AAA Automobile Club of Southern California

I had recently switched from Progressive to AAA, thinking I could get a cheaper rate. A representative by the name of Aaron Jones. He failed to call me back several times as promised regarding why my rate went up mysteriously by $ 800 a year. I suggest you avoid dealing with this representative. Additionally, when I tried to contact the company, it seems like all of the automated messages are just trying to sell you some kind of deal when all you really wanted to do was talk to someone on the phone. Their phone system made that nearly impossible. Switched back to Progressive and now I’m much happier. Stay away from AAA auto insurance!

This is the office that I began both my membership and policy at ten years ago and it has gone from okay to horrible if there was a second rating I could give to them for their phone agents I would.
When I was nineteen and just started paying for my own auto insurance their agent Erika (Erica) an American woman insisted on an expensive policy I could barely afford for full coverage on an old truck and car both classics for $ 800 per year for a young driver. I was barely out of high school and trying to work and go to college. I was forced to pay this rate for two years until I finally got them to cut back coverage. When I confronted her she pretended that I didn’t exist and ignored me…
Fast-​Forward six years later and after my mom comes over from MetLife we have a far better agent over the phone but their finance fees of $ 7/​month are still annoying. They still do have the cheapest rates compared with their closest competitor.
After coming to this location for ten years I will no longer return they locked their doors five minutes before closing and then ignored me and four others waiting outside trying to get something done. While we were waiting outside I looked in and saw people at the front desk both the receptionist and someone chatting so I jiggled the door and they continued to ignore me then at 5:01 pm as I am frustrated and walking away a lady comes and unlocks and relocks the door.
Adding insult to injury I had to spend an additonal amount of time on the phone waiting for an agent and I promptly reported the incident.
This branches policy: We’re helping you? YA RIGHT!!!

New member at this place. I Waited 3 months for the wrong personalized plates. Very disappointed

A 45 year member of AAA posting some thoughts.
It’s a sad reflection on the state of customer service in this country when a quasi-​governmental agency like AAA is given such high marks. People, we all need to adjust our expectations higher and not support
I have kept paying my dues over the years despite the reduction in the primary service anyone uses them for: towing your stranded car. A 5 mile towing radius doesn’t even get me to a dealership, and i’m not located in the boondocks. When my car had some difficulty outside of Palmdale, the folks at AAA quoted me $ 750 to tow my car back to my dealer. The local VW dealership came out for free, and my auto insurance company only charges $ 5 a year.
DMV services, in my opinion, is about the only other reason worth keeping the membership, since the DMV is such a nightmare (even with an appointment), only they are turning out to be worse than the DMV. My kid lost the registration to a scooter, so we zipped over to the DMV on Saturday afternoon to pick one up. It was 2:10pm and they closed at 2pm. Even the DMV is open 8am-​5pm on Saturdays around here. AAA is open 10am-​2pm. Came back on a Tuesday between 9am and 5pm (again, worse than the DMV), waited for 15 minutes (yes, it is better than the DMV wait) and was told it would be $ 20 for a copy of the registration. After grumbling, I took out my credit card and they said that they only accept cash for DMV transactions. How about ATM? Nope, just cash. They had the card swiper right there on the desk, but no, they wouldn’t take it. Even the DMV is now taking credit cards for ordinary transactions.
Travel services? Meh. I’ve picked up a couple of their travel guides a couple of times in my life, but preferred those I actually had to pay to get. Travel agents? People still use those? Insurance? Anyone can buy it, no membership required.
So why do i continue throwing my $ 60 a year at these folks when I get so little in return? On the off chance that my DMV stickers get lost in the mail? I really don’t know.

My car insurance is due, i checked the website that they told me I could pay through but it rerouted me to their homepage. So i called the number they gave me and was not able to speak to a person, and paying with a credit card was not an option they offer. Googled their HB location spoke to Addy, she was nice, but she broke the bad news I could only pay in person and with cash? Who’s the dumbass in charge who decided that paying with credit card was not an option, it’s 2015 get with the times. You would think they’d have an app or some other convenient way to pay them. They’ve done other stupid things already this was just the most recent

Triple AAA is the best and always fast and caring. In particular there was this awesome worker named Bill who came to open my car when I locked my keys in my car. He was so sweet with cold waters and very helpful and fast. All in all Triple AAA I the best insurance ever!

AAA has left a family with nothing
This past Saturday the Bystrom and Makai family of Seal Beach lost their home 2 cars and beloved pets (2 dogs, 3 birds and lizards) to a house fire. Their daughter 24, has suffered severe burns to her arms, face and back and was being treated at UCI in orange until last night. (Mind you, she has no medical insurance)
The mother who has been insured through AAA for 14 years with renters ins, life and automotive has tried to put her claim in to see if some how they could start to rebuild their life and AAA has told them they won’t be helped. Unfortunately they say the policy lapsed last month which was a miscommunication on AAA part and has left the family with nothing expect an «I’m sorry there’s nothing we can do»
Wendy has taken major responsibility to make sure in any situation her family was covered. The company is claiming that when the coverage was due for renewal they sent out letters that they never received. The coverage lapsed 6 weeks ago. She has paid on time for the past 14 years and can’t understand why they would deny helping her with one small miscommunication. All the family wants is help to fix this. They wish they could just get there life back.
Now the family is left with nothing. They have lost their animals that they loved like children, they lost anything that was sentimental and everything they need.
The family is currently staying with friends. There youngest son is still in junior high and struggling emotionally since he was in the house when it caught fire. Ferrah the oldest daughter and her boy friend who were also in the house have been having a hard time as well aside from the third to degree burns she suffered to her Arms and back and face from a water heater exploding while she was trying to get her doggy out of the house.
It just saddens me that they could have no compassion.

I have been a member for 33 years, I only needed towing once so they made money on us! But I like the AAA, I go there to pay my DMV, buy maps for my trips. They have a huge travel agency, I had bought guided tours from them several times.
The place was decorated a few years ago and the décor looked cheerful and elegant like in a mansion. They had brochures, special offers galore.
We were there for maps for San Diego, we also bought discounted tickets to the San Diego zoo.
I will use the services AAA again, They have improved their service a lot, the wait is minimal now.

I’ve been coming here for years and been a AAA member for over 25 years. In the past I was tolerant of some long wait times but still considered it better than a trip to the DMV.
My most recent visit (s) have been beyond annoying to me. I don’t know if they have changed office management or altered methods of processing things but for a simple transfer of a vehicle owned by my daughter it has taken 3 trips and now they informed me that they forgot yet another form that needs a signature so they have mailed it to me to yes, bring in again.
The friendly woman at the front desk did not know what she was talking about and handed me the wrong forms to start, followed by clerk #1 giving me more forms to sign and bring back. When I did that clerk #2 said they were not the right forms and gave me another one… brought those back signed only to get a phone call later that day that they needed another form to be brought back the next day by 2:00 pm. Can I mention that my daughter lives out of the area and this takes additional effort to complete these signings?
I tried my best to complete this process prior to leaving for vacation… this office made this simple transfer impossible to complete and now I have to go to the Post Office to pick up a certified letter which includes all of the prior forms and additional ones to sign… and yes, bring back.

See my previous reviews — I love this place! Really, if you look at all the benefits — Autoclub membership pays for itself. If you drive a car down here in the Socal area, the benefits is something you’ll find that you may eventually take advantage of — both on the road and off.
Your card gets you a 10% discount at most places (most people aren’t aware of this).
One of the best benefits that a AAA membership gets you is their DMV services. Sure, it’s not everything the DMV does under the sun, but it covers the most common services such as DMV registration renewal. If you’re one of the folks who can’t renew online (Smog Check required notice) — then being able to renew at a AAA location in person AND get your new tags on the spot — beats going to a DMV office or mailing in your renewal and waiting weeks to get it back.
I walked in on a Tuesday morning and was out within 20 minutes (would’ve been faster but the customer in front of me was chatting irrelevantly to the clerk who tried her best to look amused before finally turning him away).
I bought a friend a gift membership and he told me he used it once to tow a car (the towing benefit literally pays for itself).

AAA is just the way to go.
This location doesn’t get crazy busy & they have lines for different things spread out so you pretty much know what your wait time will be.
I would give 5 stars, but there are two people in here who give off that «I hate my job & you’re interrupting my conversation» vibe. Not fun.
parking is never an issue

Needed to come here for a variety of reasons over the years.
One time, it took around 25 minutes before I was attended to. I think I was trying to make sure that certain things were set on my record correctly. Was treated pretty rudely, but it may have been because I looked too young to be a good driver?
This last time was to tell them good-​bye, and that I wanted to file for a non-​renewal.
Went to the front desk, told the attendant that I didn’t want to renew. She got my policy number down, told me to sit down and wait, and I was called around 5 minutes later. Told the agent that I didn’t want to renew, which he said wasn’t a problem. I had already allowed my policy to expire, so I was good to go, and that they’d be sending my dividend to me later. So, this last visit was fairly quick and painless.
Let’s just hope I do truly get my dividend.

I’ve been looking for insurance and switching over my car registration. This place did not have very good reviews, but my friend recommended the prices at AAA. I was nervous about the cost of insurance since I do have 2 tickets on my record. I called their office last week and spoke with Adi. Today I went in and met with her in-​person. She was the BEST! She found be an affordable rate and was the nicest person! She then sent me over to Jackie at the DMV section of AAA. I did not have to wait in line or anything! I highly recommend both of them!

I needed a car insurance last week, after looking on line I still wasn’t sure wish one to get.
The day after i got lots of calls including AAA, she was super nice so I sign up with them.
This week I encounter a problem with my policy and after a week of waiting I still don’t have, I try talking to the person that sold me the policy and I had no luck talking to her.
She email me and still no fix to my concern, I decide to go in person and everything is ok now.
My problem is the fact that is so easy to talk to somebody if you need to buy them something but if you have a concern that needs an answer right away, well they can’t answer the phone.
Really bad service Adi Ruiz, i’m not happy you can’t answer the phone, i keep calling so many times .
Next time I need something from AAA it won’t be from you.

I love being a member. This is my first and probably the only time I’ll ever step foot inside the actual office, as most of my AAA transactions happen online. The staff was friendly and personable, and I was in and out in under 15 minutes, no appointment or anything, on a late Saturday morning.
Was nice to be reminded that AAA also can book travel/​vacations, take care of basic DMV things, provide quotes for all sorts of insurance needs, and you can purchase discounted tickets for shows/​movies there too.

They can show you the world
Every single corner
Tell me Unilocaler
When did you let your AAA card decide?
Located just south of the 405 on Beach Blvd in the BJs and Party City parking lot with plenty of parking as long as the other tenants are not hogging it all. I prefer this location over the Anaheim one.
Besides basic DMV stuff going on here, AKA registration, title change, ect they offer lots of other services from car/​home/​renters insurance, vacations, discounted movie tickets, free travel books on every state in the US.
Once you walk in, you check in, take a seat and open your ears so you can hear them call your name. Average wait time is anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on the service you need. The employees are usually pleasant and engaging.
Im a fan here.
Review #497

The staff here are usually very good. I know that every AAA office from CSAA to auto club «can» be difficult at times but this one has always had a good respectful way of serving customers, from DMV services to claims. they did try to screw me on the value of one of my vehicles during a claim but the modus operandi of insurance claims, where most insurers trust the company regarding the «value» of their claim. if you can document the value of your vehicle, and disprove the absurb craigslist ads or whatever the company chooses as a basis of value at that time, youll be fine.

Located in the Adams Center near Mother’s Market.
One word. GREAT!
The end.

I have done enough DMV-​related business in California to see that, in a lot of cases, you are at the mercy of luck when it comes to interpreting the rules as they apply to you and your vehicle. If you are from out of state then you are stepping into the basement of the bureaucracy when it comes to motor vehicle registration.
So I was pleasantly surprised to come across someone who actually knew how to navigate through a lot of the red tape, research real answers and provide genuine guidance. Mary at HB branch is a gem, she took a fairly complicated registration issue (two visits worth of headache) and solved it with some simple research, a phone call and some honest advice. All very rare things to come across in this So Cal desert environment.
Cuddos to her for giving a crap about doing her job well and actually helping the people who land in front of her desk.

Walked in during a weekday late morning and it took 5 minutes from walking in that door to paying for my registration renewal and walking out. Cash or check only.
There have been times where I’ve waited 10 – 15 minutes at most for taking care of basic needs.
Also just saw that they sell movie tickets there for about $ 8.50 a ticket to Cinemark theaters (Century @ Bella Terra), which normally averages $ 12 an adult ticket for a weekend evening. What a deal! I should be utilizing more of their advantages such as saving on travel and other things.
Seriously, I love AAA so much and love it’s a substitute for so many things that you usually would have to go to the DMV for. Get your AAA membership now!