Category: default || By jt3y

A few months ago I wrote about predatory tow-truck drivers, but mentioned that the local ones seemed to be fine. (The predatory ones seem to be a problem in Picksberg, as in other large cities.)

I just want to confirm that most of the local guys are, indeed, good guys. Early Sunday morning, on my way to my part-time gig, I hit something on the road that punctured a tire. (It almost always seems to be a snow tire that gets punctured, and I only get flats when it's raining or snowing.) I didn't realize the tire was going flat, though, until I got to work.

I tried to change it myself, only to learn that the scissors jack in the sleek, gray Mercury was, to use the technical term, "kaput." You see, I loaned it to someone a few months ago, who returned it saying, "I think I may have broken it." Well, when the jack now goes up at a 45-degree angle to the ground instead of 90-degrees, I'd say it's broken all right. It makes it hard to lift the car that way, too.

What else do I pay the motor club for if not to change flats in the rain early on a Sunday morning? Not much, it seems. First, the Triple-A sent the tow truck out to Forest Hills instead of North Versailles, where I was at.

This, by the way, despite my giving very specific instructions to the Triple-A operator referencing in great detail the intersection of Routes 48 and 30. Indeed, Triple-A called me back twice to confirm the directions ... and still sent the truck out to Ardmore Boulevard for reasons only known to them.

The driver --- from a towing company based in Our Fair City (I won't mention their name, but its initials are "C" and "D") --- arrived in a driving rainstorm and looked like a drowned rat by the time he was done. (In sympathy, I stood out in the rain with him. I had to dry my socks in the microwave when I was done, and my shoes are probably ruined.)

So, I just wanted to clarify for anyone who thought I disliked all wrecker truck drivers. Just the predatory ones.

Like the one at a Picksberg fast-food restaurant I visited recently. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, he shot in behind me and sat behind my car, watching it, I guess in case I didn't come out right away. (Another truck from the same company was towing a nearby car.)

If you'll forgive a geek reference, there's a scene in the book The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy where the two main characters are being carried to what they think is certain death by a thuggish alien security guard.

One of them, Ford Prefect, finally asks the guard: "Do you really like this job?" Not as such, the guard replies, but he rather does like the uniforms, the shouting, and the stomping around.

I feel like asking some of these predatory tow truck drivers, who spend their lives making motorists miserable, the same question. Do you really like the work? Or do you just get off on bullying people who can't fight back?

...

Speaking of Triple-A: Have you priced their services lately? I dropped Triple-A when I bought the sleek, gray Mercury, because it came with 24-hour Lincoln-Mercury roadside assistance.

Well, that ran out, and I had to find a new motor club. I wound up back at Triple-A, which socked me for $48 for the basic, entry level plan.

Now, I don't use AAA to book hotels or buy airline tickets, because they aren't that hot, in my experience, and it's simple to comparison shop those things on the Interweb. AAA's maps are fair to average. Their much-vaunted "TripTik" service amounts to highlighting Interstates with a magic marker, which you could train a monkey to do.

Thus, $48 for a towing insurance policy seems a little steep to me, especially when they can't tell Forest Hills and North Versailles apart.

So, if you decide to boycott AAA, you do have other options:

• BP operates what used to be called the Amoco Torch Club, and it starts at $69 for what looks like a fairly limited range of services. I'm not certain about this, but it looks as if they only offer towing in certain areas. If there isn't one nearby, you're up the proverbial creek, and have to make your own arrangements (though they will reimburse you).



• Cross Country Automotive Services (which, I think, runs "motor clubs" for several other agencies) has its own branded program called "Driver's Elite." Prices start at $55 per year.



• General Motors has a motor club, and perhaps surprisingly, owners of non-GM cars can sign up, too. (A good thing, too, the way the sale of GM cars has tanked. They'd be sorely limiting their market otherwise.) They claim to offer unlimited towing and to cover an entire family for $50 a year. Anyone tried the GM club? If it's any good, the price seems right.



• AARP has a motor club, for its members only. The price starts at $34 a year or $64 for a family. (You do not need to own a Buick Park Avenue or a Chrysler New Yorker to join, but a white belt and shoes, straw hat and a license plate that says "Ask Me About My Grandchildren" are not included.)



• AARP's service is run by General Electric, which also has a motor club (not just for electric cars, ha ha ha). It starts at $79 a year, and again, benefits seem fairly limited. Like BP, if they don't have a towing provider where you're stranded, you have to make your own arrangements. (In fact, the website looks suspiciously like BP's, and I suspect they're operated by the same provider. They're also headquartered in the same place --- Carol Stream, Ill.)



• Allstate Insurance has a club, and it starts at $48 a year. It doesn't look like you need to be an Allstate customer to join, either (though I'll bet you're deluged with offers for insurance after you sign up).



• And Chevron has a motor club, too, but it's not available in Pennsylvania. Oh, so you're too good for us, eh? Well, who needs your gasoline, anyway?

...

I'd be interested to hear if any Almanac readers have experiences with any of these clubs. (Even AARP, because some days, I feel ready to join.) There is nothing I'd like better than to be able to tell AAA to "stuff it." (They're getting a little too big for their britches, if you ask me --- time was when you could go down to Market Street and talk to someone at the McKeesport Automobile Club, but now, you got to go out to some high-falutin' suburban office in a mall, by cracky. I am ready for AARP, come to think of it.)

On the other hand, given my experience with dumping Ma Bell in favor of a competitor, maybe I had just better fork over my AAA membership renewal next time and keep my fat yap shut.