I have been a AAA member since I first started driving 40 years ago. Back then, before cell phones & Uber, when I was lucky to earn $50/week from my part time minimum wage job, AAA was a life saver when the car wouldn’t start, the spare tire was missing or when the car died on the highway. In those pre-Internet days, AAA maps and triptiks made roadtrips much easier too.
I’ve probably used AAA a dozen times over those years – mostly for tows to the mechanic and replacing a suddenly dead battery.
When I bought the Orangemobile, it came with 3 years of free roadside assistance from Honda, so I cancelled my AAA. Those 3 years are up so I started watching for AAA promotions so I can renew.
Now, all I need is the “insurance” of a tow or battery replacement.
I dread signing back up though because I know AAA sells my information to all of its “partners” (aka any company that buys their membership list) and I don’t want to get back on all the marketing lists that I’ve worked hard to be removed from.
Also, I’ve noticed that as AAA membership fees have risen, their service has become more limited. Unless you buy an upgrade plan, they will only tow to the nearest AAA service center. In the past, they would tow up to 5 miles for free to wherever you requested.
I checked the FitFreak forum and someone suggested asking my auto insurance company if they has a roadside assistance rider.
I recall seeing this as an option on my auto insurance whenever I switched providers, but I always declined because I had AAA. It runs out my provider does offer roadside assistance, including all the basics – tow, jump start, lockout service, and emergency gas. The cost is 1/10th of the cost of AAA!
And best of all, I trust my insurance provider. They have a very easy opt-out marketing policy which I’ve used and as far as I can tell have respected my privacy.
The funny thing is, if I wasn’t so gun shy about getting added to all the marketing lists, I’d have signed right up with AAA without doing any research into other options.
There are other a number of other companies I refuse to buy from for the same reason. I would rather go without something that get added to a bunch of lists.
Unfortunately, it’s the same with charities. They are some of the worst. Once you get on one charity’s donor list, they sell your info to many, many other charities and it’s near impossible to get removed from this unwanted marketing death spiral.
I don’t expect AAA will care one iota that I’m no longer a customer. They haven’t ever asked me why. Instead they send me direct marketing offers every few months trying to get me to return.
It ain’t happening.