AAA to the Rescue Above and Beyond the Call

I’m out of town.  Using someone else’s car.  I don’t know anyone here or where anything is.  Isn’t that the way most horror movies start?

So I’m at this after hours marketing event in Fountain Hills, AZ - AMAZING GROUP! and when I leave to head for a restaurant, my friend’s car wouldn’t start.  Crap.

I can’t call my friend – they aren’t available.  So I pull out my AAA card and within 30 minutes Jason arrived.

“It’s the battery,” he says. “They don’t last long in Arizona – all this dry heat.  Now you can let the car run and the charge build up for 20 or 30 minutes, but it looks like a dead battery to me.  You’ll only have to call me to come back and jump start you again.”

It’s dark.  The dealership – if I even knew where it was – is long since closed.  The nearby auto mechanic…closed. 

“You know,” Jason says.  “I’m pretty sure the Checkers Auto Parts store will put in a new battery for you but they close pretty soon.  Or you can call AAA and order a battery installed by us but there is a pretty hefty charge.”

I ask where I might find Checkers and he tells me.  It isn’t far away – within ten minutes and so I opt for that option.  I thank him very much and expect him to be on his way.

“I think I’m going to follow you there to make sure you find it and to make sure they can fix your car.”

You are kidding?

And that’s just what he did.  I got to Checkers and they said “Oh -we used to put in batteries but we don’t do that any more.”

I told him that Jason had suggested I come and and in fact had followed me here.  He said “where’s your car?”

We walk out to my running vehicle and Jason gets out of his truck and says “Are they going to take care of you?”

“They don’t do that any more,” I tell him. 

Oh really – Jason looks at the employee who pops my hood and takes a look. 

He comes back – faces Jason and says “I’ll do it.”

I have a happy story to share because of Jason.  He had done his job when he jumped my car.  There wasn’t anything that said he had to make sure the battery kept working, let alone follow me to a store and then gently convince the employee to help me.  Jason puts himself in my shoes and showed empathy for my plight.

A stranger in a strange town with car trouble – that’s almost a guarantee for being taken advantage of and yet not with Jason and not with AAA.  I’ve been a member for over 10 years and although I’ve used them many times and each time they have been wonderful = Jason’s assistance was certainly more than I expected and I am very grateful!

So what did it cost Jason or AAA to make me so happy – not to mention safe?

A total of 20 minutes and the gas to drive four miles from where I was parked to the Checkers store.  And hats off to Ed at Checkers for doing something he wasn’t supposed to do any more.  But he did the right thing by the customer.  Again – showing empathy.

A simple gesture that means a lot!

Thanks to Jason and Ed for their help!