AAA Driver talks trash

[Tow411]

This topic was originally created by myerstowing on Tow411 in 2009:

 

Yesterday a very good repeat customer has her car towed in to our Auto Shop for major engine difficulties.

 

A nice couple offered her their AAA card for the year was ending, and they had not used all of their tows. When the driver drops the car off he yells from the truck, "How's business been." Our Technician yells back, "Good." And he takes off like a bat out of hell.

 

She then asked, "Why do their drivers drive so fast, are they not suppose to be professionals?" We laughed and said yeah, he must have had a line of customers waiting. I noticed on his truck he had 4 addresses on his truck. Curious I wrote all 4 down, thinking I may have a need for them later.

 

Anyway when we were working on the lady's car she said the AAA driver asked why she was using Myers. She said he started going off, calling us names, saying we were unreliable, and liars and so on and so forth. He said he knew way better places. She finally told him that she was a very loyal customer to our auto shop, and trusted us completely and asked for him to stop talking bad about us. He smirked and didn't say much the rest of the way to our shop.

 

After hearing all of this I get really pissed off. I decide to look at these addresses not knowing why they had that many locations. The farthest location came back to be another AAA company's yard which I have heard rumors about the same guy owning both companies and that is why the company got the AAA contract in the first place (They came from out of town), the second farthest, and their Modesto location belonged to a Auto Repair, Body and Glass shop that has a few locations throughout the wide area. And that happened to be the place that the driver was soliciting our customer to. That shop is not AAA, they just share the address I guess. The last location was there original location they came from out of town to become a AAA provider.

 

So, not only are they soliciting customers away from our shop, they are probably soliciting them away from AAA shops to their "buddy's". That is wronging us, the customer, the AAA shop that has a partnership with AAA and the "service provider" they should be able to trust, and finally AAA who pays this company to direct their work from their own repair and body shops.

 

We were considering becoming a AAA shop, but one of the providers is directing work from the shops what is AAA good for? How do you think I should handle this? What would YOU do?

 

Jaredallpoints said:

this is happening to me as well. as soon as i got aaa my competitor that has it started bashing me like there's no tomorrow. they try to talk every customer from coming to my shop, they tell the customers we stole aaa stickers and put them on my trucks, their drivers are told if the people still come here they are to put the car as far away from our building as possible so we have to push the cars in. there is not much you can do about it except write every incident down that you can and in my case save it for the declamation of character lawsuit. i'll laugh in the end. jared

 

dmurph879 said:

I have found that many AAA drivers in my area are paid a "finders fee" by shops for bringing in work. They try to get this money to supplement the low income generated from doing low fee tows all day. It is obviously not professional as the "finders fee" is just added to the customers bill. I understand AAA frowns on the practice but I doubt they would ever take serious action.

 

freespiritblair said:

Wow. I hate to hear that something like this is still going on out there. For the last 5 years I have been service manager at a big shop in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and still slip seat in some good equipment. We have 22 locations now. About 4 weeks ago our local AAA rep came by to install what looks like a credit card swipe reader and some software. Its sole purpose is for AAA to track where customers are using their membership cards. Often times they are dispatched a wrecker and then refered by AAA to our store only to be redirected to another repair shop. AAA feels that this will give them the ability to track this type of problem. Since I have been on both sides of the issue (wrecker driver/owner operator) and service mgr I know the frustrations you all are having. Talk with your AAA rep about getting the card readers in your shop as I know it will give your reps the ammo they need, yet at the same time your competors will need to do the same thing. I like having it here if only for the simple fact that I am no longer extending the AAA discount on our repair orders unless someone presents their membership card. Oh yes, people have tried to present their expired card which prompts me to give them a chance call AAA and renew their membership. When they realize that the membership card must be valid to receive the discount they usually will renew with AAA. Hope this helps.

 

Unknown Member said:

Well all the name calling and bashing isnt right, but I do however try to bring the customer back to our shop, just last week my shop said theyd beat a price of a repair by 20 bucks if she braught the vehicle to us and she still wanted to go to the original location. when i got there and was unloading her vehicle the owner of the shop came out and started writing dont the number on the side of our truck and asked what my name was and what thew owners name was, i gladly gave him all the information he asked for, Whats the harm in trying to promote your place of employments shop? we do get kickbacks, we dont get payed a terrable wage, and the customer can usailly save money.... I just wanna know whats wrong with competition? ( and keep in mind im also a certified mechanic and had my own business so i kno its tough out there, and i NEVER bad mouth any shop)

 

Unknown Member said:

1st of all I cant stand operators or owner doing such issues, we are to be professional.

2nd of all, this guy evendently does not know his AAA procedure and needs to get the service provider guidelines out for if he didnt want to to this vehicle he should not have for according to AAA procedures, the card holder of the account is to be in the vehicle at the time it became disabled, other then that it is to be a commercial call.

3rd if the operator doesnt know his towing guidlines for a motorclub and is trying to coherse and solicit such to other shops then someone need to call 1800-AAA-HELP and file a complaint with such

Just my opinion "Stay to the right, Stay in the light and above Stay Safe"

 

Unknown Member said:

if you look at my post, AAA mid-atlantic does not even take threats of violence seriously, do you really think they care about trash talkin? AAA benefits from the unprofessional conduct and feuding, does AAA really want contractors working together, discussing rates and problems? The less contractors get along the easier it is to take advantage of them! This is my personal opinion not that of my employer! Thanks

 

ExpressTowAaron said:

If the owner of the vehicle asks for a referral then by all means give it, otherwise keep your mouth shut. Trying to solicit business away from a shop is unprofessional and makes YOU look like a dirtbag. If you want to promote your shop then put some business cards in a holder on the dash. If the customer is interested they will ask you about it.

 

carco21 said:

When I tow and when my drivers have towed over the years I insist on what express tow said above! You are a professional tower not a bird dog! If you are asked ok comment on the shop yours or another shop but DO NOT TALK BAD of the other shops! You are a tower when in the truck not a shop! bob.................

 

annettemcd said:

We often deal with travelers who do not know where to take their cars and need rapid service so that they can proceed with their trip, so we are often asked for referrals. We always give them more than one name. Usually we provide a short list of the places which we think will give them what they need (quick service, AAA authorized, inexpensive, a specialty (diesels, drivelines, tires, transmissions), the dealership, etc.) We might say a little something about each. ("This place specializes in diesels and we even take our own trucks there. They are good, but they are not the cheapest nor the fastest place in town." "This place is open on Saturday morning and often can squeeze in a traveler without a wait.") Since we deal with travelers, we might mention that a major repair done at a dealership might have a warranty that would be honored by that manufacturer's dealerships in other towns.

If someone asks to go to a particular shop we would never bad-mouth that place. If we don't like a place, we might say something like, "We have towed to them before; they seem to be a popular shop." (Even when we want to gag with the mention of their name.) There are only a few AAA authorized shops in town, so with AAA members, we might mention those shops in particular. We do not get kick-backs or referral fees from any shops. Occasionally, while the tow is in progress, I might call a few shops, describe the vehicle and the problem, and ask if they would be able to help a traveler out. This helps save time so that the tow truck doesn't get to a place only to be told that the shop is too busy to even look at the car for a week. The shops know who we are and they are honest with us. I never tell the shop that it is a definite job; I tell them I am just gathering information. We then pass the information on to the customer so that they can decide. If a traveler is going to be staying in a motel until their car is fixed, you want to help them out any way that you can. It doesn't take much to be the difference between being their savior and ruining their entire trip to Alaska.

Back-mouthing a business or steering business to a particular shop, not because they will do a good job for the customer, but because they pay you a referral fee or kick-back is unprofessional.

 

certifiedautomallnj said:

The AAA co by me became partners with a repair shop up the street they tried to say everything under the sun about us. Except the drivers that worked for him would never say anything! The owner was the one to bad mouth us but i got my revenge. Just remember as long as you provide a good service at a good price your customer will probably never leave you!

 

[fenderbendr6]

This topic applies industry wide, not just to AAA drivers. In my opinion, there is no place in this industry for bad mouthing repair shops or other towers. Anybody who has attended Wreckmaster training has been taught this. Be honest and professional and don't try to influence a customer's decision about where to take their car unless the customer asks for your advice. Even then give them options without bad mouthing anybody. I have lived by this for over 40 years. Most of the other repair shops in the area call me when they have a customer in need of a tow. This is because they know I will not try to steal their customer!