“I'll start with this: Stephanie in the Grimsby office is fantastic. 5 stars for Stephanie and Rachel. CAA as an association, however, is a mess.
The Background: I went into the Grimsby office to get passport photos done and were told that I was ineligible for member pricing because my membership was with a different CAA region. I had never used CAA for anything other than roadside before, so I never realized that the region of your CAA membership actually matters. Of course, I had been in contact with the other office several times and even updated my address with them yet no one ever told me that I needed to switch my membership location to access member-only discounts etc. So, despite having a CAA gold membership, I paid full price for passport photos.
A few days later, I attempted to switch my membership. Three separate phone calls, two locations, three people, and over 1.5 hours on the phone. With the former region making a simple inputting mistake which prevented the Grimsby office from completing the transfer and then instructions that I would need to call the former region to both cancel and then again to verify the cancellation it became obvious that CAA regions are each a disconnected island. And navigating those islands is not at all clear, simple, or user-friendly for members.
But, it's a systemic problem with CAA's overall organizational structure. Rachel at the Grimsby office tried very hard to help, but she was as trapped in the system as I was. But I truly did - and do - appreciate her efforts (even if I was a bit cranky on the phone - sorry again Rachel). I had just made the decision to cancel with CAA entirely when Stephanie called me and took charge of the situation. She is truly member-focused and empathizes with the fact that the average CAA member has no idea about the inner workings of each CAA region and CAA as a whole. So a big THANK YOU to you Stephanie for your empathy, for working your magic, and for making everything come together in the end.
If CAA national reads these reviews, please take note: it was one individual employee with exceptional customer service skills that saved my membership. Not CAA. I really don't give a hoot about CAA itself.
The entire CAA structure is outdated, overly complicated, disconnected, disjointed, and not at all member/user friendly. The fact that each organization is disconnected from another is ridiculous. The fact that a member can't do simple functions like change their region, update their information, or renew their membership online in less than five minutes should be a major warning for you. This is 2026. If something as simple as managing a roadside assistance membership is so complicated that it took the quantity of time and number of people that it did for me, private companies will come along and make you redundant. We live in a world where almost everything is a subscription service and competition is fierce. Just because you've been around for 100 years doesn't mean you'll be around for 10 more. You don't have any special monopoly on tow trucks, discounts, travel etc. Costco, Expedia, Honk, Visa, Mastercard, all offer members/subscribers/card holders very similar benefits. It would be sad to watch CAA become a textbook example of where failure to modernize, adapt, and innovate caused its downfall.”
Insurance
“I'll start with this: Stephanie in the Grimsby office is fantastic. 5 stars for Stephanie and Rachel. CAA as an association, however, is a mess.
The Background:
I went into the Grimsby office to get passport photos done and were told that I was ineligible for member pricing because my membership was with a different CAA region. I had never used CAA for anything other than roadside before, so I never realized that the region of your CAA membership actually matters. Of course, I had been in contact with the other office several times and even updated my address with them yet no one ever told me that I needed to switch my membership location to access member-only discounts etc. So, despite having a CAA gold membership, I paid full price for passport photos.
A few days later, I attempted to switch my membership. Three separate phone calls, two locations, three people, and over 1.5 hours on the phone. With the former region making a simple inputting mistake which prevented the Grimsby office from completing the transfer and then instructions that I would need to call the former region to both cancel and then again to verify the cancellation it became obvious that CAA regions are each a disconnected island. And navigating those islands is not at all clear, simple, or user-friendly for members.
But, it's a systemic problem with CAA's overall organizational structure. Rachel at the Grimsby office tried very hard to help, but she was as trapped in the system as I was. But I truly did - and do - appreciate her efforts (even if I was a bit cranky on the phone - sorry again Rachel). I had just made the decision to cancel with CAA entirely when Stephanie called me and took charge of the situation. She is truly member-focused and empathizes with the fact that the average CAA member has no idea about the inner workings of each CAA region and CAA as a whole. So a big THANK YOU to you Stephanie for your empathy, for working your magic, and for making everything come together in the end.
If CAA national reads these reviews, please take note: it was one individual employee with exceptional customer service skills that saved my membership. Not CAA. I really don't give a hoot about CAA itself.
The entire CAA structure is outdated, overly complicated, disconnected, disjointed, and not at all member/user friendly. The fact that each organization is disconnected from another is ridiculous. The fact that a member can't do simple functions like change their region, update their information, or renew their membership online in less than five minutes should be a major warning for you. This is 2026. If something as simple as managing a roadside assistance membership is so complicated that it took the quantity of time and number of people that it did for me, private companies will come along and make you redundant. We live in a world where almost everything is a subscription service and competition is fierce. Just because you've been around for 100 years doesn't mean you'll be around for 10 more. You don't have any special monopoly on tow trucks, discounts, travel etc. Costco, Expedia, Honk, Visa, Mastercard, all offer members/subscribers/card holders very similar benefits. It would be sad to watch CAA become a textbook example of where failure to modernize, adapt, and innovate caused its downfall.”