Poll of the Day > AAA is honestly and truly the biggest waste of money

(+) Yeah! (+)

My car went down at approximately 6:30, and I found somewhere safe to park and called them. They gave me an estimate of about an hour and a half, and I was totally understanding of that

8:30 I got nothing and called them to follow up

They hadnt dispatched anyone yet, but were working on it

10:30 still nothing and I am FURIOUS. This time the guy hangs up on me

12:30 I had enough and just decided to make my car trudge along, at 25 mph, the most it can go, while my car computer says the engine is too lean

I make it home in 30 minutes

another tow company I called prior to being FURIOUS quoted me for $350 fucking dollars



AAA still hasnt and most likely will not call me back. What am I paying money for???

Keep in mind I live in a decent sized city. With a HUGE tourist population at any given time.

the AAA guy was telling me that they only had 2 trucks available

Your insurance provider probably offers roadside assistance. It's likely cheaper too.

The most devastating part of this was that I was supposed to meet someone for a date after work today

I've had a pretty good experience with CAA (the Canadian equivalent), but I can see it varying by area based on how well-equipped they are to handle the demand. Sounds like you should be looking at other options, since AAA doesn't seem to be doing well. Probably also demand a refund of your membership fee for the year, since waiting over 6 hours (it'll probably actually be 24+ by the time you call) is absolutely not within the service standards they advertise.

I've never had AAA, but I know people who have used it and they've never had a problem. They got pretty prompt service, and the driver was pretty chill. And had no problem driving multiple people back with the car.

All I can say is, maybe they only have two trucks because that's usually enough to cover the area, and you just happened to get unlucky on a night when multiple people all broke down at the same time. Or they usually have more than two trucks, but some of their trucks are currently being serviced and are unavailable. Either that or your definition of a "decent sized city" doesn't match AAA's definition, and they don't see it worth devoting that much coverage to (especially if not a ton of people there are paying for AAA).

If it becomes a recurring problem, it's worth noting that some auto insurance companies have free (or low-cost) roadside assistance programs where you can get a local tow company to tow you, so you could always look into that (you might have access to it already and not know it).

I was told once they have to service every vehicle on the way to you before you regardless of call or wait time

I once was stranded at my job from close at 11 to 330 in the morning. It was 15 degrees out and my car wouldn't start. My boss let me be inside while he did paperwork until about 1230 but for three hours I huddled in my car hoping not to freeze to death