Better World Club

Hector V.
1 review
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Better World

I have been a member of Better World for a few years, and so far I have had nothing but positive experiences with them. Recently, I needed a tow for a family member. The customer representative was very helpful and courteous. The towing company arrived earlier than expected and were also helpful.
If you haven't done so yet, join up.

Daniel H.
1 review
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Great, innovative auto club

I saw Mitch Rofsky speak in 2005, and that's when I heard about Better World Club. I've been impressed ever since, and have been a member for four years. I love the service, and the newsletters, which feature good humor, recent news, and travel resources in line with my values. I would recommend then to anyone, because they care and they help me stay engaged in living my values. My only complaint is that I wish more hotels and other vendors accepted BWC for discounts as they accept AAA. I think this is keeping a lot of people from switching.

Tracy W.
1 review
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Did you know that AAA (but NOT Better World Club) lobbies Congress to build roads, not rails?

As a customer for 5 years (and 2 roadside calls), I can tell you that BWC provides the same level of reliable service as AAA but without the anti-sustainability practices of AAA. Until I started discussing it with a friend and reading, I was totally unaware that AAA lobbies heavily in Congress to direct funding towards ROADS and away from public transportation. In retrospect, it makes sense for AAA's corporate survival. (I also didn't realize that AAA has discriminatory practices in covering domestic partners and same sex couples.) Enter Better World Club. An alternative company that provides the same roadside services with the same local providers that AAA uses, only with BWC, my membership fee is used to inform the me about fuel economy technology, promote legislation for 'pay-as-you-drive' car insurance, and promote legislation to make bicycling safer. (See their most recent newsletter, 'Kicking Asphalt' if you want to get an immediate flavor of their corporate values and humor.) As far as coverage goes, I can say from experience that BWC has been just as reliable as AAA. One breakdown in particular convinced me that BWC would be there for me. Picture this...winter, 9 pm Saturday night in rural Vermont, 10 miles from the nearest small town, my alternator was going and my headlights were fading. With no street lights and no gas stations around, I had no choice but to pull over and hope that my cell phone had coverage. I did, and BWC was there for me. Their local driver towed our car to a garage and delivered us to our rural hotel (20 miles away yet) in the snow. This call convinced me that BWC could be relied upon, just as AAA, for peace of mind. If you value sustainability and want a company working towards the same causes as your own, this is THE company to be your partner and peace of mind on the road.

Tracy's keywords: Reliable

Dan H.
1 review
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Great Alternative to AAA

A company with an irreverant, hip feel that is advocacy-oriented; and - by all appearances - seems to put their money where their mouth is. I've had not a single regret.

Jean P.
1 review
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Better World Club is terrific!

I joined the Better World Club at the suggestion of a friend. I figured it was a small thing to do to make the world a better place. I kept my Triple AAA membership just in case it did not work. Shortly after I joined on a Sunday morning I found I had a flat tire in the garage. I decided to give Better World a try because I had all day to get it fixed. To my surprise they sent a tow truck to change the tire within 45 minutes. And the tow truck driver and helper were incredibly polite and efficient. I have now cancelled by Triple AAA membership - changing the world makes life easier for me and better for all.

Kathryn C.
1 review
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Change we can believe in

I switched from AAA to BWC three years ago and have loved it. I have needed road service twice and was very pleased with the customer service - far better than my former AAA experiences. Yes, there are occasional glitches, like the failure of their fulfillment partner to send out membership info this past cycle. But those things happen with relatively new and small businesses. They apologized and fixed it, which is all I ask.

I love the newsletter, too--I wish the Evening News injected humor, it would go down easier! But the main reason I support BWC is that we make a statement with every dollar we spend about what kind of economy we want. Knowing AAA lobbies against alternatives to cars is all I need to know to make sure they never get my dollars. Purchasing power is the most important power we have as consumers, so be careful who you are supporting!

Liane S.
1 review
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Very nice to have a better choice than AAA

I was grateful to have this alternative, really like their values, the bicycle assistance (which I signrd up for). I used the emergency service once and was happy with the dispatcher and the serviceman that arrived.

A L.
1 review
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Terrific!

Wonderful service, great value. A good alternative with a sustainable mission.

Keith R.
1 review
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Wonderful Service and Continually Improving their Offerings

I was sold on the service of the Better World Club just on the virtue of them being green. Then they educated me on how AAA actively fights the green movement in D.C. by fighting all transportation that is not the automobile.

Additionally I have had the misfortune of needing their service twice. -- I had to pull a truck out of the mud that was over 100 ft from the road. This was not easy to find a provider but they politely plugged away until they found somebody willing to do this on a Sunday no less. -- The next time I was stranded with 4 people. They worked diligently to find somebody who would carry two adults and two kids for 70 miles late on a Saturday night. This was not to be, but they did find someone willing to carry all four of us to safety. (The driver did take all of us, but this was something above and beyond what they were supposed to do.)

I was very pleased by the politeness and willingness to do everything I desired. The service was outstanding.

Keith's keywords: auto club automobile better world club aaa auto service

Joel L.
1 review
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Great Experience with service

I was recently on vacation and rented a car. I passed up the extra coverage offered at the time of the rental. The next morning, I came out of my hotel to find that my rental had a flat tire. I immediately called the rental company and was shocked to find out that they were going to charge me to change the tire.

I then called Better World Travel, my roadside assistance company. The response time was less than 10 minutes. The young man who arrived was good at his job and noticed that the wear on the flat tire was inconsistent -- because of this, he checked the other three tires and found that they all were grossly over-inflated. I could have had a blow-out at any time.

The young man not only changed the flat tire, he corrected the inflation in the three other tires. Thank you to Better World Club for hiring a responsive, qualified company to service youf clients!

Joel's keywords: roadside assistance

Sara K.
1 review
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Better World Club

I have been a member of BWC for over 4 years. And to my misfortune I have needed to use their services each year. Last year our car broke down 3 times within about two weeks. I have always had quick and reliable service. I read a few reviews which were less than positive. All I can say is that I've only had excellent services. The $40/year gas rebate is amazing. I've never heard of anything like that before and I love to cash in. Their newsletters are hilarious; I always laugh when I read them, which is a real treat when everything in our lives is treated as though the world (and each individual) is going to hell in a hand basket. They now send you all documents electronically; which I love because I really do not need everything in hard copy and businesses truly generate vast quantities of waste. BWC is a company I can truly believe in and there are very few of those in our world. I recommend BWC to anyone willing to support an ethical corporation.

Peace, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sara's keywords: Roadside Assistance Green Businesses

Kat S.
1 review
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I had an unfortunate experience, although most people seem to have had an OK time of it.

Update: BWC did a pretty good job of dealing with my car problems in the end; I found a good call rep who found me a towing company and my car got fixed in the end. The people who run the club are very attentive about customer service-type stuff and offered me a free year of BWC membership for my trouble. I don't plan on going back to BWC, since having an old car in a cold climate is a bit of a recipe for battery trouble and my local AAA will bring me out a battery. But it is probably OK for most, and it is cool that they have bike service.

Original: I was really excited about switching from evil AAA to cleaner, greener Better World Club. It turns out to have been a huge mistake. First, I joined BWC over two months ago, and I have yet to receive any membership materials. Then, recently in Pittsburgh, we had an Arctic cold snap and a lot of snow. My little Honda Civic got stuck halfway up a huge hill in a bad part of town. I had to leave it in an ambulance parking lot and walk back to my house. When I hiked back to my car the next morning (Sunday), the battery was totally dead. Wouldn't even take a jump. Better World Club will NOT bring you a fresh battery like AAA does. So I'm stuck up the side of the mountain in the ghetto trying to get help from the totally rude, unsympathetic service provider, who repeatedly tells me that she can't help me because it's Sunday and no service providers are open. (Apparently you can't get mugged or frostbitten on Sunday either?) Today is Monday. BWC won't help me find a service provider to have my car towed (my regular mechanic isn't picking up his phone, and I don't want my car towed all the way there if he can't fit me in until Tuesday), and apparently doesn't care that I am stuck in my house with no way to get to work. Luckily, I am young and reasonably fit -- BWC's negligence could have easily been fatal for me if I were elderly or disabled.

Lea L.
1 review
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Very satisfied

I've been a member of BWC for 3 years now, and have always been very satisfied with their service. I quit AAA to join, and I've never regretted it. I like the gas rebates and the fact that they offer bicycle service.
I've never had an unpleasant experience with them.

Lea's keywords: bicycle service gas rebate

Molly M.
1 review
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Better World Club is great!

I have recently had two occasions to call Better World Club: one for a flat tire and the other for a dead battery. In both instances the Better World customer service people on the phone were very nice and helpful, and in one instance the representative made several calls to service providers in order to find the quickest possible response time. I was very impressed.

The service providers were also excellent. They came quickly, did their job professionally and were also very nice. I couldn't have asked for better service nor more friendly people to deal with.

In addition, Better World Club offers gas rebates every quarter that over the year add up to 75% of the cost of membership. You can't get any better than that!

Better World Club rocks!

Molly's keywords: roadside service AAA alternative gas rebates

Margot B.
1 review
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works

works as well as AAA with good policy: pro-bike, supports reduced car use

Michael M.
1 review
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Check this out!

I was a member at BWC and loved the fact that I could support a club that actually cared about the environment... I was telling everyone I knew - I thought it was such a great thing! So I bought the premium service and cancelled my AAA, which I'd had for years... and a long time went by with me just loving and touting the benefits of BWC. Then one day I needed to use my service - no problem, then a few months later I had to use it again, and then shortly after, I had to use it again... so it was a string of bad luck for me, but imagine my surprise when, during my last call, a supervisor came on the line and told me he was exercising his right to cancel my membership because I had used too many services in too short a period of time. Never mind that I had something like 5 services left, or that I didn’t use any service calls for a long time before that… I was cancelled, no ifs ands or buts. Now this was completely out of the blue... I had paid all my bills on time; I wasn't having a difficult time with anyone... I was in the middle of a nice pleasant experience with customer service when this guy picked up the line and told me I was cancelled. I was stunned, and all I could do was ask why, after all the time and money I had spent, and given my current bank of services, they would cancel my account. This young guy simply and arrogantly explained that if I continued to use all my services each year they could not remain profitable. Unbelievable. Now since this happened I've gone back to AAA and have not used a single service and don’t plan to, but at least I know that if I need to use the services I'm actually paying for, I won't have to worry about losing my roadside assistance. Shame on you Better World. You turned an ardent and vocal fan into a very unhappy (and still vocal) supporter of your competition. Supporting the environment is supposed to be a bonus in addition to good, reliable service, not a substitute for them, and I think you guys suck.

Brian G.
1 review
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LOVE them as an alternative

Very pleasant to deal with; really like the $40.00/year gas rebate, and the fact that they are not a mouthpiece for the auto industry.....

Brian's keywords: BWC gas rebate alternative auto maintenance

Frank B.
1 review
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Inferior to AAA

OK under most circumstances, but they have one BIG policy flaw: the member has to be with the vehicle, unlike AAA, which did tow vehicles when I was not with the vehicle.

This could cost you lots of time, trouble, and/or money if someone else borrows your vehicle and it breaks down, or if you have to get somewhere else, can't "babysit" the vehicle, and want the vehicle towed when you are elsewhere.

Rating is admittedly deflated to compensate for overly high ratings from people who haven't dealt with the fallout from this glaring flaw in the service.

Frank's keywords: AAA Better World Auto Club eco-travel carbon offset

Brad N.
1 review
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Good service, strong ethics

I have been a member of BWC for years and can attest to both their quality as a reliable business, as well as their strong steps towards promoting a more sustainable transportation system.

Brad's keywords: BWC sustainable transportation

Brian C.
1 review
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Frank J. and better world club

Dear Frank,

Did you ever join Better World Club?

" an overly intrusive, overpriced business that hides behind a cloak of environmentalism and peoplefriendlyism, much like the overpriced long distance service from which its management graduated. "

What does that statement mean Frank? Don't you think that specifics are in order when you make negative claims like that?

Is your point that the world sucks so don't bother trying to change anything?

I've been a member of Better World Club for 2 years now and I really don't get what your trying to say.
My personal experience w Better World Club has been very good and I will continue to be a member and encourage other people to leave AAA.

Brian's keywords: long distance service Better world club AAA