On April 10th, I had to use my Good Sam Roadside assistance due to a blowout on my travel trailer. Lucky for me, I was able to pull into a rest stop when this happened. When I called from my IPhone, the person answering told me that they failed to obtain my location, and what was the closest cross street? I informed her again that I was at a freeway rest stop and did not know this info. So I had to run around while on the phone trying to find information on the rest stop. Fortunately, I found a state employee who told me the mile marker. She also needed to know my tire size. Really? What is the use of that info?Then the other day, I get the following email from Good Sam Roadside assistance containing the following information:With ordinary roadside assistance, not knowing your location could make it difficult to get the assistance you need as fast as possible. But now, with a new Caller Locator technology developed by Technocom, Good Sam Roadside Assistance members can take the road less traveled with less worry. Caller Locator utilizes the latest in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to quickly and accurately pinpoint a Good Sam Roadside Assistance member’s disablement location in just a few seconds. Mark Kupper, VP/General Manager of Good Sam Roadside Assistance adds, “With this technology, our dispatch center can easily identify a member’s location whether they are calling from a traditional landline, standard cell phone or smart phone. This eliminates a lot of stress from the customer experience and helps us get them the help they need faster.Well, in my case it did not work. Furthermore, I waited over three hours to be assisted - note that I was very close to St. Augustine FL. I received a text with the service providers phone number. When they did not call after 30 minutes, I called them. They - Jack Rabbit Network service located somewhere in Texas, told me they would call back. They didn't. Texas? I was in Florida :hI called again and told them I wanted info on who was coming. They put me on hold. Came back and told me tow truck would arrive in 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, I called back and asked the ETA again. Finally, after 3 hours, a local service comes and changes the tire in less than 15 minutes.I hate to think of this same situation, except with being on the side of the road with traffic screaming by.Response times should be a lot faster, and your locator technology seems to have some bugs.

2012Coleman wrote: She also needed to know my tire size. Really? What is the use of that info? possibly to bring a spare. possibly to get an idea of the equipment required to change it?bumpy

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202588Seems like I read that you have to enable the location service feature??

But now, with a new Caller Locator technology developed by Technocom,This is a new service provide by GS and is provided by a third party. Has nothing to do with location services on your Iphone, which is used by installed applications. To my knowledge, there is no GS roadside assistance application that needs to be installed on your phone - at least not one I was made aware of.more info

It's really not a new service, according to the date on the web page announcing it for GS - May 22,2012Click here

Yes I see that. So now I'm wondering why I'm just now receiving emails telling me it is a new service. Doesn't matter as it seems it doesn't work anyway.

Caller Locator Technology? | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

UsualSuspect
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
Google Maps can be your friend, or Scout, or iPhone Maps, and I am sure there are many others. Not sure why you had to look for someone when there is more than 1 app out there. As for the tire size, I have a spare, yet the jack used on your rig will not even lift mine, so yes, size does matter. I also don't care where the dispatch center is, at least it is not in India, and even not being from Texas I can understand them through their accent.
As for the 3 hour wait, I would have had a snack, walked the dogs, and relaxed. While I still work, life is to short and I am not in a hurry, when I get there, I get there, at least I made it, which is what counts in my book.
Safe travels!
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
I do not have GS services but I do have ACSC(AAA) and while stranded due to a very weak battery out in the desert, we called ACSC and someone somewhere said help was on the way. To make it easier to state, they never found us, the dispatcher wouldn't take Long. & Lat. coordinates and would not have the service truck operator call us.

She told the DW that was unnecessary as he was a local and could find us from the street address. He was from a town 25 or 30 miles away and didn't know where the heck we were.

By the way, we had recorded our route in our GPS and had exact street names and distances from the highway to the kids cabin. And we knew landmarks to tell the truck operator about where there were no street name signs.

The address is for a one room cabin on five acres about four miles from a paved road and six miles from any town. There are no street name signs and our Garmin, logically I might add, doesn't know from squat about the Lucerne Valley Quadrangle and the real routes that are available. Many of the roads on the USGS quad maps are no longer there and some never did connect to other roads that are on the maps.
johnnyrv
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
there is an app on my android smart phone called Where Am I which would give your coordinates to the GS dispatcher.
OutdoorPhotogra
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
Apparently, locating a cell phone is not as accurate as Jack Bauer would lead you to believe. Saw a report last week that 911 is having problems locating folks off cell phone compared to land lines because it's a triangulation system. If you're in an area with lots of towers, great. If your remote and phone is grabbing one tower, 911 knows your general area but nothing close to even which block your on.

It's easy these days to fall into the trap that technology is perfect and up 100% of the time.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
Lantley wrote:
Even with all of today's technology it is certainly not unreasonable to ask for a mile marker or location info for someone broke down in a rest area.
It is also not unreasonable to ask the tire size. Size will indicate how large a vehicle one is dealing with.
Lastly I have no expectations of prompt service when calling roadside assistance.
It is a big country out there. Service time is all luck of the draw. Response time can be fast if your luck or 3-4 hours if your not.
If you are not capable/willing to change tire yourself. You will have to rely on others which ultimately means waiting. Sometimes a very long time.
Unfortunately ranting,complaining or even canceling your membership will not change the wait time. It is all luck of the draw.
Yes you had a bad day but as you said you were safe in a rest area. It could have been a lot worse. Count your blessings you returned home safely and leave it at that.

well stated.
bumpy
Lantley
Nomad
Apr 21, 2015
Even with all of today's technology it is certainly not unreasonable to ask for a mile marker or location info for someone broke down in a rest area.
It is also not unreasonable to ask the tire size. Size will indicate how large a vehicle one is dealing with.
Lastly I have no expectations of prompt service when calling roadside assistance.
It is a big country out there. Service time is all luck of the draw. Response time can be fast if your luck or 3-4 hours if your not.
If you are not capable/willing to change tire yourself. You will have to rely on others which ultimately means waiting. Sometimes a very long time.
Unfortunately ranting,complaining or even canceling your membership will not change the wait time. It is all luck of the draw.
Yes you had a bad day but as you said you were safe in a rest area. It could have been a lot worse. Count your blessings you returned home safely and leave it at that.
SCVJeff
Explorer
Apr 21, 2015
I gotta agree with Dennis whos opinion is perfectly logical on all points. Just because Good Sam says they have that technology means nothing, there is LOTs of technology inbetween to make it work, including the cell service at that location that I'll bet you didn't look at did you? I've been through this with AAA, and the results were about the same, but I also know this is more than a simple phone call. If they didn't get the coordinates, don't blame them.

Some, not all of your gripes are unreasonable. And this is one of them.

And so what if they answer in another state. Why is that a problem?

PS- This is an open public forum, not a private email service. Your post was an attempt to discredit GS to the public and you got called on it.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Apr 20, 2015
can't we all just get along?
bumpy
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Apr 20, 2015
Executive wrote:
Well, my friend, welcome to the 21st Century....

First of all, only 911 has the ability to pinpoint your location without your permission. There's a little spot on your phone where you can turn "location" on. Without doing so by YOU, it doesn't work. Furthermore, when you turn it on, it will ask you for permissions before activating.

Secondly, if you're calling about a FLAT TIRE, don't you think it might be important to the responder as to what SIZE tire they'll be dealing with. Big big difference in a 16" and a 22.5 ...:S They need to make sure they send the correct equipment to do the job correctly.

Thirdly, you were in a REST AREA out of harms way. Three hours is acceptable in my book. Walk the dog, snooze, read a book, watch TV, geeze..you sound like your time is the most valuable commodity in the world....

Sorry you were late getting to where you were going but IMHO, it wasn't the responder's fault you had the flat tire. I had a flat along the interstate last year and waxed the whole side of my coach waiting for the repair truck....enjoy life a bit and quit expecting someone to jump when you beckon....Dennis
Well Dennis, if you had actually read the link I posted before spouting off, you would have read the following:

Caller Locator utilizes the latest in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to quickly and accurately pinpoint a Good Sam Roadside Assistance member’s disablement location in just a few seconds. Mark Kupper, VP/General Manager of Good Sam Roadside Assistance adds, “With this technology, our dispatch center can easily identify a member’s location whether they are calling from a traditional landline, standard cell phone or smart phone.

and this:
By integrating this Caller Locator technology with our industry-leading, 24 hour a day dispatch service, a dispatch representative will see a member’s disablement location when the call reaches them; this allows us to quickly and accurately locate the disablement location – so we can get you the help you need, fast. “Automated caller location reduces time in-call and the anxiety of describing where you are. Good Sam members can now get assistance faster and more reliably than ever before,” said Mario Proietti, CEO of TechnoCom. “There’s no application or special phone required and it works simply by placing a call to Good Sam Roadside Assistance.”

As I stated in my other response, it has nothing to do with location services on my phone. Or maybe you can tell me where to turn on location services when I'm calling from a "traditional landline". Well - can you?

So I had a reason to state that I was using an iphone - one you would not understand.

I develop applications for smart phones, and did some research on the tech described above. I think I know a little about this stuff.

Regarding tire size, I indicated that I had a spare - which is why I brought that up. But you assumed you could answer the question for me.

I'm not sure why you feel you have to respond to my post in this forum topic which is here to communicate issues directly with the GS team. Your comments are nonconstructive and make assumptions based on ignorance of the facts. Kindly find something better to do with your time than troll this topic offering ignorant and meaningless drivel.

And sorry, but we will never be friends...
2oldman
Explorer II
Apr 20, 2015
2012Coleman wrote:
, I was able to pull into a rest stop when this happened. When I called from my IPhone, the person answering told me that they failed to obtain my location, and what was the closest cross street? .
I don't suppose they'd be able to handle your voicing/texting your coordinates to them.