AAA - Great Idea! Great Service!
This is one more thing I love about life in US. Convenience !!!
Last week I had to go to Indian store to get some rice. I started my car and put it in reverse and pushed the pedal. The car won't move. Gave some more gas..the car won't budge.Got out and was horried to see a perfectly flat front tire!!
I don't have a car jack and other tools to change tires. A relatively simple problem and I had a relatively simple solution. Call AAA for emergency road service.
AAA is a company which provides emergency roadside assistance, insurance, travel planning, discounts to hotels, rental cars and a host of other services. I love their emergency roadside assistance program. They can replace a flat tire, jump start your car, bring you fuel should you run out during travel or worst case they can tow your car to the nearest repair shop.
Amazing idea for service and what convenience. When I have the AAA card with me I have peace of mind while driving.
So I called AAA and they sent me help in 25 minutes. The guy came in and changed tires in 5 minutes flat. Now that's what I call convenience...
Wish we see such a thing in India too...
posted by Sandesh @ Tuesday, June 20, 2006
3 Comments:
dude guys like me buy n drive 750 doll car 'cause AAA is there. ;-)
my local AAA chapter in boston used to know me by my first name 'n sometimes i used to ask for specific mechs. for they did a wonderful job last time.
great service man.
yeah, similar service in india? dude, one needs reservations first...oops...roads first! nice dream, though!
guys , just think about it .. some economic or financial or business models can’t be uniform across geographies... u would never really need a mapquest or a google map to drive in India as navigation is so damn easy... ya i have found it extremely easy to find addresses in India and it was even more easy to ask for directions with so many good hearted ppl willing u help u.. try that in US ,, it is impossible to step in to ur car without a print out or a GPS or guide book or a map. I remember spending 3 hrs preparing myself for just directions b4 my California road trip. I used to think what a waste of time .. if only this was India , I would just hop in the car and would be gone , knowing that there is always somebody there to guide me !!! We have done 5 day road trip across Karnataka covering coorg extensively .. 10 guys… 5 bikes … not one print out or map in hand.
As to road service, u stumble on to a mechanic after every other tea shop (which is every other alternate shop on the road!!!) So the service is always there for u when u need it (specially in the cities and crowded towns). Sometimes this kind of service in India is so fast that it would put AAA to shame !!!! Well it might not be all that easy when u are out of city limits traveling ins NH’s , but u can figure ur way around. Lots of lorry drivers conk up their vehicles on the road , but the fellow driver stops by to enquire and help his friend or associate in the same profession in need. I guess this is more of a cultural thing. Even when common ppl are in trbl , just show signs for need for help and fellow travelers in the road come to your rescue. We ran out of petrol during the bike trip in karnatake at 2 am in the morning with the nearest petrol bunk at least 100 kms away .. but we asked for help in a road side mobile tea shop that was open at those ghostly hours .. he was kind … put us on to his friend who woke up from his sleep .. called his friend .. who called an another friend .. and then found someone 10 kms away stocking petrol in his house and vola problem solved in 20 minutes !!!! Well this might a success scenario with luck involved .. but mostly u get what u want !!!!
But in US u need ur mapquest and ur AAA.. life would be horrible otherwise !!!
But I guess with lot of money poring in , concepts like AAA and mapquest is gaing ground in the so-called hi-tech cities in India. Chennai has something like AAA … even blore does !!!
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