Does Call To AA Warrant A Complaint

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Does Call To AA Warrant A Complaint

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

1780 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2973134 26-Sep-2022 15:55

BlakJak:
Eva888: Thanks for the responses. I had been parked with the radio for about 15 minutes so maybe that was a factor. Great if I need a new battery! I don’t know what the level is and not sure where to look.

Trust me 7 minutes of typing instructions into the phone and listening is a long time...one of the instructions was to type in the licence plate. How do you type the letters when you only have a numeric pad to type on while on the phone, add to that I couldn’t remember it without getting out and looking. Haven’t had the car that long.

I’ve hardly ever used AA last time had a flat tyre on a road curve on a hill and apart from getting the wrong city, they were great, talked to a person with very little prior faffing around and just a couple of clicks to get to the right place, easy and that’s how an emergency service should be.

My take is that I am paying for a service to make having a breakdown easier to deal with so I will complain. This was frustrating and especially now when all covid measures have gone, listening to a very long spiel about covid wasn’t useful. I think we all know what to do by now and that staffing may be affected.

Sometimes you just can’t see the forest, duh...why didn’t I think of getting a cab @Delphinius.

The pleasure of seeing the child after such a long time though was immeasurable.

The long spiel is probably just an artefact of the stuff they would've had to have up there several months ago, and they havn't adjusted to the change in covid alert levels yet. My take is that you should give them feedback but i'd soften the complaint. You were inconvenienced and got frustrated listening to inane intro stuff, sure, but i'm betting it was more simply the fact that they had no agents available to take your call so you were listening to their equivalent of 'hold music'.

As for typing in the license plate, perhaps they should've been clearer, but you can use the Letter Map on many phones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_keypad#Letter_mapping and they can coarse-filter against your caller ID and figure out really quickly if it's the car they have on file for your membership. I'm not sure if that's what they're doing, but it's possible.

On my iPhone during a call listening to instructions you cannot get back to speaker from the numeric keypad field and you do not have letters in that field to type licence.

Norton

Get easy to use, easy to install Norton antivirus protection against advanced online threats (affiliate link).

Dingbatt

6419 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2973139 26-Sep-2022 16:06

Batman: In a full EV a dying 12V battery would do this sort of nonsense. Not sure if that's the issue here.

And yet, as I described, I had similar in a Toyota Camry Hybrid. If I remember correctly Eva888 has a Lexus Hybrid, so the operation will be virtually identical.

@Eva888 , you won’t be able to “check the levels” of the battery. You need to take it to a battery specialist and have it tested. Deep cycle batteries are a bit more expensive, but as I said, solved things in my car’s case. I know you didn’t post seeking car maintenance advice, but you know, geeksters gunna geek 😁

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

MadEngineer

3529 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2973146 26-Sep-2022 16:19

Eva888:

On my iPhone during a call listening to instructions you cannot get back to speaker from the numeric keypad field and you do not have letters in that field to type licence.

You sure can:

You've got both letters and a Hide button

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29045 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2973218 26-Sep-2022 17:33

Dingbatt:

Batman: In a full EV a dying 12V battery would do this sort of nonsense. Not sure if that's the issue here.

And yet, as I described, I had similar in a Toyota Camry Hybrid. If I remember correctly Eva888 has a Lexus Hybrid, so the operation will be virtually identical.

@Eva888 , you won’t be able to “check the levels” of the battery. You need to take it to a battery specialist and have it tested. Deep cycle batteries are a bit more expensive, but as I said, solved things in my car’s case. I know you didn’t post seeking car maintenance advice, but you know, geeksters gunna geek 😁

so was your issue the 12V battery? sorry i don't know what a deep cycle battery is

Technofreak

6104 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2973226 26-Sep-2022 17:54

I had an occasion to call AA before Covid (BC) and the experience was disappointing. I don't think the OP's problems are specifically related to the effects of Covid.

I can understand why they have a system like they have, but it is very clunky. It could be improved.

I think it is definitely worth providing some feedback.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Eva888

1780 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2973270 26-Sep-2022 21:27

MadEngineer:
Eva888:

On my iPhone during a call listening to instructions you cannot get back to speaker from the numeric keypad field and you do not have letters in that field to type licence.
You sure can:

You've got both letters and a Hide button

Thanks. You are right. No reading glasses sitting in the car, couldn’t see the word hide. I just tested it and sure enough. Won’t forget that too fast after being publicly shamed.

BlakJak

1094 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2973286 26-Sep-2022 22:07

A deep cycle battery is one that's more tolerant of being pulled down to dead or near-dead (i.e. full to empty to full again).

Most car batteries don't take well to being deeply cycled, they like to be floated near full charge as much as possible.

So if you completely flatten your car battery you've also reduced the life of it... after a few full-cycles from completely flat up to charged again youll see its capacity greatly reduce. And when your battery is a bit older, flattening it is a good way to push it over-the-edge and kill it.

My car battery is now about 7 years old and having completely flattened it twice in the last year, i'm kinda nursing it now... it has naff-all endurance for sitting around with the cars electrics going. Leaving the headlights on, even for 15m, is enough to wipe it out now.

But ironically, it still starts every time if i'm not abusing it that way, so it's not quite 'done' yet.

No signature to see here, move along...

Eva888

1780 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2973292 26-Sep-2022 22:39

After reading the above reminded me that the headlights come on when engine starts. No idea how to get rid of this annoying feature. Tried a few times but got various levels of lights, but not off. Maybe while parked on Aux the lights also stayed on and did the deed. Strangely though everything switched on each time I pushed the power button to on including the radio. Just the 'ready' sign didn’t show. I now mistrust the car and have little faith in AA if stuck some dark night.

As for dialing the letters on the keypad. eg ABC are all the number 2. This is not an easy feat while in a situation of need trying to figure out how to add licence plate of 3 letters and 3 numbers that will all show up as numbers not letters. I just don’t get how one would type a numberplate in the numeric keypad that was say BAC241 So it would come out as 222241 which to the recipient AA could also be BBB241 or CBA241 etc. Am I missing something here?

Actually had the AA app but forgot it was there. However, if one had a flat phone battery and needed to use someone else’s phone to call...

Jase2985

12348 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2973303 27-Sep-2022 05:27

Eva888: I now mistrust the car and have little faith in AA if stuck some dark night.

how can you say that when you had rushed and stressed experience while on the phone, people have told you you can log a job via the AA App

have you downloaded and logged into the app?

have you taken the car to be looked at? if got to that state in 15 minus of being parked up there is something wrong with it.

Handle9

9641 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2973316 27-Sep-2022 08:25

If you are not happy with something you pay for complain. End of story. If you pay for something and you aren’t happy the company needs to know.

Complaining doesn’t have to involve being a Karen, it means you are telling a company that they need to improve their service. Giving feedback is incredibly valuable to them, it’s an opportunity for them to keep your business.

If you leave AA because of this, tell them why. You are doing them a favour and helping other customers.

BlakJak

1094 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2973324 27-Sep-2022 08:59

Eva888: After reading the above reminded me that the headlights come on when engine starts. No idea how to get rid of this annoying feature. Tried a few times but got various levels of lights, but not off. Maybe while parked on Aux the lights also stayed on and did the deed. Strangely though everything switched on each time I pushed the power button to on including the radio. Just the 'ready' sign didn’t show. I now mistrust the car and have little faith in AA if stuck some dark night.

Headlights when the engine is running aren't going to have a major impact on you. This is a regulatory requirement in some parts of the world so i'm not entirely surprised you're struggling with this

The AA will always be subject to demand, you should expect to have to wait up to an hour for help depending on their workload, your location and other transient issues.

An hour is still better than all night. Just because you didn't raise them in 7 minutes???

No signature to see here, move along...

BlakJak

1094 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2973325 27-Sep-2022 08:59

As for dialing the letters on the keypad. eg ABC are all the number 2. This is not an easy feat while in a situation of need trying to figure out how to add licence plate of 3 letters and 3 numbers that will all show up as numbers not letters. I just don’t get how one would type a numberplate in the numeric keypad that was say BAC241 So it would come out as 222241 which to the recipient AA could also be BBB241 or CBA241 etc. Am I missing something here?

You just dial the number that matches. It'll do a 'rough match' i.e. it's not going to mix up BBB241 or AAA241. Their database knows your car is CBA241 and that this _does_ match what you've dialed, and that's 'good enough'. It can also help them if they struggle with accents or what-have-you when you are verbally giving your registration later, to see that this matches what you have dialed as opposed to being wildly different.

Actually had the AA app but forgot it was there. However, if one had a flat phone battery and needed to use someone else’s phone to call...

... then you don't get to use the app, because they still have a phone answering service, and just because you've had one bad experience doesn't mean it'll always be that way.
Sometimes you do just need to sit on hold.

No signature to see here, move along...

Batman

Mad Scientist
29045 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2973327 27-Sep-2022 09:06

BlakJak: A deep cycle battery is one that's more tolerant of being pulled down to dead or near-dead (i.e. full to empty to full again). Most car batteries don't take well to being deeply cycled, they like to be floated near full charge as much as possible. So if you completely flatten your car battery you've also reduced the life of it... after a few full-cycles from completely flat up to charged again youll see its capacity greatly reduce. And when your battery is a bit older, flattening it is a good way to push it over-the-edge and kill it. My car battery is now about 7 years old and having completely flattened it twice in the last year, i'm kinda nursing it now... it has naff-all endurance for sitting around with the cars electrics going. Leaving the headlights on, even for 15m, is enough to wipe it out now. But ironically, it still starts every time if i'm not abusing it that way, so it's not quite 'done' yet.

how do i find a deep cycle battery? is that the same as AGM?

MikeAqua

7616 posts

Uber Geek

#2973329 27-Sep-2022 09:18

These days, I just carry jumper leads, a booster pack, fuses and a small set of tools. In 30+ years of motoring with all sorts of modern cars (and outboards), including working in the rental car industry, I've only encountered one breakdown that couldn't be fixed quickly and simply, with that equipment.

Partner has an AA membership, but I can't remember using it, ever. I've done lots of free 'roadside assist' myself though.

Mike

trig42

5604 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2973331 27-Sep-2022 09:20

BlakJak:

You just dial the number that matches. It'll do a 'rough match' i.e. it's not going to mix up BBB241 or AAA241. Their database knows your car is CBA241 and that this _does_ match what you've dialed, and that's 'good enough'. It can also help them if they struggle with accents or what-have-you when you are verbally giving your registration later, to see that this matches what you have dialed as opposed to being wildly different.

Pretty sure the AA doesn't know my Rego.

They don't need to, the service is for the driver, not the vehicle. I could be driving any car and get a callout (so long as my subs are paid up).

But, thanks to this thread, I now have the app, and I've set it up.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4