AAA Today

[#1]

One of the most interesting things about working for AAA is that it seems everyone has a story about us. I’ll go to an event and mention that I work here, and almost immediately a conversation starts about someone’s experience with our road service.

One guy told me he was running into a 7-11 and left the car running…without thinking about it, he also instinctively hit the lock button. As he stood there, peering in the window, he realized he was also almost out of gas, a triple whammy. But, he said he called AAA who unlocked his car and gave him some fuel. Crisis solved. I like that.

It’s not often you can work for a company who’s primary goal is to help people…especially when they’re in a jam. And let’s face it. It’s never convenient when your car breaks down.

I was talking to some of our drivers and asked one of them “What’s the most interesting road service call you’ve ever had?”

One driver told me that he had to get a fellow out of a locked trunk. How does one get locked into a trunk? Well, unless you’re on the Sopranos, it’s pretty tough. Apparently, this fellow was getting something out of his trunk, which happened to be of the huge variety, and he couldn’t quite reach something deep inside. So he climbed in, let go of the trunk, and bam! Down it came.

Fortunately, he had his cell phone on him so we were able to rescue him quickly.

Even in the grocery store, AAA comes up. I still had my security badge for our building with the AAA logo on it. One day, I was standing in line to check out when someone behind me said, “Oh, do you work for AAA?”

She told me how her dog had locked her out of the car. She was taking her dog to the vet, pulled into the parking lot and walked around to the other side to get her chocolate brown Labrador out of the back seat.

She said her dog took one look at her, then the vet’s sign, and she swears he lifted his paw and hit the power lock button. No problem she thought. Her keys were in her purse…oh, that happened to still be on the front seat next to the doggy treats. The dog peered at her for a moment, (or was he laughing at her as she tried desperately to get him to unlock the door) before casually climbing into the front seat to begin systematically tearing open the doggy treats bag. 

One call to AAA and the dog was back on track to the vet, with a mighty full tummy of treats.

How about you?  Do you have a great AAA story?  I’d love to hear it. 

[#2]

Actually I am rather disappointed with AAA.  Today I tried to arrange a weekend getaway to Bradenton beach.  As I have children and grandchildren I would need to rent a beach house/condo only to be told that AAA only does hotels..I am a premier member but I will not be renewing my membership with AAA in the future.  In this day  and age who can afford to rent 3 hotel rooms for the family?

thank you

Dawn Beclker

[#3]

Dear Dawn,

     I'm sorry AAA wasn't able to assist you with your accomodation needs.  Please allow me to explain.  Most beach condo/house rentals are individually owned investment properties that are managed by property managment companies and not the travel suppliers we traditionally do business with.  AAA has rigorous standards for which companies we book our members with to ensure that they are financially stable and customer centric.  Further, most of these rental properties aren't rated, so their isn't a consistent level of quality that we strive to offer our members.  There are exceptions to this, but these tend to be in big resort areas and unfortunately, not Bradenton Beach.

     If you look under the Show Your Card & Save listing on AAA.com; you'll find many restaurants that offer members a AAA discount.  That will really help control costs when your family comes to visit.

Sincerely,

Janet Stevens, Manager of Travel Agency Services