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Oops, I didn’t mean to sign up for AAA — how ’bout a refund?

May 26, 2010

Like millions of other Americans, Yvonne Chan is planning a road trip this summer. She and a friend decided it might be a good idea to get a AAA membership — they’re both students — so they signed up through the organization’s site.

And that’s the problem. They both signed up at the same time. Only one of them meant to become a member, but because of crossed wires, they both ended up with memberships.

Which is where Chan’s trouble started.

Within 24 hours of my online application, I contacted AAA Northern California to see if I could cancel my membership and receive refund.

While on the phone, the agent not only spent much time promoting the association’s other products, but also kept me on hold for a long time to verify that I had not utilized any emergency roadside assistance during the past 24 hours. At last, I was informed that my membership will be canceled but I would not receive the one-time enrollment fee for the membership.

That disappointed her, because there had never been any indication that the enrollment fee was nonrefundable.

I did a little research and could find no disclosure of AAA’s nonrefundable enrollment fee. To be fair, AAA doesn’t have a central site — each chapter runs its own site, which is often difficult to access if you’re already a AAA member, since it uses cookies to reroute you to your own chapter.

Chan is baffled that AAA is trying to keep her money.

It makes no sense that I should be charged for enrollment in a club that I hold no membership. Furthermore, my friend in Texas became so incensed that he too canceled his membership application to AAA, and was promised to expect a full refund check in the mail in 7 to 10 business days.

I asked AAA about the matter. Its response?

I wanted to let you know that AAA Northern California member relations has investigated this complaint and as a sign of goodwill are refunding the enrollment fee.

I’m happy for Chan, but for all those who come after her, this might not be the best news. AAA offered her and a one-time refund, but as far as I can tell, its disclosure of nonrefundability still leaves something to be desired.

(Photo: One Eighteen/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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22 comments

  • Thalassa

    I don’t think it’s uncommon for enrollment fees to be non-refundable. Gyms don’t refund enrollment fees. Schools don’t refund enrollment fees.

    She and her traveling partner should have communicated better.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    “To be fair, AAA doesn’t have a central site — each chapter runs its own site, which is often difficult to access if you’re already a AAA member, since it uses cookies to reroute you to your own chapter.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

    It is frustating. The websites of AAA should allow you to manually select your chapter or change your chapter.

    My employer is located in the eastern portion of the US and my brand new laptop was loaded with software, configured, etc. by our IT Department. No one from the IT Department went to an AAA website during setup. If I typed http://www.aaaaz.com it reroutes me to the AAA chapter where the coroporate office is located. If I went to the MSN website, it will show the weather for the city of my employer; however, MSN does allow you to change your ‘locale’ setting.

    I think that the cookie for AAA looks for a zip code. When it rerouted me to the chapter where my employer is located, it shows a zip code in the web address. Therefore, I included my zip code in the web address, http://www.aaaaz.com/?zip=XXXXX, and I can stay on the AZ AAA chapter website most of the times…sometimes I will click a link on the AZ AAA website and it takes me to the AAA chapter where my employer is located.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Thalassa – “I don’t think it’s uncommon for enrollment fees to be non-refundable. Gyms don’t refund enrollment fees. Schools don’t refund enrollment fees.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    I agree that there are several enrollment fees, application fees and etc. that are non-refundable. We probably know that these fees are non-refundable because our of life experiences. However, it has been my experiences that it was fully disclosed upfront that the enrollment fee, the application, etc. was non-refundable. If there is no disclosure that the enrollment\application\etc. fee is non-refundable, I will ask.

    If fees, deposits, etc. are non-refundable, it should be fully disclosed to a potential customer before the sale or during the sales process.

  • amanda

    Enrollment fees are used to pay for the cost of enrollment, to review an application like for a school, or to issue an ID card and set up automatic payments for a gym. I assume that within 24 hours, no actual money had been spent by AAA in sending a welcome pack or printing a card, so keeping an enrollment fee seems crass. Particularly for a large organization like AAA which has received my business for 20 years and paid out for about 3 tows and nothing else. They were right in returning the money, I would have thought about ending my membership if they had done anything but that.

    She and her partner should have communicated better but that’s how it goes sometimes. So not a reason for AAA to keep the money.

  • Kevin

    This sounds more like a case of they screwed up and they were hoping that the company would be nice enough not to penalize them for it. There are Costs and such that go into enrollment, hence the enrollment charge…

  • Kim

    The website routing is annoying but the phone routing used to be a bigger problem. Doesn’t seem as if AAA has learned. I worked as an emergency road service operator for AAA one summer in college. Calls to the main AAA number were routed to the closest office. This meant that my office in Connecticut got all the calls from Long Island even though Long Island Sound was in the way.

  • Carver

    @Kevin

    As an attorney, I can tell you that there really aren’t costs associated with enrollment. That’s just a money grab. All of those fees ought to be rolled into the regular membership costs. By segregating them out, it makes it retain in the case of a cancellation and makes the monthly fee look lower.

    I remember I was considering a gym membership. One of the fees was a $50 nonrefundable attorney contract review. The salesman told me that was to reimburse the attorney for reviewing the contract. BS. It was to make an extra $50. The contract was a standard contract used by that particular chain for every new enrollee. Once again, that fee was non-refundable.

  • MVFlyer

    On the Northern California AAA web site, there is a way to get to other clubs outside of your own: at the lower right hand corner of the page, there is a link to go to other AAA clubs–the problem is you’ve got to open a new window for it to work, and when you enter the zip code for the club of interest, it overwrites the previous club’s cookie. It’s sometimes a good idea to check other club’s sites to see if any local discounts and specials are available.

    If you want to change the default club back to your own, you’ve got to go through the same process in reverse.

  • Andrew

    I would like to find another “auto club”, myself.

    I did the automatic renewal this year, and to my surprise, found out my AAA Plus membership had benefits cut. In order to get similar benefits, I now had to “upgrade” to the more expensive “Premium” membership.

    I’ve been a member for about 20 years now, and have only made use of the program for a couple of lockouts and tows. Like any insurance package, they’re making money off me, but with the devaluation of my existing membership level, I’m wondering if there is a viable competitor to AAA that would like to have my money.

  • Mike

    Almost every gym membership or other membership into anything allowed the user a short window in which to cancel, usually 24 hours assuming you haven’t used the services. I don’t buy the non-refundable part one bit either. As mentioned the AAA webiste is fairly vague on the issue and if it isn’t spelled out they shouldn’t be able to charge for it.

  • Traveller

    I think that it is unwise for the purchaser of a product or service to expect a refund if the purchaser is merely unsatisfied with the product or service and the contract did not expressly state that a refund is available under certain conditions. On the one hand, the seller should give a refund to promote customer satisfaction. On the other hand, a reasonable customer ought not rely on the availablity of such a refund absent an express guarantee.

  • Joe Farrell

    oops we screwed up is not a reason to ask for money back. . .

  • Thalassa

    @Carver – As an attorney, I can tell you that there really aren’t costs associated with enrollment.

    As a person who performs various enrollments, I can tell you there are most certainly costs associated with it. My salary, for instance. My employer has to pay me to perform the tasks associated with enrolling a new customer. My time is worth money. There’s also paperwork, toner, what-have-you. But the salary of the person doing the enrollment is the largest cost.

  • Carver

    @Thalassa

    To express it better, your salary remains the same whether you enroll me or not. Enrolling someone doesn’t increase your employers costs. Toner and print in minimal at best.

    That’s why charging extra is inappropriate.

  • http://www.taurusbm.com Kim

    I don’t think it’s uncommon for enrollment fees to be non-refundable. Gyms don’t refund enrollment fees. Schools don’t refund enrollment fees.

    She and her traveling partner should have communicated better.

  • Jennifer

    Carver, if it’s disclosed in the contract, what is illegal about non-refundable enrollment fees? Inappropriate is one thing but illegality is another. By stating that you’re an attorney, you imply that it is illegal. In fact, I don’t know exactly what being an attorney has to do with what you know about a business’ costs involved with enrollment fees, including AAA’s. It sounds like an assumption to me. I’m not a corporate apologist by any means and I believe in asking for an accommodation but I also don’t expect it.

  • BucksterSF

    People make mistakes, they pay for them. I call it a “stupid tax.” I’ve paid the stupid tax before and learned to pay attention. All this whining over tiny items is just reinforcing that people aren’t expected to pay attention and read fine print.

  • PauletteB

    @Andrew: Interesting that your benefits were reduced upon renewal. I just renewed, and my Plus membership benefits stayed the same. The Premium membership offers additional benefits that don’t interest me, but I didn’t lose anything. Different strokes for different groups, I guess.

  • patathomas

    After more than 20 years with AAA, I quit them for good when an emergency service truck operator sold me a car battery for over $100 (overpriced at the time), and it went bad less than a month later. The service truck operator assured me the battery was guaranteed by AAA for one year. When I contacted theem about the bad battery, they refused to replace the battery, refund my money, or do anything. I now have road service as a benefit of my credit card. Car insurane companies also offer road service. Dump AAA.

  • http://Elliott Kimmie

    My family have been members of the Automobile Club of Southern California for generations. My children and grandchildren will be members. I don’t think you can belong to a club which offers more services at a better price, with customer service that’s over the top. I go there to do my DMV transactions (that alone is worth the cost of my membership!), get free maps, tour books (which have a wealth of information), and Triptiks. I now have credit monitoring at no extra cost to me. The people in the offices are always very nice and helpful. I can book my travel plans, pay my insurance, and take care of my DMV all in one stop. Good luck finding any place else that offers you that much. Although I do agree that if the membership was not used, there was no reason for Northern California not to refund the enrollment fee after just 24 hours.

  • Larry

    You made the mistake. I suggest you improve your communication skills with your friend. I see no reason the company should refund an enrollment fee or any other non-refundable fee because YOU made the mistake. I double check with my friends before I commit to making a purchase that will affect all of us. This is just another example, “I can do no wrong” attitude in our world. If I make such a mistake, I might ask for the refund but if they say no, I don’t go crying to my parents (and in this case Chris) to get my money back. Grow up!

  • Carver

    @Jennifer

    That’s an erroneous assumption. Illegal implies criminal wrongdoing, which is not at issue here. The relevance of my occupation is that I write contracts for business all the time and have more than a passing familiarity with what is contractually. The nature of the various fees and charges is funadamental to a well drafted contract.

    Generally, unless enrollment fees and other economically indefensible fees are already industry standard, a skilled attorney would advise his/her client to restructure the agreement to tie fees to actual costs. Otherwise, the contractual provision becomes vulnerable as unconscionable and may be ultimately unenforceable.

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