V I P Auto Body

This is the AAA affiliate for LIC/​WillyB. If you enjoy being insulted & made to wait for hours on end then these are the thugs for you. Just ask AAA to call another tow company… these guys aren’t worth the tirade of obscenities or resulting headaches!

These guys are the AAA towing affiliate for Brooklyn (probably for Queens as well, possibly even Manhattan) so that’s who showed up after I called AAA due to a dead battery at 10 pm. The driver, Bernie, was a little late but at least called my cell to let me know. He is an old-​school tow truck operator, been doing it for 25 years, and knows what he is doing. When he couldn’t jump-​start the car (battery was totally dead), he offered to tow it back to the shop. I was a little hesitant at first, but he talked me into it and said the boys at VIP would take a look at it 8 am the next morning and call me by 9. I was envisioning their «discovering» all kinds of problems and some ridiculous quote to fix them, but I needed to drive up to Boston that next morning and this was my best chance. Fortunately the end result was very positive: I called them at 9 the next morning and learned over the phone that (a) the battery needed to be replaced, (b) they had a battery at the shop, and © the total for fixing it was just under $ 200 ($ 110 for battery, $ 70 for labor) and I could come pick it up in half an hour. 10-​minute cab ride out to the shop (next to the huge UPS facility near the Queens-​Brooklyn border), 5 minutes to pay the bill and then I was outta there. It’s definitely a no frills, old-​school auto shop type operation, but the experience was relatively smooth and painless and everything seemed on the up and up, so I was pretty happy — almost gave ‘em 4 stars so probably a 3.5.

It’s 2 in the freezing morning and you’ve unfortunately locked your keys in the car. AAA tells you your salvation will be arriving shortly, in the form of a tow truck from VIP Auto Body.
If you’re hoping for surly, rude assholery during this already unpleasant situation, VIP has you covered. If you’re thinking, gee, I hope the tow truck driver yells at me for not knowing what he’s talking about at first when he says «If I pull the lever you pull to make the door open, will it unlock?» you’re totally in luck with VIP. On planet asshole, it seems, they refer to the door handle by its asshole name, «the lever you pull to make the door open,» and not knowing what the crap that means for a minute is a crime warranting the most scorn possible.
Did they unlock our door in about 5 minutes, with no damage to the car itself? Yes. Was the «fuck YOU at 2 a.m., customer» attitude necessary? Uh, no.
FAIL.