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Old December 17th 05, 11:12 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys
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Default YJ Breaks down - Bad Triple AAA Experience.

Like it or not everyone needs to read it, especially anyone near Syracuse.

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"Lou Boncek" > wrote in message
...
>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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