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| AAA offering mobile battery replacement service in the St. Louis metropolitan area | ||||||
| AAA’s convenient battery replacement service saves members considerable time and hassles | ||||||
| Up until recently, discovering that your car had a dead battery could ruin your whole morning, if not your whole day. None of the choices you had for repair were very appealing. You either had to call for a jump-start or find your jumper cables and another car to jump-start it yourself. Then you had to drive to an automotive repair shop and drop off the car to get a new battery installed and arrange for a ride home if the shop couldn’t replace it quickly. Or you could buy a battery to install yourself, a potentially messy, time-consuming and difficult project. In the past, battery installation was one of the least complicated repairs. But with today’s computerized, electronically controlled vehicles, improper battery installation could cause electronic circuit damage, radio memory loss, radio damage or the loss of stored computer codes. It could even change the idle quality of the engine and could prevent the engine from restarting on some models with theft control circuits. The word “hassle” was created for just such situations. But now, AAA has introduced a mobile battery replacement service to help members at the location where their battery died. The new service is being offered throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area, but it will likely be expanded to other major metropolitan areas later this year. “Members have been very appreciative of the service so far because it saves them considerable time in replacing a dead battery. It’s truly a great convenience,” said Jim Means who coordinates the program at AAA. “We want to assist members in every aspect of their vehicle ownership, and this is yet another way that we can serve our members.” The process for requesting battery service is similar to calling AAA for regular Roadside Assistance. If your vehicle won’t start, such as it won’t crank or it cranks slowly, simply call 1-800-AAA-HELP (1-800-222-4357) or (314) 523-7300. The AAA call taker will ask a series of questions to determine if the battery needs to be replaced or if the vehicle simply needs to be jump-started. For instance, if the battery is less than three years old and the lights were left on overnight, the battery probably doesn’t need to be replaced, just recharged. If the call taker believes the battery might need to be replaced and if the member is interested, AAA will dispatch the nearest available battery truck. The field service technician will then perform a test of the battery and the basic electrical system. If the battery is worn out, the member will be given the option of purchasing a battery and having it installed on site. If the vehicle merely needs a jump start, one will be provided. Once the battery truck is on the scene, the technician typically can test the old battery and install a new one if needed within 30 to 45 minutes. The trucks are operating seven days a week. The battery trucks carry a wide inventory of batteries. So no matter what type of car or light duty truck you drive, AAA will have the right battery for your vehicle.  The batteries that AAA is installing through the program are high quality batteries manufactured by Exide under stringent guidelines. Due to the quality requirements set by AAA, only two lines of batteries are available. The premium battery has a 72 month warranty with a 24 month free replacement. The heavy duty battery has a 60 month warranty with a 12 month free replacement. Batteries are prorated for the remaining 48 months of the warranties. Any work performed by the AAA field technicians is warranted for 12 months or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first. Prices range from $85 to $100, which includes testing, taxes and installation.At the point of sale, a warranty jacket is provided with the invoice. The invoice provides proof of purchase and the jacket has instructions for “no hassle” replacement anywhere in North America if you need help with the battery. Nationally, AAA responds to nearly 7 million battery-related breakdowns each year. As a result, AAA has decided to begin offering the battery service nationwide this year as an added benefit for members. The AAA Battery Service program is already the largest mobile replacement brand in North America. |
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Copyright © 1999 - 2007 AAA Traveler Magazine | 12901 N. Forty Dr. | St. Louis, MO 63141 |
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