Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, the AA’s head is full of zombie
When the Kombi van breaks down on the side of the road close to midnight, it’s time to call the AA. But the customer service leaves something to be desired.
It was just 11pmwhen the Kombi died. I’d just dropped off a mate in Wellington’s Island Bay when the engine stopped firing and I coasted to the side of the road. But one of the good things about a 1971 Volkswagen Kombi van is that the engine is easy to troubleshoot, so I wasn’t too worried.
I started at the sparkplug and there was no spark. Imoved up the supply chain to the distributor and there was no current, which took me to the coil, which takes low voltage and makes it high.
The coilwas OK which meant the ignition linewasn’t. So all I neededwas somewire to bypass the ignition. Or better yet I needed a tow home.
So I rang the AA, the august institution I have belonged to since Adamwas a cowboy.
It took a while for them to answer and a little longer to be able to validate who Iwas, what Iwas driving and what I needed. The operator was great, but clearly bound by the system shewas required to use.
I explained all I likely needed was a bit of insulated wire and some pliers to power the coil directly. Somewhat surprisingly I was told that AA field service staff don’t really carry much in the way of tools or parts.
Very different to Mr Woodnorth, theAA service gent in Timaru 30 years ago who could fix anything on the side of the road with a gentle smile, awingnut and some gaffer tape.
This meant a tow was needed and Iwas told the service person would bewithinme in 15-60 minutes. Fair enough.
An hour later there was no sign so I rang again. Again the operator was very pleasant, but also very apologetic. The designated AA contractor wasn’t replying to calls so theywere trying to find another.
Was it OK to stay with the vehicle another 30-60minutes for them to find someone, she asked?
No, itwasn’t actually. So I cancelled the callout, locked up the Kombi and got my mate to give me a lift home around 1am.
I returned the next morning at 7.15am and rang the AA again for a tow. They estimated 15-60minutes. Two hours later there was no sign so I called again. Finally, their service contractor arrived.
I’d like to tell you his name but I can’t. He never introduced himself. Never asked if Iwas OK.
The only thing he saidwas ‘‘where’s the car’’. Astrange question I thought when Iwas the only person in the street sitting in a 1971 Kombi waving at him.
Overall he looked about as pleased to see me as a turkey seeing cranberry sauce in the Christmas groceries. I could go on but you get the picture. It wasn’t a glowing example of customer service, and a lot different to the last time I used the AAbreakdown service a few years ago.
But it wasn’t so much the customer service that annoyedme, so much as the lack of systemic customer-centricity.
AA know my phone number, so their 0800 telephony system should have recognised my numberwhen
I rang up, like IRD, Pizza Hut or Air New Zealand does.
This would have reduced the identity verification process to just a few seconds. If the system also recorded vehicles, then the AA would know in advance the make, model and rego ofmy car so I didn’t have to go through that process at midnight on the side of the road.
Thenwhen the service agent was given the job, I could have been texted a URL to GoogleMaps, showing me their contractor’s location in real time as they came to offer assistance. Talking of assistance, I was stunned to hear that AA service staff don’t carry much in the way of tools or spares.
And you would think that – dealing with customerswho have broken down on the side of the road – the AA would think about the health and wellbeing of customers to the extent that service staff had a templated process when they arrive.
Things like greet the customer, introduce yourself, check that they are OK and that the site is safe.
You’d also think that they would do a follow-up email survey so they could measure net promoter score and monitor quality of service provision.
Contrary to what you may think, I’m a fan of the AA. I think theirmotorist advocacy work is industry leading, they keep the fuel companies honest and I’ve admired the growth of their travel businesses.
But to my mind, the one reason that so many people belong to the AA is their roadside assistance service. So it’s the one thing they can’t afford to bugger up.
Fred Smith, the founder and chief executive of FedEx, is famous for his relentless focus on doing the basics well to sustain the broader business. His famous quote is: ‘‘The main thing is the main thing and never forget it’’.
Based on my experience last week, it’s not clear to me that roadside assistance is the main thing for the AA.
Overall the AA service contractor looked about as pleased to see me as a turkey seeing cranberry sauce in the Christmas groceries.
Mike ‘‘MOD’’ O’Donnell is a professional writer, director and strategy facilitator. His Twitter handle is @modsta and he once won the AA Energywise Rally of NZ in a V8 Holden ute. True story.