Bloody AA... They've done it again!

[Kennif]

AA are running another one of their "Vehicle Satisfaction Surveys" for members and emailed me asking that I complete the survey. Hmmm I thought ... I've got a vehicle. I'll have a go at this.

Q1 ok ... Q2 hmmm yep... next page ... next question "Please describe the body-style of your vehicle: hatchback, sedan, pickup etc." Hmmm none of those. Is there an "Other"? Nope .... Ok - just ignore that one and go on ... nope ... can't do that either. You can only do this survey if your vehicle has four wheels!!! :headbang:

So - I have been a member of of AA since Noah was a wee lad. I don't own a car so it would seem that AA regard me to be some kind of a lesser member. I will get over it but I think that AA need to think a little more about who their members are and value their motorcycle members a bit more.

Perhaps we should have an email-in to AA to leave them in no doubt as to how we feel!!
Kennif

[James Deuce]

Errr. It is called the Automobile Association.

[gunnyrob]

and they have picked up Max when he broke down (twice, once from the Gentle Annie)

Thanks Taihape AA man!:2thumbsup

[Jantar]

And the original meaning of Automobile is Self propelled. Nothing about having to have 4 wheels. It was initially for owners of both Autocycles and Horseless carriages. Their ignorance of anything to do with two wheels is one of the reasons I am no longer a member.

[LilSel]

So if my bike breaks down... I can call the AA??
Am an AA member but didnt really think about that!! havent had a need to on the bike thus far but has been great when my subaru kept dying *kicks it*

[gunnyrob]

Yes they will, and if you have AA plus, they will transport your busted bike back home & shout you a rental car.

[James Deuce]

And the original meaning of Automobile is Self propelled. Nothing about having to have 4 wheels. It was initially for owners of both Autocycles and Horseless carriages.

As I am constantly reminded by the Ignorati, things change, particularly language.


Their ignorance of anything to do with two wheels is one of the reasons I am no longer a member.

Ditto. Wallet lightening thieves.

[Gremlin]

...if you have AA plus, they will transport your busted bike back home & shout you a rental car.
Thank goodness I keep declining their membership... I can't drive :stupid:

[LilSel]

Yes they will, and if you have AA plus, they will transport your busted bike back home & shout you a rental car.

Oh Wicked!!!! Good to know!!! I was thinking about canning my AA because I dont drive the subaru anymore (need to sell it), my mini is still in mid restoration & I have a company car & work will sort everything if something goes wrong.

But... I think I will can the idea of canning the membership now!! :D

Thanks for that!

[imdying]

There's plenty of reasons to ignore the self serving pricks, this is just one more.

[slofox]

It was initially for owners ...... and Horseless carriages.

I got a horseless carriage!!!! (The horse got away......)

[Oakie]

So if my bike breaks down... I can call the AA??
Am an AA member but didnt really think about that!! havent had a need to on the bike thus far but has been great when my subaru kept dying *kicks it*

Yes. I've called them out twice to my bike. Once 20 km from town and the AA guy got me going again following a fuel starvation problem then followed me into town just to make sure all was OK. The other time I had an electrical problem and the agent being unable to fix it himself (despite getting a big shock off a spark plug which surprised him considerably) called a big flat deck truck to transport my bike to my house on the other side of the city. No charge!

[LilSel]

Yes. I've called them out twice to my bike. Once 20 km from town and the AA guy got me going again following a fuel starvation problem then followed me into town just to make sure all was OK. The other time I had an electrical problem and the agent being unable to fix it himself (despite getting a big shock off a spark plug which surprised him considerably) called a big flat deck truck to transport my bike to my house on the other side of the city. No charge!

Thats awesome!!!
When I had car issues in the past they were always really good... now I know they'll come rescue me on the bike as well should something go wrong I definatly wont cancel my membership!! :)

[ynot slow]

Go for AA plus for the bike/car piece of mind.$40 extra per year is worth it,we broke down(radiator top tank blew)in Napier,towed to Palmy cost $320,with the plus cover if we had it we wouldn't pay anything as more than 100km from home.Figure paying the extra is worth it for the bike(well old one anyway),and if you are say in the south island and breakdown then the option of towing and motel,or rental car is piece of mind,and at$2.00 per week cheapish insurance.

[davereid]

... next question "Please describe the body-style of your vehicle: hatchback, sedan, pickup etc." Hmmm none of those. Is there an "Other"? Nope ....

Our council did the same trick... lots of questions on how we get to work, but no motorcycle or scooter option.

Pushbikes and busses were mentioned... FFS has anyone actually ever seen passengers on a bus ?

[chanceyy]

FFS has anyone actually ever seen passengers on a bus ?

In Levin :rofl: :killingme I know we have a bus but it seems to be on elderly timetables .. mind you then I do live rurally, but very rarely see it :no:

[swbarnett]

Errr. It is called the Automobile Association.
A motorcycle IS an automobile.

From Merriam-Webster:
"A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation"

[James Deuce]

A motorcycle IS an automobile.

From Merriam-Webster:
"A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation"

The passenger transportation thing excludes motorcycles from that definition. They're expensive toys, as you well know.

[swbarnett]

The passenger transportation thing excludes motorcycles from that definition. They're expensive toys, as you well know.
Speak for yourself. My bike is my only vehicle. It transports me, i.e. one passenger, everywhere I want to go.

[buellbabe]

I have been an AA member for 14yrs. They have been called out on numerous occasions and have been a godsend. Last year they arranged a transporter to pick up me & bike (snapped drive belt) from the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere (turn right at 'the black stump') and took us both home...NO CHARGE.

OK so they might be negligent in not including motorbikes in their survey but in MHO they provide a damn fine service.

[James Deuce]

Speak for yourself. My bike is my only vehicle. It transports me, i.e. one passenger, everywhere I want to go.

I have a brick wall I need dyna-bolted. Could I borrow your head for a bit please?

[swbarnett]

I have a brick wall I need dyna-bolted. Could I borrow your head for a bit please?
Am I missing something? You obviously think I'm being thick. Maybe I am? Please explain.

[Badjelly]

Am I missing something? You obviously think I'm being thick. Maybe I am? Please explain.

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines. :jerry:

[ManDownUnder]

middle of bum-fuck-nowhere (turn right at 'the black stump') and took us both home...NO CHARGE.

Carver's place is near the black stump?

huh!

[swbarnett]

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines. :jerry:
The term "automobile " was coined because the first one propelled itself i.e. no horse was necessary (also know as the horseless carriage). Yes these first automobiles happened to have four wheels but this was not an important part of the definition.

The current dictionary definition does lean towards four wheels but the word usually in the definition, to my mind, includes anything with any number of wheels that also fits the rest of the definition (motorised passenger transport). Actually, under this definition buses would also qualify.

[ynot slow]

Automobile can also mean 3 wheels,as a couple of early vehicles were tricycles.

[howdamnhard]

Ye AA don't really like you if you own a bike.Have all my past insurance through them and been with them for a while,so when I got my first bike and approached them about insuring it, I was surprised by been told to politely get lost.
Having said that I have used them for call outs to the cage.

[De-Ranged]

A few yrs ago I was chairman for the local MTBike club and found that Doc class mtb's as automobiles... be dammed about the two wheel argument a mtbike dosn't even have a motor!!

[rouppe]

The AA pissed me off recently too..

About 6 months ago I was on my way home and the bike broke down. I was only about 1km from home, it was dark (about 6pm) but the 1km was up a steep hill. Fine I thought I'll call AA for a pickup, and tomorrow morning Ill get them to take me into Wellington Motorcycles.

First part worked OK, but the next morning they (initially) refused the call saying I had already had my 1 free tow and this was the same event.

1) I have been a AA member for over 20 years and probably made a total of 10 calls tops
2) If I had the bike taken to Wellington Motorcycles directly then I would have had to leave it outside overnight, leaving it in a very unsafe area (lots of bars/drunks about)
3) I can call AA every fucking morning to start my car with a dodgy battery and that's OK

So I argue and argue :angry2: and they eventually relent. I then sent them a letter asking them how they propose that a motorcycle be delivered to a repair shop safely when the breakdown occures after hours.

The reply was some waffle about how they can't afford to provide unlimited tows, blah blah blah. I think that if a bike can't be delivered to a repair shop and kept in a (semi) secure or at least benign environment then its totally reasonable to take it to a place of safety followed up by delivery to the workshop.

[rouppe]

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines. :jerry:

Yeah sorry as far as I am concerned a motorcycle is covered, particularly since I have received service from the AA for a breakdown on the bike (see above).

The AA's own terminology is confusing. On their main <a href="http://www.aa.co.nz/membership/benefits/roadservice/Pages/default.aspx">page</a> they make several references to a "car" but then say "Your AA Membership covers you, not the vehicle".

A vehicle most definitely includes a motorcycle. Just ask a cop that is writing you a ticket for being "drunk in charge of a vehicle".

[Forest]

A vehicle most definitely includes a motorcycle. Just ask a cop that is writing you a ticket for being "drunk in charge of a vehicle".

We had this discussion in another thread. The Land Transport Act carefully defines what is a vehicle for legislative purposes:

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1998/0110/latest/DLM433619.html



Vehicle—
(a) Means a contrivance equipped with wheels, tracks, or revolving runners on which it moves or is moved; and
(b) Includes a hovercraft, a skateboard, in-line skates, and roller skates; but
(c) Does not include—
(i) A perambulator or pushchair:
(ii) A shopping or sporting trundler not propelled by mechanical power:
(iii) A wheelbarrow or hand-trolley:
(iv) [Repealed]
(v) A pedestrian-controlled lawnmower:
(vi) A pedestrian-controlled agricultural machine not propelled by mechanical power:
(vii) An article of furniture:
(viii) a wheelchair not propelled by mechanical power:
(ix) Any other contrivance specified by the rules not to be a vehicle for the purposes of this definition:
(x) any rail vehicle:
Vehicle: paragraph (c)(iv) of this definition was repealed, as from 22 June 2005, by section 4(11) Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77). See sections 96 to 100 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions.
Vehicle: paragraph (viii) of this definition was amended, as from 22 June 2005, by section 4(12) Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77) by substituting “a” for “An invalid”. See sections 96 to 100 of that Act as to the transitional and savings provisions.
Vehicle: paragraph (c)(x) of this definition was inserted, as from 20 July 2005, by section 103(3) Railways Act 2005 (2005 No 37). See sections 105 to 111 of that Act as to the transitional provisions.