It snows once a year in Victoria.
Found myself at the wrong end of a poorly constructed - but normally very drivable - private road Monday night.
Got right rear wheel stuck in ditch. Front wheels and left-back tire remained firmly on road.
Called CAA. The greeter took the details and dispatched it to Totem in Victoria.
Totem Dispatcher called 15 minutes later to grill me on the quality of the road I slid off, and how far off the asphalt road I was. I could tell she was desperate to avoid sending her boy.
Nonetheless, about 10 minutes later the drver shows up, offering me a ride home without even bothering to see where or how my truck was stuck. When I tell him I'd like his tow truck to - you know - tow me out, he tells me that if he gets stuck, I'll have to pay $150/hr to have a real tow truck come and get us both out. I agree. I even offer to pay in advance.
I could tell he wasn't happy but he does a good job of faking the attempt. Pussy drives about 100 feet down the private road, stops his two-wheel drive truck, gets out, and announces he can't do it. He doesn't even get close enough to SEE my truck, much less tow it.
I walk him the extra 50 feet around a corner to show him the slight incline my truck is on, and how little is actually stuck in the ditch.
He barely glances at the truck and says, "what do you expect, a helicopter to come pull you out?"
I believe it was at that point that I referred to BC as a "province full of cowards."
"What good is an AMA membership if I can't get a simple tow when I need it?"
"It's good for a lot of things."
I cut him off. I didn't feel in the mood to hear about the $35 passport photos or the free maps of Montana rest stops.
Called Her Indoors and arranged a ride. Left the truck for another day.
Meantime, got the Remington out and emailed in a complaint.
Here's the PR douchebag's response:
Dear Mr. [Vandelay]:
In response to your email of service request on January 17th 2012, I have reviewed this call with Dan Bird, the President of Totem Towing. Dan advised us that on the occasion when snow falls in Victoria their staff are instructed to avoid going into areas where there is a risk getting stuck. Also, he is familiar with the area in which you were stuck and supports the decision of his staff. [ed: this is an astonishing claim; even in such a small city there must be tens of thousands of miles of roads, public and private; how any human could know what road I was on when maybe five vehicles have been on that road in the past year is beyond me]. Totem understands how you must feel about this and are truly sorry that they could not deliver the service and meet your needs at that time [ed: this isn't Totem writing this, remember, this is the BCAA PR weasel writing it, presuming Totem's sorrow and my feelings; what a piece of shit].
BCAA advises our members it is up to the driver’s discretion when attending recovery calls. I understand the driver did drive on the road in question, however his truck was sliding [ed: it wasn't; his tracks were straight and true] and he made a decision that it was not safe to attempt the recovery at this time. I also understand that he did offer a ride home [ed: I told BCAA fart-catcher that I have a CAA membership for emergency towing; taxis I can get anywhere].
We don’t have any records for a second service request to assist you and would be interested to know how your vehicle was recovered [ed: now they care]. If another company was hired you may wish to submit your invoice to your home club for reimbursement consideration [ed: notice he didn't actually come out and say CAA would pay for it; what a fkn worm].
Mr. [Vandelay], I know this may not be the answer that you are looking for, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this situation may have caused you. I am confident that your next experience with CAA will be more pleasant. [ed: my next experience with CAA will be to switch insurance companies, asshole].
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directly at (604) 293-2102.
Sincerely,
Gordon Davey
Contract Services Manager
Road Assist
BCAA
T:604.293.2102
F:604.291.7337
Toll:1.877.922.7878 ext:1
www.bcaa.com
WARNING - CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information.
Any use, disclosure, copying or dissemination of this information by a
person other than an intended recipient is not authorized and may be
illegal.
If you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender
immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any copies.
Thank you.
7 comments:
You should have got the wifey to come out and give you a push.
Doesnt anybody down there have a 4x4 who could give you a quick tug?
Up here we get one day a year without snow, you picture appears to be taken right around aug 27th.
The Frozen Pucks.
oh yeah, one more thing, did you have proper winter tires on?
With you having roots in Alberta, I think they might void your citizenship for calling that snow, and you got stuck in it? Tsk tsk.
The tow truck operator probably took one look and figured anybody who gets stuck in that little bit of white stuff should have to sit and wait for it to melt :-)
-42 in the bush yesterday, yeah, thats even cold for us, had to put a damn coat on.
Her Indoors was the late-breaking taxi, in the end. The 4x4 push from my labourer came Friday, and we still couldn't make it up the hill. Had to wait until the snow was washed away in a downpour overnight and this morning.
But you're right, there's no way my back tires were adequate for snow.
Next time, I take preventative snow days, instead of forced snow days.
It was 8 above today, so that'll pretty much be it for winter, now.
Yeah, I spent a few years in the lower mainland in my youth, I know exactly what its like. There was no better entertainment that watching traffic during the once or twice a season snow fall.
Just ribbing you on the snow tires, I doubt anybody has them in Victoria. Up here we virtually dont see a 2 wheel drive pickup anywhere in the winter, nothing worse than a pickup with 2 wheel drive, no posi and no winters or weight in the snow.
So Art, was this your first episode on Ice Road Truckers?
Sounds to me like a case of a transplanted Albertan that's forgotten how to dirve properly.
As Luke Duke used to say, "Hit it Bo".
That's assuming I knew how to drive properly in the first place.
Post a Comment