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Roadside Assistance: Who Ya Gonna Call?
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Roadside Assistance: Who Ya Gonna Call?
Knowing the details of your roadside assistance program pays off when you're stranded and need help fast. | March 18, 2010 | AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety
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With no phone I could not be called in the garage where it was extremely cold and the library was about to close. It turned out the women who was unable to find my membership had not relayed that I was in the garage and the "locksmith" was waiting out front. Once discovered he drove down in a totally unmarked truck with no uniform. When i asked what company he was from he named a different one from what AARP told me.
He did not have the proper equipment but used something hand made like a coat hanger. Meanwhile the garage had emptied. Then he told me it would be $170+!!! and wanted cash. I am a 72 yo woman and did not chose to confront him . I did tell him I did not carry that kind of cash so he produced a credit card form but no proper way to run my card. Meanwhile the heavy metal grated door closed on us.
I later found it would open when approached from the inside but did not know that at the time. When I reached my husband later he called AARP and they found my membership immediately but too late. They refunded $120 of the $170+ after many phone calls. No apology. No account fo the women I originally spoke with through they told me they identified her.
Needless to say, we are returning to AAA . Who always took our word if the card was locked in the car and we produced it once unlocked.
I was a member in good standing with a Platinum Elite membership, which allows me unlimited tow and use of other services. Unfortunately, I used the service twelve times in two years and that is when I received the dooms day letter. I tried to address this issue to no avail. The funny thing is that I informed Allstate Motor Club that I have a very long commute to work over ninety-five miles one-way. Therefore, I need a service that I can use if my vehicle broke down. Unaware of the limitations of my membership I received a letter from Allstate Motor Club Loss Control Dept stating that I had excessive usage and therefore they had to cancel my membership. So, after several calls into customer service I realized that one, Loss Control Dept was a ghost department with very little access to the public and unlimited actually meant to the discretion of the company.
Therefore, I decided to inform the public when dealing with Allstate Motor club caveat emptor- “Let the buyer beware”.
My vehicle need a jump. I called the Allstate people and they dispatched some independent contractor. He came out to the lonely country road and said YOU OWE ME MORE MONEY. Call Allstate! I said I already paid for the call. What he was going on about was that he wanted me to pay an earlier call that Allstate made to him but cancelled. I refused. Overnight when the vehicle was parked some thief stole one of the RV batteries. He looked at it and said "I'm outta here." I said, hey, drive me to an auto parts store. He said "no way." I said, "you're going to leave me in the middle of nowhere-a fellow human being?" He said "I don't think Allstate will fire me because I do." He then cursed at me and said that even though I paid Allstate $50 for the jump that he only got EIGHT BUCKS of that. He then peeled out and the dirt and the gravel hit my pants.
I then walked about 2 miles to a real estate office and called AllState again. I said what happened and Allstate informed me that I would get no refund as he actually came out to me and then told me to go to hell.
I then told the man that I had a 6 wheel vehicle with an empty shell on the back. He then said he would send a truck to tow me to an auto parts store.
The tow bed truck shows up an hour late and the man says "I'm not going to put that on the truck. It's too heavy." i said, Its just a Ford 450 with an empty shell on the back" He got into his truck and drove away. I then walked another two miles and found a local to drive me to an auto parts store where I got two new batteries and she started up.
So there you go-YOU may pay $75 for the service but ALLSTATE pays them $8 so then don't give a damn about you at all. I told Allstate that they don't give a damn about Allstate's customers and Allstate said "well, they skip having to pay advertising costs to get customers so we are not being unfair."
So if you would like the same kick in the [non-permissible content removed] that I got from Allstate and its TWO towing contractors then go ahead and give them your money. Otherwise, go with Good Sam or AAA. If it looks too good to be true-it is. BTW, the credit card company said they will be pleased to take these two charges off of my credit card bill as they did not provide services as promised.