AAA Towing Insurance Is A Rip Off.

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I was coming home from the beach, with my empty car trailer behind my truck. Stopped for diesel in Spartanburg, SC, and discovered I had a trailer tire that was almost flat. Like a dumbass....I had forgotten a jack for the trailer! I called AAA to send somebody to just bring me a jack. They asked me what the vehicle was, and I told them an 04 Red 2500 Dodge with a car trailer hitched to it. They were all pumped up to send me some help, and I told them the flat was on the trailer....and then their whole attitude changed. Said they couldn't fix a flat trailer tire. I went up the road to a thrift shop and borrowed a floor jack and put my spare on. I dropped AAA like a hot potato and never looked back!
 
Last week, my wife and I were out on our boat. She was taking a nap when I noticed we were taking on water. I called our insurance company because we have on-water service protection. (Our bilge pumps failed.) After 15 minutes talking to the agent, while she was starting the “claim process”, she told me that a boat service would be at our location in about 1-1/2 hours. I said forget it because we’ll be on the bottom by then. Just before I hung up on that idiot, she said “wait, I’ll try another boat service”. Then a few minutes later she told me they would be there in 10 minutes (they were). They kept us from sinking and together we found out why we were taking on water (broken through-hull fitting on the forward bilge pump).

The boat service people weren’t wearing stupid masks and they jumped onto our boat without false worries of the Kung flu. Two super nice people (in NJ no less).

If I had signed up for the boat service company who told us 1-1/2 hours, we may have had a complete loss. But by going through the boat insurance, they had the option to engage multiple service providers. I never thought before that this would be the advantage that it turned out to be.
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charger426 said:
So you walked home (no cell phone???) and you didn’t have a jump box so you could just jump your DD and get home?
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That's right, i don't own a cell phone in my old age.
I don't have any need for one.
A regular dumb phone, land line, still suits me just fine.

Sure i own a jumper box, (battery charger) but where am i going to plug it in, at the parking lot at the strip mall???
 
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SUGGESTION : If you are disabled on an interstate , call the State Police (first) then AAA . If AAA says response is aver 45 minutes call the S.P. back and tell them AAA is non-responsive . Watch how fast AAA responds . Also , when you call the S.P. declare that you are in a dangerous position or that you have health issues ( don't lie to them). wow , even faster . Fact : the S.P.s in New Hampshire have zero tolerance for slow service
 
It's a Covid thing. My /6 Coronet broke down one town over this summer in the heat. Didn't feel like getting too involved in a boiling parking lot. AAA said I couldn't ride in the cab. Called my wife to get me. Thank god an ice cream truck happened to come by so I bought a milkshake to cool off.

It's the same with my company I work for. We can't have 2 people in our company vans. Social distancing ya know.
 
hemi71x said:
That's right, i don't own a cell phone in my old age.
I don't have any need for one.
A regular dumb phone, land line, still suits me just fine.

Sure i own a jumper box, (battery charger) but where am i going to plug it in, at the parking lot at the strip mall???
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No jumper cables?
 
68gtxman said:
Last week, my wife and I were out on our boat. She was taking a nap when I noticed we were taking on water. I called our insurance company because we have on-water service protection. (Our bilge pumps failed.) After 15 minutes talking to the agent, while she was starting the “claim process”, she told me that a boat service would be at our location in about 1-1/2 hours. I said forget it because we’ll be on the bottom by then. Just before I hung up on that idiot, she said “wait, I’ll try another boat service”. Then a few minutes later she told me they would be there in 10 minutes (they were). They kept us from sinking and together we found out why we were taking on water (broken through-hull fitting on the forward bilge pump).

The boat service people weren’t wearing stupid masks and they jumped onto our boat without false worries of the Kung flu. Two super nice people (in NJ no less).

If I had signed up for the boat service company who told us 1-1/2 hours, we may have had a complete loss. But by going through the boat insurance, they had the option to engage multiple service providers. I never thought before that this would be the advantage that it turned out to be.
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Had something similar happen to me. A seal to the outboard unit failed, stalled the boat and we started taking on water, but not very fast.

Not real sure of what to do, I called 911 and they dispatched the county sheriff's rescue boat. They happened to be in the area, so it wasn't five minutes before they were there. They towed us to the nearest marina, per their policy, and that was good. Had to call a cab to get back to my truck and trailer at the opposite end of Oneida Lake, and that was a $100 cab ride, payable in cash, in advance, but everything went well.

I looked into coverage and there was none available in the area.

Long story short, I got tired of messing around with the "Bust Out Another Thousand" hole in the water and decided that it wasn't any fun anymore and sold it.
 
mopowers said:
No jumper cables?
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Wouldn't have made any difference if i tried to jump start the car, in the parking lot, or just replace the battery there, as i made the judgement call to do.

After walking home, called a friend, and he wasn't home to help me out.
Then called Triple A, finding out you can't ride in their trucks.
Gave up on them.
My elderly lady neighbor in the other half of the duplex that i reside in, gave me a ride down to the local Car Quest parts store, and then over to the strip mall parking lot, with my tools, to change out the battery.

Just turned out to be a Sunday morning inconvenience, than anything else, but also learning about the towing policy that they have about riding in the truck that irritated me, over that policy.

Have i clarified what i did?


FYI
I cancelled my AAA road side assistance policy, which turned out easy to do.
They didn't give me a hassle, or grief, over the cancellation.
 
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Over 40+ years in the towing business I have had entire family’s in my trucks to get where they were going,,,,there is NO GOLDEN rule..company choice or driver’s discretion.
AAA is a franchise,most AAA company’s are private Towing business’s ...HOWEVER RIDING IN A TOWED VEHICLE IF NOT ILLEGAL,,,VERY STUPID.
 
I've used AAA a bit. Not so much for me... Maybe three or four in the 20+ years I've had it, but it's been good. Once for a flat tire on my truck where I was 80 miles away from home and on a very busy highway with a narrow shoulder. The AAA guy flatbeded me off (free) because he didn't want to change it there either.

But when my kids were living home... and driving POS cars, it was great. Only once could I really complain and that's when my youngest broke a lower ball joint on his Avenger. The car was sitting on the ground and the dumbass with the rollback was going to destroy the car by dragging it up. It was a AAA vehicle, and that's seems to be more common than the private guys. He had called me and I was there when they showed up.

He tried a couple times, and after deciding he couldn't do it (read, us telling him), he tried jacking the car up... Presumably to put a skid under the front. He had taken it out of gear to try pulling it up and since the car was on a hill, it started rolling away. One of us (can't remember who) grabbed a tire chock and tossed it under the rear. In hindsight, it probably would have been better if we let it go, as it was the middle of the night with no one around to hurt, but we didn't. He gave up at that point and drove away, leaving the tire chock.

I started to pick up my phone, figuring on calling some guys I knew in the business, and submitting the bill after. It rang and it was another tow truck guy. He said he heard what was going on and he wasn't busy, so he stopped. He showed up in a black, quiet Chevy truck with a wheel lift, no markings on it. Obviously, a repo guy. Older, really nice guy that took care of business and got the car towed without more damage.

I kept the tire chock.

But, that was the only time I had an issue. Did have another flatbed (independent) break down with my car on the back, but that was actually funny enough to make up for the time wasted... Another independent company showed up and I knew the driver, so it we all stood there, making jokes about it.

I'm still with AAA. My kids are old enough so they aren't covered now. I'm not a fan of playing mechanic on the side of the road with a newer car that probably has some electronic problem that I'm not going to be able to fix. The old cars... I can fix them... New cars, not so much.
 
Dropped my AAA this year.
Last time I re-upped to what had been Keystone, I didn't catch the reduced towing distance on the policy -
it was less than 5 miles. Shoot that wouldn't have got me, or the car, anywhere to speak of.
This year I let it expire for good.
At one time the New Jersey AAA membership price was reasonable, especial for family. The SE PA club, then called Keytone, was always more, but since then its got to the point that there is no benefit.

Lets see what the local membership fee and towing distance is now.
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I could see maybe justifying the $123.50 with the second person offer. Maybe. Or maybe its just better to call a local company and pay them. I know how many years go by between the times when I've run out of fuel, needed a jump, or a tow. That and how common it is to have ridculous wait times for their service it seemed like it was time to stop giving them money. Money that also goes to lobbying positions I dont always agree with and marketing stuff I don't need.
 
i bought a classic truck a year ago. It needed towing home, as it needed work. I called AAA, and they said no problem. So, I buy the truck, and call them back to send a flatbed. The different person on the phone says they can't do that. I said why, since it's now my truck, and all vehicles are covered. She says no way. I talked to a supervisor, and she said the same thing. The seller of the truck had a dolly, and towed it home for me for75 bucks. I haven't dropped them, but they are on my doo doo list.
 
hemi71x said:
That's right, i don't own a cell phone in my old age.
I don't have any need for one.
A regular dumb phone, land line, still suits me just fine.

Sure i own a jumper box, (battery charger) but where am i going to plug it in, at the parking lot at the strip mall???
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A cell phone is a dumb phone.... A jump box and battery charger are two different tools. Jump box is portable with a battery charger needing wall power. Battery chargers can have “jump” modes but isn’t want people call a jump box as a jump box is it’s own tool.
 
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charger426 said:
A cell phone is a dumb phone.... A jump box and battery charger are two different tools. Jump box is portable with a battery charger needing wall power. Battery chargers can have “jump” modes but isn’t want people call a jump box as a jump box is it’s own tool.
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Well, thank you for the clarification, in the wording that i used in my reply.:rolleyes:

Then i "DON'T HAVE" a "JUMP BOX" out in my garage.
Enough said??
 
I've never had AAA and really can't understand how people justify paying for it, year after year. I have "roadside assistance" on my State Farm polices for both my daily driver and my occasional use pickup. It's stupid cheap, like less than $10 a year per vehicle and I've used it more than once. A human in the US picks up the phone and gets a local tow company out to you pronto. They towed my vehicle home and gave me a ride too (this was before the covid nonsense though). All I had to do was sign the invoice, which was about $70 something if I remember right, and they sent it off to my insurance. It was about as hassle free as a breakdown can be.

I have Grundy for the Dart, and I'd have to check the policy to see what on there, but it's so inexpensive I'm pretty sure towing wouldn't be covered. Even if I did have to pay for a tow bill I think I'd still be ahead of the game vs. AAA
 
Keystone said:
I've never had AAA and really can't understand how people justify paying for it, year after year. I have "roadside assistance" on my State Farm polices for both my daily driver and my occasional use pickup. It's stupid cheap, like less than $10 a year per vehicle and I've used it more than once. A human in the US picks up the phone and gets a local tow company out to you pronto. They towed my vehicle home and gave me a ride too (this was before the covid nonsense though). All I had to do was sign the invoice, which was about $70 something if I remember right, and they sent it off to my insurance. It was about as hassle free as a breakdown can be.

I have Grundy for the Dart, and I'd have to check the policy to see what on there, but it's so inexpensive I'm pretty sure towing wouldn't be covered. Even if I did have to pay for a tow bill I think I'd still be ahead of the game vs. AAA
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A AAA membership is really easy for me to justify. Last time I was shopping for car insurance, they were the cheapest of the 5 places I called - even with the $95 yearly membership. The roadside assistance is just a plus for me, but then again, I carry jumper cables. I guess it just depends on what state/county/city someone lives.
 
AAA is like anything else. The service trucks are mostly independent contractors, and there might be several in an area. Some will give great service, and others won't. Myself, I don't have it, as they would be no help if I break down with my truck/trailer/race car. If I am local with just mt daily driver, the 5 mile max tow would only get me to a local shop, that does not have a good reputation, and most likely would not be within in range to get me home.
 
68gtxman said:
Last week, my wife and I were out on our boat. She was taking a nap when I noticed we were taking on water. I called our insurance company because we have on-water service protection. (Our bilge pumps failed.) After 15 minutes talking to the agent, while she was starting the “claim process”, she told me that a boat service would be at our location in about 1-1/2 hours. I said forget it because we’ll be on the bottom by then. Just before I hung up on that idiot, she said “wait, I’ll try another boat service”. Then a few minutes later she told me they would be there in 10 minutes (they were). They kept us from sinking and together we found out why we were taking on water (broken through-hull fitting on the forward bilge pump).

The boat service people weren’t wearing stupid masks and they jumped onto our boat without false worries of the Kung flu. Two super nice people (in NJ no less).

If I had signed up for the boat service company who told us 1-1/2 hours, we may have had a complete loss. But by going through the boat insurance, they had the option to engage multiple service providers. I never thought before that this would be the advantage that it turned out to be.
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Nice Boat , what i did was chipped out tapered wooden plugs to fit every hole thru my hull and i never put a thru hull where i can't get to it from the top side . My father told me when i first started fishing and it stuck with me . you gotta look after your own *** when your out '' there ''
 
I've had 'em 8 years, no complaints. This is new, and has to be Covid thing. I doubt there's a tow-truck driver in Missouri that would subscribe to that.
 
Started driving a wrecker in ‘78 and continued to do so till 2004 when I left the auto service industry.

I would put two or three people into the cab at times (three in a dire event) and never, ever, not once allowed anyone to ride in a car on the flatbed or ever heard that was a thing, wow that’s dumb.

I can’t speak for the current state of COVID or regulations set in place buy insurance company’s but there a few towing company’s in this area that have crew cab wreckers.

Ok, my professional, hands on two cents worth.

Cliff Ramsdell
 
Had a AAA driver (flat bed) tell me he could not tow my vehicle because the registration was expired.

I told him I was a CHP officer in the past, and I knew very well only vehicles whose tires touch the highway/pavement need to be currently registered. A vehicle on a flat bed has all four tires off the pavement. He gave in.

What would it matter anyway?
 
I had roadside service /towing through my Farmers Insurance Policy. Alternator took a crap and sucked battery dry. Died at Walmart. Called them and seven hours and numerous calls later I got towed to the car repair shop 150 yards away in the same shopping mall. Haven't decided who to use yet.
 
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