Why do CAA Associates routinely go above and beyond for Members? Because they are driven by good

On a typical working day, Ryan Peterson answers auto-related questions and dispenses advice to CAA Members. But last October, the Manager of Automotive Services found himself answering car questions from a group of seniors in Muskoka, Ont. The seminar was the result of a request from the Older Adult Programming for The District of Municipality of Muskoka.

“Many of them didn’t know how to take care of their vehicles,” Peterson explains. Were these seniors CAA Members? Not necessarily, but that wasn’t the point.

“I was able to reassure and explain basic things. You could hear the relief in their voices,” he says. “Anytime I see an opportunity to do something good, I will do my little bit.”

It’s a sentiment widely shared across CAA. Being driven by good is at the very core of CAA and its Associates.

“Everyone comes to the table with their best effort all the time,” says Laura Kwiatkowski, Manager, Travel Marketing for CAA Club Group Manitoba.

When Covid-19 restrictions prevented Members from going to CAA Stores to collect prizes, Kwiatkowski took it upon herself to deliver items to their homes. She even arranged to have a set of four Pirelli tires delivered to a local garage, since the Member didn’t have storage space.

“When Members receive everything they were promised,” Kwiatowski explains, “it grows our integrity and reflects quite positively on CAA.”

So positively, in fact, that Members often let us know when an Associate has gone the extra mile.

One such Member, Michelle, told our Insurance team that she and family had planned their first big trip to Portugal and the Canary Islands for June 2020.

It was particularly special because the once-in-a-lifetime vacation was funded with a small inheritance from her Grama Millie, a world traveller.

It was actually her grandmother’s wish that Michelle use the money for travelling, so when the pandemic hit and the trip had to be cancelled, Michelle was devastated.

She had purchased travel insurance through CAA, so she made a claim. But with so many claims to process at the same time, it took some time.

“As the months rolled by, we began to lose faith,” she wrote in an email to CAA. “I felt heartbroken that I could lose what Grama had left us. Today, a cheque arrived that completely covered our loss. I don’t mind saying I couldn’t help the tears that came when I opened that letter. You will never know how much it meant to our family to feel we did not lose that precious gift grama left us.”

Stories like Michelle’s reinforce how CAA’s quiet determination to do the right thing is the key reason Members stay with us—and why CAA continues to be driven by good.