Agero -- Fool me once, shame on me... But don't ever call us again!

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Create VTflatbed in Mat of 2014:

 

Received a call from Agero on 5/3, asking us if we would accept one of their PO numbers for a "priority" call on the interstate. As we are not a provider for them, they were told that only a credit card is the only form of payment we will accept from them, or CC/cash/local check from their customer. When asked how much we would charge, they were advised that it would be hour normal hourly rate, at a minimum of 1.5 hours. The rep accepted the price quote, and asked for an ETA. I advised of a 20 minute ETA. At that point the rep said "Okay, great. I'll have the supervisor call you with the credit card, I don't have access to generate the card information"... Hadn't had any issues with Agero until now. We've done the credit card route with them before when the local Agero provider wasn't available.

Being that it was an interstate call, I went en route to the breakdown location, and arrived prior to Agero calling back. Got the customer's Jeep loaded, and Agero calls him back to say that our price was too high, and that they found another company that was an hour away! The customer told the rep that I was on location, and had loaded the vehicle.

Long and short of it - I towed the car for the guy at a greatly reduced rate than what I quoted; our standard local tow flat rate versus hourly billing. He happened to be my postman, and is terrific when it comes to delivering packages to our doorstep (second floor.. inside the building) versus leaving a notice in our mailbox. Needless to say their member is dropping their roadside service (through USAA; which contracts with Agero) and signing up for AAA.

Agero - if you see this, you have created an enemy. I will do EVERYTHING possible to refer your members to AAA or other roadside motorclubs.... and we will NEVER accept another credit card from you. Next time, the state police can call us and your customers will be on the hook for the bill themself.

 

NationalAutow said:

The only problem I see here is your "misunderstanding" of an Agero "priority".

The priority is on their bottom line FIRST, LAST and ALWAYS.

We now use their own philosophy on them when they call us. Like you, we are not a contracted provider but now accept CC's at retail plus rates. When the card clears, we will dispatch.

Our "priority" when Agero calls is to be darned certain we cover ourselves FIRST. It is a lousy business attitude that we normally do not apply to others Agero is one of the exceptions to the rule.

 

EKYtow55 said:

? from Agero to AAA, going from the frying pan to the fire!!!!! ( AAA the lowest paying motorclub in America)

 

Jef said:

I am a little confused here so bear with me. They called you, they accepted a price, you hooked the car then they want to cancel? That would be treated like a customer refusing to pay me. I get paid or I put the car into the storage lot. It's theft of service. Run the cc before going enroute, got it.

 

BlackAutowload said:

Giving out a price does not get you a job.
I have no idea why you are angry.
I gave quotes to agero daily and about 50% of the time they call back with the cc number. The other 50%? Customer waits an extended amount of time for their in network providors.

AAA is a towers worst enemy.
The tow company does the work for less than true cost to make AAA look good.

 

bigberthastowing said:

Have a look at RIPOFF.COM and type in Agero. BTW: We too always clear the card first. Puts all on even ground and leads the towing community to the path of being filthy rich and to retire early!

 

VTFlatbed said:

BlackAutowload, We didn't just give out the price - their rep asked how long until we would be there. Not how long until we could be there - how long until we will be there.

We haven't had an issue with them up until now.

AAA is only the enemy if you're relying on it for all of the work. I have no problem saying "no", if the call is not profitable.

 

Jef, The customer ended up paying for the service - so we got paid. In fact, the customer was just as upset with them as we were, and was completely understanding that I was going to present him with a bill.

We have accepted CC after dispatch from Agero without issue, until now.

 

George Geissinger said:

I too get that from them a lot. I guess it is how the dispatcher worded the comment. Often the sound like it's my job but until they give me the CC numbers in a fax I don't move. Too many times have I sat and sometimes turned down a job waiting for the "GO" call that never came.

Really without the CC info you weren't contracted to do the job if you are not a contracted tower. 

 

WEBOSLH said:

Just my opinion here, no bash, but I would have waited for the c.c. to clear, then I would have left. I work for agero, so c.c. isn't a problem. But for other clubs, not contracted, I don't start the truck til c.c. clears. And I have had to call back and get another card number sometimes.

If the club changes their mind after you have started the run or already have possession of the vehicle, I would politely tell them, somebody can pick up the vehicle at my lot, and the price is now $$$$$. Even if the customer is in the truck. Then explain to the customer the situation, and I would work with them. If the club backs out. It don't happen that often for me.

 

occupant272 said:

After the last round of negotiations, we "lost" our en route pay for roadside calls with Agero. Everything else improved nicely and the tows pay better now. But for roadside calls, they still try to get us to go out 20-25-30 or more miles. We tell them, only if you're paying by CC or add the en route, ALL miles, no free miles, from our dispatch location. 9 times out of 10 they will hang up on us or tell us they don't do that, but sometimes they cave.

I'm not driving 30 miles each way for a lockout if it'll all get eaten up in fuel. If they're willing to pay the mileage, I'll do the call.

A club (I can't remember if it's Allstate or Agero that did this) has also recently offered us a "bribe" to get to a call faster. Had one, the guy was on the center median of an Interstate where the shoulder was only four feet wide, with a cruiser blocking a lane, we gave a one hour ETA because the closest truck we had (the one I was in) was 14 miles out and still had a car to drop before going, they said, make it in 30 minutes and we'll give you an extra $50 via CC. We made it, we got it. However as a result of me being in a hurry to do that call, I pulled too hard on the fast idle cable and it got stuck. Loaded and finished that tow idling at 1400rpm. Had to disconnect the throttle linkage and remove the auxiliary cable after dropping to get back down to 700ish. Have to replace that cable now, it's binding somewhere in its sheath.

 

George Geissinger said:

I had the same "bribe" offered to me last year I gave a 2 hr ETA and the dispatcher came back with the CC offer to do it in 1 hr. My response was that the call was at least an hr away if I was sitting in the truck waiting for the flag to drop.