Is Agero getting behind on payments?

[Moose]

I keep seeing on Facebook where AGERO is behind on payments to some providers. We have not had a serious delay yet, just want to stay on top of it. Seems most of those commenting Facebook about problems are company drivers and not owners. Thought it best to ask in this member forum...... Too Many Rumors!

[ESC]

15 hours ago, Moose said:

I keep seeing on Facebook where AGERO is behind on payments to some providers. We have not had a serious delay yet, just want to stay on top of it. Seems most of those commenting Facebook about problems are company drivers and not owners. Thought it best to ask in this member forum...... Too Many Rumors!

Over the last few years we hardly do clubs anymore.   But with the early Feb change in contract terms with Agero it was the final straw.  We no longer service them at all.  They are just a nightmare to deal with at this point.

[BlackAutoload]

I only do about 10 jobs a month for them. 
They are paid up . 

[Stuart Wagner]

We get paid every week and are paid up

 

[GRUMPS The Towman]

We are still getting paid weekly from them. I have noticed I am not getting called 45 times a day with service calls that are nowhere near me which is a nice thing. I will give them credit for that. It has only been 9 years of me telling them to look at a map before calling me for something 3-5 hours away from me.

[Moose]

Dropped them last year, far too may games. Progress Insured Customers still call us after they have been waiting 3 plus hours and numerous calls to Agero and the tow company that is responding from farther Away giving excuses why they are not there.

[thtdon]

I had a guy call me today that I towed a couple of days ago.  Evidently, he paid for a portion of the tow directly to Agero with his credit card.  He wants a receipt for that money, so he can submit it to his insurance company.  He also said that the Agero dispatcher told him that I had to provide the receipt to him.  I told him that he needs to get the receipt from whoever he paid.  And that isn't me.  I don't know how much he paid them, and I don't care.  You want to steal my over-mileage money Agero?  Finish the job and give the guy a receipt.  Do your job.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

9 minutes ago, thtdon said:

I had a guy call me today that I towed a couple of days ago.  Evidently, he paid for a portion of the tow directly to Agero with his credit card.  He wants a receipt for that money, so he can submit it to his insurance company.  He also said that the Agero dispatcher told him that I had to provide the receipt to him.  I told him that he needs to get the receipt from whoever he paid.  And that isn't me.  I don't know how much he paid them, and I don't care.  You want to steal my over-mileage money Agero?  Finish the job and give the guy a receipt.  Do your job.

Thats a common Agero game. Although I have never had a customer ask me for a receipt for monies paid to Agero. You handled it right sir. You certainly cant provide a receipt for monies not paid to you. The dispatcher with Agero he spoke with is obviously clueless, lazy or both.

[TowGuy]

First call I accepted from them I took a p.o. on (big mistake).  It took me a year and a month to get payment from them. It took numerous calls but they did finally pay. 

Credit card only now. 

[yoBdaBenO]

We have not taken an AGERO Call in a months. I'll ask mom this week if they still owe us money.

[Chris Velasco]

is it possible to ask for credit card from agero even if you have contracted rates? the are such a pain to deal with all of our calls are from out of area due to us being located in a small town. this is also our first year working with them 

[ESC]

3 minutes ago, Chris Velasco said:

is it possible to ask for credit card from agero even if you have contracted rates? the are such a pain to deal with all of our calls are from out of area due to us being located in a small town. this is also our first year working with them 

Very possible.  I have a contract that is 20+ years old.... with ancient rates.  We cut them off, as well as most other clubs last year.    When clubs call we typically quote them $375 and up on a card.  We collect a card up front or we dont go.   Most times, they wont pay.  Others, they come back to you when they are desperate.  On occasion ill go less on the price, if its a real convenient job ... but even those seem to turn into a hassle fast with Agero.  I refused to agree to the new contract terms they tried to push on us back in Feb.  I cant imagine why anyone would sign on and agree to them personally.

[Chris Velasco]

I see, We are very new to this industry and Covid didn't make this any easier. We have all the insurance requirements they ask for and they still try to short us.

 

So when they call us to do a job i can say we will only do this job for such amount and request a card? i understand they wont always go for it but if they cannot find anyone else im sure they will give in right?

[Old Tow]

We have a contract with them but they pay so little that lately we have charging a dead head of $100 back to the yard. Kind of a Hassel having to go through a supervisor to get it, but hey we need more to stay afloat ! They usually pay it 🤠

[thtdon]

Anytime in the past that they have asked me to do an "out of area" call, they offer a few extra bucks to get me to go.  The problem is, when I submit the invoice for payment, they always scrape off the extra money.  When I complain, they always say that the extra money wasn't properly approved, and they won't pay it.  There's nothing that you can do.  You're not going to go back to the car, and put the flat tire back on, obviously.  After that happened several times, I refused to take one of those "out of area" calls.  Now, when they ask me to go out of my area for an extra fee, I want them to pay for that call in full by credit card.  And their response is, "CLICK"!

[Old Tow]

4 hours ago, thtdon said:

Anytime in the past that they have asked me to do an "out of area" call, they offer a few extra bucks to get me to go.  The problem is, when I submit the invoice for payment, they always scrape off the extra money.  When I complain, they always say that the extra money wasn't properly approved, and they won't pay it.  There's nothing that you can do.  You're not going to go back to the car, and put the flat tire back on, obviously.  After that happened several times, I refused to take one of those "out of area" calls.  Now, when they ask me to go out of my area for an extra fee, I want them to pay for that call in full by credit card.  And their response is, "CLICK"!

Lately (for the past 2 years) I have been requesting a dead head fee of $100.00, but you have to be sure it is cleared through an "Alert Supervisor" and be sure it is in the note section of the dispatch. We are sooooo remote they have been paying it every time... PTL !  🤠

[GRUMPS The Towman]

10 hours ago, thtdon said:

Anytime in the past that they have asked me to do an "out of area" call, they offer a few extra bucks to get me to go.  The problem is, when I submit the invoice for payment, they always scrape off the extra money.  When I complain, they always say that the extra money wasn't properly approved, and they won't pay it.  There's nothing that you can do.  You're not going to go back to the car, and put the flat tire back on, obviously.  After that happened several times, I refused to take one of those "out of area" calls.  Now, when they ask me to go out of my area for an extra fee, I want them to pay for that call in full by credit card.  And their response is, "CLICK"!

Just another typical lie by them. If you read your contract closely theyt have it worded stating that their dispatchers and "supervisors have NO authority to change your CONTRACTED rates. Up OR down. By their contract, they are not authorized to add dead head miles, additional labor/time, equipment etc.. They can tell you they can get you "out of area" money But they are not obligated to pay it as per their contract.. Another lesson i learned thew hard way with those a$$ holes.. I want to know what they plan to do in my area soon. They are down to one company that still runs for them but they have about had it too. Guess the shoe will be on the other foot here before too long.

[Stuart Wagner]

10 hours ago, thtdon said:

Anytime in the past that they have asked me to do an "out of area" call, they offer a few extra bucks to get me to go.  The problem is, when I submit the invoice for payment, they always scrape off the extra money.  When I complain, they always say that the extra money wasn't properly approved, and they won't pay it.  There's nothing that you can do.  You're not going to go back to the car, and put the flat tire back on, obviously.  After that happened several times, I refused to take one of those "out of area" calls.  Now, when they ask me to go out of my area for an extra fee, I want them to pay for that call in full by credit card.  And their response is, "CLICK"!

I always got paid extra money that I asked asked for. I always get the supervisors name and extension and add that in the notes of their online billing site.

[Jeff Poquette]

I have no idea what you guys are contracted for but is any of this worth it?

 

At the time we dropped Agero they averaged shorting us $2 per call. That was a half gallon of fuel on every call which was about the same cost of the 5 free loaded miles they also took. Now you're giving them the equivalent of 10 free miles on every call.

 

We were the second biggest provider in Georgia and that $2 short on every call averaged $1400 a month. That was a payment on a carrier at that time. The 5 free worked out to a second truck payment lost each month.

 

How about the 10 free en route? You know it takes 12 miles to find the customer who is 10 miles away according to their mapping system. You never get paid for those miles. Those 10 en route are built in to your private call hook up rate of $75 but are they built in to your Agero hook rate at $38? Do you value the time it takes you or an employee to sit on the phone trying to collect these short pays?

 

What is that cost, a few hours per week? Let's consider that to be another $45 loss per week. That's about one tank of fuel per month you are losing on top of the other losses. Now what little profit there is on the other work is supplementing the losses on the club tow.

 

Take a day off from your normal duties next week, sit down, run every damn number you've got. There's a good chance you'll see that you are actually paying out of your pocket to tow Agero's customers vehicles. Agero was almost 20% of our call volume and 0% of our profit. We dropped them and the result was far less miles on the trucks, lower fuel costs, happier dispatchers, happier drivers, and the bank account started to increase. The employee we were paying to chase the money Agero owed us was now freed up to stay on top of receivables owed by profitable customers which brought our aging receivables down considerably which had a huge benefit.

 

I see too many companies seeing that deposit when it comes in and assuming they made money. I'm sure there are a few towers out there who have cracked some secret code and are able to turn a whopping 2-3% of profit off of Agero but I'd bet the vast majority are losing money and don't see it because they don't know their true costs to run these calls. Their job is to take your profits so that they can profit, it's the only way they can continue to exist.

[Moose]

Dropped AGERO when they brought in SWOOP. Couldn't even tell it on the profit side as there wasn't more than what Jeff stated. Maybe 3% when all was done and some months it was on the negative side. I think many of those taking the calls just see the money coming in and do not actually know their costs on those runs. Maybe they just don't want to run them.

[Old Tow]

When you are 120 miles in the middle of the Sonoran desert as we are the MC's are what we live off of. I take offense to the fact that you city dudes think we don't know how to figure out our P&L! Were not all dummies ya know, I cleared $280,000 last year how did y'all do ?? 🤣

[yoBdaBenO]

Old Tow, many who do not operate in rural communities or in isolated areas such as yours cannot fully understand the differences. While we are not in a remote or isolated area we are with few towing companies. The big city has companies walking on top of each other and motor clubs often get their rates. If they want a to out here then they pay a higher price or send a tow from outside the area. I found out that we are turning down calls from both due to a dispute. This is odd as they are CC Only so how are they disputing charges they paid.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

Old Tow, If your out in the middle of nowhere with little or no competition, then you are probably getting a good rate from them. ( hopefully YOUR rate ). I can see how they would be a good chunk of your income out there. But when you have 11 companies vying for their work in a 14 square mile area like here, They dont want to and wont pay anyone shit. They know there is a buffoon around here who will bend over backwards for them that is just a phone call away. 

With all due respect Sir, if your business CLEARED $280,000 (being profit) after fuel, maintenance, payments, insurance, etc. AND your out in the lonely desert doing mostly auto club work, Then please make up the guest room for me !!! I am moving out by you Sir. 😃 I can do without the winters here.

Of course I am basing this on the thought your business is like my sized business. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by GRUMPS The Towman

[Old Tow]

No problem Grumps, come on out.... I need to sell out and relax anyway. Bring $900,000.00 cassshhh with you please. And I'll through in an 80 acre piece of desert along with 4 trucks, one landol, 3 bedroom house, two boats, a wrecking yard, and a Church.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

If I had the Loot, I Just might have taken you up on that offer OldTow,  But I am Broke... I run a towing business... LOL.

[Old Tow]

Funnnny, me to I got divorced that tell ya anything ?🤣