AAA tow companies are private contractors willing to negotiate a profitable ride for themselves. If you establish a relationship with local contractor, he will be willing to work with you as long as it is to his advantage. He will also tell how to do it. My son owns a towing company.
Bottom line is, you are abusing the system. It reminds me of when I worked for Boat US, and they had an on water towing insurance program you could buy. If your boat broke down they would pay for the tow to get it to your home or to a repair shop. One day a guy called and said he wanted to buy the towing insurance, so I started writing him up. When I was done I told him it would take effect at midnight tonight. He said "Do you mean I have to sit out here until midnight ???" Turns out he was already broken down and was just trying to get a $700 tow by only paying $ 50 for the insurance. I told him that was like wrecking your car and then calling Allstate to get coverage.......the idea is to buy the coverage BEFORE the accident ! Don
Before I had AAA Plus, they would only tow me to within 3 miles or the nearest shop, or safest place off the road. Now that I have AAA Plus, it's like 200 miles and no questions. They just tow. However, these are on my every day drivers. I wouldn't use it on a project car. I agree that it's abusing the AAA service.
In your case is is pretty obvious that it is a "pre-existing condition"! The name of the service is "Emergency Road Service". Do you really think you are somehow entitled to have this car towed for free? Yes free. It has nothing to do with your AAA membership. Just go rent a car hauler trailer and tow it home. ~Alden
I know a towing company that will tow anything through CAA, just call them and say your 2004 whatever broke down and needs towed, they will contact the tow company and they will come haul whatever it is that you want hauled. The driver will work with you. If you are a member, anything your ass is sitting in is covered. Granted this is in a small town/ rural area.
Pm spiders web. He does AAA towing. He will be in the know. I bought a car just under 100the miles. I called AAA and they didn't question it. They picked it ip and took it to my garage. I tipped the guy. $20 so he could go get dinner.
AAA is for Emergency Roadside Assistance The combined membership buying power allows folks that break down to use their paid dues to get an emergency tow to a repair facility. If you buy a vehicle and need it hauled, go get it with a trailer yourself or hire someone else to do it for you. #2 diesel is above $4.00 a gallon in California right now .... Jim
A AAA rep spoke at our club a few years ago and described how he got a car purchased at a Carlisle PA meet towed to his home via several 200 mi relays by AAA.... If they'll do it, get it done.
Similar story here. I had my new Studebaker towed home. I have AAA Plus and was upfront with dispatch. I called and told them I had my '53 truck with no engine at a storage facility and needed to get it home, about 5 miles. They had no problem sending a driver out. I suspect they would rather tow a preexisting issue 5 miles than an emergency 100 miles.
I ran AAA calls for years. Serviced any and every call they could send out. Picked up accidents, projects I had to drag out of backyards... you name it. The driver won't care unless; A: You're being a total ass-hat. B: Driver has to do any more work than hooking up and pulling. C: You're being an ass-hat. Make sure you; A: Tell AAA dipatcher " I dunno, It just won't run" B: Make sure its not going to be hard/extra work for the driver. C: Stay out of the way and tip the guy a tenner, at least.
You tried to get over but slipped up,got stupid and ran your mouth about it being non-registered and non-running. What did you expect them to tell you. Tried to save a buck and lost.
Cadzook is correct. I own a tow company that is also a AAA contract station in Nor-Cal. Program is designed just as stated. 'Emergency Service' for a running, licensed, driving vehicle that breaks down while driving. Not for project cars, etc. The policy clearly spells this out. AAA did ignore its own policies for yers & was very liberal, but lost money for several years, causing them to re-establish the policies. I know how you feel, but that is the truth. Know its not what you wanted to hear.
It evidently is alright for AAA to lose THEIR ASS on the tow. Maybe after you con them into dragging this project car to your home you can find a donor car for the drivetrain, maybe like in a Walmart parking lot. Call AAA tell them you are broken down, have it towed to your home, bone it out, then have them tow it out into the country and drop it somewhere. That should save YOU lots of money! Once you get used to crossing the line the possibilities are endless! ~Alden
Did you try calling the AAA contract station? That's sort of an end around to the dispatch problem. Remember, all road service calls are in out of state call centers, none are in California any more. Low cost for the company, low pay for the low brows "working" there. That's how I got my last project home, 70 miles from Castro Valley to Petaluma. I called the contract station in Hayward, they flatbeded the car, ran my AAA card, and done. Tom
We all should be honest, but I recently had a bad experience with AAA and still don't understand why they would not tow us. I was riding with a friend in his truck and we lost the motor. He has a AAA policy good for 100 miles. And I have my own AAA policy good for 100 miles. We were 135 miles from home. AAA said they would only provide towing for the truck on one or the others policy, and not both. AAA said We were not allowed to "piggy back" ( that's what AAA called it ) and sure enough 35 miles from home, we were dropped of in front of a new car dealership along side the freeway. when I originally called AAA I was honest and up front about our situation and I never thought there would be a problem. I still have AAA, but you can bet next time I might leave out a few details.
Was denied also a tow. I placed the call and said I needed my car towed to my work to have a new engine installed. All good at this point and their in route. Driver arrives and takes a look at my 56 and notices there is no front seat and then looks thru the grill and see's no engine or trans. Driver then tells me he can't tow it. It's not broken he said, it's being restored. I said it still needs an engine as I told dispatch and there ok with it. Still no dice. Ended up paying for 10 miles of towing.
Once you get used to crossing the line the possibilities are endless! That's a great way to summarize that type of behaviour
Just as an afterthought, do they {AAA} require you to prove ownership before they move vehicle or will they tow any vehicle you want??? Seems a little odd to me!! Lock and secure your cars!!!
It's seems to me when you pay for AAA Insurance/membership you have paid for a certain number of tows, if you need them. I realize that they have limitations written into the agreement, but to me, the circumstances of that tow shouldn't really matter. But I guess that's how insurance companies stay in business. The agreement is written so that they can restrict the number of claims as much as possible. Edit: I feel like I should edit my post for clarification. I don't think the OP should try to violate the agreement or "cheat" AAA in any way. I wanted to clarify that because when I re-read my post it sounded like I was complaining about Insurance companies. AAA provides a valuable service for a good price. It's necessary for them to write their agreement so that they can make a profit and continue to provide services to customers. I have had the need to use their services a couple of times over the last few years and I don't advocate trying to take advantage of them when the terms are clearly spelled out in the agreement.
I don't think AAA is the bad guy in this situation. They sell you a policy for $100 a year and you agree to the terms of that policy, which are, they will give you an EMERGENCY tow if your car BREAKS DOWN while you are driving it. They didn't sell you a policy that says any time you need a tow to move a project car from A to B they will do it free. No matter how you look at it trying to get their drivers to circumvent the system is just dishonest and wrong. Yeah, I realize that if you slip some drivers some money they will pretend the tow was a legitimate emergency job, but those drivers are just as wrong and are basically stealing from their employer. We all bitch on here how we "hate a thief" when a car is stolen, yet some of us think this theft of services is ok. I like saving money as much as the next guy but I am also not a cheapskate and realize I have to spend some money sometimes when building my cars. Hire a regular towing company or rent a U Haul trailer and do it yourself. Don
A bud of mine was a AAA driver for 40 years. He would tow our hot rods any time, day or night...between calls. He told a story about one of the 'relief drivers' at the 24-hour AAA facility: Someone called and wanted a car towed from a downtown parking lot. The driver picked up the car (nice '57 Chev Bel Air) and towed it to an address 9 miles away. Turned out to be an 'ordered car theft', and someone saw the AAA truck loading the Chevy. The dispatch sheet had the address, cops went over and recovered the stolen Chevy. This was in SAN JOSE! (no proof of ownership, cash deal?)
While your at it, you should get a automobile service warranty, and full coverage insurance. Report it stolen, the vandalism damage caused be them would be covered, the automobile warranty service would cover all the running gear. Don't forget about 10,000 in tools in the trunk that are missing. Recovery service should bring it home. Hell, you'll have it on the road, fully restored, and brand new tools for less than 1000.00 in premiums and deductibles. The possibilities really are endless.
Two stories Recently relocated my shop and had to move a non-oper (hobby) car about 3 miles. Told dispach it was at one shop and had to be moved to another for some welding and that the steering was out of it. Driver showed up and said that it was a hobby car and could not tow it under their AAA plan and would cost $75. I said fine and would no longer need his services because I would not want you to lose your job because of me, then I went back to my office. Two minutes later he knocks at my door asking where I needed the car moved to--gave him $10 for lunch. Second story is when I was doing Ivo's 4 engine car and was done with the original , Ivo needed to get it back to his house, He bought the premium package and called AAA. The driver loaded it up and headed out to Burbank without saying a word.
AAA clearly states that they provide emergency roadside service.Not a project,unregistered or project towing service. How much plainer can it be. To the op,while you want them to tow your crap project,what about all the legit people sitting beside the road actually needing the tow truck.
hey - Mr T body has been messing with this project car at least since 7-15. search here for thread: Found My Next Project, BUT.... - he has not been able to arrange a tow since then??
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