AAA North Plainfield Car Care Insurance Travel Center — Local services in North Plainfield

Don't be fooled by the fact this service center is affiliated with AAA. This is a long one, but I recommend reading this.

I've been a AAA member since '05 and I have never been so disappointed with their service. My car would crank but wouldn't start on 7/30. So I figured why not use one of AAA's service centers. That was a huge mistake.

7/31 I notified them at this location that I was having my car towed after hours and told them the issue.

On 8/1 I call in the morning to make sure my car was there. The gentleman tells me they can't find my key. First of all I only have one key for my car. Second, wouldn't you call to tell the customer you can't find the key!! The key was found, onto the next. That evening I called for an update. I was informed they still don't know what's wrong and they would call me with an update. No problem.

8/2 and no update, so again I wait until the evening to call. I was told my car started no problem. The gentleman said they would see if it started Saturday morning and update me... you know because they have been soooo good at contacting me with updates.

8/3 a friend picked me up to bring me to check on my car around 12:25 PM. I walk in and go straight to the service center where I see the gentleman I have been contacting the past few days looking down... he was most likely on his cell phone. I wait 3 minutes until I say, "excuse me." I tell him who I am and he told me again my car started again with no issues this morning (mind you I never got that update call I was told I'd get) and they can't charge me the diagnostic fee if there is nothing wrong. Which is great because that would save me $60 something (that's with my AAA member discount). I was embarrassed and apologized. I felt so stupid that my car was okay after all. He said he would pull my car around for me, taking his time getting out to my car and starting it. I saw him pull out of the space so I told my friend she could leave. I'm waiting 10-15 minutes. The gentleman comes up telling me my car was sounding weird and now won't start. This is very odd to me, but ok. Again, I was told they will call me with updates. Guess who didn't get that update call? This girl.

8/4 It took me 30 minutes, calling a different location and getting transferred for them to finally answer the phone. This time it was a lady who answered. I was told again they still don't know what's wrong! I told her It's most likely the fuel pump, filter filter or maybe just the relay! Ive had this happen on another Cavalier. I told the lady I have never had a car take this long to diagnose. She told me she would speak to her manager and call me right back. I told her no I'll stay on hold since no one likes to actually call back. I was on hold for 54 minutes... I hung up and called right back. The lady immediately answered and said they "THINK" it's the fuel pump. Magically they have a diagnosis after I mouth off some random things that could be wrong? I told her they are not to touch my car and I'm getting it towed somewhere else. I'm now on the phone waiting to schedule a tow, she calls back. For the inconvenience they want to give me a discount to fix the fuel pump, you know the issue they think it is. Curious, I ask how much and if it will be fixed today? She says yes i'd have my car by today and it comes out to $550 and some change. Wow, now it's going to be fixed in one day... get out of here. My car was towed somewhere else and I've now been carless for 6 days. I will stay away from AAA Service Centers...

BEWARE is all I can help people by saying. This establishment is a joke. PLEASE read all the negative reviews before trusting your car to this place of business. I took my vehicle there on 9/15/18 for what I already knew was a power steering fluid leak. My mechanic at the gas station I go to diagnosed the problem but didn’t have the time to fix it & I also right after that went for oil change at Valvoline & they said “do you know you have a power steering leak”. So there I had 2 opinions. At AAA I told Demitri what I knew was the problem but he said it would cost $50 just to look st it. All in all the cost I am out is $297. After putting car up the lift I could see thru the big open windows Demitri & mechanic looking perplexed. After a little while Demitri comes in to tell me they can’t find the leak but they are 90% it’s coming from the return hose so they will start w/repairing that & if cat still leaked fluid to bring it back & leak would be somewhere else. He said there is just no way to tell where the leak it. So fast forward 8 days & I see the liquid reservoir is way down. No way was I taking my vehicle back there. I take to a mechanic down the street. The man there laughed when I told him the AAA incident & the fact they could not find the leak. He said it is one of the easiest leaks to find. All you do is put car on lift & have someone turn the steering wheel & pressurize it & that will show where the leak is. He did this in under 10 min & found it was the rack & pinion repair. What upsets me is the fact AAA is employing undertrained mechanics who have no idea what they are doing. Maybe they are good at oil changes but not much else which is scary to think our lives are in their hands. Do yourself a favor & find a good mechanic who is knowledgeable & who can be trusted. This place is NOT the establishment. Yes I am a woman. Hmmm...bet that made a difference. They think we don’t know anything about cars. Well think again. WHAT A JOKE THIS...

Lack Knowledge and Customer Service skills!!

I purchased 4 tires for my vehicle and had them shipped to the AAA Store in North Plainfield AFTER speaking to a gentleman by the name of Scott. Prior to finalizing my tire order I asked Scott if they were equipped to mount tires on a Model 3 Tesla, he confirmed he had “done many Teslas” and so we set my appointment for 2 days later. I called again later that day to ask if they used a torque wrench and spoke to Scott one more time. The morning of my appointment I called a 3rd time, spoke to Scott again to confirm they received my tires and could in fact install them. Scott walked to “the back” verified the tires were there and confirmed my appointment.

When I arrived I was greeted by Brian, I gave him my name, said I was there for an appointment, he asked if my tires were received, I shared that I had received an email confirmation from TireRack and had spoken to Scott to confirm. Brian now goes to the back and returns 2 minutes later and says “you ordered the wrong tires”. It was a statement, not a question. I explained the tires were correct and the same specifications of a manufacturers for that make and model. He walks to the parking lot to see the tires on my car, returns and says “You got the right ones but we don’t install those”. I explained I had spoken to Scott on three different occasions and confirmed all of this prior. Brian says “the 40 profile is too low, we don’t do it. Sorry.”

This is a TIRE shop, they sell and install tires. That’s their niche, that’s their business. Clearly Scott lacks proper training about tires and the cars they can or cannot service and Brian lacks basic customer service etiquette to address an error made by a peer, colleague.

I received great service from Mavis on Mt Bethel Road in Warren for LESS than what AAA was going to charge.

AAA Leadership...