Not Able To Assist

I sure wish they would show on here just how that response team settles all the problems.

Desert Captain wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
But it's not a boat and it wasn't sinking or on fire and this is not the first post concerning GSRA where they failed miserably.

Try re reading my post. If you think I am a fan of GS you are sadly mistaken. The post I responded to was defending GS for blowing off the OP. The analogy to a commercial towing assistance and ERS is spot on. They both operate from the same business model.

When a reputable company is contacted you get timely assistance. I differentiated between 911 situations and the more typical breakdowns. While we still lack sufficient details on the OP's experience it sounds like GS let him down.

:R

Actually there is a big difference between a boat sinking and someone telling roadside assistance they "feel unsafe". It is marine tradition that the nearest vessel respond to any emergency. That is surely not the tradition on the highways, the first car to pass a disabled vehicle is not morally or legally or any other way expected or required to respond. And if a boat was on fire or sinking though the authorities may request your tow boat respond, the first responders will still be the fire department, the police, the harbor patrol, coast guard or other public safety authorities.
We are missing way too much of this story to understand why the people were told there would be no response from Good Sam. Were the people stranded off road where response would never be dispatched? Was there some sort of issue going on in the immediate area that a responder was not available, such as a flash flood, riot, or a major car wreck that tied up the only heavy duty wrecker etc. Were they broke down with an issue or in a location that wouldn't be covered by ERS? And was the OP actually told that Good Sam would not respond or only told that the response would not be as quickly as they wanted? Without full facts it is very presumptuous to call out Good Sam for bad service.

fla-gypsy wrote:
But it's not a boat and it wasn't sinking or on fire and this is not the first post concerning GSRA where they failed miserably.

Try re reading my post. If you think I am a fan of GS you are sadly mistaken. The post I responded to was defending GS for blowing off the OP. The analogy to a commercial towing assistance and ERS is spot on. They both operate from the same business model.

When a reputable company is contacted you get timely assistance. I differentiated between 911 situations and the more typical breakdowns. While we still lack sufficient details on the OP's experience it sounds like GS let him down.

:R

Details details seems like we have 1/4 of the story here.

Being stranded on a highway shoulder is unsafe and if police are called they will call for roadside assistance! It seems reasonable that GSRA should have done something to help.

Anytime you don't feel safe, always call Law Enforcement yourself, and it should be the first call you make. If they get there and you are in an unsafe spot they will do what they can and call a tow truck, and GSERS and CN both have in their brochures they will reimburse you. Like calling your insurance company or a Doctor, they don;t call help for you, they tell you to call for help as they do not want to be sued later because they called the wrong place, or it takes a few minutes to look up where you are, try and find the number, and normally it is a non-emergency number, and if it is unsafe, you need someone now.

Being unable to ascertain with a certain degree of accuracy I hesitate my verbal opinion. Where, When, What...on a road, on a trail,..could not come out now or could not come out ever...are you in danger, then yes call 911.

But it's not a boat and it wasn't sinking or on fire and this is not the first post concerning GSRA where they failed miserably.

pconroy328 wrote:

catsgalore wrote:
We were in a spot that made us very uncomfortable and we could not drive our disabled RV. When I voiced these concerns I was told to call the police. This is not what we expected, that is for sure.

I have no idea what their policy is - but if I was the call center manager and you called *me* for assistance in a place that you didn't think was safe...

...I'm NOT sending someone out there either!

I'd do exactly what they did - I'd tell you that if you fear for your safety you need to call the police!

Either you are kidding and have a very sick sense of humor or you have no clue what roadside assistance is suppose to do. When you are disabled, broke down (whatever), the reason you have roadside assistance is to get help. It is a standard question by dispatchers to ask if you are in an unsafe situation. A yes answer should only move you to the top of the priority list. :S

For the record I used to skipper a commercial tow boat and our job was to respond, as quickly as possible to any boater in distress who called for assistance. Just like Good Sam, CoachNet etc., our members paid a yearly fee to be able to call us for help any time, any where.

If extraordinary circumstances such as a vessel experiencing flooding, fire, extreme weather or injuries necessitated calling the Coast Guard (and their superior ability to respond especially when well offshore), we were happy to do so. I worked hand in hand with the Coasties on numerous occasions to insure a proper response.

If your coach is on fire or you are broken down in a traffic lane certainly 911 is your best option. If you are broken down (flat tire whatever), on the shoulder of a busy interstate/highway it behooves your ERS provider to get you assistance ASAP. Being told they have no one available to respond is simply unacceptable. Their job is to provide assistance and if their service/system cannot get the job done they have a moral (and probably a legal), obligation to find some one who can.

:R

catsgalore,

Thank you for your post. If you could please send me a Private Message with your contact information, I will be sure to have someone reach out to you regarding your experience. Thank you for your membership.

Nate K.
Marcus' Rapid Response Team