It should be itemized on your bill and you can decline it if you wish.
However, there is something you should be aware of: Some insurance companies in some states will use your history of roadside assistance claims in setting your rates or even deciding whether to renew your policy. And I don’t just mean the rate for roadside assistance.
Even worse, nearly all insurance companies in all states report your roadside assistance claims to the CLUE database. That is the database that insurance companies use to trade information about their experience with customers (it’s sort of like the credit reporting agency for insurance). That means that if you want to shop around for another insurance policy, every other insurer will know about your claims and may possibly use them to set your rates or to decide whether to even accept you.
I have AAA and yes, their response time can be slow. Usually it’s about a half hour to 45 minutes but if you break down or have an accident in a snow storm you could wait for a few hours.
BTW, traffic accidents (when dispatched by fire or police departments) get top priority with towing companies and that could slow AAA response times as well.
The one time I called AAA for roadside assistance, they were utterly useless. And I could find no way to send them feedback. When I called, they asked where I was. Or rather an automated answering service asked. I said “Massachusetts” and they said, “Did you say Massachusetts?” “Yes.” So far, so good. “Where in Massachusetts?” “Near Barre.” “Did you say [gibberish]?” “No.” A couple more iterations. By the way “Barre” is pronounced more or less “Barry”. Then I tried “Boston.” Did you say “Boston?” “Yes.” Finally, mirabile dictu, I got a real human being. I told her where I actually was (nowhere near Boston, in fact) and she transferred me to the Southern New England region where I got another human being who asked where I was. "On Route 122, 13 miles north of Barre (I had just seen a distance marker, so it was pretty accurate). “I can’t find Route 122 on my maps.” (Try google maps on Massachusetts Route 122. It will take 5 seconds.) I could only tell her that that’s where I was. Finally, she said someone would be there in 45 minutes. An hour and a half later, I decided to change the tire myself. Fifteen minutes later a Massachusetts State trooper stopped and took over the tire change. He didn’t leave until the spare was mounted and the old tire and luggage was back and we were off. He even followed for five miles to see that everything was okay.
Two hours later, I got a call from a garage in Petersham (the first town north of Barre) asking whether I still needed service, four hours after my initial call.
Yeah, I haven’t found them useful. I didn’t renew after the one time I called to use them.
I had a flat in a rainstorm on a busy road. It was 8:30 on a saturday morning and I had just started a 3 hour journey. Changing a flat isn’t too hard, but hey, why pay for a service if you aren’t going to use it?
I called them and they said someone would be there in 90 minutes.
That was just not acceptable response time. I changed it myself and never renewed.
All the triple A calls I and my kids have made over the past several years have been promptly serviced with one exception. It the best $200 a year I ever spent for coverage for my 2 kids and myself. Usual response time was 30 minutes to one hour. Just one or two non-AAA service calls, re jumps or tows etc. will be more than the cost of annual coverage.
Having said this I live in quasi-rural area. In cities it might be whole different equation as I’m sure AAA contract calls are not the best renumerated and you might go to the bottom of the pecking order vs other calls they get.
My GF had a flat tire (picked up a nail) waiting for her in the morning as she was headed to work. AAA not only came and was set to change the tire, but they patched the punctured tire and put her back on the road in less than 30 minutes from the original call.
There’s your problem. Judging by comments, every service of every kind is horrible to non-existent in Manhattan. I don’t understand why anybody lives there.
My nine-year-old car battery died. I called AAA. It took maybe 45 minutes, but they sent out a special battery truck. The guy had the right type of battery on the truck, swapped it out for the old one right on the street, and charged me less than I would have paid for the battery alone at my dealership.
I think that’s not necessarily so. The second tow truck I called was there in about 7 minutes after I called. The driver was polite and competent. Of course I paid an amount of money which would probably shock you.
I don’t live there, I work there. And the reason I work there is because that’s where the money is. Indeed, I make enough money so I can afford to pay the outrageous prices for services in Manhattan.
Towing garages have a finite number of tow trucks.
If say they run two trucks, and they get two accident calls, a flat tire and then you call with a dead battery, you are going to be a while.
I have had a fair number of encounters with AAA roadside service and only one made me a bit peeved. Usually they are prompt, courteous and very efficient. The only exception was a few years ago when my battery died while parked on The Loop at Stanford University. The problem wasn’t with the service when it finally arrived - the problem was their call center (in Mumbai, I’m guessing) couldn’t figure out where I was, since there isn’t an address or cross-street to refer to. After trying to explain to Steve (Rajesh) for about 5 minutes just where Stanford University was, someone local jumped on the radio net and took the call. She was there in a flash and we shared a laugh about non-locals handling dispatch. Luckily I wasn’t in a hurry to get somewhere.
The problem is not with AAA. The problem is with their tow truck contractors, who often are overworked. Especially during snow emergencies when too many call all at once.
I was talking to someone recently who was sure that AAA would be a better bet than my roadside assist via USAA (I’d estimated 30 minutes plus for a jump start). Apparently, AAA wouldn’t do any better, and I feel no great urge to pay 10x more per year for comparable service.
They have long waits for the same reason your cable company has huge appointment windows: they hire just enough contractors so they’re busy most of the time. In other words, when you call for service, it’s very likely the person they’re sending to you is already answering another call that may be on the far side of town. If that other call takes longer than expected, they’re going to be behind getting to you.
Businesses don’t like paying for unused capacity. It’s the equivalent of throwing away food.
Another problem with the AAA towing business model is the way they contract with tow companies. When I had an engine fire on I-80, right on the line between Richmond and El Cerrito (California), the local tow companies tossed it back and forth, each claiming that the other was responsible. I ended up with a third tow company, whose driver wanted the business and drove 30 miles from fucking PITTSBURG. I called at 5:30 and didn’t get home until after 10.
As far as I’ve been able to tell, AAA contracts with local tow trucks to service their members. I would guess that AAA pays their contractors less per call than the towing company would get for a direct call. Rather a “make it up in volume” kind of deal.
So my theory is that on high demand days - say a snow storm or a very cold morning - the towing companies can make much more money by prioritizing the direct calls over the AAA calls. Combine that with lots of calls, and my AAA call for a jump start can have quite a wait.
I’ve had reasonable service from AAA but this turned around a few years ago. While travelling through Ohio in a snowstorm, I ran off the road. Called AAA and they kept giving me doubletalk about the tow being on the way. For five hours with family and a small kid in the car, while it was snowing. A couple of times, I declined offers from passing tow trucks because I had been assured that AAA would be there within 20 minutes. Until I finally got mad, and accepted the offer from a passing tow truck. The highway patrol also stopped by and helped. I was told that in Ohio, AAA paid poorly and late and hence didn’t get good service or as many people agreeing (from their contractors). Still doesn’t explain why they had to lie to me about it being on the way, though.
I think the reason why the average wait time for AAA is so long (for others) is because my wife had an experience which totally skewed the average.
The other day, she locked her keys and purse in the car, so she called me to call AAA to come and open the door. I called from my work phone and was told it would be at least a 30-minute wait. While I was on the phone with AAA giving them the gas station where my wife was stuck and describing her car, my wife called my cell phone.
I told the AAA operator to hold on while I talked to my wife to see if there was new information to pass along, and the AAA operator said that he would contact the tow truck operator and inform him of the situation.
I answered my wife’s call and she said that the AAA driver had just walked into the gas station and was walking out with a soda. She walked over to ask him if he could open her door for him, and while they were talking, the call from the AAA operator came over the radio.
Thus, the AAA-directed tow truck had arrived before the AAA operator had notified the driver!!!
Her total wait time from the time she called me to the time she was back in her car was about 3 minutes. So, all in all, we were pretty excited by AAA’s response on that particular call.
