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  • Report:  #859789

Complaint Review: AAA - Internet

Reported By:
TheEqualizer - Ukiah, California, USA
Submitted:
Updated:

AAA
95482 Internet, United States of America
Phone:
925-279-2300
Web:
www.csaa.com
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?

OK. So, after a few years of it, I finally got sick of going to my mailbox, and pulling out massive amounts of junk mail from AAA. If I kept it all in one place, you would be shocked. It is THAT much. It is all centered around upselling their existing customers to crap they don't need. If I needed a life insurance policy, I already know where to go. I know where AAA is. I know what they sell. Bombarding my mailbox with almost daily solicitations, also known as opportunities for identity theft, is not likely to make me want what they are hawking. So, I decided to be reasonable, and simply ask AAA to stop.

I called their Cust Service line at 800-922-8228. You get the 1 = Eng, 2 = Span routine. OK. I press 1. Then it lists 4 options. I press option 2, to speak to a representative. The system doesn't recognize the keypress and repeats the options. I press 2 again. Again, it doesn't recognize the keypress and begins reciting the options. On and on and on it goes. The number is crap. So, now I go online.

Because AAA is clearly a company that operates using such dirty tactics, they do not make it easy to find addresses or contact info. I find some unrelated number and manage to get through. It takes some time, but I get transferred around and everntually get to a AAA CSR. I explain that I have not authorized AAA to SPAM me. I have not asked for any info. So, I demand to be taken off their SPAM list. The CSR assured me that my address would be removed and it would take 30 days.

Weeks later, it was still happening. I no longer had the number that I called to get through. So, I had to go throuh the whole routine I described above. I spoke to ANOTHER CSR, and again was told I would be removed. This time, I also went online and sent an email, documenting the problem. I sent the email below on 22Feb12:

"Look... I called the AAA customer service number weeks ago, demanding that prior to my AAA membership being renewed, I wanted to be removed from the AAA US MAil SPAM LIST. I never authorized AAA to SPAM my mailbox weekly with the flood of crap I am being sent. I DEMAND THAT AAA REMOVE ME, IMMEDIATELY, FROM ANY AND ALL SPAM LISTS. DO NOT SPAM MY EMAIL ADDRESS. STOP SPAMMING MY US MAIL ADDRESS. I do not want your special offers. I doo not want to be upsold. When I have needed assistance with vacation planning, AAA has consistently let me down, and I ended up doing it all on my own anyway. I use AAA only for roadside assistance, nothing more. In fact, AAA is clearly so incompetent that I cannot even call the customer service number from my cellular number today, because it will not allow me to navigate through their menus, and accept my pushbutton responses, which is why I am not on the AAA website, demanding that I be removed from the SPAM lists. I don't give a rat's a*s how long AAA says it takes them to remove me from these lists. I never authorized AAA to put me on these lists to begin with, and I demand that I be removed immediately. If I receive another piece of SPAM from AAA, I will ride out the remainder of the year, since I just paid for it, and then I will cancel my service and my girlfriend's service. I will move my roadside assitance to another service. GET ME OFF OF YOUR SPAM LIST. I am also making a record of this and other contacts with AAA, and I will post this online to ripoffreport.com and other consumer advocate sites, and file a BBB complaint against AAA."

 On 22Feb12, Jason S. from AAA responded:

"Hello ___, Thank you for visiting AAA.com and expressing your concern regarding solicitations. We respect your privacy (HA!!! THAT'S A LAUGH!!!) and have processed your request. Please allow up to 30 days (ending on 23Mar12) to have your mailing address and email address completely removed from our list. If you have any questions regarding AAA's Privacy Policy, please click here or visit the following link listed below:(omitted) Thank you for being a AAA Member. Please let me know if I may be of further assistance. Best Regards,

Jason S.

AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah"

You would think that this saga would be over, right? WRONG. Today on 26Mar12, I am still receiving AAA upselling SPAM. In today's mail, I received an 8.5X11 envelope stating it was a "Certificate of Coverage" and that I should "keep it with important papers". On opening it, yes you guess it, a AAA life insurance upselling offer.

Again, I had to do the AAA phone number mamba. I finally got through. No answers. No explanations as to WHY my privacy is being violated... and WHY they can't simply leave me the hell alone.

So, I am posting this here to let all AAA customers see exactly what you will go through should you be stupid enough to join AAA. Expect to have your mailbox filled with upselling offers, disguised as official AAA communications. Expect AAA to expose you to every opportunity to have you identity stolen, just so AAA can make a few extra bucks upselling its own customer base. When you complain about it and demand to be taken off their lists, expect to get the runaround by their (intentionally) crappy phone service, and then by the CSR's. Expect to be promised that your name will be removed from their lists and expect to continue receiving their crap. Why? Because this is how AAA CHOOSES to do business. AAA CHOOSES to piss directly in the faces of their own customers if it means their bottom line is just a little higher at the end of the year.

So, AAA customers, open your mouth and prepare to receive the stream. Or, do like I intend to do, and cancel their service. THere are MANY auto clubs these days and yes, they all provide the same services. I will just choose one which CHOOSES to treat their customers like customers, not like opporunities to make more money.



5 Updates & Rebuttals

TheEqualizer

Ukiah,
California,
USA
No... BBB FAILED TO RESPOND TO ALL COMPLAINTS

#2Author of original report

Thu, May 10, 2012

Look. To the rocket scientist parsing words... claiming the AAA didn't respond to ONE complaint, but responded to 43... I quote, from the previously cited AAA report, which graded AAA (Texas) at an "F" rating, for ANSWERING NOT ONE COMPLAINT IN 43:

"Reason for RatingBBB rating is based on 16 factors. Get the details about the factors considered.Factors that lowered AAA Texas' rating include:47 complaints filed against businessFailure to respond to one complaint filed against business."

There. I hope this helped the rocket scientist. AAA failed to take ANY of their customers serious, in the report cited. THAT IS WH THEY GOT AN "F" RATING, GENIUS!

(roll eyes here).




Martha Perkins

Novi,
Michigan,
United States of America
BBB complaints against AAA

#3Consumer Comment

Wed, May 09, 2012

I want to correct one comment about AAA's response, or lack of response, to 44 BBB complaints filed against AAA.  The statement "did not respond to one complaint" means exactly that - that AAA failed to respond to one complaint but did respond to the other 43 complaints.  Martha Perkins


TheEqualizer

Ukiah,
California,
USA
AAA promises to fix problem... again

#4Author of original report

Fri, April 27, 2012

I recived yet another weekly letter from AAA. This time, it was in a strdard envelope. The envelope gave no indication that it was yet another upsell offer. None of them ever do. They always masquerade the upsell under things like "keep with your important papers", and "AAA Member Notification: dated material enclosed". Yet, when you open it up, it is yet another tired upsell offer. Today's harassment was for AAA insurance.

I called AAA. I explained myself to the operator. She connected me to someone named "Locke". I got the voicemail. I left a message, detailing the issue, telling him to call me. No call came. Hours later, I called back. I spoke to the same operator. She put me through to someone named "Samantha" I believe, in their Customer Relations department. I explained the entire issue to her. She told me that it takes 90 days to get off the AAA spam list. I told her that two or three times or possibly even more (I'd have to check my notes), I had been told 30 days.

She told me she would need to read their entire log of my communications. She called me back later. She said that, yes, it was a 30 day period to get off the spam list. I told her that I am now going on my 3rd 30 day period. She had me read to her the envelope that I received today, and describe what was inside. She agreed it was upselling junk mail. She told me that she would correct the problem and that I would receive no more of these letters.

I told her that I was likely not going to renew. I told her I wanted to be left alone for the remainder of my term. I told her that, should it continue, I will fight back. I explained that when Comcast did this to me, I got the President's desk phone number, and I got the home phone and address of the President of the marketing company that was responsible for Comcast telemarketing. When they began receiving telephone calls, they took me off their list, pronto. Samantha told me that I don't need to call the AAA President at home (which I did't say I would do), and that the issues would stop. I told her to fix the problem, and there will be no more problems.

I am amazed with how AAA treats their own customers. With utter contempt. Forget what you want.... just send us your money! I won't hold my breath, expecting it to all go away.


TheEqualizer

Ukiah,
California,
USA
UPDATE: Second form letter received

#5Author of original report

Wed, March 28, 2012

This afternoon, I received this email from the "concerned" folks at AAA:

"Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:54:54 +0000

From: [email protected]

To: _____

Subject: Re: : [#1023875]

Hello ___,

Thank you for visiting AAA.com and expressing your concern regarding AAA solicitations.

We respect your privacy and have processed your request. If you have any questions regarding AAA's Privacy Policy, please click here or visit the following link listed below:

(omitted). Thank you for being a AAA Member. Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

Best Regards, Jason S. AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah"

I responded with:

"Yeah? You respect my privacy and have processed my request? My request for AAA to stop flooding me with unsolicited, unwanted crap that I gave AAA no permissions to send? You processed my "request" like you processed it over 30 days ago? Like when you told me that it would cease after 30 days, and it didn't cease/ That "processed"? Well, I am in the process of "processing" articles for the BBB and for every consumer advocate website I can find, to let as many people know the HARASSMENT I have been subjected to, simply to be a AAA customer. You can see the first one here: (link to this report). I will be sure to post your latest response there, as an update to the original complaint, since it clearly shows the lack of respect that AAA regularly dishes out to their "valued" customers. I don't need the link to your privacy policy. Don't send it to me again. Once is excusable. Twice is SPAM... but, then again, AAA and SPAM are synonymous, aren't they? At this point, AAA made my mind up for me. I will discontinue my account at the end of the year. I will also talk to my girlfriend and see if we can't discontinue her account as well. Two accounts are better than one, after all. You can FOAD now. Leave me alone. Do not email me further. (end)

Additionally, I tried getting through to my local AAA office, since you cannot get through to anyone outside of the AAA CSR department. My call to my local office was immediately routed through to the AAA corporate CSR line. When you have a company that needs to INSULATE itself from their own customers... it is probably because:

1. They don't want to hear complaints

2. They couldn't give a rat's a*s if you don't like how they do business.

So, if you find yourself in my position, where your mailbox is being bombarded with AAA crap... stop paying them. Stop sending them your hard-earned money. Adios AAA. You suck!


TheEqualizer

Ukiah,
California,
USA
UPDATE: BBB Report for AAA

#6Author of original report

Tue, March 27, 2012

You can't get one. Why? Go online and try to find corporate headquarters information for AAA. I spent some time doing it, and came up with little. Like their phone service that doesn't work, it is pretty clear that AAA doesn't want people contacting the headquarters. To make matters worse, there seem to be "headquarters" all over the place. Northern Calif. Southern Calif. Texas. On and on. So not only will you have a hard time fuinding who to contact, and who to complain about... you will also have a hard time finding one coherent, complete picture about this company at the BBB. Intentional? Well, if your company practices allow customer abuse as I have desxcribed, it becomes clear why you want to make complaining difficult... and why AAA might want to majke keeping track of complaints difficult.

That said, check out AAA in Texas.



BBB Rating: "F" (A-F scale; F being worst)

BBB rating is based on 16 factors. that lowered AAA Texas' rating include:44 complaints filed against business. Failure to respond to one complaint filed against business.



Yes, you can find AAA sites that have a higher rating. Yet, the above example illustrates exactly what I have maintained; AAA clearly doesn't care about its own customers. Forty-four complaints and not one response from AAA?



Check with your auto insurance carrier, or if you have a gas card, or even some credit cards... some of these offer premium roadside service without the crappy treatment.

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