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AAA roadside

S

sk8norcal

Sir Shift-A-Lot
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Location
South San Ho
Moto(s)
are dangerous
Name
Henry
welp, this is what happens when I try to use AAA towing out on mt hamilton rd near Lick, and their driver is busy with another job and it's getting dark soon. I got their ok to use another towing company...




We received your application for reimbursement. However, due to the requested reimbursement being accident related, we need some additional information to complete the processing of your application. If you have filed or are planning on filing an insurance claim, please provide a statement from your claims adjuster advising that the insurance company is not reimbursing for the service rendered. If you have not already filed and are not planning to file an insurance claim, please provide a signed statement indicating such.

Also, the receipt we received pertaining to the services for which you are seeking reimbursement does not meet our requirements.

Please re-submit your application and a copy of an itemized receipt which includes the member’s name, the service provider’s information, the date of service, vehicle information, and exact services provided. If you are requesting reimbursement for a tow, the receipt must also include the break down location and the tow destination.

Please submit the additional documentation to:

ERS Reimbursements
PO Box 24502
Oakland, CA 94623-2450
 
Wow they're giving you the run around.

AAA towing is so unreliable one time I got stuck on a mountain road when my electric motorcycle ran out of juice and they said a tow truck will come in like an hour. An hour passes by nothing and my phone is dying and it's getting cold. I call my sister to pick me up and I go home and grab my van and trailer and extract my bike myself. I call them and tell them I got my bike and they had no clue when I could get any help now. So unprofessional, you can bet I gave them a poor review. It was cold and dark, could have been life threatening situation.

I'm also a AMA member next time I will try them out if AAA bails on me.

Also don't forget BARF post up you need help because AAA bailed on you someone might be around to help you.
 
Jammer said:
AAA roadside service has been great for me and my family.
Click to expand...

Last time I tried to use it for a car on a roadtrip I was unable to. Couldn't reach someone at AAA for help on the phone & couldn't navigate their online roadside assistance request form, since not knowing the area, I couldn't tell them where to tow the car (without talking to tow driver or AAA for suggestions). At least I had data & could try to use their shitty (at the time anyway) website. It could be better now?

We had used it successfully for a car in the past (when it was all phone, & no website), and I've used it successfully on a bike once. Tried another time for a motorcycle flat tire, but I plugged, inflated & cancelled the request before anyone had responded to it.
 
HadesOmega said:
Wow they're giving you the run around.
Click to expand...

yeah, and I think my tow guy (the non AAA guy) screwed me over also, he knew that I was trying to get AAA reimbursement, but I think he intentionally wrote very little info on the receipt.


AAA towing is so unreliable one time I got stuck on a mountain road when my electric motorcycle ran out of juice and they said a tow truck will come in like an hour. An hour passes by nothing and my phone is dying and it's getting cold. I call my sister to pick me up and I go home and grab my van and trailer and extract my bike myself. I call them and tell them I got my bike and they had no clue when I could get any help now. So unprofessional, you can bet I gave them a poor review. It was cold and dark, could have been life threatening situation.
Click to expand...

yeah, i seem to hear a lot of stories like that, where they took forever to show or never showed up at all. Partly the issue is that they only use certain tow drivers who specialized in MC.

and I also realized even if I had a friend come up with a truck, i couldn't get it up the ramp because the fork is bent, would need to be low like a trailer.

My tow truck has that AmeriDeck loader.

anyways, luckily my tow bill was covered by the insurance.

but for future reference, I would make sure my receipt has all that info they wanted.
 
My sons bike crapped out on Hwy 101 down near San Luis Obispo on a 100 degree day. Called AAA and they told him they'd get back to him. An hour later they called to say a truck was on its way. Never showed up. After multiple calls and multiple promises, a truck finally showed up. The driver said that most of the other drivers were ignoring his request because the fee is higher for cars and a lot were overheating that day. This guy was a rider so wanted to help out. Total wait time...4 hours

Mad
 
The lift pump in my truck died 10 miles outside of Grand Junction Co. last summer.
AAA had to get a tow for both truck and trailer, into town and get me setup in an RV park. While waiting for two tow trucks I added load into my trailer, stuff I needed for setup, as parked. and a ramp to pull my bike.
Stuck there for three weeks to repair.
So, close to town and bread and butter tow, about three hours wait.
 
I used AAA twice this year, each time it took 2-3 hours before help showed up, well after dark. It seemed they contracted too few tow companies, and the communication/update was poor while I waited since it's a nation-wise call center. I was very disappointed with the AAA service but a tow driver told me the response time probably wouldn't be any better if I called local tow companies directly.

A couple of interesting info from a tow driver:

Roadside assistance (AAA and others) pays a very low rate to the tow companies - something like $35 per call for in-town tow, plus a couple of dollars per mile. This compared to a typical charge of over $100 per tow without roadside assistance. This means tow companies prefer not to work with roadside assistance if they didn't have to.

Tow drivers legally cannot work more than 16 hours a day, but they're on call 24 hrs a day. He said nobody in the industry gets to sleep 8 hrs uninterrupted. They need to work the long hours to make it work financially (both for the companies and individually).
 
I'd rather have AAA Roadside assistance and not need it than need AAA Roadside assistance and not have it.
 
Maddevill said:
My sons bike crapped out on Hwy 101 down near San Luis Obispo on a 100 degree day. Called AAA and they told him they'd get back to him. An hour later they called to say a truck was on its way. Never showed up. After multiple calls and multiple promises, a truck finally showed up. The driver said that most of the other drivers were ignoring his request because the fee is higher for cars and a lot were overheating that day. This guy was a rider so wanted to help out. Total wait time...4 hours

Mad
Click to expand...

Yeah, they kept switching towing companies on me also,

Forgot the name of the first one, then Alongi brothers, then Hernandez mc
 
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Gary856 said:
I used AAA twice this year, each time it took 2-3 hours before help showed up, well after dark. It seemed they contracted too few tow companies, and the communication/update was poor while I waited since it's a nation-wise call center. I was very disappointed with the AAA service but a tow driver told me the response time probably wouldn't be any better if I called local tow companies directly.

A couple of interesting info from a tow driver:

Roadside assistance (AAA and others) pays a very low rate to the tow companies - something like $35 per call for in-town tow, plus a couple of dollars per mile. This compared to a typical charge of over $100 per tow without roadside assistance. This means tow companies prefer not to work with roadside assistance if they didn't have to.

Tow drivers legally cannot work more than 16 hours a day, but they're on call 24 hrs a day. He said nobody in the industry gets to sleep 8 hrs uninterrupted. They need to work the long hours to make it work financially (both for the companies and individually).
Click to expand...

$35? I don't believe him. Tow truck drivers want that AAA contract.
 
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Am I the only one with with AMA? Never needed for motorbikes, but used AMA half dozen times for cars.
 
I have AMA and AAA. AAA has come out to my house and jumpstarted cars a couple of times. AMA came out and towed my bike when I got a flat in south San Jose. None took more than an hour to show up.
 
Back in Houston, recovery vehicles were everywhere, at least inside the Loop. For each broken down car there would be half a dozen recovery trucks.

It’s much different in the Bay Area. You’ve got to be patient.
 
uggh

I got a "premium" membership last year, mostly because it includes motorcycle towing.
Maybe it's not really worth it.
:(
I like AAA's DMV service, a lot, though. I've done many motor vehicle transactions with them, and it beats going to a DMV office!
 
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