I called my automobile roadside assistance service for a tow, and they said a tow truck would arrive between 40 - 70 minutes. 75 minutes later, the towing company dispatcher called me to say they were on their way and would be another 30 minutes. A few minutes after that, roadside assistance called to see if my tow truck came, and I informed them of the call I just received. They told me to call them back if the tow truck didn't arrive. I called back three times, every 30 minutes, and each time roadside assistance called the towing company, who kept saying it'd be 30 minutes, 30 minutes, and then finally saying they weren't going to make it. Elapsed time that I spent in my broken car, at night, in below-freezing temperatures of 10F, was 3 hours.
I called this morning to give management at Westland Car Care the opportunity to make the situation right, and was given the runaround by the receptionist, who did not give me her name and would not connect me to a manager. She claimed that I told roadside assistance to cancel the tow truck 90 minutes after the initial call, and argued with me when I explained to her that this was not what happened at all. When I asked why I would cancel a tow truck if I was still stranded in my car, and why roadside assistance would take three more calls from me in the meantime (do we assume they were pretending to call Westland Car Care to check up on the ETA?), she went on a rant about how this was a problem I would have to address with roadside assistance, not with them.
She said that could try to tow my car this morning, but it would be a 2-3 hour wait. No apology, no remorse, and no consideration. She did say that because I was in a safe place and not injured, other calls took priority--when I asked why I wasn't told this last night, she said that she didn't work last night and couldn't answer. My repeated requests to speak to a manager were declined.
If they couldn't provide service, they should have simply said so. I would have then had the opportunity to find a reliable, reputable company who could be bothered to fulfill their commitment.
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