Bad AAA agent-just need to vent!

[mlbretscher]

In Spet '03 I booked our trip to Disney for Sept '04 with AAA. The AAA agent, June, was very slow about retuning my phone calls. I have made a few changes with the dates over this year and I would always get her voice mail when I would call. I would usually wait 2-3 days to give her a chance to call back and then give up and drive to the AAA office to speak with her dirrectly. Last week I called her again, and as usual I got her voice mail. I wanted to pay off my trip to get my Disney Dollar on my Disney Visa. Since she did not call back and thus I called Disney dirrect to see is I could charge it with them over the phone. To my surprise I learned that the "stay for 7 days and pay for only 5 days" discount that I had requested to have applied to my trip back in May was NEVER done by my wonderful AAA agent, June. Needless to say that was the final straw, I left a message to cancel my Disney trip through AAA and I re-booked the trip with Disney. June (the wonderful AAA agent) told me that the $200 deposit I made in Sept '03 was completely refundable if I canceled my trip, however, I just read the fine print and that is not the case. The AAA forms states that $25 per person peanalty will be assesed for all cancelations! I am soooo mad!

 

[catnik]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I too have found I much prefer to make my own reservations thru Disney so I can make changes/confirm everything myself instead of going thru an agent. Have you thought about going to the branch manager of AAA and filing a formal complaint re your agent's poor performance? Even if they will not waive the $200 penalty for cancelling, at least you would have let them know the reasons for your dissatisfaction. Hoping you have an awesome trip in September (it is one of my favorite times to go!!).

 

[disneydebk]

That $25 per person fee is from AAA, not Disney. I would definitely have a talk with someone in that office......

 

[tinaluis]

I agree with the other posters. Definitely speak to someone at AAA other than your agent to let them know of the problem.

 

[CajunDixie]

You need to go into the AAA office and talk to June's boss. Explain about the bad service and that because she didnt follow through your vacation is costing you more money. Then request they waive the cancellation fee. If not the implied threat of media exposure will most likely have them refunding all of your deposit ASAP.

 

[hookedup]

Having worked for AAA I can tell you that they take complaints against their agents very seriously. If your booking was mishandled I strongly recommend that you go to the agent's manager in the office (and also put it in writing!) and demand a refund for your cancellation penalty. You should have no problem getting it refunded.
Good luck!

 

[canwegosoon]

Sorry for you. Speak with someone...they should not be costing you money.

 

[lkohawaii]

I had a terble agent at AAA. She told me "If you want to get a cheaper price than call yourself". This was told to me on a day that I just bought the membership. I wrote on the comment card that had I not gotten exceptional service from the membership rep I would have cancelled right then. AAA called me back trying to figure out who this agent was. That was 2 years ago. This year I went into the AAA office to check on the price of a Disney cruise...my luck guess who I got. The same lady. This time she was very helpful...but I'm not going with her no matter what her attitude is now. I'm doing it myself with Costco. So, call AAA. Try to document the dates and incidents...it'll help.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I have learned over the years not to fool around. Send a letter to the office manager and then cc it to the president of the company. Trust me it works. Not only will they refund your money as they should but they will most likely carry you on their backs to Orlando. No manager wants upper management to know that their employees are not doing as they should. In this day and age, most car companies give you an auto policy for at least the first 3 years that you own your car (at least Ford does ) so AAA better be offering just that little bit more to keep customers coming. A newspaper once a month and a couple dollars discount here and there is not going to make it when you pay over 100 per year.

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

I was thinking you could call your credit card company and tell them the charge is in dispute, but you've probably paid it by now.

Please don't give up. Customer service is going downhill because no one cares anymore to follow up. Think about it: if you pay this $25/per person fee, YOU are paying THEM for bad service!

I also agree with Bella about sending a letter to her boss and copying the company headquarters (send the agent a copy, too)This had worked for me, too, with Ford Motor Company.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Doodlebug939]

As the others have said I would also call the store manager. I would clearly state that the one travel agent is not the quality that you have come to expect from AAA based on their reputation. Her lack of respect for you and your trip is unacceptable. You had given this "experienced" agent your time and money to plan a wonderful trip for your family. (Which by the way is a service that you pay for) and felt that you had to help her do her job and she did not follow through as you would have expected.

Each year you are asked to renew your memebership for a fee which you have agreed to pay in order to receive the service that AAA is known for but in my opinion this agent has not represented AAA properly. And if this is how this AAA office is run then I would not renew my membership. The agent is supposed to look out for you and her error could have cost you money had you not been looking over her shoulder.

Having said that-When we were in New England I had some of the best agents ever. They called me when they found deals for our family or sent me an email if something cool was going on. I hope that you find an agent who really works for you. Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

[hentob]

I am wondering how it all turned out for you.

Good luck!

 

[buzzlady]

I also had a bad experience booking through AAA. I was the one that informed my agent that POFQ, which was where we were booked, closed for renovations. After me telling her that Disney was offering upgrades for $10-$30 for POFQ relocations she insisted that we book at another moderate (CSR) because she never heard of such a thing. When I found out from the Dis that there was such a thing as a code, I called my agent and she didn't have a clue. She called the Disney Travel Co. and was told for our package that we would need a 4 letter code. My agent said to me that if I can find a code to call her and she would see if it could be applied. It finally all worked out. I was able to upgrade to WL for $10 p/n and also found myslef a code and had it applied saving about $270. I have learned my lesson and from now on I will do things myself - oh I guess I already did do things myself.