AAA

They are incompetent. I’ve had AAA for years. I didn’t need them, so I was clueless to how irritating they are.
1. Be prepared to wait on hold, a lot, and multiple times for each call. They will repeat to you how you are important to them and they want to provide good customer service, while they keep you on hold for, on average 7 minutes, which is a lot sitting on the street. They will also repeat to you they are experiencing high call volume… every darned time you call, like we’re too stupid to believe this.
2. Their entire system works on the phone number you are calling from. If you move and keep your cell phone #, which we all do, you will be routed to the wrong call center if you move out of the region — every darned time. They then have to transfer you and you wait on hold again. I’ve been re-​routed 2 times on some calls (~14−15 minutes on hold before the real call starts) because their people do not know geography. There is no option to change the routing because they do this automatically — like that’s a feature. I think they are living in the year 1980. I’m sure some old fool in management thinks this «automation» is great. Needs to be fired.
3. They will send someone, but the first guy never shows — always an excuse. This has happened to me 3 times out of 4. This means you need to call back to play the entire phone game again. Getting a car jumped with this process can take 2 hours or more… in a city.
4. I had the original battery in my car for 12 years, low mileage. Yeah, I know, great. When it finally needed replacing, the technician came. Took my battery out, put a new battery in, did some goofing around, took the new battery out, put the old battery back and said their was a problem with my car and left. He did not tell me what he was doing until he was ready to leave. Drove off leaving me with a 12 year old dead battery and a car parked at a meter in the city. Do the phone torture again, second guy comes out, replaces the battery and apparently my car fixed itself because everything is now fine. Battery lasted less than one year before I started having trouble with it. AAA would not replace it because they said it was a low mileage car. So, the original battery lasted 12 years with that driving pattern, and theirs didn’t make it a year. So much for their 3 year warranty. Turns out it was the wrong type of battery for my car when I took it to real professionals.
5. I asked them to mail me a new membership card. Never showed up.
6. When I called to cancel they said there was no refund. After I asked for a supervisor, a refund miraculously became available.
A once great business that has turned to crapola. Sad.

Went in the other day for an international drivers license. I thin her name was Valerie, the lady that greeted us. She was fabulous, fashionable, glam, and very helpful. So good that I had half a mind to steal her for my company! Very efficient. Thanks again for the professionalism.

I have been a long, long-​time AAA + member. They never fail to disappoint. True, there are times you might need to wait a little longer than we as busy people may want, but it’s worth the security of having this service. They DO prioritize if you do not feel safe. I had the most amazing service today. Flat tire in Tysons Corner, near my office. Put the call in for a change to spare but then realized after speaking with my husband that I don’t have one. So changed to a tow to my house which is in Clifton so not close. Steven my service representative that came to my rescue was fantastic!!! I hope Mr. Koch and management realize what a gem they have on their team. He was at the end of his shift and sure he wanted to get home to friends and family but he smiled the entire time as was extremely positive and customer oriented. I have experienced the same with non-​AAA tows in their network as well. They do a good job at creating their network. Also, so cool to see how AAA takes care of their employees with travel discounts, planning and payroll deduction to prepay for a vacation with loved ones. Steven is very excited about his trip to Times Square with his girlfriend and I am sure some well deserved time off. Kudos to AAA!

When I went to the store to get an EZ-​Pass and movie tickets, the woman at the counter was very nice, very helpful, and very efficient. No complaints. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not had to use AAA roadside service yet, but on the store side of things, I’m happy.

Horrible service! Saturday night I got a nail in my tire in DC and called AAA who connected me to the DC location. This was at 11:15pm. I was told at the most it would take an hour for them to get to me, but that they would probably be there in 30 – 40 min but maybe less. (???) They asked me if I was in a safe place. I told them I was at a gas station. They said great.
At 12:18am I got a call from AAA saying that they were delayed and he would try to get someone out to help me soon. He said they had a high number of lockouts, were short some of their staff, and it was a Saturday night… Ooookay… He gave me around the same time frame and said they would send someone from ABC Towing to put on my spare… Nothing definite… Again he asked me where I was and if I was in a safe place. I have the same response. At 1:05am someone from ABC Towing called me asking me where I was and if I could see his truck. Then before I could finish telling him where I was (almost right in front of him) he said, «Well, come out of the car and let’s talk. Come over here.» !!! Didn’t like his tone first off and besides that I don’t want to talk. I’ve been waiting for two hours for someone to do a 20 min job! I just want my spare tire put on so I’m not riding on a rim once all the air seeps out while I’m trying to get home!
So the guy from ABC Towing asked me what was wrong and if I called AAA (I’m wondering why he’s asking me this… I know he knows why he’s here). After I give him the rundown and asked him if he doesn’t normally come out to do these types of things (since he seemed very agitated to have to do it — to which he said he does normally do these things), he asked me if I called AAA again. ??? He starts working on the tire and at 1:18am he’s done! I waited 2 hours for a 13 minute tire change (minus a few minutes because of all the questions). When he finished putting on the spare he went to go get his clipboard to write up a receipt. He asked me again if I had called AAA and asked me to sign the receipt (To which he did not give me a copy. Guess I didn’t need it?). At 2am I finally got home… very tired and highly aggravated! First experience with AAA and I’m not impressed.

Unethical business and manipulative practices. Stay away from this AAA branch! My family and I went here for an international drivers permit/​license a few weeks ago, bringing our own passport photos. The agent — a longtime AAA employee — tried to charge my card $ 27 when the price is actually just $ 15, which is almost double the price. Now, if you go in to get the permit without bringing your own passport photos, the standard rate is in fact $ 27. However, I brought my photos in. To describe his manipulative tactics: he complimented me profusely on my photos while glueing them to the permit himself, and he was very conversational just before attempting to charge my card, assuming I was not paying attention and caught up in conversation. When I pointed out that it should be 15 dollars not 27, he unashamedly and casually admitted to trying to charge me the higher fee, saying «you caught me» smiling. He was not apologetic and he seemed seasoned in his manipulative ways. These disingenuous and unscrupulous business practices are another unfortunate blow to AAA’s reputation in the District. I am a hawk when It comes these things as I’ve seen too many people get casually ripped off.
Add AAA to your blacklist. They have lost a customer for life and I will ensure that thousands of colleagues beware when going here as many of us go overseas and need to drive. AAA’s reputation is despicably low in my opinion. Save yourself the time and money go somewhere else if you can.
For redemption:
If AAA would like this very permanent and very public post removed and a shot at retaining future business, please don’t hesitate to contact me. But ONLY with 1) an extraordinarily generous offer outlined in the email and 2) a dollar amount in value. Otherwise, I am certain the highly derogatory and specific tactics revealed in this post will deter others to seek more honest companies for all their travel related business.
Email:

Encouraging customers to visit AAA stores? Marketing campaign failure. At least in District of Columbia.
I went to the only AAA store in DC today for the 2 free movie tickets; however I did not bring a print out of the coupon. I thought showing my coupon on my phone would work, like it always did with Groupon, AmazonLocal, Google Offers, and so on.
Jessie, One of the AAA staff, told me that they couldn’t do anything without the coupon print out, because they had to have the coupon to attach to the receipt. I immediately realized that she was not willing to help with my situation, but I still suggested I send my coupon PDF to her email and she print it for me at her desk. She rejected, insisting that «bringing in the coupon was the only way to do it». I explained that the print out would be exactly the same, and questioned her «only way to do it» conclusion.
She responded with another question, «Didn’t you read your email?!» Then she turned away to talk on the phone. Wow, 0 star customer service.
I’m not even talking about the flexibility that AAA is lacking comparing to some competitors; if this is the level of customer service that I would receive going to a AAA store, this would be my first and last visit.
I recommend corrective actions be taken towards this only store in DC. Until then, encouraging customers to go in that store will only result in NEGATIVE impact on AAA.

I signed up for AAA in order to have someone give my parents a jumpstart as they were stuck on the side of the road. When I was told that it would be an additional $ 75 to get service the same day as signing up I asked the representative to cancel my account. I understand the need to charge, but since the the whole point was to get a jumpstart that day I really didn’t need the account.
The representative then told me that if I waited until tomorrow I wouldn’t have to pay the fee. After I commented about how absurd that was since they were stuck on the side of the road, she then told me that since they’re stuck on the side of the road it’s probably not the battery. So idiotic. I told her I really didn’t want to continue the conversation and to please just cancel my account. She replied that she also didn’t want to continue the conversation either and proceeded to hang up on me.
AAA should really do a better job of hiring competent representatives, ones that don’t hang up on customers and remotely diagnose problems they know nothing about. What an absolutely terrible experience.

Terrible, terrible, terrible.
THE WORST
My car needed a tow. I called AAA @1:10pm i was told they would arrive within one hour. Two hours later, I was still waiting. Every time I would call their dispatcher, unapologetic tell me it’s not her fault they are trying to find a driver. Then their driver called me to tell me he’d be there in 10 minutes. 40 minutes later, he still hadn’t shown up. I called AAA to complain but sane thing, «the driver is on his way»
When the tow truck finally arrived, at 4:40pm he made me and my boy friend do all of the work. I’ve used local towing before but none of them behaved like this AAA company.
A called was placed @1:10pm and driver showed up 4:40pm — you do the math.
at the end i was charged $ 4 for .3 miles extra.
If you have AAA, tell them not to use Mid-​Atlantic unless you don’t mind waiting over 3+ hours, being treated like crap by the rude dispatcher and having to do all of the work even though you’re footing the bill.

Absolutely obnoxious business practices.
I’ve been a AAA member for three years, and have paid them almost $ 700 in dues. We bought a new car that came with roadside assistance from the manufacturer, and we called to cancel about a month after our credit card was automatically charged for the following year. The guy on the phone informed us it was against their policy to pro-​rate our membership for the upcoming year, and suggested instead that we write them a paper letter and plead for a refund. Well, they just responded with a very lawyerly letter about how their renewal policy was «clearly and conspicuously» displayed on whatever mailing they had sent me last year, and so they weren’t going to pro-​rate the 11 months of membership that we won’t be using.
The funny thing is that we’ve never even once used the service. So they got $ 700 for essentially nothing, and they couldn’t humor us by refunding even a token amount.
Note, too, that this is in contrast to *other* AAA providers elsewhere in the country, who *do* provide prorated refunds. There’s tons of talk about this online. And their «new and improved» refund policy was only put into place a year ago — after I’d already been a member for quite some time. So if you do choose to do business with these crooks, be sure to read every word of the fine print in the letters they send. Who knows what they’ll try to sneak in next year.

My car battery died today and after calling the AAA operator, a battery technician arrived within 15 minutes. My technician Andrew was fabulous! After he changed my battery, he helped me check my oil, and answered questions about windshield wipers. I had also had my tire pressure light on for awhile, so he checked my tire pressure and offered to help me fill them up. Since I could not find an outlet for his air compressor, he offered to drive with me to a nearby gas station to fill them up.
I am so thankful to have AAA and to be able to receive such great service quickly!

First off, let me say that I am writing regarding AAA service in general. I chose this AAA office since it is the one I most frequently used in the past. I received my first membership from my dad when I began driving at 16 nearly 40 years ago. it saddens me to do so, but, I have decided to cancel my membership. I was in need of roadside assistance this past Sunday. The water pump appeared to go out of our Sport Trac with no warning. We were about 60 miles from home and my brother’s family was with us. We really needed help. Long story short, they wouldn’t come help us because we managed to get our car off the toll road and to a car mechanic. The mechanic was of no help since it was late Saturday and they were closing. AAA told us since we were at a mechanic, they would not assist us adding we weren’t actually broken down on the highway. If they were to tow us it was going to cost $ 200.00 plus — slightly higher than just having a plain tow from another deaier. In this day and age, I think the AAA services are outdated. Services that were once a part of the membership now cost or are no longer available — trip-​ticks; maps and travel books (limited); currency exchange; and now roadside service is restricted. I can get their services by other means including rest areas or visitors’ centers and the internet. I am going to use my insurance roadside service for this vehicle and onstar with our car. No more AAA for us.

o real complaints here… centrally located office for all of your AAA needs. I needed to get an international drivers license and was in and out in maybe 30 minutes tops. The staff was quite friendly as well.

In the year since I’ve been in DC, I’ve had to call AAA 3 times. This is more than I called AAA in the thirteen years I’ve been a member. Growing up, AAA was a real pain — you would call them and they would ask that stupid «are you safe?» question and then proceed to tell you that you would wait up to two hours. Fast forward 13 years– my average AAA wait time in metro DC has been about 20 minutes. Yesterday, when my battery died in my gym parking lot (the second time my car has stopped there), the AAA guy showed up in literally five minutes (shout out to Patrick, who has helped me out twice now) and changed my battery in about fifteen minutes.
I admit, it was a bit of a nightmare switching my membership from New England to Mid Atlantic (it only took five months of phone calls), and I wish they wouldn’t do those automated surveys every time I use their services (i.e. six or seven calls with a woman’s screaming automated voice «HOW ARE OUR SERVICES?») but I forgive them all of that because they are quick, quick, quick and reliable.

I would advise against using AAA. They debited funds from my account without my authorization. I asked for the paperwork that showed my signature authorizing the transaction. They said they would sent it since it was definetaly on file. Well, funny I havn’t seen the documents.

Much better than AAA is Better World Club. I’ve been a member for several years and learned about them at the DC Green Festival. They offer all the same services as AAA but don’t lobby Congress to lay more asphalt or open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. They’ll offset your carbon, offer bicycle roadside assistance, support environmental causes, and are all-​around great. Check them out at
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These guys are hopeless. I have just moved from CA where the AAA rates are about ²⁄₃ of the DC rates. Moreover, the CA offices help you register your car and provide useful information about other issues related to registration, dr. licenses etc, while the DC office does not do this. Moreover their off-​the-​cuff advice is often wrong.

I’m in your car, and you need a tow… I got this. I have a AAA card (with the Plus membership) which gives me 100 miles of towing without extra fees. (regular members get 3 miles free) no matter whose car I’m in. I love AAA!
I drove to my carwash, and as I was pre-​cleaning… I felt a sudden gush of air hit my foot. The sidewall of my tire blew out thanks to dry rot. Now, I was trained in driver’s ed how to replace a tire… and I tried, because I’ve done this before, but I guess I forgot a step or two ‘cuz the stupid lug nuts weren’t budging… then I gave up and called 1−800-AAA-HELP, a number I’ve had memorized since I was 16. Thanks, Dad. My membership had lapsed, so I signed up over the phone and within the hour, my tire was replaced with my donut and my car was off to get its annual shiny shine on.
Now that my minor drama is over, I have lots of hotel and travel discounts to collect.