My husband and I recently went on a trip to Cleveland to see our grandchildren.  To say the journey was stressful is an understatement.  We had car trouble on the way up and were hit from behind on the way back.  The car trouble was a flat tire.  With road construction from North Carolina to Ohio, we were careful in avoiding debris on the highway, but apparently not careful enough.

Being a long time AAA member, my husband called for roadside assistance.  The following is a letter I sent to the President and CEO of AAA detailing our experience.

Dear Mr. Boehm:

After a recent encounter with AAA, which will be detailed in this letter, I decided to look up your mission statement online.  I didn’t really see a mission statement, but I did find an “Integrity” statement.  It says:

Always do what’s right. This simple yet profound message appears throughout AAA’s Employee Code of Conduct and Supplier Code of Conduct and is the basis behind how we operate as a business, employer and community member.

On Monday, June 16, we were travelling from Leland, North Carolina to Cleveland, Ohio—a trip of approximately 696 miles.  There was a considerable amount of construction going on throughout the trip.  Shortly after passing into Ohio from West Virginia, on I 77 North, our rear passenger tire went flat.  The tire pressure indicator literally went from 33 psi to 10 to zero in seconds.   It was 9:54 a.m.

The area in which this occurred was right in the middle of a large construction site, between two walls of steep rock (see enclosed photo.)   There were no mile markers, no signs with the names of cities or towns and nothing in front of us but the highway and construction.

My husband, a member with your organization for over 57 years, pulled off of the road and said confidently that he would contact AAA and we would be on our way shortly.

After finally connecting with a roadside assistant, the conversation went like this:

Husband: (after providing member information:) Yes, we have a flat tire and need to be towed to the nearest place that can change and replace the tire.  We are in Ohio on I 77 North just across the West Virginia boarder.

AAA Assistant:  Where are you?

Husband:  We are on I 77 North, on the side of the road.  We just passed into Ohio from West Virginia.

AAA Assistant:  What is the mile marker?

Husband:  I don’t know, there isn’t a mile marker sign in the area.

AAA Assistant:  What city are you by?

Husband:  I don’t know, there are no signs where we are.

AAA Assistant:  Where do you want to be towed?

Husband:  I don’t know, we aren’t familiar with this area.

AAA Assistant:   I’m sending you an app, open it and hit accept, it will give me your location.

We opened the app, hit accept and sent it back.

AAA Assistant:  I didn’t get anything back.

At this point, a State of Ohio road truck pulled in behind us and asked if we needed help.  We asked him if he had any idea of the mile marker.  He did.  He told us it was 17.13, which we found out was between Macksburg and Dexter City, Ohio.    We relayed this information to the AAA Assistant.  He also said that the nearest city was Caldwell, Ohio.

AAA Assistant:  That number (mile marker) doesn’t sound right.

Husband:  Well, the person who stopped to help us said the nearest city is Caldwell.

AAA Assistant:  Where do you want to be towed?

Husband:  I don’t know, the nearest place to where we are.

AAA Assistant:  “Sir, if you can’t tell me the name, address and phone number of where you want to be towed, I can’t submit your ticket.”

Now, what was that Integrity statement again?  Always do what’s right?

At this point, in between asking my husband how much per year he paid for AAA membership and why does he bother, I googled “towing services near Caldwell, Ohio” and it gave me two options:  Pine Tree Towing, located at 48035 Outpost Rd., in Caldwell and Aaron’s Towing and Recovery, located at 1010 10^th Street in Vienna, West Virginia.  We gave this information to the AAA Assistant and ended the call.

At 10:23 a.m., my husband got a text message from AAA saying that Aaron’s Towing had been contacted, and they just dispatched a truck to pick us up.  The text said that the truck would arrive at our location at 11:19 a.m.

At 11:40 a.m., I called the Aaron’s Towing Company detailed in the text from AAA.  I explained that we were working with AAA and that AAA said to expect Aaron’s at 11:19. I asked if they had dispatched the truck for us yet, as it was past the time that AAA said they would arrive.

Now, what was that Integrity statement again?  Always do what’s right?

I was told that no call from AAA was received, and no truck had been dispatched and here’s the kicker–we were out of their jurisdiction so they could not help us.  Which meant that we sat on the side of the road for two hours, wasting gas, waiting for a truck that was not coming.

I called Pine Tree Towing and explained our situation.  I was told that they do not work with AAA but could help us if we wanted to pay their towing rate ($185.00).  She also gave us the name of a tire place and suggested that I call them to see if they could fit us into their schedule, which I did.  I called Pine Tree back and told them that Mike’s Tire Shop, located at 428 Cumberland St, in Caldwell could take us.  She said, “my tow truck driver will be at your location in about 20 minutes and will take you to Mike’s.”  21 minutes later, the Pine Tree tow truck arrived.

It took 10 minutes to put the car on the flatbed and 10 minutes to get to “Mike’s” to have the tire changed.  After being at Mike’s for around 15 minutes, we were back on the road at 1:12 p.m.  In essence, working with AAA, it took us 3 hours to get a 15-minute tire change.  We eventually got a text saying that AAA could not assist us, which at that point was no surprise.

Now, what was that Integrity statement again?  Always do what’s right?

Obviously, this letter is intended to not only tell you that after 57 years of membership, this is not the “service” we expected from AAA.   In those 57 years, I am estimating that we have spent over $7,125 in membership fees.  So, we are testing your Integrity statement, by seeking reimbursement for the $185.00 towing charges (receipt on next page), the $10.00 tip for the tow truck driver (I am slightly disabled and had to literally be lifted into the tow truck with the help of the driver), $13.37 for a quarter of a tank of gas (see calculations, next page) and $60.06 (receipt on next page) for the tire service   The total is $268.43.

I submit this with the highest level of integrity that all statements are true and the receipts are authentic.  A timely reply and reimbursement would be appreciated.  If you need additional information, you can reach my husband at the number listed at the top of this letter.

Sincerely,

Tony and Jan Swegle