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| Yes | 79% | 67 votes | Total: 85 votes | |
| No | 21% | 18 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhen it comes to roadside assistance the bottom line is it's a little like having certain kinds of insurance; you may pay for it for years and years and may never need it, but that one time that you're on the road someplace and you have a flat or your car breaks down, you're really glad that you do have it.
When I was 19 I found myself stranded on a busy California freeway in rush hour. Long story short, my mom had AAA and once I was able to get the car to the shoulder (from four lanes away) I used one of those call boxes and a tow truck picked me up. The gas gauge in her car was screwy so I didn't realize just how low the gas actually was and fortunately the tow was a short distance so there was no cost incurred for it.
Back in New Orleans and without roadside assistance, I was driving home late one night after my shift as a cocktail waitress and my car stalled in the wrong place to be after dark. I walked about a block or so in this questionable area to locate a pay phone and could get no one to come to help me. I called work and one of my friends agreed to come to my aid once her shift ended. That meant I had to sit in the car, in the dark, in the middle of the night in a neighborhood that was potentially a dangerous place to be and wait for my friend to be able to help me.
While I waited at the intersection a few feet from the signal light, just off the exit ramp of the Pontchartrain expressway, several cars drove by and not one person bothered to stop and see if I was ok. One man did eventually stop and said he thought I had fallen asleep at the wheel. When I explained that no, I hadn't and that my car had stalled he promptly jumped back in his and sped away. My friend finished her shift and not only drove out of her way to give me a jump, she followed me home to be sure that I got there safely.
Another time during the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans I was on the way home kind of late one night after leaving a music venue. Passing through the downtown area to get to my Bywater apartment, the clutch cable broke on my twenty year old Honda Civic wagon. Fortunately I was able to move to the side of the road and park and then I had to hike it to a nearby hotel to find a working pay phone and call AAA. Of course they would only send someone if I was actually at the car so I had to sit in the cold and wait for a bit, but once again someone came to my rescue. The guy was a real piece of work and at one point I thought we would need to call a tow for the tow. He didn't reset his odometer so when we pulled up in front of my apartment he tried to estimate the mileage to be more than he was. Fortunately for me he called in to check and was told we were within the free three mile towing range so once again I didn't have to pay for the tow.
Jumping ahead to more recent times, in post Katrina New Orleans things are challenging enough without having to worry about being stranded someplace so when I lucked out and found a used BMW in good condition at the Bridge House thrift store car lot I quickly signed up again with AAA. I had actually let the membership lapse when one morning I went out to my car and the battery was dead. I had to call my Dad who was not all that happy to interrupt his day and come from way away in another part of town to rescue me. That time it was my own fault for not having replaced the battery when I first got the car. Once I was up and running again I immediately renewed the AAA.
Having roadside assistance has served many of my friends and family members well over the years. The only reason I don't have it currently is that I had a couple financial setbacks in the last year and I am lucky to have a good mechanic who can usually come to me fairly quickly if I have a real emergency. I am also lucky to be driving a car I seldom have problems with.
Learn more about this author, Chanell Gautreaux.
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No
Paying for a roadside assistance service in today's economy is definitely a waste of money. How often is the service really used? Basic accounting principles is all the logic needed to justify this statement. If all the fees paid were added together a majority of people could not say that they have used the service enough to replace the monies spent for the service.
Automobiles with the OnStar service can do wonders, but is it really necessary for the average driver who is a responsible adult. If adults teach their kids that they should be accountable for their actions, shouldn't adults be responsible enough to carry jumper cables, a first aid kit, and be responsible for making sure gas is in their tank?
Roadside assistance these days can be obtained through AAA, travel agencies, and even cell phone companies. Yes, even cell phone companies are trying to get their piece of the pie. When examining my cell phone bill, I had discovered that even my 14-year-old son had a roadside assistance charge on his phone account. I never signed up for this service, yet there it was on three phone accounts in the amount of $4.95 per phone per month. The cell phone carrier wanted to know why I wanted this service terminated from my bill. I asked them why would they have put roadside assistance on the phone of a child. The response was quite astounding, "Because we can." Please, beware of this one. They will rip you off every chance they get!
At one point in my life, I did subscribe to a roadside service with what was supposed to be a great reputation. I tried to use it on three separate occasions. The first was an issue with flat tire (before I had learned to do it myself), in which it took the service man two hours to get to me. By the time of his arrival, I was late for a major business meeting. It was a sunny day and I was in a large city where an office of my provider was located. The second attempt to use the service was when my car wouldn't start and I was at a friend's house. The service man never showed up, and I had to ask the friend for a ride home. On the third occasion, the service man again never showed up, and I ended up having my husband come to my rescue. Frustrated that I had paid good money for someone to help if there was ever a problem I had essentially been ripped off.
After these experiences of my own, I inquired with some co-workers and found they had similar experiences with roadside services. They had paid upwards of $80 per year, as did I. From that time on, I never again knowingly subscribed to such a service. People losing jobs every day and the economy getting worse by the minute, it seems that the logical response would be that they are definitely not worth the money. If you are a responsible driver and make sure your bases are covered, you are less likely to ever need such a service in the first place.
Learn more about this author, Rella Ingram.
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