Unhappy with Good Sam Roadside Assisstance communication

I have had GSRA since we purchased our RV in 2008.

We had new tires placed on our class A 2004 Winnebago Brave prior to embarking on a trip up the Central California Coast just last week. On Friday, we discovered that an inside dual had a bad valve stem and no air. We were at a gas station off the 101 fwy. My wife called GSRA at 3pm and gave them all the information including the fact that we have a functioning spare, plus year, make, model, engine type etc and was placed on hold for quite a while. Finally, the operator tells us they have a provider in the area. We receive a text before we even finished the call with the provider’s information and an eta of 5:08.

We contact the provider to make sure they have all the relevant information and it seems they do. They call us back in about 20 minutes and tell us they are negotiating with a company to change the tire. Forty minutes later we have heard nothing from the provider, Jack Rabbit Network.

Then we get an automated call from Good Sam asking if the service has been completed, I reply "no." The call transfers to an operator. This is when communication starts to break down. I have to give them all my information again! Why? Good Sam called me! I ask the operator this and she gets snippy with me, no apology. She puts me on hold so she can contact the provider. She says the provider is still trying to contact a mobile repair person. She can give me no explanation why they can't find a repair person, gives me no help and is unapologetic. She says the provider will contact us shortly.

Thirty minutes later they call and say they have a mobile tech on the way. It took 2 hours just to find a mobile tech? why? The provider said they were having trouble negotiating a price. Does Good Sam not pay the going rate?

About an hour later the tech arrives, I was expecting a tow truck or some other work truck. The tech arrived in a Scion XB. Yes, you read correctly a Scion. He had a 3 ton car jack and minimal tools. No impact, just hand tools. He was very nice, but completely unqualified to work on an RV. His receipt said "Pop a Lock, the Trusted Locksmith" they sent us a locksmith to change the tire on a 20,000lb. vehicle!

I ended up doing as much of the work as the tech, it would have taken him hours to complete, with the tools he had, and no help. We were able to do the work in 30 minutes. In all, it took almost 5 hours and lots of frustration just to get a tired changed. If this is the service I am to expect from Good Sam I would be better off just being prepared to complete the work myself!

Good Sam, you need to make some improvements if you want to keep my business.

Roadside Assistance

12 Replies

GSRoadsideAssis
Explorer
Oct 02, 2013
Thank you for taking the time to speak to me whereshegoes. I'm pleased that I was able to provide an amicable resolution to your complaint. Please don't hesitate to contact me in the future if you have any additional questions or concerns. Zach
whereshegoes
Explorer
Oct 02, 2013
Well, imagine my surprise when I received a phone call yesterday from Zach. I hadn't had a chance to reply back to his post but he must have done the leg work and tracked me down. Not only was he extremely personable, but he said everything I needed to hear, including resolving my problem completely and then some. I think I must have just come upon a string of bad luck with regard to my interaction with Good Sam but Zach redeemed them. I feel heard and I feel confident that I can rely on Good Sam now. And the best part was that they were willing to admit they had made a mistake, AND go above and beyond to not just fix it, but also compensate for any extra stress. That was a nice touch.

Thanks Zach and Good Sam. You made my week.
GSRoadsideAssis
Explorer
Sep 30, 2013
Thank you for the post thereshegoes. I apologize for the unsatisfactory resolution to your service complaint. Please send me a private message with your Good Sam and contact information. Once received I will research this and contact you. Thank you, Zach
whereshegoes
Explorer
Sep 30, 2013
I also had a terrible experience with Good Sam Roadside Assistance. I was driving alone and two of my tires blew out on a very narrow highway, with heavy truck and semi traffic.
I tried to pull into the ditch as much as possible without rolling so I wouldn't get hit. It was only two lanes and these trucks go fast. Shaken I called Good Sam who after a good 35 mins decided they couldn't do anything until the morning. It was only 630pm. They told me to call my local police but to keep all the receipts of anything I spent and I would be reimbursed.

As the RV was tipping quite badly it seemed like it would have to be towed. The tow flat bed finally came (I was in rural Northern Alberta) a couple hours later. After quite a bit of deliberation, the tow driver had to lift it and was able to change the tires without having to tow it all the way back to the nearest town. That bill would have been astronomical so I was happy to pay the 630 they charged knowing that Good Sam would reimbrurse for the 400 tire change and tow truck.

Well, after months of having to explain this story again and again, and having several phone calls not returned, I got a check for 130 which was the price of the tire. I just got off the phone with one of their customer co-ordinators who all but accused me of lying. I pled with him to call the tow company so they could explain what happened. He snarkily said there is a 97 percent customer satisfaction with Good Sam, as if this would make me feel better? It was exhausting having to deal with him, and this situation for the last three months. Still no resolution.

I am so disappointed and feel like a sucker to have trusted and believed in this company. I had heard rumors that Good Sam doesn't support very well in Canada and now I see. As a solo woman RVer it was important to feel supported or at the very least, heard. I had only joined a month previous and am now on my roadtrip through out the US. I am pretty sure I wouldn't even bother calling them again even if I did run into trouble. The experience has been that stressful.
rvfam
Explorer
Jul 23, 2013
hermosilloleos wrote:
Is this the only bad experience you have had with GSRS?
How many times have you used Good SRS since 08?

This was fortunately the only time we have had to use GSRA for emergency repair.
Good_Sam_Care_T
Explorer II
Jul 23, 2013
rvfam wrote:
I have had GSRA since we purchased our RV in 2008.

We had new tires placed on our class A 2004 Winnebago Brave prior to embarking on a trip up the Central California Coast just last week. On Friday, we discovered that an inside dual had a bad valve stem and no air. We were at a gas station off the 101 fwy. My wife called GSRA at 3pm and gave them all the information including the fact that we have a functioning spare, plus year, make, model, engine type etc and was placed on hold for quite a while. Finally, the operator tells us they have a provider in the area. We receive a text before we even finished the call with the provider’s information and an eta of 5:08.

We contact the provider to make sure they have all the relevant information and it seems they do. They call us back in about 20 minutes and tell us they are negotiating with a company to change the tire. Forty minutes later we have heard nothing from the provider, Jack Rabbit Network.

Then we get an automated call from Good Sam asking if the service has been completed, I reply "no." The call transfers to an operator. This is when communication starts to break down. I have to give them all my information again! Why? Good Sam called me! I ask the operator this and she gets snippy with me, no apology. She puts me on hold so she can contact the provider. She says the provider is still trying to contact a mobile repair person. She can give me no explanation why they can't find a repair person, gives me no help and is unapologetic. She says the provider will contact us shortly.

Thirty minutes later they call and say they have a mobile tech on the way. It took 2 hours just to find a mobile tech? why? The provider said they were having trouble negotiating a price. Does Good Sam not pay the going rate?

About an hour later the tech arrives, I was expecting a tow truck or some other work truck. The tech arrived in a Scion XB. Yes, you read correctly a Scion. He had a 3 ton car jack and minimal tools. No impact, just hand tools. He was very nice, but completely unqualified to work on an RV. His receipt said "Pop a Lock, the Trusted Locksmith" they sent us a locksmith to change the tire on a 10,000lb. vehicle!

I ended up doing as much of the work as the tech, it would have taken him hours to complete, with the tools he had, and no help. We were able to do the work in 30 minutes. In all, it took almost 5 hours and lots of frustration just to get a tired changed. If this is the service I am to expect from Good Sam I would be better off just being prepared to complete the work myself!

Good Sam, you need to make some improvements if you want to keep my business.

rvfam,

I apologize for your experience when using GSRA. Please send me a private message with your membership number so I can forward your information on to our roadside team for further investigation. I will have a GSRA team member will be in touch with you shortly.

Thank you for posting,

S. Wilmes
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 23, 2013
paulsang wrote:
Give me bad service once, I will work with you to fix the situation, but my money goes somewhere else thereafter. CW and GS may have a somewhat monopoly in the RV biz right now, but not at the rate they are going....

I was lucky my GSRA need went well. But I hear it is not the norm, unfortunately.

Would love to actually know what the percentage of unhappy incidents compared to satisfied it really is.
whistlebritches
Explorer
Jul 23, 2013
We've had the need to call them 3 times, twice for blowouts and once for an accident and they did respond well in all 3 instances. That said, I agree with the poster, one bad experience and they won't be receiving my business again. After all, it is emergency road service.
paulsang
Explorer
Jul 23, 2013
Give me bad service once, I will work with you to fix the situation, but my money goes somewhere else thereafter. CW and GS may have a somewhat monopoly in the RV biz right now, but not at the rate they are going....

I was lucky my GSRA need went well. But I hear it is not the norm, unfortunately.
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 23, 2013
GS may or may not pay the going rate, just as the company who responded may or may not charge more that the going rate.

You mentioned that in this from the time you called jack rabbit and they acknowledged receiving the call until you received the automated call from GS was an hour long. And then another hour for the tech to show up. I wouldn't put the blame on GS. They contacted the company to come out and help you. It sounds more like the fault of jack rabbit that it took so long to come out there and to send someone ill prepared to do the job.

Perhaps a complaint is in order, but more against jack rabbit. Perhaps GS should drop those bozos.