I've been a GSRA member for 10 years now. I've used the service on a few occasions and while the response time was pretty slow, I understand that this can happen. My latest experience however, was unacceptable. I was left stranded on the side of the road for 5 days. Yes, 5 DAYS. I was told that, because the weather was bad in part of the Country, no service providers were being contacted anywhere in the Country, regardless of the weather conditions where my vehicle was located. Wow, that will leave very few days when ANY service can be provided, ever! And while my vehicle stayed broken down on the side of the road, it was vandalized. The GSRA response: "not covered. Read the enclosed membership brochure." No brochure was enclosed. I did read the membership brochure that I was provided when the service was purchased. It says nothing about this type of problem "not" being covered. I will be cancelling my contract and going with Coach Net.

Hello ptwymer,I am sorry to hear about your roadside experience. I located your Roadside membership information and forwarded it to our executive desk for investigation and follow up with you.Thank you....Rudy, Good Sam Response team.

So this will be your one and only post?

azdryheat wrote:So this will be your one and only post?I certainly hope not...I've been a member for 5 years, and never had to call for a response! My "bad-mouthing" wouldn't stop for years if something like this ever happened to me! I have a trip planned for Alaska in May, and I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable with my blind confidence in Roadside Assistance.

Welcome to the forum. I am truly sorry for your lousy experience. I can't imagine being stuck that long especially when you pay for a service for just that kind of emergency.Also, there are some on here that will attack you for posting a bad experience about just about anything. I have no idea why people feel the need to do that sort of thing but just keep in mind that they are a minority around here and don't pay any attention to them.

ptwymer wrote:I've been a GSRA member for 10 years now. I've used the service on a few occasions and while the response time was pretty slow, I understand that this can happen. My latest experience however, was unacceptable. I was left stranded on the side of the road for 5 days. Yes, 5 DAYS. I was told that, because the weather was bad in part of the Country, no service providers were being contacted anywhere in the Country, regardless of the weather conditions where my vehicle was located. Wow, that will leave very few days when ANY service can be provided, ever! And while my vehicle stayed broken down on the side of the road, it was vandalized. The GSRA response: "not covered. Read the enclosed membership brochure." No brochure was enclosed. I did read the membership brochure that I was provided when the service was purchased. It says nothing about this type of problem "not" being covered. I will be cancelling my contract and going with Coach Net.Tell us more, where were you stranded and when? It would help your cause because your statement means nothing without more info.Travelon

Not a positive experience | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

Good_Sam_Care_T
Explorer II
Apr 09, 2015
To All,

Thank you all for your interest and comments on this thread. Since this topic is the same as three other active threads this one will be closed. Please refer to the open thread under the title of Roadside Assistance Problems. This matter has been forwarded to our leadership team within the Roadside Assistance department for research and follow up. Please check back for an update.

Thank you,

Mark
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
goodsamcs@goodsamfamily.com
DKeppner
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
We're only hearing one side of the story.

I'll give the benefit of doubt to ptwymer but there is definitely another side to this story and its a shame GS has enough class not to air it. Something smells like a fish cleaning station.
Travelon
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
The WHOLE country! Come on...something is not entirely right with this story.

IMHO, It sounds like you are trying to shakedown CW for money.

Travelon
ptwymer
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
Messaging every other forum site I can find. Got to get the word out on this poor business practice.
joelabq
Explorer III
Apr 09, 2015
"Phase Conditions" sounds like a good way to duck out of providing service whenever they feel like it. I am not sure of the legality of unpublished policies such as this, but if it's legal it makes a good case for not purchasing service.

Anyhow, if I have phone service enough to call an ERS, I'll just hit the browser button and find someone. I think Good Sam or any other ERS needs to step up the benefits before I'd consider them anything but obsolete these days unless I am missing something?

Maybe someone misinterpreted this policy, as I could only realistically believe that only in the locality that the weather is affecting would this policy apply. If that isn't the case then this is the biggest "What?!??" in history and someone is either a genius or the biggest idiot this side of the universe!

Joel
ptwymer
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
Good choice to not be a member of God Sam Roadside Assistance. I'll be moving to CoachNet.
Bob_Shaw
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
I've had some "response-time" problems with GSRA too, and am not currently a member of it because of those problems. But I guess my question would be; Does Coachnet have the same or a similar policy? It would be a shame to change to a different company and get the same results.
ptwymer
Explorer
Apr 09, 2015
As promised, an update. Apparently the GSRA service comes with an un-published policy that during "phase conditions" (words from the GSRA staff), they can cease all service calls across the Country...yes United States. This means that bad weather in ANY part of the Country will result in NO service to you, stuck on the side of the road. Sorry. This is the GSRA customer service policy, apparently. So, make sure to not have an Emergency situation when: it's raining hard in Seattle; there's a Tornado in Oklahoma; or, there's a snow storm in Boston....the list goes on and on and on. Please make sure to plan your "emergencies" accordingly and by all means, make sure they don't occur on a weekend.
ptwymer
Explorer
Apr 08, 2015
Oh, one more response. No the spelling was correct "country" as in the entire United States!
ptwymer
Explorer
Apr 08, 2015
Thanks for all the comments, pro and con. I completely agree that GSRA should mot be considered "supermen". To address the questions; I was located approximately 11 mile north of Socorro, New Mexico and 65 miles south of Albuquerque on well traveled Interstate 25. The weather the first night was cold with intermittent precipitation (rain and a snow mix). Nothing sticking to the Interstate. The next day (Friday), there was a significant snowfall approximately 50 miles north but nothing to speak of in the Socorro area. Saturday the weather cleared and the roads were wet but clear. Sunday I drove to the trailer to try and repair the bearing myself. No luck after 4 hours as a portion of the bearing was welded onto the spindle. The vandalism occurred sometime between Sunday night and Monday afternoon when GSRA finally located a service provider who had to grind off the bearing to get me on my way to a full service repair shop.

Regarding the comment about staying with the trailer and therefore, not being stranded. Really! Stay on the side of a busy freeway for 5 days? I'm glad I wasn't there. Who knows what would have occurred to me had I stayed (the typical thief doesn't usually have much regard for human safety).

I have since been contacted by GSRA personnel. I hope this issue can be resolved and more so, that I receive a better response (return phone call as promised) than during the 5 day ordeal. Stay tuned.