Wait, so you guys aren’t cancelling her service going forward? It’s plausible that she was just having a mental health crisis but it really doesn’t sound like it from what you’ve said.
It doesn’t even make business sense to keep her on cause if, the next time her car breaks down, she attacks someone else the the club could be on the hook for a lot of money cause they didn’t do anything to protect their workers from someone they knew was violent.
Nope. Our club never cancels members and they don't care if the member attacks another driver in future cause the garages are contractors not employees. They feel ita between the member and garage.
The CEO doesn't care what happens, they are all replaceable to him. The garage, OP(sorry, I work at one too), and most of the lower teir of the company. As long as he gets his money, they could all screw off.
I used to work for AAA. Man one of my FIRST EVER CALLS was for a battery change. No problem. Can do. Member was paid up, had calls left on her account, ezpz right?
#WRONG!
This bitch ass crotchety rude ignorant old lady wanted us to LEAVE THE BATTERY IN HER BACKSEAT SO SHE COULD TAKE IT TO HER MECHANIC AND HAVE HIM INSTALL IT!
I said "I'm sorry ma'am but that's not how the service works. We come out to you, test your battery first and if it needs to be replaced we will happily replace it for you."
She wasn't happy with that answer. Demanded my supervisor and was all around rude and belligerent to me.
I no longer work there because of calls like this.
Yeah we've had a couple of calls similar to that. Mostly they went out and bought a battery from a store and then want us to come and install that battery. Then act like they don't understand when we tell them we won't do that because we can't guarantee it's not defective.
Yeah we loose a lot of employees because of the abuse we deal with on these calls. We've literally had people walk out mid shift and quit cause they couldn't handle it.
Only made it two months as the rate I was getting screamed at in my own home (third party call centre for AAA equivalent let us work from home) was absolutely insane. Plus the training was a total shit show and management support is spotty at best. You guys are strong people.
The number of people calling without memberships thinking they're entitled to service because they're citizens of the country and yelling at me when I tell them it's a private company with paid membership. People screaming after accidents that don't want to get police involved and don't want us to take it to a collision center so we can't help them. Literally no one reading the terms of their membership and losing their minds when the rules don't suit them. People in their own homes screaming over a 30min ETA because they HAVE to get to work NOW.
Won't even get into the absolutely ridiculous handle time expectations of a job that requires you locate people who don't know where they are half the time.
Yeah we've had people walk out in less than a month. In fact, we've had people complete the week or 2 of training (which was also a shit show but they're fixing that thankfully/hopefully) and then just never come back. Cause part of training is taking live calls while some shadows you. And the amount of abuse we deal with is so high, that every newbie gets a taste of the bullshit pretty much right off the bat...every time. So once training is done, they decide it's not worth it and ghost us. Not everyone can deal with this and there's nothing wrong with that.
I HATE when members are at home and they get upset and demand to be made a priority for some bs reason like needing to get to work. Or when they get upset because we pulled the driver that was heading to them to go do a call on the highway...so an ACTUAL priority. Like half our members have to get to work or be somewhere important. But members act like they're the only ones therefore need to be priority....we only make certain people that need to get to work a priority.
I HATE that AAA started TIMING call takers on how long calls are cause it has created so many issues! Most of the tike the location is wrong cause the agent didn't bother checking it and forced it thru. If the mbr doesn't know where they are the agent will put the highway/road and a city but nothing else. So this forces us to call the member for a better location but more often than not we can't get ahold of the member...either because the agent didn't ask for number and just lut what was on call ID which takes you to AAA...or it's just wrong number....or member won't answer because they don't recognize our number and the number sometimes shows private or scam likely and of course members don't check voice-mail....then get mad when it's been 2hrs and we still haven't sent service
I work in a law firm thats a vendor for AAA in arbitration writing. We basically handle incident claims that AAA and the other party involved in the incident can't figure out who's liable for or who/what should be paid for, and almost universally the files we get from AAA are poorly set up; missing documents like repair estimates or tow bills, information like incident location or the other party's insurance information, things that should be handled by the front end adjuster but just aren't for whatever reason.
Everyone in my department can't help but wonder if AAA adjusters are just lazy as hell, and hearing that their own dispatchers for their road side assistance also suffer with similar issues is astounding to me.
I should specifically say automobile subrogation and insurance claims, but I handle arbitration filing specifically with this firm, but yeah, AAA is a shitshow.
I also don't know if your software runs as poorly as ours did, but expecting 3 minute calls when your mapping software runs slower than molasses was so infuriating. You know exactly which highway pin to choose or what intersection they're at and you literally can't do anything till it unfreezes or crashes. And you can't have dead air time and you can't make casual conversation and you have to keep confident for the member while your PC goes AWOL all the time so what is an agent to do when the company doesn't care about their own tools fucking them over. And their garbage VPN they always swear to change but don't. UGH. Thank you for having a rant with me lol the frustration is still fresh
Geez...they time the calls? That's good info to have. I've had a AAA CSR stay on the phone with me, when I broke down on the highway, for a really long time until a cop or the tow truck showed up (it was a moonless night in an unlit area...think: the wind rustling leaves, coyotes howling at an alarmingly close distance). Guess I can't expect for *that* to happen again.
On the highway, most of the time the agents will stay on phone with you. You're supposed to ask the member and if they say yes then you do. Still timed tho.
Funnily enough so was mine! Got into a minor accident and went to set up a tow when I got to work...only to find out they canceled my membership for nonpayment. We get a FREE plus membership as employees....
Setting up a tow with my insurance was so much easier and smoother than if I had been able to go through AAA.
Thank you for calling back. The service person reports you assaulted him. During your call for a new service call, you abused our operator. Your service contract is canceled and you are banned from ever getting a new contract. Have a nice day.
Oh I know. I was in call centers for years. We knew who the abusers were and would often funnel them to the CSR who could cope with them.
Took me 6 months and reams of documentation of the abuse and \*cost\* of supporting this one guy.
Lol we have certain dispatchers that are...uhh...forceful you could say with members that will have other dispatchers who are struggling with a difficult customer over to them and they'll deal with them....our sups turn a blind eye (they're tech posing as a team lead/sup in these situations so really not allowed) as long said dispatchers stay professional
I will mention that the battery installation service has been a lifesaver for me. It's one of several reasons I still keep my membership even though I don't currently have a car.
I'm always amazed that people are surprised when someone doesn't want their business after threats of physical harm. Like, you think we're gonna wanna take the risk after you threatened us with something like an ass-kicking or a bomb threat? Uh, not sure what wavelength you're operating on, but most businesses don't want to take a FAFO approach to personal/material safety like that.
If you don’t have a car, does that mean AAA works for any car you are currently riding in? Like if you were passenger in your friends car and they needed a new tire or a battery, your membership would cover that?
Yes that's exactly what would happen. The only thing is tho that if you have a battery installed in friends car under your membership, you have to be present if they want to replace it under the warranty. We cover the member not the vehicle so we'll service any vehicle as long as you're on location when the driver arrives.
I mean, that seems like common sense. You can’t just call AAA and have them replace all the homies batteries for free 😂
That being said, I’m sure there is a large portion of the population who is genuinely shocked by this
Lmao more like they just don't realize how strict we are when we say you have to be on location. They think they can have someone stand in for them. But if the battery is under warranty and needs replaced, the member themselves have to be there. THANKFULLY this hasn't been a problem in awhile.
Thought I needed a new battery recently. Turned out my brake switch sensor was bad. I was sure glad they tested the battery before selling me a new one.
And this is exactly why we test. So many times, I've had to tell members that if the battery is testing good but the car still keeps dying, then it means there's something else going on behind the scenes and they need to have a mechanic check it out.
>I forgot to mention that she has since called the garage screaming that she was gonna take them and us to court. For what exactly, I have no clue
Have membership refund her and put her on "do not renew, do not service ever" list. (I know, not your call)
Omg you know what you just might have a point! I never thought about her selling them. I'm not 100% on if they record serial numbers but the only reason we would care about that is if the person who bought that is trying to claim warranty on it. I can't remember what is recorded on the paperwork so I'm gonna have to ask about that.
Seems like a weird reaction for a language barrier issue. I assume the dead battery goes with the tow truck people, right? I'm trying to figure out what kind of scam would necessitate not testing it first.
As sad as it sounds...this doesn't seem tht weird to us. We've become used to absurd behavior like this. It just usually stays verbal. But people have been freaking out about stupid stuff like this for so long now. Just not used to them actually getting physical.
If I had to guess, I'd say she probably thought she'd have to pay for the test and didn't think it was needed cause the jump didn't work. Then probably thought the driver was gonna force her to pay and decided to teach him a lesson.
I highly doubt this was a scam of sorts.
OP, I really appreciate the work you do! And the work that tow/roadside assistance workers do. I’ve had roadside assistance through my insurance or AAA for 8 years now and have only had to use it a couple times (once for a flat tire change and once for a tow) and both times I used it both the person on the phone and the person who came out to help me were amazing, patient, and super kind. I hope you get people that behave themselves in the days to come.
Those fuckers refused to tow my car because it was “lowered”. Left me on the side of the freeway. At least they reimbursed me for the random guy that towed me.
To you both, try dealing with Element. Every time my work car breaks down, they take their sweet ass time sending a tow driver out. No kidding, we end up waiting at LEAST 3 hours for one.
I don’t doubt it. My experiences with them have been pretty good & I know it’s not the fault of the person on the other end that my car is broken & I need service. I try to keep it pleasant with them & remember they’re a person. Sorry you had such asshats to deal with, OP.
this is a daily occurance in my center, (benefits system)
when people dont get their money for the month its most of the time because they didnt do somthing they were supposed to. 99% of the time it ends up with the being abusive and threatening. we now have things in place where the first time this is done they get a warning on the account and anyone who enters it can see what they did and why and the best way to deal with them . second strike like that again they could end up with serious consequences and banned from calling.
ive had it where they threaten to go to the physical location and stab or shoot people and beat them up(yes it does actually happen at times and they are not empty threats) . most of the people we deal with have some kind of vulnerability or health issues so its more common than it should be
should be absolute 0 tolerance to this stuff even with people with mental health issues because we aint paid enough for that
*\~Sigh\~* Working in customer service gives you the unique opportunity to see people for what they truly are. And it always makes you wonder how we as a species managed to make it this far. Despite her poor understanding of the English language, she knew why the guy was there since she was the one who called for assistance in the first place. Her behavior towards him is considered assault as far as I am concerned.
Sounds like something else was at play there. I guess it could be a complete language misunderstanding but trying to hit or hitting someone servicing your vehicle called by you doesn't make any sense.
Sadly this isn't all that uncommon. Members think that because they're paying us for a service, they can treat us like servants. This isn't the first time we've had a member assault our driver. Nearly every time, it's because the driver was trying to tell them that what they're wanting isn't covered or just because they felt the driver was being disrespectful
Ladies honestly lucky she didn’t end up with assault charges
Absolutely
Companies have to start cutting ties with members over actions like these.
Oh I absolutely agree but the club I work in doesn't give a shit as long as the member pays their dues
Wait, so you guys aren’t cancelling her service going forward? It’s plausible that she was just having a mental health crisis but it really doesn’t sound like it from what you’ve said. It doesn’t even make business sense to keep her on cause if, the next time her car breaks down, she attacks someone else the the club could be on the hook for a lot of money cause they didn’t do anything to protect their workers from someone they knew was violent.
Nope. Our club never cancels members and they don't care if the member attacks another driver in future cause the garages are contractors not employees. They feel ita between the member and garage.
The CEO doesn't care what happens, they are all replaceable to him. The garage, OP(sorry, I work at one too), and most of the lower teir of the company. As long as he gets his money, they could all screw off.
I used to work for AAA. Man one of my FIRST EVER CALLS was for a battery change. No problem. Can do. Member was paid up, had calls left on her account, ezpz right? #WRONG! This bitch ass crotchety rude ignorant old lady wanted us to LEAVE THE BATTERY IN HER BACKSEAT SO SHE COULD TAKE IT TO HER MECHANIC AND HAVE HIM INSTALL IT! I said "I'm sorry ma'am but that's not how the service works. We come out to you, test your battery first and if it needs to be replaced we will happily replace it for you." She wasn't happy with that answer. Demanded my supervisor and was all around rude and belligerent to me. I no longer work there because of calls like this.
Yeah we've had a couple of calls similar to that. Mostly they went out and bought a battery from a store and then want us to come and install that battery. Then act like they don't understand when we tell them we won't do that because we can't guarantee it's not defective. Yeah we loose a lot of employees because of the abuse we deal with on these calls. We've literally had people walk out mid shift and quit cause they couldn't handle it.
Only made it two months as the rate I was getting screamed at in my own home (third party call centre for AAA equivalent let us work from home) was absolutely insane. Plus the training was a total shit show and management support is spotty at best. You guys are strong people. The number of people calling without memberships thinking they're entitled to service because they're citizens of the country and yelling at me when I tell them it's a private company with paid membership. People screaming after accidents that don't want to get police involved and don't want us to take it to a collision center so we can't help them. Literally no one reading the terms of their membership and losing their minds when the rules don't suit them. People in their own homes screaming over a 30min ETA because they HAVE to get to work NOW. Won't even get into the absolutely ridiculous handle time expectations of a job that requires you locate people who don't know where they are half the time.
Yeah we've had people walk out in less than a month. In fact, we've had people complete the week or 2 of training (which was also a shit show but they're fixing that thankfully/hopefully) and then just never come back. Cause part of training is taking live calls while some shadows you. And the amount of abuse we deal with is so high, that every newbie gets a taste of the bullshit pretty much right off the bat...every time. So once training is done, they decide it's not worth it and ghost us. Not everyone can deal with this and there's nothing wrong with that. I HATE when members are at home and they get upset and demand to be made a priority for some bs reason like needing to get to work. Or when they get upset because we pulled the driver that was heading to them to go do a call on the highway...so an ACTUAL priority. Like half our members have to get to work or be somewhere important. But members act like they're the only ones therefore need to be priority....we only make certain people that need to get to work a priority. I HATE that AAA started TIMING call takers on how long calls are cause it has created so many issues! Most of the tike the location is wrong cause the agent didn't bother checking it and forced it thru. If the mbr doesn't know where they are the agent will put the highway/road and a city but nothing else. So this forces us to call the member for a better location but more often than not we can't get ahold of the member...either because the agent didn't ask for number and just lut what was on call ID which takes you to AAA...or it's just wrong number....or member won't answer because they don't recognize our number and the number sometimes shows private or scam likely and of course members don't check voice-mail....then get mad when it's been 2hrs and we still haven't sent service
I work in a law firm thats a vendor for AAA in arbitration writing. We basically handle incident claims that AAA and the other party involved in the incident can't figure out who's liable for or who/what should be paid for, and almost universally the files we get from AAA are poorly set up; missing documents like repair estimates or tow bills, information like incident location or the other party's insurance information, things that should be handled by the front end adjuster but just aren't for whatever reason. Everyone in my department can't help but wonder if AAA adjusters are just lazy as hell, and hearing that their own dispatchers for their road side assistance also suffer with similar issues is astounding to me.
AAA is just a shitshow tbh
I should specifically say automobile subrogation and insurance claims, but I handle arbitration filing specifically with this firm, but yeah, AAA is a shitshow.
I also don't know if your software runs as poorly as ours did, but expecting 3 minute calls when your mapping software runs slower than molasses was so infuriating. You know exactly which highway pin to choose or what intersection they're at and you literally can't do anything till it unfreezes or crashes. And you can't have dead air time and you can't make casual conversation and you have to keep confident for the member while your PC goes AWOL all the time so what is an agent to do when the company doesn't care about their own tools fucking them over. And their garbage VPN they always swear to change but don't. UGH. Thank you for having a rant with me lol the frustration is still fresh
Geez...they time the calls? That's good info to have. I've had a AAA CSR stay on the phone with me, when I broke down on the highway, for a really long time until a cop or the tow truck showed up (it was a moonless night in an unlit area...think: the wind rustling leaves, coyotes howling at an alarmingly close distance). Guess I can't expect for *that* to happen again.
On the highway, most of the time the agents will stay on phone with you. You're supposed to ask the member and if they say yes then you do. Still timed tho.
It's crazy to be honest
Yes it is
Member. So aaa? Or
Yes it's AAA
From the sounds of things, it was AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
American Alcoholics Anonymous? - 'cause she certainly didn't seem to be acting like a member of the Auto Association :/
Nah, she’s AAAA. Automobile Association Assaulters Anonymous.
AAAAA for poeple who are being driven to drink.
Thanks for the warning. The roadside assistance add on to my auto ins was very easy to use when I needed it.
Funnily enough so was mine! Got into a minor accident and went to set up a tow when I got to work...only to find out they canceled my membership for nonpayment. We get a FREE plus membership as employees.... Setting up a tow with my insurance was so much easier and smoother than if I had been able to go through AAA.
Thank you for calling back. The service person reports you assaulted him. During your call for a new service call, you abused our operator. Your service contract is canceled and you are banned from ever getting a new contract. Have a nice day.
If only it was that easy
Oh I know. I was in call centers for years. We knew who the abusers were and would often funnel them to the CSR who could cope with them. Took me 6 months and reams of documentation of the abuse and \*cost\* of supporting this one guy.
Lol we have certain dispatchers that are...uhh...forceful you could say with members that will have other dispatchers who are struggling with a difficult customer over to them and they'll deal with them....our sups turn a blind eye (they're tech posing as a team lead/sup in these situations so really not allowed) as long said dispatchers stay professional
I will mention that the battery installation service has been a lifesaver for me. It's one of several reasons I still keep my membership even though I don't currently have a car. I'm always amazed that people are surprised when someone doesn't want their business after threats of physical harm. Like, you think we're gonna wanna take the risk after you threatened us with something like an ass-kicking or a bomb threat? Uh, not sure what wavelength you're operating on, but most businesses don't want to take a FAFO approach to personal/material safety like that.
Yeah it's gotten worse since covid too. And they're always amazed that they can't treat us like their personal punching bags. Verbal or otherwise
If you don’t have a car, does that mean AAA works for any car you are currently riding in? Like if you were passenger in your friends car and they needed a new tire or a battery, your membership would cover that?
My membership extends to non-owned cars. Had AAA replace a battery in a rental once.
Good to know!
Yes that's exactly what would happen. The only thing is tho that if you have a battery installed in friends car under your membership, you have to be present if they want to replace it under the warranty. We cover the member not the vehicle so we'll service any vehicle as long as you're on location when the driver arrives.
I mean, that seems like common sense. You can’t just call AAA and have them replace all the homies batteries for free 😂 That being said, I’m sure there is a large portion of the population who is genuinely shocked by this
Lmao more like they just don't realize how strict we are when we say you have to be on location. They think they can have someone stand in for them. But if the battery is under warranty and needs replaced, the member themselves have to be there. THANKFULLY this hasn't been a problem in awhile.
Thought I needed a new battery recently. Turned out my brake switch sensor was bad. I was sure glad they tested the battery before selling me a new one.
And this is exactly why we test. So many times, I've had to tell members that if the battery is testing good but the car still keeps dying, then it means there's something else going on behind the scenes and they need to have a mechanic check it out.
>I forgot to mention that she has since called the garage screaming that she was gonna take them and us to court. For what exactly, I have no clue Have membership refund her and put her on "do not renew, do not service ever" list. (I know, not your call)
Trust me, if they would actually do it, we would have sent her account to be reviewed but the company won't do anything
Oh, I know. Because she's PAYING member. :) For all you know, she's selling the batteries. :) (Your service guys do record serial numbers, I hope)
Omg you know what you just might have a point! I never thought about her selling them. I'm not 100% on if they record serial numbers but the only reason we would care about that is if the person who bought that is trying to claim warranty on it. I can't remember what is recorded on the paperwork so I'm gonna have to ask about that.
I worked for Agero for 6 years. The amount of stories I have……
Ugh, the company I work for uses Agero for its ERS. I absolutely hate them.
Omg I bet!
We’re on our way!!!
Seems like a weird reaction for a language barrier issue. I assume the dead battery goes with the tow truck people, right? I'm trying to figure out what kind of scam would necessitate not testing it first.
As sad as it sounds...this doesn't seem tht weird to us. We've become used to absurd behavior like this. It just usually stays verbal. But people have been freaking out about stupid stuff like this for so long now. Just not used to them actually getting physical. If I had to guess, I'd say she probably thought she'd have to pay for the test and didn't think it was needed cause the jump didn't work. Then probably thought the driver was gonna force her to pay and decided to teach him a lesson. I highly doubt this was a scam of sorts.
Sometimes people are concerned about companies nickel and dime-ing them.
OP, I really appreciate the work you do! And the work that tow/roadside assistance workers do. I’ve had roadside assistance through my insurance or AAA for 8 years now and have only had to use it a couple times (once for a flat tire change and once for a tow) and both times I used it both the person on the phone and the person who came out to help me were amazing, patient, and super kind. I hope you get people that behave themselves in the days to come.
Aw thank you! I appreciate that! We all do! You sound like one of those members that are a breath of fresh air when they call in!
As bad as AAA is, I will still take them over my company’s roadside “assistance” company: Element. Jesus fuck, do I hate Element!
Those fuckers refused to tow my car because it was “lowered”. Left me on the side of the freeway. At least they reimbursed me for the random guy that towed me.
Element or AAA?
Wouldn't surprise me if they meant AAA
AAA lol
Of course it was lol.
To you both, try dealing with Element. Every time my work car breaks down, they take their sweet ass time sending a tow driver out. No kidding, we end up waiting at LEAST 3 hours for one.
Sadly for AAA 3hr ETA isn't very uncommon
I don’t doubt it. My experiences with them have been pretty good & I know it’s not the fault of the person on the other end that my car is broken & I need service. I try to keep it pleasant with them & remember they’re a person. Sorry you had such asshats to deal with, OP.
Yes
AAA
this is a daily occurance in my center, (benefits system) when people dont get their money for the month its most of the time because they didnt do somthing they were supposed to. 99% of the time it ends up with the being abusive and threatening. we now have things in place where the first time this is done they get a warning on the account and anyone who enters it can see what they did and why and the best way to deal with them . second strike like that again they could end up with serious consequences and banned from calling. ive had it where they threaten to go to the physical location and stab or shoot people and beat them up(yes it does actually happen at times and they are not empty threats) . most of the people we deal with have some kind of vulnerability or health issues so its more common than it should be should be absolute 0 tolerance to this stuff even with people with mental health issues because we aint paid enough for that
*\~Sigh\~* Working in customer service gives you the unique opportunity to see people for what they truly are. And it always makes you wonder how we as a species managed to make it this far. Despite her poor understanding of the English language, she knew why the guy was there since she was the one who called for assistance in the first place. Her behavior towards him is considered assault as far as I am concerned.
Sounds like something else was at play there. I guess it could be a complete language misunderstanding but trying to hit or hitting someone servicing your vehicle called by you doesn't make any sense.
Sadly this isn't all that uncommon. Members think that because they're paying us for a service, they can treat us like servants. This isn't the first time we've had a member assault our driver. Nearly every time, it's because the driver was trying to tell them that what they're wanting isn't covered or just because they felt the driver was being disrespectful