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Old December 18th 05, 06:09 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys
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Default YJ Breaks down - Bad Triple AAA Experience.

Send a copy of your complaint to the local BBB too.

That really sucks. Never ever had service like that - granted I have never had AAA
either!

Suggestion for the future. Find a good small towing company near where the garage
you like is.




On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 18:20:39 GMT, Lou Boncek > wrote:

>>I figure I'd put this ins seprate post, because it is sort of a rant, and
>>some people won't want to read it.
>>
>>
>>Last year my 90 YJ Blew a water pump and AAA had an independent tow truck to
>>me in less that 30 minutes, polite tow person, offered me his cell phone to
>>make arrangements with garage, wife, employer, and offered me a ride.
>>
>>But yesterday I had my worst experience with AAA.
>>
>>My Jeep gets hung up in a snow bank, because a plow went through an
>>intersection, didn't raise its wing and buried the front of the Jeep with a
>>few feet of snow. It was on an incline, at a red light, with a line of
>>traffic behind me. Long story-short, going up over the snow bank, does
>>something to kill the starter and the electrical system.
>>
>>OK. Call 911, because I'm blocking traffic on the exit ramp and I am one
>>quarter of the way in to the intersection, which is not a flat intersection
>>but a hump, so you can't just push through it. Plus it has been snowing so
>>there is over a foot of snow to go through.
>>
>>Time is about 7:30 am.
>>
>>Local police come. Real pleasant, considering it is snowing, slippery, a
>>line of traffic. He helps me shovel the Jeep and gets the traffic around
>>the Jeep so we can push it 10 feet back down the ramp, so he can put his car
>>behind it with lights and get traffic moving around us.
>>
>>He asks if I want a tow, AAA. I tell him I have Triple A. He says he'll
>>make the call for me, if He can have my card. I go to get my card and
>>realize I can't see! One of my lens has fallen out while we were pushing
>>the Jeep!
>>
>>I know the card is the gold one in my wallet, so I find it by color and give
>>it to him and then spend 10 minutes in a foot of snow and somehow find the
>>lost lens in one piece.
>>
>>The officer lets me know that AAA is on the way and he will stay there
>>because he think the situation could be hazardous.
>>
>>About 30 minutes later a "real" AAA Flat bed shows up. Logo on the side,
>>driver with official looking jacket, etc. The Syracuse Triple A has its own
>>trucks and drivers!
>>
>>Time is about 8:00 am.
>>
>>We are discussing the best way to load the Jeep, since we are in the
>>intersection, when a second AAA tow truck show up. Wow! What service! Two
>>truck - two official looking guys. This is great!
>>
>>So he'll stop traffic with his truck and lights, so the flat bed can back
>>in.
>>
>>All goes just like clock work. Less than 5 minutes.
>>
>>HERE IS WHERE IT ALL STARTS TO GO DOWNHILL!
>>
>>Driver asks, "Where do you want it towed?" Now BOTH drivers are standing
>>right there.
>>
>>I tell them, Trapasso's Garage, Fulton (NY), which is located directly in
>>front of the Fulton State Police Barracks.
>>
>>Driver says he is not really familiar with Fulton. Do I know the street
>>address? No I do not, but is is in Fulton, right next to the State Police
>>Barracks.
>>
>>I tell him, pull out to your left and go down the ramp, take 481 North to
>>Fulton. Get to near the center of town and I'm not sure if it is the 3rd
>>light or the 4th light, but you'll see a company like Hutamaka on the left,
>>a wendys, Take a right. And go until you see the State Police Barracks.
>>
>>He then asks, are you going to ride with me?
>>
>>I replied that the officer has been kind enough to drive me the mile to
>>where I work, and that my wife had already called the garage, they've worked
>>on the Jeep before and already were getting a starter and some other
>>possible needed parts to have on hand, so if that was indeed the cause they
>>could get it right in and back to me.
>>
>>He says, OK. I'll call dispatch and get the street address.
>>
>>Both tow trucks pull away. The officer waits until they clear the scene.
>>Motions me to get in the car and drives me to work. I thank him for
>>everything.
>>
>>The garage where I wanted the Jeep taken is 14.9 miles North of where it
>>broke down. Even in the bad weather, he should be there in 30 minutes, heck
>>even give him an hour in case he stops for coffee or something.
>>
>>Time is about 8:15 am.
>>
>>At 1:00 pm my wife calls me (She had been home all morning waiting for the
>>weather to clear so she could put in a half days work - my job, I'm
>>considered "essential staff" so I get docked a day even when they are
>>closed, if I don't show up) Anyway, 1:00 PM. She tells me she called the
>>garage to make arrangements to pay and pick up the Jeep and they tell her,
>>Jeep isn't there! Never showed up!
>>
>>1:05 PM I call AAA.
>>
>>"Hey, I had a road side emergency tow this morning at about 8:00 am and the
>>garage tells me, the Jeep hasn't gotten there yet. What happened?"
>>
>>They go through all the stuff, name, etc to bring up the computer screen
>>(Also I am calling the LOCAL Syracuse AAA office, not a 800 anywhere number)
>>
>>"Well, it says here you didn't tell the driver where you wanted it taken"
>>
>>OK - so my bloods beginning to boil, and I say, No, I told the driver
>>EXACTLY where to take it. I told BOTH drivers where I Wanted it taken. I did
>>not have the EXACT street address, but the driver said he would call
>>dispatch and get the address.
>>
>>"Well where did you want it taken?" I told him exactly what I told the
>>other two drivers. And I ask, by the way, where is the Jeep.
>>
>>"Oh, it's here in our yard."
>>
>>We go back and forth a little bit, no swearing or anything, just disbelief
>>that it was not delivered.
>>
>>"Well it says in the drivers report, you didn't give him your phone number
>>so we had no way to get in touch with you to find out where you wanted it,
>>so we off loaded it."
>>
>>I asked him if he had his computer screen up in front of him and he told me
>>yes, he did. OK. Let's check something, is my address correct? I give him
>>my address. Then I ask him - Now, where is says phone number, you do have a
>>phone number listed there for me, don't you?
>>
>>Silence.
>>
>>"We didn't know your work number?"
>>
>>I said, my wife has been home all morning. She has made arrangements with
>>the garage. They are waiting for the Jeep.
>>
>>"Well sir it says in the drivers report you left the scene before the truck
>>left so the driver did not know where to take the Jeep.
>>
>>Oh-Boy, can blood really boil! I review with him that the Officer and I
>>stayed until the truck left he scene.
>>
>>"Oh, the officer was there too? Let me put you on hold.
>>
>>Back off hold 10 minutes or so later.
>>"We'll get it there today sir."
>>
>>Unaccepatable! I've made arrangements with some people I know that are
>>coming in to Syracuse to shop. They were/are going to pick the Jeep up and
>>drop it off so I can get home. I live 30 miles from where I work. The
>>garage said they can fix it by the time the close today at 5:00 pm. THey are
>>not open this weekend. So if you put it on a truck now (It is about 1:30 by
>>now), and truck it, it will be there in an hour, plenty of time for them to
>>fix it and for me to get home. You do understand the problem? No Jeep. No
>>way to get home?
>>
>>"Let me put you on hold" (Another 10 minutes or so)
>>
>>While on hold, I look up the address, phone number of the garage. Call the
>>garage and talk with them. Yes they will work on my Jeep right way because
>>they know I need it.
>>
>>The AAA guy comes back on the line. I give him the name of the garage, the
>>address of the garage and the phone number of the garage.
>>
>>"Sir, all our trucks are busy now"
>>
>>I'll tell you what. Don't use one of your trucks. Call a tow company. Get
>>one of their trucks there NOW and get that Jeep on the road, so I have a way
>>to get home tonight! And YOU will pick up the cost!
>>
>>(On hold again)
>>
>>"Sir, we have it logged in for pick up by 2:08 pm toady.
>>
>>I figure OK, even if they leave by 2:30, get there by 3:30 the guys at the
>>garage should be able to get it done by 5:00 pm.
>>
>>I then stay on the line and tell him to add a note, that is is a formal
>>complaint, that the service has been rotten. (I left out the part where he
>>told me that since I was at work I was safe and secure and they had to do
>>their assistance first before they could take care of my problem - the
>>problem they created when THEIR driver decided he didn't want to go 15 miles
>>North - I need to find out if those guys get paid by the call, that would
>>explain why he dumped my Jeep, so he could hit some local tows!)
>>
>>So we end up, I remind him 2:08. You have my work number, I expect a call
>>at 2:10 for you to updated me on the status of this situation. Hang up.
>>
>>So I'm working away not realizing the time and see that is is 4:00 PM.
>>
>>Call the garage. "Hows the Jeep?"
>>"What Jeep?"
>>"The White 1990 Wrangler Triple A dropped off, probably 30 minutes, an hour
>>ago."
>>"Hold on." "Sir, I checked our lot, our side lot and inside all the bays,
>>there are no Jeeps here. Let me get you the owner.
>>
>>The owner comes on, he knows from my wife's call and my previous call the
>>situation. He tells me, if it shows up - yeah he was suppose to close at 5,
>>but if it gets there by 5:00 pm he'll stay and work on it. I thank him.
>>
>>4:10 PM Call Triple A
>>"I have a problem, my Jeep was supposed to be taken to a specific garage
>>today at 9:00 am, it's not there yet -"
>>"What's you name, etc....again"
>>
>>"OH, yes sir, I have the information right here, You didn't give the driver
>>a place to take it so they took it to our Taft Road Offices in Syracuse, do
>>you want it to go someplace?"
>>
>>I briefly explain, heatedly, how their driver lied for some reason, the
>>conversation with the person I had a 1:00 pm about the Jeep and how it was
>>suppose to be on a truck at 2:08, and how if it is still on their lot, They
>>have a real problem, because I don't have a way to get home.
>>
>>"Hmmm sir, I think I better have you speak with a supervisor.
>>
>>Supervisor comes on line.
>>
>>I briefly explain the entire story you've read so far, hitting only the high
>>points, like the driver's incompetence, lying, no call back at 2:10, so we
>>could have dealt with the situation then.
>>
>>"She puts me on hold"
>>
>>"Sir, I show here that the transport is at the lot and your Jeep is being
>>taken to the garage."
>>
>>She does not yet understand the situation. So I have to spell it out for
>>her. Had the Jeep been taken directly to the garage in the morning. I
>>would have a ride home. Had the Jeep been taken at 2:08, I would have a
>>ride home. But since the Jeep is now going to arrive AFTER the garage is
>>closed, I have TWO problems that they have caused. 1. I have no ride home.
>>2. I have no way to get to work on Monday, because they will need to fix the
>>Jeep on Monday, and I don't want to loose a days pay because of all their
>>screw up and incompetence all day long.
>>
>>She puts me on hold.
>>
>>While on hold, I start making phone calls on another line, and after 5 or so
>>calls find a friend who would be able to get me.
>>
>>15 minutes later she gets back on the line, And I tell her, while she had
>>me on hold I found a way to get home. She told me she had been working on
>>that - I told her that is the first time today anyone had tried to fix the
>>situation.
>>But - I explain to her the second situation. No way to get to work. And I
>>suggest to her that I think Triple A can provide for me a car Sunday night,
>>preferably a 4WD or All-wheel drive as snow squalls are predicted, so I can
>>drive to work on Monday, make arrangements to get my Jeep and then drop the
>>car off Monday night.
>>
>>She asks if I have a cell phone and I give her my number. She says she will
>>call me back. I told her that I won't be home until 8:00 pm because of the
>>arrangements, so you call my cell up to then and my home after that.
>>
>>Then I think to ask. When they drop the Jeep off, they will secure the
>>Jeep. I mean the garage will be closed.
>>
>>"Oh, yes" If there is a drop box the driver always puts the keys in it.
>>
>>
>>So----On my way home I ask if we can make a 10 minute detour to the garage.
>>
>>Guess what? Garage is closed! Guess what? The Jeep doors are open and the
>>keys are in the ignition. Along with the gas cap key and the back
>>compartment key.
>>
>>And of course, oh, yeah, even at night, I can see it. They have a drop box
>>right by the door!!!
>>
>>They haven't called me yet about a car for work on Monday either. Think I
>>should hold my breath?
>>
>>Thanks for letting me rant - but I do want to get the message out, that the
>>Syracuse Branch of the Triple A, on this instance has been totally
>>incompetent. I plan to write a formal complaint (Won't help me, might the
>>next person) and find out what other agency's you can write to to report
>>how I was treated by Triple A that day.
>>
>>Like I said before - I've used Triple A in the past, and every other time it
>>was an independent tow that Triple A contracts with and they have ALWAYS
>>been on time, polite and helpful.
>>
>>This is the first time that the Syracuse Triple A, which keeps its own fleet
>>of trucks and drivers responded, and the response, the lying by the driver,
>>the lack of concern and slow/no action is unbelievable.
>>
>>But I'm thinking, we have a car in our driveway that is fully licensed and
>>insured, and plated, but has slipping clutch that we plan to get fixed after
>>the holiday bills.
>>
>>What do you think? Should I call up Triple A on Monday at about 5 am and
>>tell them I need a tow, and give the the address of my jobsite and then ride
>>in with the driver?
>>
>>Hope you all have pleasant experiences, and I hope that my complaining to
>>Triple A and appropriate agencies will make your next experience
>>better!.....lou
>>

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