My husband and I are now Full-Time RVers. Over the years we have been with Good Sam the experience was generally very good.
Once we had a blow-out to a turnpike, the young man I spoke to at Good Sam could not locate a nearby road assist to get us safely back on the road, but a passing trooper called in a repair service who was the contracted servicer for the turnpike, and we were reimbursed by Good Sam. The young man I originally spoke to called us back twice to ensure we had gotten service and also that we got safely off the turnpike and were then safely back on the road.
Note to others, always call Good Sam 1st even if they cannot help! Then you can ask for reimbursment based on their failure to provide!!!
However, in the past year, we were stranded in our car in a parking lot in early evening with a flat tire. We were in the middle of a busy town where local businesses may have been called upon, but Good Sam found someone 5 towns away who would be 1 1/2 hours due to the high volume, blah blah blah.
Fortunately as my disabled hubby was attempting to remove lug nuts and jack up the car, a young man came by and assisted. We drove one block to a Firestone dealer who replaced the warrantied tire with a new one. Yes we did call and cancel the Good Sam Servicer! But I ask you why? Why if we are in a good size town can't Good Sam find a servicer nearby?
Then just this past fall, we had a crisis on the road. We had a blow out on our towed vehicle on a narrow highway in upper PA in the mountains. We got flagged down by another driver, had to pull our Diesel pusher over across an intersection to get off the main thoroughfare enough to allow traffic to creep past. Good Sam told us to call 911 which I already had to get a State Trooper to the scene, but since it was not an accident or injury it did take one 20 minutes. This with trucks and traffic passing by us and my husband trying to unload the rear of the CRV into the back seat so we did not block the space for a car to access the road from the side road we were blocking. Again we put the donut on the wheel ourselves. The girl at Good Sam never even tried to get us a servicer! We did get a call back that time to get our status.
What I felt when I called was that the girl at the other end was too busy to care that we might be in a dangerous place and if she could find us local assistance, get us off the road quickly. That is the real problem however! Wherever you are is not where the assistance is located. They only have a certain number of contracted providers. If you are in your driveway safe, you can wait for 2 hours, but if you are on the roadway, they are not going to find a local provider in most cases.
Also, we got our class A motor home stuck in the mud and needed an assist to pull it free. this past October. When I called Good Sam, I was told they had no one to contact for that kind of assist anywhere in the South Jersey area. We got lucky, getting a local tow company guy who was willing to try to help by giving us a gentle assist with his tower while letting our own wheels get us beyond the muck. Lucky! But where was Good Sam's assistance when we needed it. It was like I was bothering the girl. Not to sound nasty, but she sounded clueless besides. Is it a lack of training or are they outsourcing to people who have no real knowledge or understanding of what types of service a motorhome might need. It sounds like they read a computer screen, asking often the same question from screen to screen.
Anyway, I have not found a better option for roadside assistance, so I stay with Good Sam. At least if they cannot provide, I can get reimbursed.
If in danger or even just in the way, do not hesitate to call the local police or 911, at least they can help keep you safe, and often can make the service contact as well.
