AAA Texas

This is the worst customer service I have ever received. It has been over 24 hours and my car is still not towed to the desired destination, let alone I was left on a high way in the middle of no where for over 6 hours while pitch dark outside. DO NOT TRUST ANY WORD THEY SAY THAT HELP IS ON THE WAY. The amount of personal trauma I have been caused is absolutely unacceptable.

BEWARE IF YOU HAVE A HONDA.
I’ve had AAA replace my 2007 Honda battery in my car every year since I’ve had it, which is almost 9 times, but was always assured by the AAA «technicians» that some cars are just faulty and I believed them because what do I know about cars?
After it died TWICE in TWO weeks, I decided to call AAA, have it jumped and go see a mechanic. Within 30 seconds of looking at my car, the mechanic goes «this is the wrong battery. AAA has been putting in a Honda Civic battery which your accord has been eating though.» Needless to say, I was pissed. After I left the mechanics I called and demanded my last two calls be taken off my «free calls» list and that someone come immediately and change the battery, which the woman agreed to. After an hour, someone showed up to replace my battery after arguing with me that I was wrong and that this battery was correct. He finally looked it up and SHOCKER I was correct. He replaced it quickly and left immediately. Less than 6 weeks later my car is dead again. I have a sick feeling it’s something one of the almost dozen AAA «technicians» did as my mechanic told me my car is in perfect working order other than my battery.
The sad part is, they’ve always been great when I’ve had a flat tire, but once you screw with my actual car, I’m done.

Got an International Drivers License at this location. Very simple forms to fill out and was issued the license with in 30 minutes.

Had called for information before driving to this Galleria area AAA location, in hopes of switching from California AAA to the Texas equivalent, as well as transferring vehicle title (which btw, TEXAS AAA says it cannot do, but I digress) Never got through on the phone, and the recorded message stated that all of the operators were busy, and I could leave a message to receive a return phone call either later or on the following business day. Instead, went directly to the office, as we were by then, close by. The office was completely empty – no one waiting at all for walk in service. However, it still took several minutes to receive assistance, after being told by two employees that someone would be with us shortly. One employee was assembling a booklet, page by page. I could hear another employee in a nearby cubicle on what was clearly a personal phone call. We were told to wait in the quite empty member area where, a few minutes later, we were assisted with the membership transfer. That only took a few minutes and the gentleman apologized for the wait, but it was a distinctly inferior promptness of service overall

I have been an AAA Texas customer for 10 years. Prompt service for car emergencies such as flat tire, dead battery, and so on.

The travel planning services were helpful although there was approximately a 45 min wait when I went in on a Saturday morning around 11am.

Screw you AAA… It took you an hour and a half to come and get my vehicle at night in the cold at a non-​peak hour… The police came and almost fined me for being there for such a long time and becoming a street hazard. The idiot you put on the phone was a big schmuck! ZERO customer service.

Put me on auto renew without EVER asking me or mentioning it or putting it in any printed materials. Then, would not refund me the second membership charge which I never agreed to.
If you want to be tricked and swindled and unexpectedly have $ 60 debited from your account and then have to spend half an hour on the phone to find out what it is, only to be treated rudely and get no refund, then yeah. You should totally sign up. Oh and also, if you call for help, you can expect it to come like three hours later.
The part of the company located in the north west is not nearly this bad. Clearly the Texas part has bad management and some people should be fired. Bad news. Just be honest, people.

So my car decided to crap out on me today. Luckily, I had just signed up for AAA. They immediately dispatched a tow truck to take my car to my auto shop of choice. My plan offers a free tow — up to 100 miles away. They set up a rental car reservation for me right over the phone. They got me a rental car from Enterprise w/​a free upgrade and arranged for me to be picked up from my home. Super convenient. The tow truck arrived about an hour later, which is not bad at all considering that this was around 5pm rush hour. AAA also gives me a 10% discount at my auto shop, and they have lots of other benefits that I may need like hotel discounts, jumping your battery, delivery of gas if you run out, and locksmith service. I pay a measly $ 82 a year for the AAA Plus level of membership. So glad I decided to sign up or else my poor car and I would probably still be stranded in BFE right now!

As far as AAA goes, this one is a pretty good one. They offer a ton of services, but I use them mostly for maps and for the occasional passport photo. I’ve been lucky enough that my car has never broken down while I was driving it, but when it happens, I’ll call AAA. Anyways, they are helpful, quick, and friendly. I’m giving them four stars because there was a passport photo incident where the woman miscommunicated the number of photos I would get per $ 7 or whatever it was and I ended up with about a billion because she was not clear that $ 7 gets you TWO photos, not one. Also, they have one of those «Ring the bell if you’ve had great service!» things, and I really resent that because it implies that good service should be the exception, not the standard. So four stars it is.
Also, the review below mine mentions Trip Tiks. I remember when I was like eight and my family used to drive from TX to NY and back every summer (something I’m doing for the last time in a week, can’t wait!) and the Trip Tik was a serious asset. That is no longer the case. I can go on Google Maps and print out pretty much the same exact thing that you can get from AAA today. It used to be something that they sat down with a map of the US and planned with you. They’d print out a step-​by-​step booklet with fold outs and all sorts of info (food, rest stops, etc.) and you’d have to come back to pick it up so they could have time to put it together and highlight your route by hand. They’d give you maps of each section of your route with the route highlighted and destinations circled. Now, they get on their version of Google maps, print something out that’s half as helpful, and slap it together. You get less information than if you were to use a GPS system, which I think is a serious mistake on their part, because I’m sure most people are already more inclined to buy a Tom Tom than a membership. I was in there about a month ago, and a woman was looking for help in planning a drive from D.C. to Montréal and the woman making her Trip Tik was sending her on the worst possible route (straight through New York city), so I don’t think that the «personal touch» necessarily means that you’ll get more insight.
On a sidenote, the location is handy if you’re at the Galleria, but otherwise kinda lousy. I pretty much hate being in that area because of the traffic and insanity involved with the Galleria, but it is the closest location for me.

Some of the best advice my parents gave me, and I’m now passing to you is: you NEED to have Triple A. Sincerely, if you drive a car or travel anywhere, this company is going to come in extremely handy at least once a year.
The services offered depend on your membership. For example, they will send a locksmith for when you just want to run in the store really quickly, grab your wallet, then slam your car door securing your precious keys on the passenger seat. They will tow your car to the nearest mechanic when your alternator goes on strike. They will also provide a list of Triple-​A approved mechanics in your area over the phone. This is especially helpful when stuck just outside of Seguin, or anywhere else your car happens to misbehave.
I like going to this store when planning road trips. Trip Tiks are awesome. These are specialized itineraries for your adventure that offer up to date road closures or heavy construction areas. Helpful when you want to add that trip to see a gigantic ball of twine, visit Sun Records, see the world’s largest fry pan, eat the best BBQ ever, and/​or watch that diving pig. They will also provide normal road maps, either by state or region and also travel guides for specific cities.
If you are traveling outside the country, they also can change your money into traveler’s checks. They also have a Visa Travel Card. It’s a card with a small fee that can be reloaded with money while you (or your child) is traveling. I can’t tell you how perfect this would have been when I traveled around Europe many years ago. Western Union is expensive and a bother to find a pick up location.
Most of the above can be handled online, but for the personal touch and to have a person to ask all of your numerous travel questions to, plus bring up topics you may not have thought of on your own, this place is perfect.