The AA is asking its members to request Roadservice assistance only if it’s urgent.
Today it has been working through a backlog of calls, on what is shaping up to be its busiest day on record.
On a normal day, AA Roadservice attends 1200 callouts for breakdown assistance in 24 hours. By 4pm today, it had already attended more than 1500 callouts, about 80% of them battery-related.
“By midnight tonight, we’re expecting to have attended between 1700 and 1800 jobs; that would make it a record-breaking day,” says AA general manager of roadside solutions Bashir Khan.
“We were expecting the start of Alert Level 3 to be busy as more Kiwis return to work, but we’ve had unparalleled demand from early this morning.”
AA Roadservice’s call system was overwhelmed this morning and the team is working through a backlog of requests via the AA Roadservice app.
“We want to thank members who have already requested assistance for their patience as we take longer than normal to respond to their requests,” Khan says.
“We ask members who are thinking of calling us for assistance for a non-urgent issue to please delay requesting assistance.
“We’ve pulled in all extra resources we possibly can on the road and to support our contact centre, and are doing everything we can to assist members around the country.”
AA Battery Service’s top tips for avoiding battery failure include starting engines for 30 minutes at least once a week, ensuring the battery is topped up and the engine oil and coolant are circulated.
