I am extremely pleased with the service that I received today, June 22, 2024, for a AAA tow call from Mag's Towing in Brockton, MA. I called AAA on a SATURDAY AFTERNOON to explain that the ignition had failed in my pickup truck and that I was next in line to enter an intersection and blocking traffic. They said that they would prioritize my call, and I thanked them very much. They said that it could take up to 45 minutes because they were very busy, but they would explain the situation to the towing company.
Even though I had my emergency flashers on, the hood up, and was working under the hood to try to get the ignition to fire, people were behind me laying (not beeping) on their horns, arms flailing inside their cars, and flipping me off as they went around me.
And then a dude in a tiny wrecker pulls up next to me as I'm working on the engine and asks me if I need a tow.
"Are you AAA?"
"No."
"You can't help me then, and your truck is too small; it could never pick this up. And I've got AAA on the way anyway."
"You're in the middle of an intersection, man."
"No kidding? You actually noticed that, huh, Einstein? You ARE brilliant!"
"OK, good luck waiting three hours." "Whatever."
About five minutes after that, I get the engine running and get out of the intersection and on my way to Home Depot. I stop at a gas station about three minutes away to get gas and make sure that it's going to keep running. Nope. Shut down in the bay.
As soon as I get out of the cab, I get a call from the driver, Colin, from Mac's Towing saying that he's at the intersection, but doesn't see my truck. That's about only 25 minutes from when I first placed the call, not the 45 minutes predicted by AAA.
Colin shows up about five minutes later and backs the flatbed up to my baby, a beautifully restored 1979 4WD Ford pickup truck. Very nice, clean cut young man who knew what he was doing. He had the truck attached to the winch, up on the flatbed, and tire straps attached in about ten minutes. Very careful and very thorough.
We shook hands and I was extremely pleased. I'm going to give the owner or his manager a call as soon as possible to basically repeat what I've reported here. I feel that it makes a little more impact when a customer talks to you in addition to reading a good review.
When I looked up the phone number for the company, I was surprised at the number of bad reviews that there were. Frankly, some of them sounded a little whiny to me and perhaps rather embellished in a bad way. I wasn't there for what they experienced, so I don't know; just my opinion. Others sounded like they could have been more the fault of AAA dispatching than the towing company.
I've been a AAA Platinum member for over 30 years and the majority of my experiences have been good, but a few have been bad, and some bad enough for me to write flaming letters or emails to AAA Customer Service, complete with names, exact statements, attitudes, times of calls, and everything possible to back up my complaint.
Some of these have been complaints about my experience with AAA and others have been complaints above the towing company. Back before car locks could first be opened remotely by the manufacturer and later by a phone app, I was at the mercy of whoever AAA sent out to unlock my car when I locked my keys inside.
I have driven Cadillacs for over thirty years, and I have had guys who must have been car thieves (just kidding) before they operated a tow truck because they could get into my car in literally three minutes with no damage. I've been amazed at the ingenuity of some of the devices that were used, often created by the drivers themselves!
Other times, I have had absolute idiots with hack tools that were supposed to have a plastic coating to prevent damage to paint as they were inserted in the door but were bare metal from overuse. These guys gouged up huge amounts of paint on the sides of the door, as well as the interior of the car. Others ripped up the weatherstripping in addition to damaging the paint.
One guy, who I later found out was a pizza delivery guy who had just been hired, was hacking away for a full hour without success before I told him to get lost. He and his company got one of my most flaming letters sent to AAA Customer Service and a review of the same level posted to their website. Photos included.
As any person can tell based on this lengthy review of outstanding service, I try not to leave out any details so that my letter or review will be airtight and completely believable, whether it be positive or negative.
I'll close with the simple statement that, in this particular instance, I was beyond pleased with AAA and beyond pleased with Mag's Towing. Colin gets the credit for his great representation of Mag's! Right on, Colin. You ARE the man! read more