Road side assistance

[PCronin68]

I have a class A gas motorhome and was looking for recommendations on roadside assistance. I am a member of FMCA and GoodSams so was thinking of one of those. Most of my trips are local but each year we travel to Myrtle Beach from MA and this year we are also doing Disney. I don't pull a car rather a small utility trailer with Golf cart. Thanks

[dryfly]

garmp wrote:
dryfly, don't leave me hanging. Who'd you end up with?
I had thought that CoachNet was the one, but lately, I'm changing my mind. But still looking.

Well, sad to say, I'm my own roadside assistance at this time. We don't do much long distance traveling now so most of the places we go I'm familiar with close towns and would just call for tow service. I'm close to 80 but I can still change tires, replace batteries, etc.

I really don't mind paying the yearly fees charged now but honestly there are so many negative stories vs. positive stories out there it seems like a waste of time/money to depend on these companies and get left on hold.

I realize a lot of "reviews" on the internet are meaningless, but when you hear RVer's on various forums tell of their misfortunes on the road, when they most needed help, only to be let down by these RA companies, there just doesn't seem like a good path is available.

[garmp]

dryfly, don't leave me hanging. Who'd you end up with?
I had thought that CoachNet was the one, but lately, I'm changing my mind. But still looking.

[JoeH]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:
Poster "Joe H" :

Your post (non-reply, etc.) is exactly why I have US Rider for ERS !!

US Rider is an ERS "intended" for folks (equestrians) who have horses. It's the *only* ERS that will tow a trailer with live animals.

OK - so you don't have a horse.....I don't, but reading the coverage, it didn't seem to matter. It would cover whatever you are driving and/or towing - whether it "contained" horses (a horse trailer) or not. Likewise, it didn't matter if you had a horse or not. Simply stated, horse ownership was *not* a requirement for the services outlined in the ERS service.

Still - a bit dubious, so I sent an e-mail along to the service with question/s regarding the above. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply from the Administrator - as well as a letter in the US Mail....along with an invitation to call her if I desired to do so!

She explained the coverage - the only "caveat" is, the person covered by the ERS must be the person who is driving (or present, "there" with) the disabled vehicle(s) - and the vehicle(s) may *not* be a commercial entity - as in a service which transports horses.

I don't know how many equestrians (hay burner) owners there are "out there" -vs- the number of RV owners.....but US Rider is my choice for an ERS provider.

:W

.

That's great info and seems like a responsible and professional oganization, unlike CoachNet

[dryfly]

I took advantage of a 3 year introductory pricing offer by Good Sam last year. After 6 months of not needing roadside assistance, I kept reading very bad reviews from GS customers. There were enough of the detailed, accurate, negative reviews that I called and took advantage of their prorated cancellation policy. I will say they made it very easy to cancel and I promptly received a refund to my credit card.

I was a past member of Coachnet, and used them one time about 10 years ago. The service was excellent. But, it appears all of the roadside assistance programs were good in those days. Now, I can't find any company that constantly receives an A rating.

I don't trust every review I read on the internet, but when the sincere bad reports become the norm, it's time to give strong consideration who you are doing business with.

[cummins2014]

craig7h wrote:
I would go with Good Sam, I have only used them for flat tires with not complaints.

I am confused on the postings about towing however here is a link to the GS towing comparison page. There three levels all have towing so I do not understand the other posts. Please explain
https://www.goodsamroadside.com/compare/index.cfm

I had Good sam for years ,the one time I tried using them,, it didn't happen, finally changed the tire on my fifth wheel myself ,and continued on.

I more or less just wanted to see what kind of service Good Sam provide if needed ,I sure found out .

[pbeverly]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:
Poster "Joe H" :

Your post (non-reply, etc.) is exactly why I have US Rider for ERS !!

US Rider is an ERS "intended" for folks (equestrians) who have horses. It's the *only* ERS that will tow a trailer with live animals.

OK - so you don't have a horse.....I don't, but reading the coverage, it didn't seem to matter. It would cover whatever you are driving and/or towing - whether it "contained" horses (a horse trailer) or not. Likewise, it didn't matter if you had a horse or not. Simply stated, horse ownership was *not* a requirement for the services outlined in the ERS service.

Still - a bit dubious, so I sent an e-mail along to the service with question/s regarding the above. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply from the Administrator - as well as a letter in the US Mail....along with an invitation to call her if I desired to do so!

She explained the coverage - the only "caveat" is, the person covered by the ERS must be the person who is driving (or present, "there" with) the disabled vehicle(s) - and the vehicle(s) may *not* be a commercial entity - as in a service which transports horses.

I don't know how many equestrians (hay burner) owners there are "out there" -vs- the number of RV owners.....but US Rider is my choice for an ERS provider.

:W

.

I use US Rider as I do have horses that I tow. I have not had to call them for help but because of what is outlined above they are my choice should I need help with the TT.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Poster "Joe H" :

Your post (non-reply, etc.) is exactly why I have US Rider for ERS !!

US Rider is an ERS "intended" for folks (equestrians) who have horses. It's the *only* ERS that will tow a trailer with live animals.

OK - so you don't have a horse.....I don't, but reading the coverage, it didn't seem to matter. It would cover whatever you are driving and/or towing - whether it "contained" horses (a horse trailer) or not. Likewise, it didn't matter if you had a horse or not. Simply stated, horse ownership was *not* a requirement for the services outlined in the ERS service.

Still - a bit dubious, so I sent an e-mail along to the service with question/s regarding the above. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply from the Administrator - as well as a letter in the US Mail....along with an invitation to call her if I desired to do so!

She explained the coverage - the only "caveat" is, the person covered by the ERS must be the person who is driving (or present, "there" with) the disabled vehicle(s) - and the vehicle(s) may *not* be a commercial entity - as in a service which transports horses.

I don't know how many equestrians (hay burner) owners there are "out there" -vs- the number of RV owners.....but US Rider is my choice for an ERS provider.

:W

.

[JoeH]

I have been a coachnet subscriber for over 20 years and had to use them in early December. What a horrible experience. After I got home, I wrote the CEO and never got a response. Then I wrote the VP of marketing who had a staff member call me. I got lip service and a commitment to follow-up with me in a few days. Well, more than a few days passed and no follow-up. Just what I expected.... below is my letter to the CEO outlining the poor service we received. Make your decision on your provider carefully.... your safety depends on it !


Mr. Ostlund,

Yes, we were on the side of the road for 29 hours and this was no rural country road. It was US 1 in Maimi-Dade county Florida with cars and trucks whizzing by at 60-80 mph literally a few feet from the side of our motorhome. To say I'm disappointed in the service and response from Coach-Net would be an understatement.

On Friday December 3rd we left our home in Apollo Beach, Fl to spend a few nights at Key Largo before going to Key West. At about 14:00 my coolant temperature rapidly rose and the alarm went off. I moved to the side of the road. This was at Mile Marker 122 on US1 south of Homestead, FL. The infamous 18 mile stretch. The road here is a narrow 2 lane highway with the lanes separated by Jersey barriers. The shoulder is very narrow and in many places not even wide enough for a car, fortunately I was able to find a spot that we could actually get out of the travel lane by about 5 feet without sinking into the mud .

After assessing the situation and finding a catastrophic water pump failure, I call Coach-Net at 14:30 for assistance.
The first person I spoke to asked a few questions and then passed me to a technical staff member. We discussed the situation and he said he would get a tow truck to the scene. I was told it would be about an hour before the truck would arrive. Well, that wasn't even close. At 19:30, a full 5 hours later, a truck shows up, the driver looks at the situation and says he isn't able to tow a motorhome due to the configuration of his truck.

I call back Coach-Net and after some discussion they start to try to find another tow truck. After a few more hours, they decide that it would be good to inform the Florida Highway Patrol of our situation. A trooper comes by and provides visibility to the oncoming traffic with his emergency lights. Another tow company was finally dispatched and when they got to the scene the driver said he could not tow from the front, but would tow from the rear by raising the coach by the trailer hitch. I told him and pointed out the label on the hitch, that the hitch was rated at 1000 lbs tongue weight capacity and that the coach weighs 42000 lbs and that there was no way I was going to allow him to even attempt to do that. If I hadn't stopped him, I'm sure there would have been tens of thousands of dollars damage. He left and soon afterwards, the trooper had to leave . It was now after 03:00 Saturday...over 12 hours since I called in the issue.

I called Coach-Net again. They decided there was nothing to do at this late hour and would resume their (feeble) efforts in the morning. I was told I'd be contacted at 07:00 .

07:00 comes and goes and a little after 08:00 I get a call and they are going to resume trying to find a wrecker. I was promised call backs on status, but never received them. I had to call back myself to find out what was going on. Finally at 16:30 Saturday a couple of guys show up and said they had it under control. These guys were super professional, efficient and demonstrated outstanding team work. After a short period of time, during which they showed me what they were doing, they had us all hooked up and ready to go. But, as we were staring to pull out, one of their airbags on the rear axle failed and in interest of safety, they decided to unhook and drive back to the shop to get another truck.

They returned with a different truck and reattached the motorhome and we were finally off the side of the road at 19:30 Saturday. A full 29 hours after the time I called in for assistance.

When we got to the repair shop they backed us into position and unhooked. As I was thanking them for their outstanding service , I asked why they hadn't been called earlier. They told me that they were not on Coach-Net's vendor list and were called in only in dire situations. These guys were by far the best. You should have them at the top of the list for towing large RV's. They are Edwin and Kevin from American Eagle Towing. The other companies that showed up should be removed from your vendor list.


The reason I am sending this letter to you is to make sure you are aware of how poorly this call for emergency assistance was handled and that hopefully you will take corrective actions to prevent this from happening to someone else.

Some thoughts to consider :

- make sure the vendor you dispatch understands what is being towed and make sure they have the equipment to do so.

- the second tow operator obviously had no experience in towing a motorhome and if he had tried to tow from the trailer hitch as he had wanted to do, he would have caused extensive damage. It is likely that if it had been another person in my situation they might have taken him for his word and their motorhome would have been destroyed. You need to thoroughly vet your vendors to help prevent unnecessary damage.

- we were in a potentially very dangerous situation on a heavily traveled road. Police notification by your team should not have taken over 10 hours.

- When your staff says they are going to call back in a certain period of time, they need to do so. Other than a couple times when they did call back as promised, in general, I had to call back and wait on hold to get status.

- Scrub your vendor list. You obviously have incompetent service providers that are wasting your time, my time and their time and at the same time destroying your reputation as a quality service provider.

- A 29 hour wait to get EMERGENCY service is not acceptable under any circumstances.

Try to put yourself in the situation that we were in and see what your reactions would have been.


I look forward to your response.

[afidel]

I've only had to use them once but that one time was enough to make me a fan of Coachnet. The service was so much better than any towing interaction I ever had with AAA. Best of all the tow guy called and got exact weights for my setup, location and nature of problem and brought the appropriate vehicle for the job. And at the end there was no handing over my card, filing out paperwork, etc. When the job was done he simply took off. I like simple, especially when dealing with stressful situations, as long as Coachnet keeps things that way I'll gladly keep paying.

[LouLawrence]

If you have a trailer the basic plan will cover towing.
Every Vehicle Covered Under One Plan

With Good Sam Roadside Assistance, you are protected while driving any of your household vehicles and while towing your owned Travel Trailer. It's easy to get the help you need, by a provider you can trust. You're covered while driving the following:

Your Owned Towable?? Recreational Vehicle (RV):

Travel Trailers and Toy Haulers
Pop-up Camping Trailers

For a Class A you need an advanced plan.

[Dave_H_M]

You might also check with your parent company. that is where I have mine.

[craig7h]

I would go with Good Sam, I have only used them for flat tires with not complaints.

I am confused on the postings about towing however here is a link to the GS towing comparison page. There three levels all have towing so I do not understand the other posts. Please explain
https://www.goodsamroadside.com/compare/index.cfm

[LadyRVer]

I have had Good Sam Roadside Assistance since I started RVing in 1992, except for one year when I got a free year with another company (purchased a new RV.) I have been satisfied with the service they have provided. Probably over the years have used them maybe 10 times. Just have to make sure you have the level of plan to suit your needs.

[LouLawrence]

Good Sam but you MUST go Platinum or it does not include towing. i have had the service for 20 years and never saw a notice about having to take the higher level of service. When I broke down last year, they would not pay but they upgraded me to Platinum for free (big deal since the tow bill was $1000).