It's Not Always Sunny in California

Lapsed Members of AAA SoCal Can't Renew Extended Towing Coverage Without Probation

Like a number of other AAA regional clubs, the Automobile Club of Southern California requires that new members maintain a basic membership without usage for at least 12 months before they're allowed to upgrade to a membership with longer towing coverage.

It's not our policy, but we get it. Tows are expensive, and it's hard to keep membership rates reasonable if you're signing people up just to tow them for dozens of miles right away.

Once you'd done your time, however, we'd have thought that you would have won AAA's trust. Apparently not so: let your Plus membership in the SoCal Automobile Club lapse and you're back on probation, regardless of how long you've been a member.

Existing members can call AAA customer service during their probationary periods to find out how long they've kept their records clean, but as soon they're no longer members, the count starts all over again.

Maybe the Automobile Club of Southern California is just trying to keep its members renewing on time, but its probation policy doesn't seem like it would encourage lapsed members to renew -- especially members of 10 or 20 years that all of a sudden find their coverage downgraded.

Better World Club may not have that long of a history yet, but we'd love to have you with us when we get there, even if you let your membership lapse every once in a while.

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