Thursday, September 21, 2017

AAA LET US DOWN

This writing finds me driving down highway 40 in Texas….okay not driving but a passenger in the car…just saying…anyway yesterday our adventure was a bit more challenging than any time on this trip but we both felt pleased with how we handled the situation as well as how it turned out.
We got our first flat tire.  The camper tire went out and the question carried in David’s mind “What would happen if a camper tire blew,” was answered.  Fortunately, his driving skills and his ability to act without question saved us from having anything bad happen.  We were able to pull off the side of the road far enough to stay out of harm's way.  After a brief moment of “Oh shit, what do we do?”  We both went about doing what we could.  He spent time figuring out if he could change the tire himself, and I got on the phone to AAA.  

Now I have had AAA for years and the few times I have used it has been home and I have always been grateful for the service and without a doubt have felt no matter the cost the service was worth it when you are out on the road alone.  But to say I was a disappointed in how this action with AAA went down would be an understatement.

When I called, I got transferred to the area I was broke down, Alburqueke NM.  They had to verify my account, which I had no problem with, but then for some strange reason they started asking me about names on my account and began giving me a hard time because I couldn’t name anyone.  My daughter was once on my account and so was my late husband, but why that should matter is a mystery to me, because I am on the account too!

Because I was getting such a run around David pulled out his AAA card and we used his number.  It turns out that they would have to charge us to change the trailer tire.  I replied that was okay because we did not have a choice.  “Two 70 plus-year-old people needed help,” I said.  

The next challenge was trying to tell them where we were.  You see highway 40 does not use mile markers and we couldn’t remember the last exit we passed.  “Do you have any signs around you or buildings you can describe?” she asked.  “No, we are in the middle of the desert and there is nothing but tumbleweed and rocks for as far as the eye can see,” I replied.  Saved by my Iphone’s  compass and its ability to locate your position through the Longitude and Latitude they were able to pinpoint just where we were (Yea iPhone Compass!!!!). 

"We will call you with an estimated time of arrival as soon as we contact the driver.  Just hang in there, we will be there as soon as we can, “ she went on to say.

I hung up, confident we were okay and told David of the conversation.  In the meantime, he was figuring out if he could change the tire himself.  The motivation got high when I explained to him they would be charging us to come change the tire because we didn’t have RV coverage.  I had tried to explain to them that it was not an RV, but a small trailer camper…did not matter they would have to charge because we did not carry the extra coverage.

It was no time that David managed to pull off the lug-nuts and change the tire.  We were lucky.  We started down the road to find a tire place to pick up a new tire, and I tried calling back AAA to cancel the call.  Getting cut off twice, I decided that I would tell them when they called with an arrival time.  


It is now over 24 hours later and we still have not received that call from AAA to say when they were coming.  Needless to say, I’ll be contacting them to express my disappointment in this situation.  Since Pat has been gone, I have never been afraid to travel alone.  I had so much confidence in AAA to be there to bail me out of any problem I might find myself in.  That has changed.

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