For WNYers, AAA as you'll experience it has a dual identity: the sharp, knowledgeable employees at the Amherst/International Drive office and the courteous but not-nearly-as-capable staff at AAA's call center in Liverpool, NY (near Syracuse). On a positive note: The ladies at the front desk at the Amherst International Drive office are fast and helpful when it comes to providing AAA Tourbooks and maps and the travel agent I most recently dealt with was friendly and very knowledgeable about my destination. If this review were only for the Amherst/International Drive office, I'd happily give four or five stars. Membership, towing and other services for WNYers used to be handled by the competent, on-the-ball staff at the Amherst International Drive office. Nowadays these services, at least by phone, are handled by AAA's Liverpool, NY call center and the level of service has declined. Towing services, especially, have declined. I should know -- I've been a member for more than 30 years. The most recent example: Yesterday I called for a tow. The Road Assistance dispatchers for Western and Central NY are located in Liverpool (near Syracuse), know nothing about the Buffalo area, and they tend to be extremely slow and ignorant. After waiting a very, very long time to be connected with a dispatcher and after a lengthy conversation involving the dispatcher's having to enter every last thing about my membership and vehicle into the computer system, I was informed that I would have to wait 3 HOURS FOR A TOW. Are you kidding me -- 3 HOURS FOR A TOW in mid-June? What kind of service is that? This isn't the first time in recent memory that towing services have been unacceptable. Two calls ago (again, via the Liverpool dispatch center), when I requested that my vehicle be towed to a dealership -- which has a couple of locations in the Buffalo area -- AAA's dispatcher in Liverpool had my car towed to the WRONG location, even though I had clearly specified the correct address. When I called about the problem, another dispatcher in Liverpool refused to help get my car towed to the right location (citing AAA's "one tow per incident" policy) and I had to escalate the call to a supervisor in order to get the matter resolved. Also, in a recent call to Membership Services, the associate appeared to be helpful but she made a big mistake that required yet another call to correct. When you call AAA, even with a phone number that begins with (716), you're likely to get a person at the Liverpool office, so here are some tips on getting quality customer service: Unless you have a towing issue, insist that the call be transferred to someone (anyone) at the Amherst/International Drive office or call 716-630-3799 and ask for a rep at the Amherst office and you'll be connected directly to the Amherst International Drive office. Believe me, you'll be glad you did. ***6/22 Per Jerry H's comment, I just called 800-836-2582, which connected to the Liverpool call center, and asked to speak with Member Relations. The call center agent said he didn't know what that was and he didn't know where to transfer the call. Point made. read more

I was incorrectly or fraudulently charged on my credit card for a membership fee. I called AAA to find out what the situation was and to have the charged reversed. I was told that they could not do that until they figured out how the charge was done. They have no idea what they are doing. They took my information and found nothing, but still would not reverse the charge. Clueless ! read more

Gretchen Furlong is an insurance rock star, been with Amherst insurance for years and would highly recommend them to anyone

Triple-A has gone downhill recently. I am canceling my membership and asking for a refund. They've hired a bunch of young guys who lack experience, and who don't want to take the time to look at your car problem. I called AAA tonight requesting they come check my battery, which is part of the service they provide as clearly touted on their website. Tonight the technician arrived and called me from his car and asked me to come out and help him get the car started. The car wouldn't stay running nor would it start again. After 15 minutes the technician said he didn't have time to check my battery because he had "six other calls to make" after mine. He suggested I get my car to a garage and have it checked!! Isn't that their job -- to check your battery? What is the point of paying $90 per year for roadside service that just tells you to call a garage? The technician finally called his supervisor. He wasn't any help either. The supervisor gave me a litany of excuses; He told me that they were having a busy night. After that, he said that the battery on my car was 'hard to check.' The supervisor also said the technician wasn't qualified to check batteries. He said warned me that if they checked the battery, then they might just happen to find out that there was something else wrong with the car and thus, they may void my battery warranty. All of these were clear attempts to discourage having the battery rightfully checked, and to avoid doing their job. I told the supervisor that I had specifically asked for a technician who knew about batteries (at the time I called in the request), the supervisor then reversed himself and told me that the technician who was there actually could check the battery if I needed him too. So which is it? As I told AAA when I called in the complaint -- "No thanks, I don't want someone working on my vehicle, whom you just told me is unqualified to be working on my vehicle." It was all a colossal load of malarkey. I had another problem with AAA just two months ago. On that occasion, the AAA technician did check my battery. He told me there was nothing wrong and it had just needed a jump start. He was also anxious to leave. The technician couldn't have been more condescending and rude in delivering 'wrong' information. After he left, the car wouldn't start (He hadn't checked this out prior to leaving -- again he was in a hurry). I jumped it myself and drove it to Advanced Autoparts. The employees at Advanced Autoparts checked the battery. They said it was no good. The voltage was too low and it wouldn't hold a charge. They said that a qualified mechanic would have known this. They also noticed that the battery was very hot and ready to explode. It should not have been driven with that battery in such a poor condition, even though the AAA technician had told me that all was well a couple of hours earlier. Too many of the guys at AAA are inexperienced and unwilling to work on cars. Clearly, the apathy comes from the top, as the supervisor showed me tonight. I feel as though I know as much as these guys (and perhaps more, based on their poor judgment). I used to service my cars myself. I only joined AAA because I no longer want to work on cars. But after this last episode, it looks like I'm coming out of retirement because of the hassle I've been dealing with from AAA!! I'm done with these guys and feel that many others (as evidenced on these boards, the Better Business Bureau website, etc.) are done with these jokers too! read more

Who does aaa think they are asking a members birthday? You do not have to ans this question to get a job but you need to tell some phone rep to get a triptik it is none of their business! read more

I previously rated AAA Amherst only 1 star but customer service followed up and has done a perfect customer recovery. They corrected the tickets and everyone is happy. I'm impressed they were so pro-active once they received my email and called my parents immediately to rectify the problem. read more

On the night of 8/31/16, my son was involved in an accident in an unfamiliar area, over an hour away from home and was stranded on a desolate road. Even with him sending a pin from his phone, his location was still hard to determine. I was helped on the phone by AAA associates Lillian and Shelly. Thank God for these two dedicated and caring employees (from Amherst/Williamsville NY call center)who went way over the bounds of the usually excellent customer service to get help to my son. Lillian tried to call AAA towing locations in the area to give them the small description I had from my son to see if they could tell where he was by the minimal details. While she was trying to locate him, I called back and got Shelly, who recognized my name and said, "Lillian told us all to look for your call." By the time I reached Shelly we had a better description of where he was and she was able to dispatch service to him. As a Mom who was freaking out over her son's safety, these two wonderful women kept me calm while they did everything possible to solve the problem. I was already a satisfied customer but now feel like it's my responsibility to sing the praises of Lillian, Shelly and AAA in general. I am a forever member for sure! If a supervisor sees this, please give them a raise! PS: the AAA tow truck driver who brought him all the way home was also very caring and concerned as well. read more

I stopped by the International Drive, Amherst, NY AAA office in early July, 2016 to pick up a trip tik to Williamsburg, VA. Your representative strongly suggested taking route 15. My daughter and I left for Virginia on Wednesday, July 6 at approximately 10 pm. We stopped at four gas stations along route 15 to get gas. All were closed. This was at 12:30 am on Thursday. We ran out of gas at a closed station in Steam Valley (PA). The station was dark and there were trucks/tractor trailers parked in the lot. The station would open at 6:00 am. We contacted AAA and was told it would be 60 to 90 minutes before someone could get gas to us. We told the representative we didn't feel safe and he suggested we contact the local police. We called the phone numbers for the local stations and they were both closed. Your representative called and asked if we were sure we were out of gas. After about 2 hours, AAA did arrive with a "small" can of gas. We were told this should get us to the next town for gas (Wiliamsport). I have been a AAA member for 29 years and was shocked at the trip recommendation I was given - and that it took almost 2 hours to get gas. How could AAA recommend a route without gas stations open? We were frightened being stranded in an unfamiliar dark area in the middle of the night. Our membership renews in August, and I am considering changing to another auto club. AAA Response - Dear MS Birch, I am so sorry that you experienced trouble finding an open gas station while traveling on US route 15 in Pennsylvania. US 15 is considered a major highway, however, it is not an Interstate Hwy that would have 24 hour rest areas available with gas stations. When we do our routings, we take the shortest, most direct route to your destination. Unfortunately, the recommended route does not always use an interstate highway. In this instance, if we would have used the thruway and interstate for you trip, it would have added on considerable more miles and time to your trip. We don't usually take in to account the time of day a person will be traveling. In the future, if traveling at night , please tell us and we will be happy to route you using interstate as much as possible, or at least advise you to get gas before leaving for your trip. Again, I apologize for your inconvenience you experienced on your trip. Sincerely, Kathy Hess Kathy Hess Route Production Dept. Supervisor AAA Western & Central New York khess@nyaaa.com 1-800-678-3450 EXT.7334 ADVISE US TO GET GAS? WHO DOESN'T FILL THEIR GAS TANK BEFORE LEAVING ON A 10+ HOUR TRIP (OR ANY TRIP)? read more

My husband and I have been members for 17 yrs & have always been happy with the service until last night. My husband's car had transmission problems on the way home from work. Luckily he was able to get it off the road & into a parking lot. I called AAA for a tow to our mechanic. They explained that it would be 90 mins because they were busy I said that was ok. I then drove to wait with him for the tow truck driver. I called after sitting for 80 mins for an update & they said they would call dispatch & call me back. After another 20 mins I called again they said it would be another 1/2 hour. After that 1/2 hour I called yet again they said someone was close & would be there after dropping off a car. After another 1\2 hour they called us & said it would be another hour I asked if we could leave the car because frankly I needed to go to the bathroom. He said that would be fine. So we finally got home and I waited an hour & called to see if it had been towed because it was in a private parking lot & didn't want to cause myself or the business owner problems they said wouldn't be for 1 1/2 hours. Called again @ 11:30 pm and again they said not until 1 am. When we got up in the morning I had to call them to see if it had been towed thankfully it had. I have used this service before without a problem but after this fiassco I won't be renewing my membership. I don't ask for a lot but a call letting us know what was going on would have made it a little easier to take. read more